Michigan State's College of Osteopathic Medicine provides an innovative patient-centered curriculum with multiple specialties and multiple opportunities for clinical exposure. Sound appealing? Well, plug in your earbuds because today I'm speaking with the senior associate dean of admissions at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine.Welcome to the 537th episode of Admissions Straight Talk. Thanks for joining me today. Are you ready to apply to your dream medical schools? Are you competitive at your target programs? Accepted's med school admissions quiz can give you a quick reality check. Complete the quiz, and you'll not only get an assessment, but tips on how to improve your chances of acceptance. Plus, it's all free. Dr. Katherine Ruger earned her undergraduate degree at Northwood University, her master's in counseling and sports psychology at Wayne State, and her PhD in education and organizational leadership from Pepperdine University. She started at MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine as an admissions' counselor in 2009 and has assumed increasing responsibilities ever since. Since August 2022, almost exactly a year ago, she has served as a senior associate dean of admissions and student affairs at Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Ruger, welcome to Admissions Straight Talk. [1:40]Thank you, Linda.Can you give us, just to start, an overview of MSU's DO program, focusing on its more distinctive elements? [1:54]Sure. I'd love to. MSUCOM, which is what I'll refer to it during the course of the session, is a really special place. I think it has a lot to do with the type of people that we recruit and attract, both from an admissions' perspective as well as faculty and staff. Certainly, it's a college of osteopathic medicine, and so our training really revolves around that holistic approach and focusing on preventative medicine. But we're looking for students and faculty and staff who have a commitment to service, a heart for leadership. That type of community just inspires a lot of growth, curiosity, excitement. It's a really wonderful place to be, and I know that I'm biased in saying that perhaps. But I think something that sets us apart is that we are part of Michigan State University, and we have a lot of wonderful access to resources as part of the university.Our college is committed to local community outreach as well as international outreach. A lot of reasons why folks want to be part of our community is because they get to serve different populations of people. We have street medicine, which is where our students, in partnership with clinicians, get to go and work with individuals who are experiencing homelessness. That's more on the local level. Then from an international perspective, we have renowned faculty that are trying to cure malaria in Malawi. We have students going out there and doing medical missions. We have them going to Peru and Guatemala. It's really fun to be able to get them involved in a lot of different ways. It tends to be a reason why, again, folks want to be here.You mentioned the community focus as well as the international focus. That's a balancing act I assume, but I noticed that you have three campuses. You also mentioned that it's obviously an osteopathic school. How do both the ability to study on three different campuses and the osteopathic nature of the program affect the educational experience for MSU students? [3:43]Good question, and one that I've not been asked. The first thing I thought of was the interconnectedness of systems, which

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