Courtesy: THE PROPOSED IDAHO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

Courtesy: THE PROPOSED IDAHO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

MERIDIAN, Idaho - (KIFI/KIDK) Efforts are still underway in opening the Proposed Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine. ICOM will be a privately owned medical school. The school will be funded through tuition, instead of taxes.

While the college is still in the accreditation phase, they do plan on opening their doors in 2018.

"So we are planning for August 2018 to be our opening for the first class, assuming all goes well with construction and accreditation. And we are going to take a 150 medical students in the first class, even with these 150 medical students, we know that there is still going to be a tremendous need for physicians in the region," said Dr. Robert Hasty, the founding dean and chief academic officer atICOM.

Representatives from the college said they will be partnering with Idaho State University.

"ICOM is a wonderful example of a public, private partnership between Idaho State University and the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine," commented Dr. Tracy Farnsworth, the president ofICOM. "We expect to have a lot of shared teaching and research collaborations that will not only benefit the medical students but all the allied health professions at Idaho State University."

Dr. Hasty said that the new college will also be good for Idaho's economy.

"So we have commissioned an independent organization and they done an economic feasibility package for us. It looks like we are going to make over 500 million dollar economic impact in the first ten years of ICOM. Over 50 million dollars a year for the region," said Dr. Hasty.

ICOM has not decided on their tuition for students yet. However, they did say it will be less than the national average for U.S. private osteopathic medical schools.

The state of Idaho awarded the school with a tax reimbursement incentive. ICOM's website said the money will go towards scholarships for Idaho residents. ICOM said they will give preference to ISU graduates.

If you are interested in learning more about the Proposed College of Osteopathic Medicine, click here.

The college will be located in Meridian, Idaho.

Read more:

Efforts continue in opening new medical school in Idaho - LocalNews8.com