A Defining Moment, A Determined Response

Introducing the College of Osteopathic Medicine

A rendering of the proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, an 80,000 square-foot building on Forbes Avenue that will provide a highly visible home for Duquesne's first new College in more than 20 years. 

Duquesne University’s Five-Year Strategic Plan, implemented in 2018, asked every member of our University community to imagine what our Spiritan founders would do if they reappeared in Pittsburgh today. We know what they did in 1878. They risked everything they had to uplift poor and marginalized immigrants through higher education.

In 2022, amid a pandemic, they would not be timid. We are called to act boldly, and act we will with the launch of a proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine. In a nation of plenty—and a region renowned for health care and innovation—too many people still lack access to basic medical services. There aren’t enough doctors to serve everyone, especially in the primary care practice so vital to overall wellbeing.

And the shortfall will only worsen in the years to come. Medical schools across the country have increased enrollment, but a growing, aging population—coupled with the impending retirement of thousands of active physicians—amplifies the urgency of the need.

The impact of your gift

The launch of a College of Osteopathic Medicine is, by far, the most ambitious development objective in our history—one made even more challenging by the fact that, as a new school, there is no direct alumni base from which to seek gifts.

Yet we forge confidently forward, walking alongside the marginalized, just as our founders would have done. Marking another step toward its fall 2024 launch, Duquesne University's proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) recently received "candidate status" from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA).

Your gift to the proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine will help make our vision a reality – reversing a shortage of primary care practitioners and improving access to health care for people in need. Please click on the "Give Now" button to make your gift today. Thank you!