History
The school originally opened in 1977 as the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP), offering the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) degree. It was the first osteopathic medical school in California to open after the California College of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons became an M.D. granting school, eventually becoming the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. At the time, COMP was the only osteopathic medical school west of the Rocky Mountains, and it remained the only one in California until 1997, when Touro University California opened in Vallejo. The inaugural class consisted of 36 students.
In 1986, the college began offering a second degree, the Master of Science in Health Professions Education. Four years later, the physician assistant program opened, which developed into a masters level program in 2000. In 1992, the physical therapy program opened. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges granted the school accreditation in March 1996, and later that same year, the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific was restructured into a university and given the name “Western University of Health Sciences." The same year, the first classes in the college of pharmacy began.
After difficulties with accreditation through the American Veterinary Medical Association's Council on Education the College of Veterinary Medicine opened in 1998. It was the first veterinary medical school to open in the United States since 1983, and at the time, no member on the Council on Education had ever been involved in accrediting a new veterinary medical school. Classes began in 2003, and the college earned full accreditation in 2010. The college was the first veterinary medical school in the United States to appoint a female to the position of dean. In 2008, the university opened the Banfield Pet Hospital to the public.
In 2009, the College of Podiatric Medicine, the College of Optometry, and the College of Dental Medicine opened. Each of the new colleges holds provisional or preliminary accreditation. The following year, in 2010, the Patient Care Center opened, offering medical, dental, optometric, podiatric and pharmacy services to community. In 2011, Western University of Health Sciences opened a new medical school campus in Lebanon, Oregon called the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest. The university plans to eventually open additional colleges at the Lebanon campus.
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