OCOM develops new partnership with Florida Polytechnic

Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine is working to expand opportunities for Florida Polytechnic University students with a new partnership. 

The strategic affiliation will work to create a pathway from undergraduate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education to professional medical training. 

Dr. Robert Hasty, the chief academic officer and dean at OCOM, and Dr. Devin Stephenson, the president of Florida Polytechnic University, signed the agreement Monday, May 5, at OCOM. 

The partnership will lead to joint programming, shared resources and more that will emphasize early exposure to health care careers for STEM students. It also will promote interdisciplinary collaboration and address workforce demands within the fields of science and health. 

Florida Polytechnic University students who meet the requirements will be guaranteed an interview to OCOM upon graduation. Acceptance is not a guarantee. 

“I am convinced that the quality of our lives are dependent upon the quality of the relationships,” Hasty said. “I also think that the quality of the relationships of an organization, and that’s part of the reason why this relationship with Florida Polytechnic University is so important to us.”

Hasty said the partnership is an opportunity for OCOM to continue to attract excellent undergraduate students to apply for the medical school. 

“The majority of OCOM students actually come from Florida, and by having a greater relationship with our Florida universities, especially here at Florida Polytechnic in Polk County, it’s going to make a big difference,” he said. 

The pipeline from Florida Polytechnic University to OCOM also will provide more chances to increase the number of people trained and entering the medical field. 

The partnership will open students to career paths in the medical field they might not otherwise have known about or considered, Hasty and Stephenson said. 

Stephenson said he wants Florida Polytechnic to strengthen the work it does in the sciences because it’s an area in which the university can flourish. He said the university is expanding its curriculum into fields including biomedical engineering and pharmaceutical sciences. 

“It’s an exciting time for us to share this commitment to academic excellence and really a forward-thinking approach to what we call health care education,” Stephenson said. “I really believe that this affiliation comes at a very pivotal point, bringing together two very community-committed entities, developing Florida’s next generation of health care workers.”

Stephenson said the affiliation is rooted in a shortage of medical training opportunities that exist in this country, a growing deficit of physicians as well as an urgent demand for quality primary care in underserved communities.

The partnership will help to foster hands-on collaboration between the engineering aspects of Florida Polytechnic and the health care aspects of OCOM to “tackle real-world health care challenges,” Stephenson said. 

Hasty said opportunities to bring Florida Polytechnic students onto OCOM’s campus are being developed.