Campus and Alumni News Highlights
Digest Magazine: Summer 2026
August 25, 2026
A Strong Match for the Class of 2026
As osteopathic medical students across the country celebrated a fourth consecutive year of record residency placement success, PCOM’s Class of 2026 marked Match Day with outstanding outcomes of its own.
Nationally, osteopathic medical students and graduates achieved record-breaking success in the 2026 National Resident Matching Program Match. According to the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, 9,019 DOs matched, resulting in a 98.7% match rate.
PCOM graduates reflected that national momentum with exceptional placement results. DO students at both PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia achieved a 100% postgraduate placement rate, while PCOM recorded a 99% placement rate overall. Placements include residency, research and clinical fellowship positions. More than half (52%) of PCOM’s DO graduates entered primary care specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology and pediatrics.
Many graduates will also continue their training close to home. In Georgia, 33% of PCOM Georgia DO graduates and 35% of PCOM South Georgia DO graduates matched into graduate medical education programs within the state. Members of the Class of 2026 secured positions across a wide range of specialties, including urology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Students in PCOM’s School of Professional and Applied Psychology also celebrated exceptional results, with 100% of School Psychology students participating in the match securing placements in the first round. Graduates of PCOM’s Doctor of Pharmacy and Doctor of Physical Therapy programs likewise earned internship and residency placements, continuing their clinical training at healthcare institutions across the country.
PCOM's Growing Impact in Georgia
A recently commissioned economic impact report shows that PCOM contributed approximately $292.6 million in direct economic impact in Georgia in 2025. Boosting business activity, job creation and state and local tax revenues across the state, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia are driving forces in medical education in the state, supporting over 2,100 jobs and generating over $14 million in tax revenue statewide.
The report also underscores PCOM’s role in developing the state’s future healthcare workforce. More than 60% of osteopathic medical students enrolled at PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia are Georgia residents, and more than half of the College’s graduates pursue primary care specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.
Partners in Community Health
Partnerships are opening new doors for PCOM students while helping the College meet the needs of the communities it serves.
This year, PCOM partnered with ChristianaCare and Bayhealth to establish the Delaware Collaborative Clinical Campus. Launched in July 2026, the program allows third-year medical students to complete clinical training in Kent and Sussex counties while helping address physician shortages in central and southern Delaware. The inaugural cohort includes five Delaware Institute of Medical Education and Research (DIMER) students.
“This clinical campus represents an innovative model that we hope all Delaware hospitals will embrace, ensuring that our students experience the full breadth of educational and professional opportunities available across the state,” said Michael A. Becker, DO ’87, senior associate dean of clinical education at PCOM.
In Philadelphia, a new partnership with the Cobbs Creek Foundation is introducing young people to careers in healthcare through the Smilow Woodland TGR Learning Lab. PCOM sponsors the learning lab’s kitchen and café—the PCOM Café—and supports programming that blends nutrition education with career exploration. Through Greens to Goals, PCOM faculty, staff and students lead interactive workshops that encourage healthy lifestyles. The programming also includes hands-on activities, mentorship, and conversations with healthcare professionals designed to introduce participants to a range of careers in medicine and the health sciences.
“Through this partnership, we’re helping young people see themselves with a future in healthcare,” said Jay S. Feldstein, DO '81, president and CEO of PCOM. “By offering real-world insights and mentorship, PCOM students are giving back to the community while inspiring the next generation of compassionate and skilled healthcare professionals.”
A Champion for Health Care and Community
PCOM President and CEO Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, has been named a 2026 Community Champion by the Philadelphia Business Journal, recognizing his leadership within the region’s healthcare ecosystem. Recognized among inaugural Healthcare Leadership Awards honorees, Dr. Feldstein continues to exemplify innovation, collaboration and commitment to patient care.
A Gift Beyond Measure
When Hannah Callahan learned that healthy people could donate a kidney while living, she couldn’t stop thinking about it.
The project manager in PCOM’s School of Professional and Applied Psychology recently donated one of her kidneys to a stranger through the Penn Transplant Institute’s Center for Living Donation.
Ms. Callahan, who supports multiple clinical studies at PCOM, began researching living kidney donation after learning about paired exchange programs. After months of medical evaluations and screening, she was matched with a recipient through the National Kidney Registry.
