Colleges of osteopathic medicine: the process of continuous evaluation.

This article is the third in a series of discussions on the major activities of the American Osteopathic Association's Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA), which is recognized by the US Secretary of Education as the only accrediting agency for predoctoral osteopathic medical education in the United States. The 2008 article outlined the process that an educational institution undergoes to obtain accreditation status from the COCA and addressed the expansion of approved class sizes at the nation's colleges of osteopathic medicine. The 2009 article described the regulations of the US Secretary of Education regarding "substantive changes" to an institution or its programs. This year, the authors further describe the COCA's regulations pertaining to continuous evaluation of accredited institutions and programs. The article concludes with a review of class sizes of the accredited colleges of osteopathic medicine.