TOUCH

The TOUCH year runs from May 1st to April 30th each year. 

Students that reach a threshold (for either silver or gold) during any TOUCH year of their medical school career, will be eligible for rewards from the COSGP and TouroCOM.

From COSGP: 

• Platinum: Each school has a top participant who receives the Platinum-level recognition. See our previous winners!

• Gold: Students who complete 70 hours over a year receive a Gold-level recognition. 

• Silver: Students who complete 35 hours over the year receive a Silver-level recognition. 

From TouroCOM Middletown:

• Special recognition by Dean Steier in your MSPE (Medical School Performance Evaluation), which is shared with residency programs when applying for the match, as well as a letter in your file.

For more information, visit  AACOM's website.

Please send all TOUCH related inquiries to touch.middletown@gmail.com.

The TOUCH Committee members for the 2022-23 academic year are:

• Roshana Brown, SGA Parliamentarian, current TOUCH Coordinator (rbrown34@student.touro.edu)

  • Serena Young (syoung19@student.touro.edu)

  • Kacper Bury (kbury@student.touro.edu) 

  • Tegan Gallina (tgallina@student.touro.edu)

  • Joseph Prete (jprete@student.touro.edu)

The TOUCH Committee members for the 2021-22 academic year were:

• Nicholas Gatto, SGA Parliamentarian, former TOUCH Coordinator (ngatto@student.touro.edu)

  • Marianna Cartege (mcatege@student.touro.edu)

  • Raj Chauhan (rchauhan@student.touro.edu)

  • Livingston Graham (lgraham4@student.touro.edu)

  • Serena Young (syoung19@student.touro.edu)

  • Kacper Bury (kbury@student.touro.edu) 

TOUCH Hours are any activity that works to improve the health and wellness of a community which incorporates osteopathic tenets, awareness, principles, and practice. (See Section VII, TOUCH Hours Standards)

• A "community" includes working to improve the overall health of humans, animals, and the environment. Any institutions outside of the school are considered the community. Community includes local, state, national, and international communities.

• Community engagement outside of Touro COM Middletown is the key aspect of TOUCH hours.

All service hours are considered either TOUCH or Volunteer hours.

• Any hours that do not meet TOUCH standards are considered Volunteer hours.

• Service hours (either TOUCH or Volunteer) are not compensated, not self-serving (academically or otherwise), and not directly benefiting Touro COM or our students. They involve active participation.

TOUCH hours include 100% of qualified event hours plus 50% of planning hours for a qualified event. Half of planning hours for a TOUCH eligible event are considered TOUCH eligible.

The following are examples of TOUCH approved hours:

• Health Fairs

• Soup Kitchens

• Providing OMM at a marathon

• Medical mission trips

• Donating blood

• Volunteer Clinics

• Volunteering to operate walks/races for a cause

• Hosting an event to raise funds for a charity (not including event participation)

• Educational programs at local schools and nursing homes

• Donation Drives (with additional requirements)

Service that is not TOUCH (not engaging the outside community) is considered Volunteer.

The following are examples of Volunteer hours:

• Tutoring classmates 

• Mock practicals

• SIM labs

• Being on call and providing no service aside of academic requirements

The following are examples of activities that are not service eligible (not TOUCH or Volunteer)

• Shadowing

• Rotations

• Attending conferences

• Research

• Administrative tasks that do not involve planning or the actual event

• Funds raised/donated for philanthropy, club use, or school use

• Organizing campus meetings for clubs that affect only students or planning student only events

All TOUCH event requests at TouroCOM-Middletown should be submitted and approved by the TOUCH Coordinator at touch.middletown@gmail.com

Student TOUCH Hours should be submitted to Track It Forward within one month of the activity or date of service. (Submissions made over a month after the date of service risk being rejected.)

• Any record, event, or day with greater than 10 TOUCH Hours in one day must include the supervisor’s name and contact information on the submitted entry.

• Any record or event greater than 50 TOUCH Hours requires additional verification by TOUCH National Coordinator

All submissions will be verified and then approved or denied by the TOUCH Committee. 

Students who are found to have falsified a TOUCH record, in a first offense will receive a warning from the national TOUCH coordinator. Students who are found to have falsified a TOUCH record, in a second or subsequent offense, will receive no credit for previous hours; be deemed ineligible for TOUCH recognition the remainder of the TOUCH year; and the student’s falsification will be reported to the student’s college by the national TOUCH coordinator.

Can I create a TOUCH Eligible Opportunity?

• Yes! As long as it meets TOUCH opportunity eligible requirements as described above, and as long as the organization has a coordinator that is willing to be listed as a point of contact who can verify hours.