Clinical Rotations

The Partnership

A.T. Still University School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (ATSU-SOMA) operates a 1-3 model of medical education where students spend their first year on campus in Mesa, Arizona, but spend years 2-4 at a Community Health Center located in underserved communities across the country.

Beginning in 2020, The Wright Center for Community Health will host 10 second-year students from ATSU-SOMA and, over time, 10 of each second to fourth year students for a full complement of 30 total students.

ATSU-SOMA is committed to training learners in the communities that they are from. Partnering with The Wright Center for Community Health will allow learners to experience Northeastern Pennsylvania and make an important contribution to renewing our local physician workforce.

I want to know my patients; I want to have a relationship with them, and, if one day, through this program, I can practice at an organization similar in scope and vision to The Wright Center for Community Health, all the better.

Grace McGrath, Hometown Scholar

Are you interested in visiting The Wright Center for Community Health?

Our team holds student visits every third Monday of the month from 9am – 1pm. Please contact Eileen Howells for further details.

The Promise

Following the death of three of his children from spinal meningitis, Andrew Taylor Still, DO, founder and namesake of A.T. Still University, devoted his life to studying the human body and finding better ways to treat disease. He founded a philosophy of medicine deeply rooted in the belief that all body systems are interrelated and dependent upon one another for good health.

Dr. Still pioneered the concept of wellness and identified the musculoskeletal system as a key element of health. Today, there are 35 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine in the United States. These colleges are accredited to deliver instruction at 55 teaching locations in 32 states.

From Scranton to Scholar

Grace McGrath is the first Scranton-area resident and Wright Center for Community Health endorsed candidate to be accepted into ATSU-SOMA’s Hometown Scholars program, which targets future physicians looking to make an impact in a community health setting.

McGrath’s training at ATSU-SOMA will be unique from other medical schools in that she will have the opportunity to return to Scranton for her second year. She will train in the classroom while also going into The Wright Center for Community Health’s clinical settings at least once a week. “Usually, you don’t get to do that until the third year,” she said. She’ll continue these rotations into her third and fourth years, while also layering in rotational experiences in area hospitals.