Ohio University Medicine - Spring 2013

A publication of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Spring 2013

COMCorps How a commitment to service leads to a career in medicine

Plus

Updates on our new central and northeast Ohio campuses Interprofessional experience in medical education On the front lines of surgery at home and abroad: Gregory Hill, D.O. (’86)

ohio university

Spring 2013 Vol. 29, Issue 2

Front Cover: Jennifer Mullen, D.O. (’09).

Photo by Rick Luettke.

Features 02 From the Executive Dean 03 College Check-up 03 Zinc inhibits insulin secretion 04 New funding helps Medicaid population

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10 Teaching Team-Based Care

COMCorps

Integrating the spectrum of interprofessional experience in first- and second-year medical education.

How a commitment to service leads to a career in medicine.

08 Three Campuses, One College

10 Features 10 Teaching Team-Based Care 16 COMCorps 20 Role Models & Guides 24 Finding Their Wings

OU-HCOM Prom Above; Katie Smith, OMS II, Lubka Ilieva, OMS II, Joshua Bryant, OMS II, and Austin Moore, OMS I (left) get their groove on at the Heritage Ball, which was held at Baker University Center last February and presented by the Student Association of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.

07 Q&A: Nathan Denlinger, OMS II

27 Follow-up 28 The Brentwood Foundation

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24

Role Models & Guides

Finding Their Wings

For physicians-in-training, what happens with a mentor can be as important as what happens in the classroom.

Ohio University partnership provides vital care for area children.

30 Class Notes 36 New tradition provides needed tool for new medical students

OUM Visit Ohio University Medicine online for web-exclusive and multimedia content.

www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum

From the Executive Dean

College Check-up

April 2013

Ohio University Medicine Spring 2013, Vol. 29, Issue 2 Ohio University Medicine is published twice a year by the Office of Communication of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Editor Karoline Lane, M.L.S. Designers Jeff Brown Marie Graham Photographers Michael Bou-Nacklie Josh Birnbaum Rick Luettke Kari Gunter-Seymour John Sattler Ben Wirtz Siegel

Writers and Editors Karen L. Deardorff, Ph.D. Kate Fox Richard Heck Aaron Krumheuer Sydney Webber Web Support Tim Creamer

Administration Roderick McDavis, Ph.D. President, Ohio University Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O. Executive Dean, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Karoline Lane, M.L.S. Chief Communication Officer, Office of Communication Sydney Webber Associate Director, Office of Communication Marie Graham Associate Director, Design Services, Office of Communication Editorial Advisors Christopher Albrecht Audrone Biknevicius, Ph.D. Jack Blazyk, Ph.D. Patricia Burnett, Ph.D. George Dunigan Simon Fraser, OMS II Jill Harman, M.Ed. Kenneth Johnson, D.O.

Laurie Lach Sarah McGrew, B.S.N. Angela Mowrer Erin Murphy, Ph.D. John Schriner, Ph.D. Kathleen Trace, M.H.A., B.S.N., R.N. Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (‘97) Sharon Zimmerman, M.P.A.

Opinions expressed in Ohio University Medicine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect viewpoints of the editors or official policy of the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. © 2013 Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

If you would like additional courtesy copies to display in your office or waiting room, or if you have an updated address, please contact our editorial office: Sheila Bycofski, OU-HCOM, 210 Irvine Hall Athens, Ohio, 45701, 740.593.2346 or bycofski@ohio.edu

Dear Colleagues and Friends, Our country is experiencing a historic shift as medicine and medical education undergo unprecedented change. Over the past several years, OU-HCOM has been studying what these changes will mean to our students and graduates and how they will care for their patients in a changing world.

As osteopathic physicians, our strength in primary care puts us at a distinct advantage. It is our model of care that is emerging as a solution in the new medical landscape. Our vision of becoming the number one producer of primary care physicians in the country is already underway.

As we envision the future and position ourselves to be agents of change, it has become a time of great innovation for our college. Our faculty, staff, partners and students have been challenged to develop the ideas and tools to meet the health care needs of the future. We see this time as an opportunity to go “back to school” and re-imagine how we teach and learn and, ultimately, how we provide the best possible health care.

Several new initiatives underway are intended to do exactly that as we strive for excellence and innovation in medical education – The establishment of the OU-HCOM Blue Ribbon Committee on Primary Care Education to shape our understanding of the central issues and trends that influence choices about careers in primary care specialties and identify the steps needed to increase those numbers.

– The development of new interprofessional training opportunities throughout the curriculum (see page 10).

– The expansion of our faculty development in the areas of instructional design and educational technology (see page 9).

– The creation of new scholarships and programs that will provide debt relief to medical students interested in pursuing primary care, with a goal of $1.6 million in additional assistance by 2018.

In this issue, you’ll read about just a few of the OU-HCOM innovators in medicine and medical education. I hope that the stories on these pages inform you of the significant accomplishments being made at OU-HCOM and inspire you to join us on our important journey.

All the best,

Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O. Executive Dean

Kira Slepchenko (left) and Yang V. Li, M.D., Ph.D.

DIABETES RESEARCH

NIH study finds zinc inhibits insulin secretion Pioneer zinc researcher Yang V. Li, M.D., Ph.D., and his team found out that, on a cellular level, zinc inhibits insulin secretion in the pancreas. In their next round of diabetesrelated research, they are figuring out how.

Dr. Li, associate professor of neuroscience at OU-HCOM, was one of the first scientists to demonstrate that neurons secrete zinc in the brain. In fact, in May 2012, he published a book of articles he co-edited with Loma Linda University researcher John H. Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., called Metal Ion in Stroke, in which Dr. Li wrote a chapter that examines the zinc overload following a stroke, which contributes to brain degeneration.

