Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM)

Brief History and Overview:

The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine was a dream of the Founding Dean; George Mychaskiw, D.O. He wanted to help the community as there was a shortage of physicians in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. George Mychaskiw approached John Hummer who was a healthcare leader, for his assistance to fulfill this dream. In July 2013, both of them formed a partnership and integrated a new entity; The New Mexico College of Osteopathic Medicine, which was later named the Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine. Initially, the medical school was introduced to Dan Barrel by John Hummer, who then joined as the co-founder of the school. Dan provided the initial funding to the college, and the name of the college was changed to The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in honor of Burrell’s family. Rice University became the largest shareholder of the medical school who basically, manages and oversees the college’s funding. The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine makes use of the most recent and advanced teaching methods and technologies to guarantee success in the classroom and the future professional practice in the healthcare field. The College is dedicated to providing high-quality medical service to the community with the help of its top-rated faculty members from allopathic, osteopathic, and general higher education. There’s a large network of physicians, which has been developed for the clinical years of education, with students for numerous rotations throughout Tucson (AZ), New Mexico, and El Paso (TX). The building of the campus is newly built, located in Arrowhead Research Park on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) campus. The campus ensures that the students get the best of everything, so there are multiple facilities provided on campus which include; lecture halls, seminar rooms for collaborative and traditional learning, a physical diagnosis lab, a hybrid gross-virtual anatomy lab and many more.

Mission and Vision:

The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine’s mission is to produce graduates who will be dedicated to serving the community of the Southern United States and Northern Mexico to improve their health with its skills, support of clinical service, ongoing research, and continuing osteopathic medical education. The College is focused on increasing the number of physician workforce and encouraging dedication, excellence, respect towards the communities served, and practice of the life-long learning in its students. The College’s vision is to be recognized worldwide for addressing the need of the physicians in the Southwestern region and to provide access to high-quality medical services. The College is committed to becoming a leader among Native American and Hispanic population for increasing the workforce diversity in them.

Guiding Principles:

Following are the few guiding principles of the BCOM:

- The College will maintain and achieve appropriate accreditations for its academic programs.
- The College enables its students to indicate the knowledge and skills required to enter a graduate medical school by providing them evidence-based osteopathic medical education programs.
- The College encourages inclusiveness in all the students and educators to increase the diversity in the physician workforce.
- The College assists in the formation of a healthcare culture that encourages osteopathic principle of prevention and wellness.
- The College assists its students and faculty in their knowledge by creating a culture of excellence in medical practice and scholarships among them.

Contact Details:

Location: Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine, 3501 Arrowhead Dr. Las Cruces, NM 88001, United States. Contact:

- Email:
- Fax:674.2267
- Phone:674–BCOM (2266)
- Admissions: admissions@bcomNM.org
- General Information: info@bcomNM.org
- Financial Aid: financialaid@bcomNM.org
- Human Resources: hr@bcomNM.org

Academic Departments:

The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine has 4 academic departments which are enlisted below;

Anatomy & Cell Biology.
Physiology and Pathology.
Biomedical Sciences.
Clinical Medicine.

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree:

The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine offers the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree program and the curriculum of this program amalgamates essential clinical and biomedical knowledge and includes the principles of Osteopathic Medicine. The College offers numerous resources to its students which includes high-fidelity standardized mannequins, a standardized patient facility, and a hybrid gross-virtual anatomy laboratory to assist them in the development of skills that are required to become an osteopathic physician.

Admission Requirements:

BCOM seeks to admit those students who have shown a commitment to improve the health and to serve the underserved communities of the rural areas. BCOM not only assesses an applicant’s academic characteristics but also, their non-academic characteristics through its holistically driven admissions process. Before an applicant starts his/her application process, these are some requirements that he/she needs to meet:

- A completed baccalaureate degree from a recognized college or university before the date of matriculation into BCOM.
- A CGPA of 3.0 (out of the scale of 4.0).
- A score of 493 or higher in MCAT. Not more than 3-years old scores before the date of matriculation will be considered.

Those applicants who meet the above requirements will be invited to apply, along will all the required AACOMAS application materials that must be provided for the evaluation in the admission process.

Minimum Requirements:

A CGPA of 3.0 (out of the scale of 4.0).

- A score of 493 or higher in MCAT (no subsections should be lower than 15%). Not more than 3-years old scores before the date of matriculation will be considered.

Prerequisite Coursework:

The following courses must be passed with at least C grade or better for the admission in the BCOM and must be completed from an accredited institute:

- Biology courses with labs (8 credit hours).
- Chemistry General/Inorganic courses with labs (8 credit hours).
- Organic Chemistry courses with labs (8 credit hours).
- Physics courses with labs (8 credit hours).
- English courses (6 credit hours).
- Science course elective (3 credit hours).

