The Founding of the College
³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is a non-profit, private 501 c-3 charitable organization initially funded by several foundations that were established by the late Marion Bradley Via to benefit Virginia Tech and Southwest Virginia. Marion Bradley Via's son, Edward Via, was the person instrumental in approving the dedication of funds to this initiative. John Rocovich Jr, JD, LLM, and Sue Ellen Rocovich, DO, PhD, were the individuals instrumental in founding the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ), laying all the groundwork to establish the College. At the time of initial development, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ’s vision was to provide healthcare for Southwest Virginia, Western North Carolina, and the Appalachian Region, and to promote biomedical research with Virginia Tech. In 2001, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ hired the late founding President, James Wolfe, PhD (retired emeritus) and the founding Dean, now President and Provost, Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO. This team of individuals developed the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in the Corporate Research Center of Virginia Tech, including facility plans and building, academic program planning, accreditation approvals, and the hiring of the initial faculty and staff. The College opened its doors to the first students in the fall of 2003 and graduated the first class in 2007.
³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's Founding Board of Directors included: William Anderson, DO; Neal Castagnoli, Jr, PhD; the late John A. Cifala, DO; Roy E. Heaton, DO; Mark G. McNamee, PhD; John G. Rocovich, Jr, JD, LLM, Chairman of the Board; Sue Ellen B. Rocovich, DO, PhD; Minnis Ridenhour, PhD; James F. Wolfe, PhD and the late, Eugene T. Zachary, DO
"The credit for the success of the founding of the first Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine belongs to more than the initial founders listed above. It also belongs to the first faculty and staff, the Board of Directors, the many supporters for their contributions, and most of all, the first students (Class of 2007)."
Adding a Branch Campus in Spartanburg, South Carolina
In 2010, in response to the enrollment of a significant number of students from western North Carolina and South Carolina, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ founded the Carolinas Campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine in Spartanburg, South Carolina. North and South Carolina had each performed workforce studies that demonstrated a tremendous need for primary care and for physicians who would practice in the western Appalachian region of NC and the upstate region of SC. Leadership from the city of Spartanburg and Spartanburg Regional Hospital began recruiting ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ in 2008 to open the campus in Spartanburg, and after much planning and preparation, the campus opened in 2011.
Instrumental in founding the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ-Carolinas campus was Chairman of the Board, John G. Rocovich, Jr., JD, LLM; President James F. Wolfe, PhD; Dean Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, DO; and Vice Dean for the Carolinas Campus, Tim Kowalski, DO. Also instrumental in recruiting ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ to open the campus was the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center administration and Ron Januchowski, DO, who served as the Associate Dean for Curriculum, Assessment, and Education and, in the fall of 2023, became the Dean of the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ-Virginia campus. Also contributing positively to this success were multiple community leaders, including the mayor, local legislators, and community leaders who went on to serve as an Advisory Board for the Carolinas Campus. In 2010, the COCA (the accrediting agency for pre-doctoral osteopathic medical education) extended the accreditation status of the main campus to the Carolinas campus. ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ is also appropriately licensed by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education and received initial licensure in 2010. The first class began in the fall of 2011. Again, attesting to ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ’s commitment to excellence, the branch campus has met each accreditation requirement along the way and has received many commendations throughout the accreditation process. The branch campus graduated its first class in May of 2015.
Adding a Branch Campus in Auburn, Alabama
In 2011, Auburn University (AU) representatives were exploring a medical school. AU had recognized the abysmally poor health outcomes in the state and the extreme shortage of physicians (then 46th in the country for the number of physicians per 100,000 population). Jay Gouge, PhD, President of AU at the time, had visited each Alabama county and saw the extreme need for rural physicians and for primary care. Dr. Gouge and the AU administration determined that an osteopathic college would be best to fill this need. Recognizing the success of ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ and Virginia Tech collaboration, representatives visited both the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Virginia and the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Carolinas campuses. A due diligence study was performed from January to March 2012 to explore the need and resources for a branch campus, and an announcement to establish the campus was made in August 2012. ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ then began the initial steps in founding the Auburn branch campus. Instrumental in this founding were ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ's Chairman of the Board John Rocovich, JD, LLM; President James Wolfe, PhD; Senior Dean and Provost Dixie Tooke-Rawlins DO; Dean for the Auburn Campus, Elizabeth Palmarozzi DO; Kenny Brock PhD, Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs; Gary Hill DO; Associate Dean; and Michael Goodlett MD; the official AU medical school liaison. Also essential to the founding and success were AU President Jay Gogue, PhD, AU Provost Tim Boosinger, PhD, and Jimmy Sanford, President of the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation Board and a member of the Auburn University Board. The new campus is in the Auburn University Research Park. Licensure and accreditation approvals were obtained from the State, and the COCA accreditation process began in early 2013. The Auburn campus opened as a fully accredited branch campus in 2015.
Adding a Branch Campus in Monroe, Louisiana
In 2017, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ began meetings in Louisiana with the University of Louisiana, Monroe (ULM). ULM administration had been actively seeking options to establish a medical school in Monroe for a number of years. The state was unable to fund a medical school at the time due to economic downturns, and a growing physician shortage was prevalent throughout the state, particularly in rural and medically underserved areas, which included the majority of the Northern parishes. The President of the University had heard of the relationship between ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ and Virginia Tech, and with Auburn University, and the success of those campuses, and reached out to ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ to explore the new campus. In 2018, ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ received approval from the Board of Regents of Louisiana to open a branch campus and approval by the ³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ Board of Directors to enter into a collaborative agreement with ULM for certain student services (as with VT and Auburn) and to lease property on the ULM campus to build. The building began in the fall of 2018. The campus matriculated its first class in the fall of 2020.
History of Osteopathic Medicine
The history begins with the advent of osteopathy by Andrew Taylor Still, MD, born a native of Virginia, who moved to the Midwest region as a young man. In 1854, Dr. Still, then a practicing allopathic physician in Kansas, became increasingly dissatisfied with the medical practices of his day. He developed a new theory of medicine, which he called osteopathy. He based his new approach to healthcare on the concepts of body unity, the body’s inherent ability to heal itself under optimal conditions, and the proper alignment and function of the musculoskeletal system.
³Ô¹Ï±¬ÁÏ takes pride in being the College that brought the philosophies of Dr. Still back to Virginia. Over the past 100 years, the practice of allopathic medicine (MD) has evolved, and so has the practice of osteopathic medicine. Today, doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) serve the public with full medical practice rights, utilizing all of the modern practices science has to offer in medical and surgical care while incorporating the concept of treating the whole person throughout the training. Osteopathic (DO) and Allopathic (MD) residents train side by side in hospitals throughout the U.S.
While osteopathic physicians practice the most up-to-date evidence-based medicine approaches to medical care, they maintain that the patient-centered interview and hands-on examination (palpation) are essential parts of making a diagnosis. In addition to being able to offer all of the well-recognized pharmacologic and surgical treatments, osteopathic medicine offers a strong commitment to prevention and health maintenance as the first priority. It offers an additional treatment of manipulative medicine as an important therapeutic tool that osteopathic physicians can utilize in alleviating pain, treating illness or injury, and in many cases, avoiding invasive surgeries.