Region I Trustee
LECOM – Erie
Region I is a group of nine chapters from the northeastern United States. We represent a diverse group of students from schools in Maine, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Our members are a group of medical student leaders who are passionate about the osteopathic profession. As a region we have chosen to focus our outreach on preventative care and equitable healthcare for diverse populations. Region I is devoted to promoting osteopathic medicine through advocacy and leadership at each school and its respective local community as well as on the state and national level.
LAKE ERIE COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE – SETON HILL CAMPUS
We are LECOM-SH SOMA and we are located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania on the Seton Hill University Campus. Greensburg is a small city approximately 45 minutes outside of Pittsburgh (one of Pennsylvania’s largest cities). Because of this, our SOMA has the opportunity to be involved in all kinds of activities. In the past we have partnered with the Westmoreland Food Bank to collect food for those suffering from food insecurity. We also organize multiple fundraising drives throughout the year including LECOM gear and medical equipment. Recently, we have helped the Seton Hill University students develop a PreSOMA chapter and we are excited to continue a mentorship program with them!
Follow us on social media:
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
www.lecom.edu
Contact us: lecomsetonhill@studentdo.com / (724) 552-2880
LAKE ERIE COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE – ERIE CAMPUS
We are located in Erie, Pennsylvania where it never stops snowing! Our SOMA Chapter hosts a variety of events to engage students including the OMS1/OMS2 Big-Little Program, Review Nights for Core Courses, and Zoom Meetings with local area physicians! We also put on a variety of fundraisers that include small equipment sales for our history and physical course, LECOM gear sales, and flower sales at the commencement ceremony! In the community we have been able to host food drives and letter writing events that were both in compliance with the limitations in place due to COVID. LECOM is very lucky to have an associated Senior Living Center and SOMA has developed events to encourage students to volunteer with the residents. Not only do the students enjoy a break from the grind of medical school, but the residents also look forward to the events and we have received plenty of positive feedback with a desire for more events. We are a group that is passionate about equity in medicine and have now included a position for Diversity Advocacy on our Board of Directors. Follow along on Instagram as each month we elevate different groups to both raise awareness and allow us to be better advocates.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook
Contact us: lecompa@studentdo.com
Chapter President: Mikaela Wadding
Nat’l Liaison Officer: Lauren Hibshman
LAKE ERIE COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE – ELMIRA
We are LECOM-Elmira, and we are located in Elmira, New York. Known as “The Queen City” of New York’s Southern Tier region, Elmira possesses all the small-town charm expected from a community so steeped in history and culture. Because of this, our SOMA has the opportunity to be involved in all kinds of activities. Newly added as an official SOMA Chapter in October 2022, we are excited to offer various SOMA activities to our members!
Contact us: lecomelmira@studentdo.com
NYITCOM Old Westbury
Our chapter’s goal is to introduce medical students to SOMA. We aim to educate students about their role in health advocacy, inform students of the opportunities available to them through community leadership, and promote meaningful involvement opportunities.
2020-2021 Community Outreach
Pre-SOMA Outreach and Mentorship Program: We partnered 60 NYITCOM students with 60 undergraduate students at NYIT and Binghamton University. Our medical students provided mentorship to students applying for medical school.
Shatterproof Fundraiser: NYIT-COM SOMA students raised $1,685 to spread awareness about Substance Use Disorder Recovery Month. We also encouraged physical activity among our medical students and faculty, encouraging students to sign up for Fit Physicians.
Narcan training: Spearheaded by our Opioid Overdose Taskforce, SOMA held a virtual Narcan training session for our medical students.
Community Health Screening: We partnered with Lutheran Church of our Savior and our medical students performed eye exams, took blood pressure readings and measured blood glucose levels for numerous patients from underserved populations.
Follow us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Contact us: nyitcomsoma@studentdo.com
PCOM
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Hello from the city of Brotherly Love! Currently located on the west side of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the PCOM chapter of SOMA holds various events throughout the year to benefit both students on campus as well as members of our community.
These events include a professional white coat sale for our M2 and M3’s to have for clinical rotations as well as an equipment sale for the incoming DO class. We have a 5K fundraiser, held virtually this year, that benefits our local PCOM Student Run Clinic shelters. We also arrange community service events, such as volunteering at MANNA, an organization that prepares and delivers food to those with nutritional risks. We are involved with our campus’s cultural competency program to build upon our student body’s cultural humility towards important social issues by hosting speakers and workshops. We look forward to building upon these events and having another successful year!
