The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine is a private, non-profit osteopathic medical school located in Blacksburg, Virginia. The school is very closely associated with the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), but is not a part of it and receives no state support.
The school is located in the Corporate Research Center on the Virginia Tech campus. It has a "cooperative agreement" with Virginia Tech and receives certain support services from the university. Students have the use of all campus facilities on an equal basis with Tech students.
The school was founded in 2001 through the gift of Edward Via . The purpose of the school is to help alleviate the critical shortage of physicians in Appalachia. The school places primary recruiting on students from a rural Appalachian background, particulary the rural sections of central and southwestern Virginia. While students are fully prepared to specialize in any division of medicine, the primary focus of the college is the training of primary care physicians to serve a rural population.
The school is one of 20 colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States, and one of four located in Appalachia.
Last updated: 10-18-2005 07:10:15