Letters of Recommendation:

The applicants need to submit 3 letters of recommendation along with their application which should include official letterhead and electronic signature with contact information. However, applicants may submit up to 6 letters of recommendation with their AACOMAS application. The letters of recommendation should be from: MUST:

- A letter from a physician. (1 letter)

Any ONE of them:

- A letter from the pre-medical/health advisory committee, which includes the names of departments of the members of the committee. (1 letter)
- An academic letter written by the college hard science professors/researchers. (2 letters)

Experience Hours:

BCOM not only focuses on applicants meeting their academic requirements but also, their non-academic characteristics. The applicants should seek medical hours in the non-medical and medical volunteer experiences. These experiences should indicate the qualities of integrity, maturity, and cultural competence in them. Also, the students who are committed to serving the rural and underserved communities are given great value at BCOM as they will play an important role to demonstrate the impact of osteopathic medicine and BCOM in these regions.

Foreign Coursework:

The coursework completed at foreign institutes must be evaluated through one of the following evaluation services for the US:

- World Education Services
- Educational Credential Evaluators, Inc.
- Josef Silny & Associates, Inc.
- International Education Research Foundation, Inc.

One official copy must be sent to AAMCOMAS directly, and one copy should be sent to the applicants for the completion of the AAMCOMAS application. Applicants must request a course-by-course:

- Evaluation and list of the courses.
- Semester hours.
- Subject codes.
- Grades of the AAMCOMAS Academic Record or Professional School Academic Record as per the instructions.

Course Substitution:

In some cases, course substitutions may be approved and are at the discretion of the Director of Admissions. For example, fulfilling the 6 credit hour English prerequisite requirement – for any course that isn’t labeled as English, the applicant needs to provide additional information to represent the writing-intensive nature of the course. The following information must be provided by the applicant for consideration:

- Course description from the catalog of the college.
- Syllabus of the course.
- A letter from the faculty/registrar detailing the content of the course.

Calculated Grade Point Averages:

BCOM will consider the GPAs sent in the AAMCOMAS applications. BCOM will review all the GPAs while evaluating the applications. However, only the science CGPA is considered as a qualifying/disqualifying minimum standard.

- Science CGPA: 3.0 minimum.
- Non-Science CGPA: No minimum.
- Overall GPA: No minimum.

Citizenship:

The applicants who are not permanent residents or citizens of the United States of America are not eligible for admission to the doctor program for now. Moreover, legal permanent residents of the United States need to provide PDF copy (front and back) of their green card (permanent resident card) before admission.

How to Apply?

BCOM uses an admission process in which applicants are evaluated and reviewed and interview decisions are made at regular intervals during the admission cycle. The applicants are advised to apply as early as possible to be competitive in this process:

Application Cycle:

- The primary application service is AAMCOMAS.
- The earliest submission date is 5^th of April.
- Interviews are conducted from August to April.
- The deadline for the primary application is 31^st of March.
- The deadline for BCOM supplemental application is 15^th of April.
- The latest date for MCAT to be considered is July.
- For best consideration, applicants should submit their AAMCOMAS application by 15^th of April of the next year.

Application Process:

BCOM provides the following two steps to applicants to fill the application:

- Step One: BCOM Supplemental Application:

The applicants who will meet the minimum admission requirements will be invited to submit a BCOM supplemental application. There will be a non-refundable of $80 that can be paid by the credit card or by money order/check in the online portal payable to The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine.

- Step Two: Interview and Final Decision:

Once the applicants have submitted their supplemental applications, those applicants will be reviewed by the college and the qualified applicants will be invited for an on-campus interview. The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine uses a rolling admission process and the interviews of the qualified applicants are held from August to April of the application year. There are many interview day activities which will include a half-day schedule consisting of a campus tour of both BCOM and NMSU facilities, presentations will be given on financial aid and curriculums, an interactive session with the present first and second-year students, and an individual interview of the candidate. The applicants will be informed about their selection after Medical Student Selections Committee will evaluate their applications.

Facilities provided at The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine:

Housing Facility:

The College assists the students looking for housing options in the City of Las Cruces. Following are a few options provided by the College:

- The Flats at Ridgeview.

BCOM Library & Laboratory:

It allows the faculty and students to have access to different osteopathic and medical research collection materials that include print and electronic books, electronic databases and journals, and media titles. The Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine also has a BioSciences Research Laboratory. It is available to assist the faculty-driven research activities which may include supervised research experiences for students.