“A couple of days of testing, a surgery and a short recovery feels like nothing when you think about someone who might no longer need dialysis for hours every day,” Ms. Callahan said.
She hopes her experience encourages others to consider how even a single act of generosity can make a lasting difference.
“If one person reads this and thinks, ‘Wow—someone did something good for a stranger,’ maybe it will encourage them to do one good thing,” she said.
Meeting Student Athletes Where They Are
This spring, PCOM South Georgia launched its Athletes in Medicine program, introducing local student athletes to healthcare careers through hands-on workshops in injury prevention, nutrition and wellness.
Led by Jennifer Jenkins, EdD, director of Campus and Community Partnerships at PCOM South Georgia, the initiative brings together 80 high school football players from Thomasville, Georgia, every other Thursday with PCOM students and faculty.
The program combines practical health education with career exposure, connecting athletics to fields such as sports medicine, physical therapy and osteopathic medicine. Students receive tools like resistance bands and foam rollers, while PCOM medical students gain experience working directly within the community.
This summer, PCOM students will also conduct hydration research with participating athletes to help develop individualized recommendations during South Georgia’s extreme heat.
“We’re meeting them where they are—then showing them where they could go,” Dr. Jenkins said.
Healthcare Leaders of Today Welcome PCOM Class of 2026
PCOM celebrated a defining milestone this spring, awarding degrees to more than 700 graduates across its three campus locations. The ceremonies reflected both the academic achievements of the Class of 2026 and the broader mission that unites the institution: preparing health professionals to lead with skill, empathy and purpose in a rapidly evolving care landscape.
Graduates received varying degrees from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, School of Professional and Applied Psychology, School of Pharmacy and School of Health Professions and Sciences. They will now move forward into residency programs and professional roles spanning a wide range of specialties, including family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, anesthesiology and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
While each campus celebration carried its own feel, a shared thread connected them all—three keynote speakers whose careers embody innovation, service and the future of healthcare. Together, these speakers offered graduates not only inspiration, but a lens into the many directions a life in medicine can take.
A National Voice for Public Health
In Philadelphia, Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, the 19th and 21st U.S. Surgeon General, served as the 2026 speaker in the David A. Bitonte, DO ’80, MBA, MPH, FAOCA, Commencement Speaker Series. He brought a message shaped by years at the forefront of national and global health challenges.
Dr. Murthy’s leadership has elevated conversations around mental health, loneliness, health misinformation and workplace well-being, while his role as co-chair of the White House COVID-19 Task Force placed him at the center of one of the most critical public health responses in recent history.
Addressing graduates, he emphasized that the future of medicine depends not only on clinical expertise, but on restoring trust, strengthening human connection and leading with compassion in an increasingly complex world.
Medicine Beyond Earth
In Georgia, J.D. Polk, DO, MS, MMM, CPE, FACOEP, FAsMA, chief health and medical officer at NASA, offered a perspective grounded in exploration and possibility.
Dr. Polk most recently supported the Artemis II mission as it successfully orbited the moon and returned to Earth, an achievement that underscores how far medicine has expanded beyond traditional boundaries.
His message to graduates highlighted adaptability, innovation, and the importance of interdisciplinary thinking as health care continues to intersect with new frontiers.
Service at the Community Level
For PCOM South Georgia students, Kirby O. Smith, DO, delivered a keynote focused on community impact and relationship-centered care.
A family physician, educator and healthcare leader, Dr. Smith has dedicated his career to improving access to care in rural communities. As the inaugural program director of the Georgia South Family Medicine Residency Program at Colquitt Regional Medical Center, he has helped shape the next generation of physicians committed to serving where they are needed most.
Dr. Smith’s remarks underscored the power of mentorship, the importance of community engagement and the enduring value of compassionate, patient-centered care—reminding graduates that meaningful innovation often begins at the local level.
Though their paths differ—from national policy to space medicine to rural healthcare—Drs. Murthy, Polk and Smith share a common commitment to advancing the human side of medicine. Their collective presence across PCOM’s three campuses reinforced a central message: that the future of health care will be defined not only by scientific and technological progress, but by the people who choose to lead with integrity, curiosity and service.