NSU's College of Osteopathic Medicine receives approval for new medical specialty

Nova Southeastern University's College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-COM) received approval for a new medical specialty—correctional medicine—that was developed at the college in collaboration with the Florida Department of Corrections.

NSU-COM became the first medical school in the country to gain such recognition when the standards developed by the college for this distinct specialty were approved by the American Osteopathic Association. The College of Osteopathic Medicine now has the first accredited and approved correctional medicine fellowship program in the country.

David Thomas, M.D., J.D., professor and chair of the college's Department of Surgery and Division of Correctional Medicine, described the innovation as "very, very rare. The last new specialty I can remember was the creation of emergency medicine in 1976."

In the U.S., there are an estimated 7.1 million men and women under adult correctional supervision, and more than 1.5 million are cared for by physicians who work full time in this challenging environment, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

The new correctional medicine specialty represents a milestone in medical treatment.

NSU-COM established a two-year postgraduate correctional medicine fellowship in 2010 that offers broad interdisciplinary experience in oncology, radiation therapy, orthopedic surgery, and hospice care and leads to both board certification and a Master of Public Health degree. The program includes inpatient/outpatient supervised clinical experience in acute and chronic settings in jails/prisons, medicolegal experiences and responsibilities, quality management and review, and mortality review and control.

"Correctional healthcare was looked upon for many years as a last refuge of barely competent practitioners," Thomas said. "It is not. It is a complex, intricate field where you are taking care of people, many of whom are very ill, because they have not accessed care outside of the correctional environment — ever. It takes sophisticated doctors with significant training to handle both the illnesses and the unique correctional environment. This is the first step in bringing recognition to the care that correctional doctors provide."