IUP Graduates Donate $2 Million for IUP Proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine

Recognizing "the good that it will do and the lives it will save," Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduates Tim and Debra Phillips Cejka have gifted $2 million to IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine.

"We love IUP and we fully support establishing a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP," Tim Cejka said. "We are very grateful that we are able to support the proposed college of osteopathic medicine, and we hope that this inspires others-IUP graduates, businesses, community members, legislators-to join us in giving their time and treasures to move this project forward," he said. "We hope that our passion for this project will be contagious."

The Cejkas, Westmoreland County natives, are 1973 graduates of IUP; Tim Cejka is a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient and has served on the IUP Council of Trustees since 2018.

They served as members of the IUP National Campaign Cabinet of the Imagine Unlimited comprehensive fundraising campaign and were chairs of the portion of the campaign to benefit the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at IUP; Kopchick Hall, IUP's $90-million science and mathematics building, opened in January. The Cejkas are the recipients of the university's inaugural Award of Excellence in Volunteer Leadership.

Tim Cejka is the retired president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company and vice president of ExxonMobil Corp.

"Besides being incredible champions for IUP and for our students, Tim and Deb Cejka are fully committed to doing the right thing at the right time, to supporting projects and initiatives that make the greatest possible positive difference in the lives of others," IUP President Michael Driscoll said.

"Their generosity has helped us to meet important student needs, including in our science programs and creating new opportunities in our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts," President Driscoll said.

"They have both been important members of volunteer leadership groups in addition to their generous financial support, and their wise council has provided important guidance to countless IUP projects," President Driscoll said. "We are very grateful for this gift, and we are honored by the Cejkas' ongoing confidence in IUP to serve students now and in in the future, and to meet the needs of the commonwealth through the proposed college of osteopathic medicine."

IUP's Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP in December 2022. The university chose to explore a proposed college of osteopathic medicine based on several factors, including the critical need for rural health care: there are not enough trained physicians to provide care to Pennsylvania's citizens: the ratio of patients to available primary care physicians is 1,367 to 1, according to the United Health Foundation.

"The data is very clear," Cejka said. "There is a medical care desert in Pennsylvania. It's unbelievable that in 2024, there are people out there who simply can't access medical care, that there are expectant mothers driving two to four hours to get care and to give birth. That's the why of our passion for this project-this should not be happening," he said.

"We might not be able to fully solve this crisis, but we can take action and make a real difference in helping to create solutions," he said.

"IUP's charge as a public university is to educate talented people who can fill the jobs that our commonwealth and our nation need-and we need doctors," Cejka said.

"Given IUP's already strong programs in science and in the health sciences, like nursing, these complementary successful academic programs will complement the proposed college of medicine-IUP won't need to create new undergraduate programs," Cejka said. "With the proposed college of osteopathic medicine, we will have a one-stop-shop in place. Instead of preparing students for other medical schools, we can prepare them for IUP's college of osteopathic medicine.

"IUP has a record of success with our students and faculty that make us ready for this opportunity. It's almost as if a college of osteopathic medicine was made for us," he said.

"The Trustees join the university community in total support for this project," he said. "As it helps to address the shortage of highly trained physicians, it also will provide a great economic benefit to the Indiana community, to the region, and to the commonwealth," he said.

On June 24, IUP and Punxsutawney Area Hospital signed a clinical training affiliation agreement for students in IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine. This is the first clinical training affiliation agreement between IUP and a hospital or medical center. Typically, students in colleges of osteopathic medicine spend the first two years in the classroom; during the third and fourth years, students are trained at clinical sites.

IUP has formally initiated steps towards accreditation of its proposed college of osteopathic medicine from the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, a three- to five-year process that includes submission of self-studies and a feasibility study, along with site visits. Securing clinical training sites for students is part of the successful accreditation process.

Miko Rose was hired as the founding dean of the proposed college of osteopathic medicine in November 2023; the hiring of a founding dean is one of the first steps to establishing the college.

There are only three colleges of osteopathic medicine in Pennsylvania, all at private universities; IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine would be the only college of osteopathic medicine at a public university. National studies show that osteopathic medicine graduates are more likely to pursue primary care in rural and underserved areas-57 percent of all doctors of osteopathic medicine practice as general practitioners, and more than 20 percent of DO graduates practice in rural areas.

Demand is high for osteopathic medicine training: in 2021, 22,708 applicants competed for 8,280 seats at schools of osteopathic medicine. IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine continues to draw support from individual donors, foundations, and from legislators.

In June, the Foundation for IUP committed $20 million to support IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine. In May, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler included $2 million for IUP's project among his FY25 requested community projects, and Senator John Fetterman included $2 million for IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine project on his list to advance in the FY25 Community Project Funding process.

The proposed college of osteopathic medicine received a $150,000 allocation in the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024, which was sponsored by Congressman Reschenthaler and Senator Fetterman and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 9.

In January, IUP's Alumni Association Board of Directors authorized a donation of $500,000 to IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine project. In May 2023, Rich Caruso, a 1983 accounting graduate from Meadow Lands, 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and former president of the Foundation for IUP Board of Directors and current board member, announced a pledge of $1 million for the project.

In December 2023, Senator Joe Pittman announced that as part of the 2023-24 state budget, $2 million was set aside for IUP's new college of osteopathic medicine. These new dollars are an investment above and beyond what IUP receives in the budget and will be used largely to support the operations at the start of the medical school.

In July 2023, IUP graduates Nick Jacobs and Mary Ann Hoysan Jacobs donated $40,000 to advance the project. Nick Jacobs is a 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient who has a 1969 bachelor's degree in education and a 1972 master's degree in music education; Mary Ann Jacobs has a 1968 bachelor's degree in music education and a 1993 master's degree in adult and community education.

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