ATSU-SOMA graduates first class
Posted: June 9, 2011[cincopa A4HALpaOCMpB]
Ninety-two newly minted doctors of osteopathic medicine have reserved their place in history as members of the inaugural graduating class of A.T. Still University’s School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA).
On Friday, June 3, the inaugural ATSU-SOMA class of 2011 walked across the stage at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Ariz., to receive their diplomas – not in alphabetical order, but grouped according to the community health center campuses where they lived and studied for the last three years. ATSU-SOMA’s unique curricular model was fully accredited just days earlier by the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).
Graduates will enter residencies across the country in July, with 83 percent going into National Association of Community Health Center (NACHC) needed specialties, including primary care. Fifteen ATSU-SOMA graduates will remain in Arizona for residency training.
To watch a tribute video to SOMA’s first class, see this story online at stillmagazine.atsu.edu.