Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
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| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1975 |
| Budget | $41.96 million |
| Dean | Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O. |
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Academic staff
|
109 |
| 528 | |
| Location |
Athens, Ohio, USA 
|
| Campus | Rural, Urban |
| Mascot | Ostie the Osteopathic Owl |
| Website | ohio.edu/medicine |
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The Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) is the medical school of Ohio University and the only osteopathic college in the U.S. state of Ohio. Its mission is to emphasize the practice of primary care and train physicians to serve Ohio, especially in the underserved Appalachian and urban areas of the state.
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine offers a single program conferring the degree Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.), and several combined degree programs. Graduates are eligible to practice medicine in all 50 states and more than 50 countries. The college is fully accredited by the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, and by the Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
In 1823, the Board of Trustees of Ohio University passed a resolution forming a committee to “take into consideration the expediency of establishing a Medical School.” At the time, Ohio had no medical school, and so, early in the state's history, Athens was chosen as a suitable location. More than 150 years later, the college was established in 1975 to award the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree, and its first class was made up of 21 graduates. The college has since expanded, and as of the 2012-2013 academic year, there were 528 students enrolled.
In 1989, John Kopchick, Ph.D., an endocrinologist and the Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Molecular Biology at the Heritage College, discovered a compound that would go on to become Pegvisomant (Somavert), a growth hormone receptor antagonist used to treat acromegaly. The team's discovery awarded Kopchick and Ohio University a number of U.S. and European patents and has since been marketed by Pfizer, earning the university more than $75 million in royalties from the license.
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