Students looking to get a high-quality post-secondary education in the medical field have a few excellent choices in West Virginia. Among them, and perhaps flying slightly under the radar, is the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. It has a main campus in Lewisburg, W.Va., sure, but its reach is statewide with campuses serving seven regions.

Last week, representatives of the school were at the Central West campus in Parkersburg for an Education Day that gave third- and fourth-year medical students additional clinical skills to help with their rotations.

“Osteophathic medicine is around the world and is one of the fastest growing segments of the health care market,” said WVSOM President James W. Nemitz.

It’s around the world, and it’s here in the Mid-Ohio Valley, where 20 students — some from as far away as California — worked with nurses and doctors from WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center.

“On some of the Education Days, the students actually get to present a case study on a topic of diagnosis that they’ve encountered on rotation,” said Dr. Marla Haller, assistant dean for the regional statewide campus in Parkersburg. “We don’t want to overwhelm the students, but we want them to get some of the very basic skills that they potentially have not been exposed to.”

There are shortages of skilled, qualified workers in just about every health care profession. Students considering pursuing a career that would help them be part of the solution to that problem have plenty of options.

The Education Day visit by representatives of WVSOM is a reminder those options can be right here in our own backyards.