Campus Building:

The BCOM campus is an 80,000 sq. ft., a newly constructed building located in the Arrowhead Research Park on the New Mexico State University (NMSU) campus. The campus ensures that the students get the best of everything, so there are multiple facilities provided on campus which include; lecture halls, seminar rooms for collaborative and traditional learning, a physical diagnosis lab, a hybrid gross-virtual anatomy lab and many more. The College offers numerous resources to its students which includes high-fidelity standardized mannequins, a standardized patient facility, and a hybrid gross-virtual anatomy laboratory to assist them in the development of skills that are required to become an osteopathic physician. The College has assigned spaces for student study including, but not limited to, a 3,500 sq. ft. outdoor covered patio and two student lounge areas, one of which is accompanied by a cafe.

Activity Center:

Following are the few facilities of the activity center:

University Golf Course
Natatorium (Aquatic Center)
Tennis Center

After getting into BCOM:

There are some tips and tricks that need to be kept in mind to effectively get through Medicine School by demonstrating excellent performance and utilization of skills. It is a renowned fact known world-wide that Medicine School is no joke. It requires effort, long sleepless hours, immense hard work, meeting deadlines, and so forth. Thus it is especially essential to follow some core fundamental techniques to get you by.

Create a suitable study plan:

We talked about how the focus is key while studying. Now, when it comes to staying focus while studying, you need to take care of a few other things too. First of all, develop a habit of PRE-STUDY. Don’t leave stuff for the last moment because it is going to harm you in the long-run when your brain wouldn’t accept a lot of information at once. Yes, it happens with not only you but with everyone. Most of the students keep on skipping things which they don’t understand due to which they can’t understand another thing but now, they don’t understand anything. Confusing, right?

Perform daily study:

This phrase is the most commonly used phrase across the world. But this holds an integral importance when it comes to Medicine School. And why is that? Because tackling medicine school on a day-to-day basis is the sole way of ensuring a representable place in the classroom. Medicine school requires versatility in nature, adaptability in routine, resilient and tough working hours where you can either make or break; depending on the way you take this experience. Thus, it is imperative to perform a day-to-day study to ensure your survival; which becomes a necessity, if not an option to many students.

Set your daily goals:

If you have a lot of tasks due on one day and your ability to focus is handled by limited resources of mental energy, which is a common thing when you’re a medical student, then make sure you finish your most important tasks first in your day. If you have to get that assignment done, get it done early on. And, conversely, if you have had to spend all day in a project that’s due tomorrow, don’t expect that you will have the mental energy at the end of the day so that you’re able to focus on the other difficult stuff. Give yourself the evening off!

Ask for Help:

If you ever feel overworked, stressed or just in need of advice or a friendly ear, your university likely has a plethora of resources on campus. Feel like you need help managing a heavy workload? Head to your university’s Student Success Centre or student's union or make an appointment with an academic guidance counselor to search for help. Feel homesick and burned out? Don’t be afraid to reach out to people you trust or your university’s student health services for guidance. There is no shame in admitting that you are having a tough time and asking for help – all of us do at times and you’re not alone. Your health, physical and emotional, is so crucial for keeping you on your feet and moving forward so that you can enjoy your university years to the fullest.

Dr. Najeeb Lectures:

Earlier, we talked about creating study plans for yourself. Now, there are a lot of reasons a student doesn’t understand something’s in class. Maybe, the student is unable to focus in class or make notes or unable to attend classes or to understand the lecture or whatever the reason might be. This is a very tough situation for a medical student, especially, when every word being said in class is very important. You try to ask for help from your classmates or teachers but you aren’t still satisfied because your learning methods are a bit different maybe? But ever imagined a time when a person is a click away for all the solutions to his problems? You can imagine, now that Dr. Najeeb Lectures are at your disposal. These lectures accommodate students with different learning styles, by addressing a diverse set of students with different capabilities. Thus, these lectures are understood widely by every student all over the world, and they’re likely to be your best option. These topics cover a wide canvas encompassing Neuro-anatomy, Embryology, Histology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology. These lectures cover almost all the topics currently in the medical curriculum of almost all the medical institutes. Furthermore, what makes us unique is our ability to give our students a visual representation that makes it easier for the students to store the knowledge in their brain effortlessly. Furthermore, our application makes you accessible to the lectures irrespective of where and when, with no time constraints. Thus, with so many strong aspects of these lectures, these lectures should be your go- too, making your life easy without any constraints and barriers therein. In the end, we would like to assure you that there are always ups and downs in life. Don’t lose hope, keep our tips in mind and Good luck! For more information, please visit their official website.