Today@Sam Article

SHSU-COM Welcomes New Clinical Training Partners

March 12, 2024
SHSU Media Contact: Mikah Boyd

The Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (SHSU-COM) is pleased to announce a new clinical partnership with the Ibn Sina Foundation and OakBend Medical Center to train medical students and residents in Fort Bend County. Beginning August 2024, the Ibn Sina Foundation and OakBend Medical Center will partner with SHSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine to train third and fourth year medical students. The partnership will also begin the process to develop new graduate medical education programs in primary care medicine.

For the past 24 years, Ibn Sina Foundation clinics have been providing preventative and primary health services for a growing population of low income, uninsured  families. Named after the eleventh century Persian physician and philosopher who is widely regarded as the father of early modern medicine, the non-profit foundation has provided integrated preventive and primary care at affordable prices to all who seek it, treating every individual with dignity and respect.

OakBend Medical Center was founded in 1950 as Polly Ryon Memorial Hospital. The name was changed to OakBend Medical Center in 2004 and it has expanded to three locations. OakBend has continued its 75-plus year commitment to the health and wellness of the local community as the only remaining independent non-profit hospital in the Greater Houston area.

“SHSU-COM trains students in clinical sites in rural, urban and community-based settings where there is a need for primary care physicians. Clinical partnerships are integral to osteopathic medical education,” said Thomas J. Mohr, DO, dean of SHSU-COM. “The Ibn Sina/OakBend clinical training region of Sam Houston State University College of Osteopathic Medicine is a collaboration that will leverage the strengths of each partner aligned with their shared missions to expand access to high-quality healthcare for those in need.”

Initially, the Ibn Sina Foundation explored the creation of a new osteopathic medical school to train physicians who would serve these populations in Greater Houston, according to Founder and Chairman Nasruddin Rupani. Following a year-long investigation, the decision was made to partner with SHSU-COM to place third and fourth year medical students in Fort Bend County. SHSU-COM opened in 2020 and will graduate its inaugural cohort of future physicians in May. The foundation’s goal for the partnership is to establish a clinical training region where student doctors are trained while simultaneously serving an area in critical need of healthcare workers.

“It’s a win-win scenario for each of our organizations,” Mohr said. “OakBend Medical Center and Ibn Sina Clinics provide a range of excellent healthcare services including primary care, emergency medicine, women’s health, mental health services and will provide medical education opportunities under the guidance of clinical preceptors. Our student doctors assigned to the Ibn Sina/OakBend clinical training site will move to Fort Bend County for their final two years of medical school and become embedded in the community. We hope they will set down roots and decide to stay when their training is complete, thus providing a pipeline for future healthcare providers.”

- END -

This page maintained by SHSU's Communications Office:

Director of Content Communications: Emily Binetti

Communications Manager: Mikah Boyd
Telephone: 936.294.1837

Communications Specialist: Campbell Atkins
Telephone: 936.294.2638

Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu