Six O’Clock Series to Feature Proposed School of Osteopathic Medicine Founding Dean

Indiana University of Pennsylvania will continue its Six O'Clock Series on September 30 with a presentation by Miko Rose, the founding dean of IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine.

The Six O'Clock Series is free and open to the community and offered in the Elkin Hall Great Room from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Rose, a board-certified physician in psychiatry and neurology who is nationally known for wellness programming, began work as the founding dean for IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine in November 2023.

Rose came to IUP from Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she is associate professor and chief of the Division of Psychiatry in the Department of Clinical Medicine and assistant dean for Clinical Education.

She was also an associate professor and program director of the Joy Initiative Wellness Program at Michigan State University. She founded and started the Joy Initiative at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and College of Osteopathic Medicine schools. She completed her medical training at Michigan State.

In May, she was elected as a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists by the Fellows of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists/American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists. Candidates for ACN fellowship are nominated by two current fellows and are reviewed by the ACN Board of Governors. Fellows must be board certified and serve the American College of Neurologists and Psychiatrists in some capacity.

Prior to entering medical school, Rose worked as a program officer, fundraiser, and advocate for the underserved with a focus on overcoming domestic violence and trauma.

"I did not plan to enter medicine until I started to work in organizations that focused on serving vulnerable communities," she said. "As I traveled the globe, especially as I worked with organizations throughout the United States and in Central America, I saw that health care in these communities was not being adequately addressed.

"So, in spite of efforts to raise funds for basic needs like food and shelter, it became very clear that if I couldn't help these communities get basic health care, all of the other services and help that I could provide wouldn't be enough to change lives," she said.

"I went to medical school as a second career because I saw that access to health care was what was really needed," Rose said. "At that time, I didn't know about studies or statistics; since then, there have been many studies, data, and research and reports that the way to change the poverty cycle is to focus on physical health and healing," she said.

Rose has more than 25 years of experience and formal training in life coaching. Drawing upon her experiences with underserved communities, she now creates and facilitates happiness training programs for medical providers and trainees across the country.

In 2013, she was awarded the SAMHSA American Psychiatric Association Minority Leadership Fellowship Grant, from which she built the foundation to develop emotional resilience, happiness, and mindfulness trainings tailored to meet the unique needs of medical providers.

She is responsible for offering one of the first formal classes on happiness and joy in medical schools in the nation-which she taught as a for-credit class in two medical schools for the past nine years. This curriculum has since expanded to provide training for peak performance for team coaches, trainers, and student athletes.

In 2019 and again in 2024, Rose received an award as one of the top medical educators in the country, the National American Osteopathic Medical Educator Fellowship Teaching award, which is a five-year fellowship.

Rose is a 1995 graduate of Wellesley College, with a degree in psychology, and a 2009 graduate of Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine degree. She is the recipient of a number of competitive scholarships and fellowships, has been an invited presenter at more than 50 conferences and professional meetings, and has authored more than 20 articles in professional publications and journals.

IUP's Council of Trustees endorsed the exploration of a possible development of a college of osteopathic medicine at IUP in December 2022.

"In the face of a global mental health crisis, the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and national shortage of primary care physicians, there is a critical need for more well-trained primary care physicians who are prepared to address these mental health issues within the primary care setting," Rose said. "IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine has this goal as part of its framework, readying new osteopathic physicians to meet this challenge head on," she said.

There are only three colleges of osteopathic medicine in Pennsylvania, all at private universities; when established, IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine would be the fourth college of osteopathic medicine in the commonwealth and the only college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in Pennsylvania.

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.

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.

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