Mission

The Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine is a Catholic medical institution built on the inspired vision and values of our Franciscan heritage, and dedicated to preparing osteopathic physicians who are committed to the complete healing of individuals’ bodies, minds, and spirits. This institution is committed to serving the people of Indiana and to developing osteopathic physicians through research, service, and teaching.

MU-COM will provide:

  • A quality professional education program emphasizing osteopathic training in primary care through lifelong learning and scholarly activity in a caring, academic community. This community will include students from Indiana as well as those from the surrounding states, the nation, and the world.

  • An education that “profoundly transforms lives, society, and the world” consistent with the Catholic university’s four core Franciscan sponsorship values (dignity of the individual, peace and justice, reconciliation, and responsible stewardship) and the tenets of osteopathic medicine.

  • A curriculum that promotes and measures student competencies with an emphasis on osteopathic clinical skills and public service activities provided in diverse populations of individuals and cultures, including the underprivileged and medically under-served in local, regional, national, and international environments.

  • A commitment to actively support and encourage hospitals in Indiana and surrounding states in the expansion of graduate medical education either by increasing positions in existing residency and fellowship programs or by creating new programs.

Marian University Vision

To provide an education that profoundly transforms lives, society, and the world.

Marian University Mission

To be a Catholic university dedicated to excellent teaching and learning in the Franciscan and liberal arts traditions.

We welcome students of all faiths who seek an educational experience framed within the context of our Franciscan sponsorship values of dignity of the individual, peace and justice, reconciliation, and responsible stewardship. Our understanding of these values is informed by reflection on the life of Jesus Christ and prayer.

MU-COM Strategic Plan

MU-COM adopted a new strategic plan in the Fall of 2019. Representatives from several key stakeholder groups at MU-COM (administrators, faculty, staff, and students) participated in the development and/or review of the plan prior to approval.

Learn more about MU-COM's strategic plan for 2019-25

Strategic priority 1:

Educational excellence

MU-COM will provide a quality educational experience that prepares students for success as they progress along the osteopathic educational continuum.

Goals and objectives:

1. Develop processes to facilitate stronger connections between pre-clerkship, clerkship, and graduate medical education experiences.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Build upon and strengthen student development days throughout the curriculum to assist students in their preparation for the upcoming phases (i.e. laps) of the MU-COM development roadmap.
  • Create additional mechanisms for formative feedback throughout the curriculum to help students identify opportunities for growth prior to moving to the next phase of their educational experience.
  • Support scholarly pursuits that connect clinical and biomedical sciences across the osteopathic continuum, as evidenced by publications and presentations by MU-COM faculty, staff, and students.

2. Enhance teaching practices to align with national best practices in teaching and learning.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Increase the partnership between MU-COM and Marian University's Center for Teaching and Learning to provide additional targeted faculty development opportunities.
  • Regularly evaluate and refine the Faculty Guidebook to align with benchmarked institutions and emerging practices in the field.
  • Promote innovative educational practices beyond the traditional classroom environment.
  • Conduct educational research to assess the effectiveness of teaching and learning strategies.

3. Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the MU-COM curriculum to ensure that students are prepared for all levels of the COMLEX.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Develop a functional curriculum mapping process to assess the alignment between the curriculum and COMLEX blueprints and support the Curriculum Committee in monitoring and modifying the curriculum as necessary.
  • Engage in an ongoing process to enhance the quality of examination questions.
  • Strive toward a pass rate of 100 percent on all COMLEX exams and domain scores that are all above the national average.
  • Convene faculty groups to evaluate curriculum content in underperforming areas on the COMLEX and create a formal action plan by 2020.
  • Using nationally vetted examinations, establish a progress testing model to help students assess their COMLEX readiness.

Strategic priority 2

Partnerships
MU-COM will enhance relationships with critical partners to positively impact local, national, and international communities and promote health and wellness.

Goals and objectives:

1. Develop a pipeline into MU-COM with a mission-driven focus on Indiana residents.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Create a focused recruitment plan to attract high-performing high school students from rural communities.
  • Expand networks with Indiana colleges and universities to create access pipelines to MU-COM.
  • Transition to the use of admissions criteria that focus on additional non-cognitive variables with lesser emphasis on numeric, cognitive requirements.

2. Increase partnerships with other degree programs at Marian University and local campuses.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Evaluate options for dual degrees, tracks, and certificate programs.
  • Develop new and expanded partnerships between MU-COM and other institutions.
  • Conduct collaborative faculty development sessions with local higher education programs.

3. Enhance existing partnerships with healthcare systems across Indiana and the Midwest.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Increase engagement with current clerkship providers by offering ongoing feedback and sharing site evaluation data from a bi-annual comparability analysis.
  • Develop additional preceptor development opportunities and on-site networking events in response to an annual needs assessment for preceptors.
  • Monitor match data and alumni placements to create connections and routes to serve as MU-COM preceptors or faculty in the future.
  • Enhance the number of clinical sites to accommodate exposure to clinical medicine in Years 1 and 2.

Strategic priority 3

Interprofessional collaboration
MU-COM will be known locally, regionally, and nationally as a medical school that supports collaborative learning and interprofessional education.

Goals and objectives:

1. Create a culture which values interprofessional collaboration as a central tenant of the educational experience.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Regularly communicate the importance of interprofessional activities across the curriculum.
  • Foster a process to recognize faculty for engagement in interprofessional education and interprofessional education leadership activities.
  • Transition to the use of admissions criteria that focus on additional non-cognitive variables with lesser emphasis on numeric, cognitive requirements.

2. Establish additional opportunities for interprofessional collaboration across the educational continuum of physician education.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Create collaborative partnerships to engage in more interprofessional programs and offerings.
  • Cultivate an undergraduate advising program for the Health Professions at Marian University to regularly engage in collaborative discussion and the development of interprofessional education initiatives.

3. Create a comprehensive assessment model to ensure that all MU-COM students meet the appropriate Interprofessional Education Collaborative competencies.

To meet this objective, MU-COM will:

  • Create a specific set of objectives and competencies for interprofessional education during each year of the curriculum.
  • Analyze annual course evaluation data to gather student feedback related to self-reported gains/outcomes from participating in interprofessional initiatives.

MU-COM Research and Scholarly Activity Strategic Plan

MU-COM subsequently created and adopted a Research and Scholarly Activity Strategic Plan. Representatives from several key stakeholder groups at MU-COM (Research Committee, faculty association, administrators, and students) participated in the development and/or review of the plan prior to approval.

Download MU-COM's research and scholarly activity plan

For More Information

(317) 955-6400
COMadmissions@marian.edu

Health Professions Financial Aid

hpfinaid@marian.edu

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