The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) is a private, non-profit osteopathic medical school in Blacksburg, Virginia (VCOM-Virginia) with three branch campuses located in Spartanburg, South Carolina (VCOM-Carolinas), Auburn, Alabama (VCOM-Auburn) and Monroe, Louisiana (VCOM-Louisiana). Founded in 2001, the college’s mission is to alleviate the critical shortage of physicians in Appalachia and the Delta Region by training medical students to become patient-centered physicians who focus on evidence-based medicine. The school places emphasis on recruiting students from rural and medically underserved areas. Over 66% of VCOM graduates have returned to this region and over 60% of VCOM graduates practice in a rural or medically underserved county.