VCOM–Louisiana is proud to recognize Annie Pham, Class of 2026, as its Student Doctor of the Year, an honor bestowed by the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. The award honors a student who exceeds expectations through leadership, service, scholarship, and commitment to osteopathic principles.
VCOM-Carolinas is proud to announce Meghan Warner, Class of 2028, as the campus’s 2025–2026 Student Doctor of the Year. Selected from a highly competitive pool of nominees, Meghan was recognized for her outstanding leadership, service, scholarship, and dedication to the osteopathic profession.
Can I afford to see my doctor? Who will take care of my children while I’m at the doctor’s office? How am I going to get time off of work? How will I find the transportation to get there? These are the kinds of questions that families living in poverty face when thinking about how to access healthcare.
What began three years ago as one student’s response to a powerful first-day experience of her core rotation in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Rapides Women’s and Children’s Hospital, a division of Rapides Regional Medical Center, has grown into a meaningful, student-led tradition.
This holiday season, students, faculty, and staff from the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) brought joy to children and families in Honduras through the College’s annual International Program Christmas Fundraiser.
VCOM-Carolinas has continued its commitment to community service and hands-on medical education through its ongoing participation in the American College of Surgeons’ Stop the Bleed program. The nationally recognized course teaches simple, effective steps to control life-threatening bleeding, a critical skill in emergencies when minutes matter. By training VCOM students and sending them into local high schools as instructors, the College strengthens both campus readiness and community resilience.
The VCOM-Louisiana Class of 2028 came together on Sept. 29, 2025, to honor the ultimate act of generosity from their anatomy donors. The Donor Memorial Ceremony, a deeply meaningful tradition, gave students the opportunity to reflect on the lessons, experiences, and personal growth inspired by working with their donors throughout the past year’s anatomy curriculum.
Before sunrise each day, Tom Catena, MD, begins his morning with prayer in a small chapel in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan, then walks to Mother of Mercy Hospital where hundreds of patients await the care of the region’s only doctor.
What happens when dozens of future physicians, guided by faculty and local partners, come together with one goal—to make healthcare accessible for all? The answer unfolded in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where a VCOM team spent a week providing care, connection, and hope to hundreds of underserved residents.
VCOM-Louisiana’s large mobile medical unit hit the road last month to deliver clinical care to local seniors. The unit, made possible through a collaborative partnership with the Ouachita Parish Police Jury, is fully equipped for patient care, featuring private exam rooms with diagnostic equipment, work and phlebotomy stations, and a lavatory. It includes a wheelchair-accessible door and lift. Wrapped in vibrant VCOM graphics showcasing local students, the bus serves as a rolling symbol of hope and compassion for the communities it visits.
On September 24, VCOM–Virginia hosted the inaugural event in its Community Outreach Research and Education (CORE) symposium series, titled “Expanding Holistic Health with Community Partnerships.” The symposium brought together healthcare providers, public officials, law enforcement, social service professionals, and community leaders to explore collaborative approaches to improving health outcomes across rural and underserved communities in Southwest Virginia.
Step inside one of VCOM’s Simulation and Technology Centers, and you’ll find some of the most dynamic spaces on all four campuses. Here, classrooms transform into high-energy, hands-on training labs where students practice life-saving skills, engage with standardized patients, and respond to high-fidelity manikin-based simulations, all under the guidance of experienced physician educators.
Chronic pain affects one in three people worldwide, disrupting work, sleep, relationships and mental well-being. For many individuals, traditional treatments fail to fully address such pain. To respond to this need, a group of researchers and clinicians at Auburn campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), known as the Pain Free Research Collaborative, are leading an innovative effort to rethink how chronic pain is understood and treated.
In the quiet morning hours in Verón, a town in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic, Sydney Boudreaux, VCOM-Louisiana Class of 2026, was already setting up for clinic. The air was heavy with heat, and a line of patients had begun to form outside the VCOM Verón Rural Clinic. Many had walked long distances, some for hours, just for a chance to be seen by a doctor.
