Its hybrid curriculum of distance-learning preclinicals and face-to-face clinical rotations  enrolls 333 students, as of March 2024, and 215 graduates are currently in residency/internship training or practicing medicine in numerous global locations, primarily Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Samoa, and the US.

The medical school was founded by philanthropist and e-Medical Education's Chairman, Taffy Gould, and included a handful of Samoan and Australian doctors to fill a void: a shortage of physicians in Samoa and the South Pacific.

Its authority derives from the Oceania University of Medicine Act, passed by the Legislative Assembly of Samoa in January 2002[1] and e-Medical Education operates OUM as part of the agreement.

[2] Less than a month after opening, its acting Dean, Professor Don Wilbur, returned to the United States, leaving only a single academic staff member in Samoa.

[8] Due to Samoa's remote location, a distance-learning curriculum evolved with local physician mentors providing clinical training at Apia's Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital (TTM), which remains OUM's primary teaching facility.

This online curriculum delivery during preclinicals allowed students to study from their home communities and, for many, to continue working during the first two years of the program.

The university is governed by the OUM Council, a Vice Chancellor, Chief Operating Officer, and an Executive Committee made up of three regional Deans, additional senior faculty, and administrative directors.

OUM currently accepts students from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Samoa, and the United States, where the University has well-established relationships with teaching hospitals and clinics[citation needed] and where it is most knowledgeable of the licensing requirements for international medical graduates (IMGs).

In addition, faculty teach and advise students from global locations ranging from New Zealand and Samoa to Canada, India, Russia, the Caribbean, and the Philippines.