Follow us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Contact us: pcom@studentdo.com
RowanSOM
Hello from RowanSOM’s chapter of SOMA! We are dedicated to helping the community within and surrounding our campus. We also provide information about national events, such as DO Day on Capitol Hill, OMED, available national SOMA scholarships, and more.
Every year, Rowan SOMA chapter hosts many fundraiser events such as Halloween for the Hungry, where medical students trick-or-treat for canned goods and other non-perishable items and donate them to Philabundance, a non-profit food bank. This year, students picked up the donated items at the doorsteps of people’s home in a COVID-friendly manner. SOMA also held several other events including Mentor of the Year, virtual policy writing events, healthcare speakers, book drive, journal club and a virtual charcuterie board making class to help students de-stress. In addition, SOMA created a partnership with a local college and started a mentorship program with undergraduate students.
Follow us on social media:
Facebook
Instagram
Contact us: rowansom@studentdo.com
TOUROCOM-HARLEM
The beautiful history of TouroCOM NY began in 2007 when it opened its doors in the heart of Harlem, NY. Touro places a huge emphasis on engagement with the Harlem community as well as building a stronger community within the Touro family. As part of this, every year, our SOMA Chapter hosts the orientation week BBQ, participates in two local health fairs hosted by all of the organizations at the Harlem TouroCOM, as well as ending the year off by bringing students to D.O Day in Washington DC. D.O day is one of our biggest events because we take students to learn about the many policies being battled for by our representatives in the state capital. It is truly an eye-opening event for many students who are not familiar with the policy process. It also is an experience that inspires many students and gives them an opportunity to meet and network with individuals from across the nation.
Due to the recent switch to online learning, things are looking a little different. We were forced to celebrate National Osteopathic Medicine Week from home, but we refuse to let the current global situation hinder us celebrating the one week of the year that celebrates us as students and future physicians. As a way to combated this, our Chapter planned an initiative to empower and encourage ourselves and our DO week was born! This is a week of events where students will be given a topic of the day and have the opportunity to post their responses on Facebook. The goal of this week is to facilitate conversations and just celebrate ourselves. One of the days even included a “#tbt” where students are encouraged to post old pictures from their premedical years. We wanted to use this time, that has been given to us, to learn about what makes each of us great individually and with that, we can understand what makes us an unstoppable force together.
Follow us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Contact us: tourocom@studentdo.com
President: Abbey Santanello – asantane@student.touro.edu
TouroCOM Middletown
Hello from The TouroCOM Middletown chapter of SOMA! We’re one of two TouroCOM schools in NYS. Our campus is located in the beautiful Hudson Valley, by the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains.
At TouroCOM we’re passionate about osteopathic medicine and the impact we have on our community, both locally and nationally. We strive to be involved in any way we can, whether it’s through politics or volunteer work!
This year we’ve held many exciting events! One of our favorites was a research symposium where a lot of our very own eboard members attended and shared their own research! We also held a fun community event to share donuts with our peers to celebrate each other during the National Osteopathic Medicine week.
We’ve continued to expand our Pre-SOMA outreach by hosting events with Pre-SOMA chapters and pre-med students. We love sharing our passion for osteopathic medicine with pre-med students and hope to continue to inspire more future osteopathic physicians over the next year!
Our new E-board is excited for more great events over the next year, already being so involved in the school and community, we have a lot of great connections to hold some exciting events coming up!
Follow us on social media:
Instagram
Facebook
Contact us: touromiddletown@studentdo.com
UNECOM
Hello from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine SOMA! As one of the most active student organizations at UNECOM, we are proud of the impact we have had in the school community as well as in southern Maine and New England. We are the only osteopathic medical school in New England, as well as the only medical school in the beautiful state of Maine. Our campus sits along the Saco River and is a wonderful place to learn, study, and grow. We’re proud to be osteopathic student doctors and love welcoming new members! Our main goals are education and advocacy. Every year we put on many events including a CV writing workshop, a fundraising bake sale, Pre-SOMA day, and have strong attendance at DO Day on the Hill. This past year we’ve worked with other clubs and organizations to host educational seminars on cultivating leadership skills, fighting anti-semitism, increasing bone marrow donor registration within our community and many more. We are always looking to follow the passions of our members and cannot wait to see what this year has in store!
Follow us on social media:
Facebook
Contact us: unecom@studentdo.com
Chapter President: Samantha Culver
Nat’l Liaison Officer: Sean Grogan