Preparing for the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine interview

To excel in your Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine interview, you’ll need more than rehearsed answers—you’ll need a nuanced grasp of New York’s healthcare challenges, policy debates, and the social dynamics shaping care in underserved communities. 

This guide equips you with targeted insights to craft responses that align with TouroCOM’s mission of holistic, community-driven medicine.

1. The TouroCOM Interview: MMI Structure, Themes, and Hidden Agendas

TouroCOM’s Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) evaluates adaptability, ethical reasoning, and alignment with osteopathic principles. 

Key details:

• Ethical Dilemma Stations: Scenarios probe health equity and cultural humility. Example: “A Hasidic Jewish mother in Kiryas Joel refuses the HPV vaccine for her daughter. How do you address her concerns while respecting cultural values?”

• Role-Play Stations: Simulate patient interactions with underserved populations. Prompt: “A Spanish-speaking farmworker in Sullivan County distrusts your diagnosis of diabetes. Demonstrate how you’d build rapport and explain OMT as part of their care plan.”

• Collaboration Stations: Team-based problem-solving, e.g., “Design a community intervention to reduce opioid overdoses in Middletown. How would you partner with local recovery groups like RECAP?”

• OMT Integration Stations: Assess hands-on reasoning. Example: “A construction worker with chronic low back pain dismisses OMT as ‘quackery.’ How do you advocate for its evidence-based benefits?”

Themes: Health disparities, patient autonomy vs. public health mandates, and OMT’s role in holistic care.

Insider Tip: TouroCOM’s secondary application (studentdoctor.net) asks for a mission-focused essay distinct from AACOMAS. Use this to highlight experiences relevant to MMI themes (e.g., volunteering at Refuah Health Center’s vaccine drives).

2. New York’s Healthcare Policy: Urban-Rural Divides and Progressive Reforms

1. Medicaid Redesign (2023)

NY’s Medicaid covers 7.7 million residents—40% of the state. The 2023 redesign expanded coverage for undocumented immigrants aged 65+ and added $1.2B for safety-net hospitals like NYC Health + Hospitals. TouroCOM’s clinical rotations at BronxCare Health System place students at the epicenter of this policy, serving Medicaid-dependent populations with high rates of diabetes and hypertension.

Tip: Name-drop TouroCOM’s partnership with Refuah Health Center, a federally qualified health center (FQHC) in Rockland County serving ultra-Orthodox Jewish and Latino communities.

2. Opioid Settlement Reinvestment

NY is allocating $2.6B from opioid lawsuits to fund harm reduction (e.g., naloxone vending machines in Middletown) and recovery housing. TouroCOM students staff mobile clinics in Newburgh, where overdose deaths rose 45% in 2023.

3. Climate Health Equity

The 2023 Climate Leadership Act mandates asthma mitigation in public housing. This impacts Hudson Valley cities like Poughkeepsie, where ER visits for pediatric asthma are 3x the state average due to mold and pollution.

3. Current Events & Social Issues: The NY Lens

Local Flashpoints

• Maternal Mortality: Black women in NYC die postpartum at 8x the rate of white women. TouroCOM’s Maternal Health Equity Initiative trains students to address implicit bias in prenatal care—critical in the Bronx, where 38% of births are Medicaid-funded.

• Mental Health in Schools: NY’s 2024 Student Mental Health Act requires K-12 schools to hire licensed therapists. TouroCOM partners with Middletown School District to screen for trauma in Latino youth, 40% of whom live below the poverty line.

• Immigrant Health: Over 500,000 undocumented immigrants in NY gained access to state-funded prenatal care in 2023. TouroCOM’s HEAL Initiative offers bilingual diabetes education in Newburgh’s Guatemalan enclaves.

National Issues with NY Stakes

• Abortion Access: NY’s “safe harbor” laws protect providers serving out-of-state patients. Discuss how Dobbs v. Jackson impacts OB-GYN training at TouroCOM’s clinical sites.

• Housing Instability: 92,000 NY students experienced homelessness in 2023. Tie this to TouroCOM’s Street Medicine Program, which treats unsheltered populations in Kingston.

Tip: Reference TouroCOM’s Center for Disaster Medicine when discussing climate or public health crises.

4. The 5 Questions Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine is most likely to ask during your medical school interview

1. “Why osteopathic medicine, and why TouroCOM specifically? How does our mission align with your goals?”

2. “How would you improve trust in medicine within a marginalized community you’ve worked with?”

3. “A patient insists their chronic pain is due to ‘bad energy,’ not sciatica. How do you respond?” (Tests OMT integration)

4. “Describe a time you advocated for a patient facing systemic barriers.”

5. “New York ranks 2nd in health disparities. Propose a policy solution for the Hudson Valley.”