Year 3 Burrell College Clinical Rotations & Regional Academic Center

Year 3 Burrell Regional Academic Centers

Burrell College Clinical Education

Burrell College of Health Sciences School of Osteopathic Medicine (BCSOM) has developed a structured clinical education network that includes hospitals, medical centers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, community-based clinics, and practicing physicians who serve as clinical faculty.

This network extends across New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and New York and supports a comprehensive selection of generalist and specialty clinical clerkship experiences for third-year medical students. It also provides infrastructure that supports the continued development of Graduate Medical Education programs.

Burrell’s multi-state clinical education network is an intentional part of the College’s regional training model. Students are not assigned to isolated or unaffiliated rotation sites. Instead, they train through established Regional Academic Centers (RAC) that bring together healthcare organizations, clinical faculty, physicians, and community-based providers within defined geographic regions.

Each Regional Academic Center is designed to provide third-year students with:

  • Structured clinical clerkship experiences
  • Supervision and instruction from clinical faculty and physician preceptors
  • Exposure to hospitals, medical centers, community clinics, and physician practices
  • Experience with diverse patient populations and healthcare needs
  • Opportunities to learn in medically underserved and rapidly growing communities
  • Continued academic and clinical education support from the College

This regional approach allows students to experience different healthcare environments while completing Burrell’s established third-year clinical curriculum. Training across hospital and community-based settings helps students strengthen their clinical judgment, communication skills, adaptability, and ability to provide patient-centered care.

Supporting Graduate Medical Education (GME) Development

Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine has facilitated the ongoing development of new Graduate Medical Education residency programs in family medicine, internal medicine, orthopedic surgery, and osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine.

Additional GME programs are under development in regions where Burrell maintains educational and healthcare partnerships. The College also works directly with established GME programs, helping students become familiar with healthcare systems and communities where they may later pursue residency training.

These relationships help strengthen the pathway from undergraduate medical education to residency training while supporting the development of physicians for the communities and regions Burrell serves.

Regional Academic Center Locations

Burrell has ten Regional Academic Centers for third-year clinical rotations:

  • Albuquerque, New Mexico
  • Eastern New Mexico
  • El Paso, Texas
  • Las Cruces, New Mexico
  • Tucson, Arizona
  • Space Coast, Florida
  • Four Corners, New Mexico
  • Southwest Florida
  • Palm Beach, Florida
  • Brooklyn, New York

Each Regional Academic Center is part of Burrell’s organized clinical education network. These centers connect third-year students with hospitals, medical centers, clinics, clinical faculty, and physician preceptors selected to support the College’s clinical curriculum.

The geographic range of this network should not be interpreted as a collection of disconnected clinical sites. Burrell operates campus locations in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Melbourne, Florida, while its Regional Academic Centers extend the College’s clinical education model into communities across the Southwest, Florida, and New York.

Through these established regional partnerships, students can encounter a broad range of clinical conditions, patient populations, healthcare systems, and community needs.

Core Clinical Teaching Sites

Click on Map to Enlarge

El Paso Regional Academic Center Eligibility

In accordance with applicable regulations, the El Paso, Texas, Regional Academic Center has a capacity limit. At least 90% of students assigned to the El Paso Regional Academic Center must be residents of Texas or Doña Ana County, New Mexico, as identified on their AACOMAS applications.

An Immersive Third-Year Clinical Experience

Within each Regional Academic Center, third-year students experience clinical immersion in medical centers combined with integrated learning experiences in community care clinics and other healthcare settings.

This combination allows students to learn how care is delivered across different environments, from hospital-based services to community and physician-led care. The variety of settings provides an excellent and challenging environment for clerkship training while helping students develop the knowledge, clinical skills, professionalism, and adaptability required for residency and medical practice.

Primary Teaching Hospitals, Medical Centers, and Clinics

The healthcare organizations listed below are collaborative clinical education partners with Burrell College of Health Sciences School of Osteopathic Medicine. There are ten main Regional Academic Centers (RACs) for third-and-fourth year rotations, including: 1) Albuquerque, NM 2) Eastern NM 3) El Paso, TX 4) Las Cruces, NM 5) Tucson, AZ 6) Space Coast, FL 7) Four Corners, NM 8) Southwest, FL and 9) Palm Beach, FL. Per regulation, the El Paso, TX RAC has a capacity limit and at least 90% of students assigned to the El Paso, TX RAC must be residents of Texas or Dona Ana County (NM) as identified on the AACOMAS application. In each RAC, the College’s students will experience immersion in both medical centers and integrating experiences within community care clinics. It is this type of immersion that will provide an excellent environment for clerkship training.

Click below to learn more about the Regional Academic Centers:

Albuquerque

Brooklyn

Eastern, NM

El Paso

Four Corners

Las Cruces

Palm Beach

Tucson

Space Coast

Southwest, FL

Academics

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Burrell students sent to distant clinical sites because local rotations are unavailable?

Burrell’s clinical education program is intentionally organized around a network of Regional Academic Centers rather than a single teaching hospital. The College has two campuses—in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Melbourne, Florida—and clinical education partnerships across New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Florida, and New York. Each Regional Academic Center is part of a structured network of hospitals, medical centers, clinics, physicians, and preceptors selected to support the College’s clinical curriculum.

No. Students training through a Burrell Regional Academic Center remain part of Burrell’s academic program and continue to receive institutional resources and clinical education support. Regional training allows students to learn within different healthcare systems while progressing through Burrell’s established curriculum.

Clinical education can be delivered effectively in several settings, including hospitals, medical centers, community health centers, clinics, and physician practices. Burrell’s model gives students supervised, hands-on experience across these environments, allowing them to encounter diverse patients, conditions, specialties, and approaches to care.