TOUCH Translating Osteopathic Understanding into Community Health

What is TOUCH? TOUCH encourages us to observe a basic tenet of osteopathic philosophy: A commitment to improving the health of our communities through service.

TOUCH Hours Last year, students at osteopathic medical colleges across the nation accumulated 176, hours

Participation in the program  A minimum completion of fifty (50) hours of community service will be required to receive credit for the TOUCH program.  A record of completed hours must be submitted to the College of Osteopathic Medicine Student Government  The record must be submitted on the online submission form (or other approved method)  The COM Student Government will certify that the record is complete in accordance with the standards herein.  Submissions will be subject to Student Service Committee Review

Submission of TOUCH hours

New this year: TOUCH Divisions

Centralizing TOUCH submission Divisions for TOUCH are intended to make submission of hours to COSGP easier for students. Past years have had difficulties with a central submission form due to server traffic and storage capacity.

TOUCH Year  TOUCH year: April 1 st, 2014 – March 31 st, 2015  Hours must be submitted within 30 days from the event  Hours must be completed following matriculation into medical school, so hours completed by first year medical students during the summer before matriculation are not valid.  This will cause a shortened TOUCH year for first year medical students (Matriculation - April 1st of the following year).

TOUCH-Approved Events  For the purposes of the TOUCH program, “Community Service” will be defined as any activity that works to improve the health and wellness of a community outside of the medical school coursework.  The spirit of this program is to get involved with the community and spread the DO name and philosophy.  Court mandated “Community Service” does not count towards TOUCH hours

Examples of TOUCH Events  Community service activities can be associated COM student organizations or external organizations.  Blood Pressure Check Drive  Senior Health Fair  Mobile Clinic  Global Health  If your school requires community service, TOUCH hours will count after the first 10 hours of the required community service.

Non-Qualifying Events  Leadership responsibilities in student organization will not count towards TOUCH hours unless those responsibilities involve participation in a specific community service activity.  Normal student organization activities (such as meetings, bringing in speakers, etc.) are not considered community service.  Fundraising : simply collecting money for a philanthropic cause will not suffice as an “activity/event/community service.”  TOUCH credit will not be given for volunteering in research or shadowing, as TOUCH is meant to encourage activity in the community  Personal favors such as driving someone to an appointment or helping someone move is admirable, but ineligible for TOUCH.

Clarifying Approved Events  As the spirit of TOUCH is to inspire student involvement in the community, any additions or removals of approved events are not intended to deter involvement but to add clarification.  Student Services Committee will be looking at common confusing events to update the list of approved TOUCH events.

Examples of Events  Non-paid peer tutoring  Anatomy lab tutoring  OMM peer clinics  Triathlons/Charitable runs  Travel to community service

Event Planning  Credit for planning a community service activity will be given ½ hour for every hour involved in the preparation of materials and setup for an actual event, up to 15 hrs per year  For example, you are organizing a blood pressure check drive and it takes 5 hours to organize venues, volunteers, gather equipment, etc – you will be eligible for 2.5 TOUCH hours  Administrative tasks during the event (checking students in, registration) are valid for full consideration.

Event Approval  Any TOUCH submission greater than 10 hrs must be validated by the TOUCH coordinator or signed off by the contact of the event through a consent form.  This applies to an individual event that is over 10 hours, not repetitive events that add to greater than 10 hours.  Mission trips or other extended volunteering will likely exceed the 10 hour mark and so will require a Form.

TOUCH Coordinators  Each campus has one TOUCH coordinator with access to Google Drive (Olivia Childs and Alexander Senetar for us).    These s will have access to view all TOUCH submissions to their division forms.  Coordinators will be responsible for approving events at the local level and ensuring accurate submissions of TOUCH hours.

Benefits of Involvement  If the standards are met with satisfaction, the student will receive a recognition signifying their completion of their commitment to community service.  Silver Recognition = 50+ hours  Gold Recognition = 100+ hours  Platinum Recognition = Individual that has dedicated the most time to service at each COM  A letter of commendation will also be sent to the Dean from the President of AACOM suggesting the Dean include the student’s commitment to service in his/her Dean’s letter.

New this year: TOUCH pins SilverGold Platinum

Let’s have a great TOUCH year!