BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Last year the pandemic affected many student's ability to learn because of online classes. This year many schools are transitioning back to in-person learning including the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Today, ICOM welcomed the class of 2025 with its first day of orientation.
"It's really important to me, especially transitioning into professional education to be able to have those meaningful experiences in the classroom and with my peers and interacting with my peers. So yeah, it's a big deal for me and I know it's a big deal for all my classmates," said Garrett Ball an ICOM student.
Yesterday, the CDC recommended that fully vaccinated Americans should return to wearing masks indoors.
ICOM says that they are now requiring students to wear masks while in the classroom, but in-person learning will continue at this time.
"While we are putting masks on in the building, we are moving forward with in-person training and close contact training because in order to train a physician, you have to be able to get close to each other. You can't do everything remotely and so we're back in class and plan on staying that way throughout the year," said Thomas Mohr the dean and chief academic officer of the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine.
This will be ICOM's fourth incoming class which will make a total of 628 students at the college.
