IUP taps former Duquesne administrator to help lead new College of Osteopathic Medicine

Indiana University of Pennsylvania officials have tapped a former Duquesne University educator to help lead its new College of Osteopathic Medicine, set to open next fall.

Clinton Iadanza has been named director of assessment and quality improvement for IUP’s medical school. The role involves Iadanza working with faculty to evaluate student learning and curriculum, and supporting the school’s accreditation.

Osteopathic medical training emphasizes a whole-person approach, with a focus on prevention and comprehensive care. In comparison to graduates of traditional medical schools, more doctors of osteopathic medicine become primary-care physicians and practice in underserved and rural areas.

Iadanza sees parallels between IUP’s College of Osteopathic Medicine and Duquesne’s, the latter of which opened to students in July 2024. He said he was proud of efforts to open Duquesne’s school, a state-of-the-art facility aimed to address a shortage of physicians in underserved urban and rural areas.

“We saw an opportunity to contribute to an area that needed osteopathic medicine physicians,” Iadanza said. “Opening a school, in general, is a big lift. There’s things you need to look up and look down in terms of systems and infrastructure. Bringing that knowledge from the inside is rewarding.”

Iadanza has more than two decades of experience in education. He held medical education roles at Duquesne University’s Nasuti College of Osteopathic Medicine and the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University.

Iadanza earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Western Illinois University, an educational specialist degree from Missouri Baptist University, a master’s in education from William Woods University, and a bachelor’s in education from Central Methodist University.

“He’s approachable, compassionate, has a brilliant mind and can see the big picture,” said Miko Rose, founding dean of IUP’s Medical School.

Pennsylvania has three independent colleges of osteopathic medicine — Duquesne, Lake Erie and Philadelphia. IUP would be the state’s first college of osteopathic medicine at a public university.

IUP’s school holds pre-accreditation status from the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, and is actively recruiting and admitting students.

At IUP, Iadanza said instructors will focus on what makes a good rural physician — compassion, empathy, understanding rural life, the ability to communicate and longevity. Iadanza said his past experiences, coupled with growing up in rural Missouri, make him a good fit at IUP.

“Our goal is to set them up to be good physicians,” he said. “There’s a lot of ways we’ll approach that, and it depends on being adaptable.”

Rose, the dean, said the new school aims to address the severe physician shortage in federally designated rural areas and medically underserved communities across the state.

“We can meet the needs of our community,” Rose said. “Rural health care has reached an all-time crisis. This is an issue, and it’s something the medical school meets head-on.”