His zinc research now also focuses on the endocrine system and the key role zinc plays in impeding insulin production in the pancreas.

In the pancreas, beta cells generate insulin, the hormone vital for glucose uptake in the body.

Insulin, incidentally, is co-packed with zinc.

“We’re hoping to identify a new protein that may be responsible for what zinc may

do in the beta cell. If we identify the new protein, it will be huge,” Dr. Li said.

Scientists in this field of diabetes research most often study calcium, which uses a specific pathway to enter beta cells and release stored insulin. Dr. Li sees promise in zinc’s mechanism for producing the opposite effect: signaling to the cell that enough insulin has been secreted.

For the past three years, Kira Slepchenko, research technician, has been working with Dr. Li to peer inside the beta cell.

In a paper published in the 2012 volume of Experimental Diabetes Research, they described how beta cells treated with glucose exhibited characteristically high levels of zinc signaling. In a subsequent study, they observed that the cells produced very little insulin secretion when they treated the cells with a combination of glucose and zinc. A manuscript based on this study, titled “Inhibitory effect of zinc on glucose-stimulated zinc/insulin secretion in an insulin-secreting beta-cell line,” will be published in the journal of Experimental Physiology.

“We know that zinc inhibits insulin secretion, but now we need to figure out

Spring 2013

how it does that. We need to figure out a mechanism of the inhibition,” Slepchenko said.

The two are moving from earlier experiments on cell cultures to working with mice pancreatic islets, the clusters of cells in the pancreas containing beta cells. Using existing diabetes medications in turn to block channels for calcium and potassium in pancreatic islets, Dr. Li and Slepchenko will repeat their process of administering glucose with and without zinc. By observing levels of insulin production in each of the blocked channel scenarios, they hope to determine which of the two—or which new channel— zinc may use to regulate insulin secretion from the beta cells.

“By examining the signaling mechanism of insulin secretion, our results will have implications, hopefully, in diabetes research,” said Dr. Li. “But at the same time, it will help us understand zinc’s action in other parts of the body.”

Funding for Dr. Li’s and Slepchenko’s research was provided in part by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.

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College Check-up

HONORS Craig Chappell, D.O. Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine Co-authored American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians’ “Article of the Year” with Patrick F. Leary, D.O., and Nicole Cerklewich, D.O. “Considerations in the management of concussion with an illustrative case example”

INTERNATIONAL

Faculty provides palliative training and education in Moldova Deborah Meyer, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor of geriatric medicine/gerontology, and Tracy Marx, D.O. (’92), chair of the Department of Family Medicine and associate professor of family medicine, traveled to the Republic of Moldova as part of the FREEDOM Support Act 20th Anniversary Airlift.

In collaboration with the United States State Department, Counterpart International and Heart to Heart International, they delivered more than $12 million in medical supplies to distribute

Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., M.B.A. Director of Appalachia Rural Health Institute and Associate Professor of Family Medicine Received 2012 Distinguished Edited Book Award for Participatory Partnerships for Social Action from the Applied Communication Division of the National Communications Association

throughout Moldova and delivered two day-long CME seminars to teach physicians and nurses about palliative care.

“It has reinforced my belief that one of the most important things we can do to help any community with limited health care resources is to educate local community providers,” Dr. Meyer said.

John Kopchick, Ph.D. Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and Professor of Molecular Biology Received Konneker Medal for Commercialization and Entrepreneurship Elected president of Growth Hormone Research Society Named charter fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

Drs. Marx and Meyer joined others at the airport to await the arrival of a C-17 carrying the supplies. (top) A Moldovan pharmacy technician student weighs medicine. (bottom)

Kelly McCall, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Endocrinology Received Outstanding Woman in Innovation Award from TechGROWTH Ohio

MEDICAL EDUCATION

New funding enhances health care for Medicaid population Two colleges within Ohio University’s new Health Sciences Center received $961,000 in funding for several projects designed to recruit and train health care professionals to better serve the needs of the state of Ohio’s Medicaid population. The university was one of only three institutions to receive grants from the Office of Medical Assistance/ Ohio Medicaid in the most recent round of funding available from the Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program (MEDTAPP) Healthcare Access. Of the five funded programs at Ohio University, three are managed by OU-HCOM. The Integrated Mind-Body Medicine Program is led by Joseph Bianco, Ph.D., (top) assistant professor of social medicine.

This program for residents is designed to increase the physician’s ability to deal with chronic stress in an effort to improve job satisfaction and retain physicians serving rural, Medicaid and low-income residents.

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College Check-up

Noteworthy

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For those new to practice, just out of residency, or new to practicing in Medicaidrich, rural underserved areas in Appalachian Ohio, the MEDTAPP Scholars program is designed to recruit and retain primary care practitioners in these areas. The program also establishes practices that serve as training sites for future physicians and nurse practitioners. MEDTAPP Scholars is led

by Tracy Marx, D.O. (’92), (middle) chair of the Department of Family Medicine and assistant professor of family medicine.

The Primary Care Scholarship Program will provide $15,000 scholarships to 12 fourth-year OU-HCOM students who enter primary care residencies in high-need Medicaid areas. The program is led by Sharon Zimmerman, M.P.A., (bottom) executive director of constituent relations for health affairs at Ohio University. The Osteopathic Heritage Foundations’ 2011 gift provided matching funding for this program.

Jay Shubrook, D.O. (’96) Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Director of Clinical Research at the Diabetes Institute Named the Red Cross’ 2013 Health Care Hero at the annual Hometown Hero Awards Anita M. Steinbergh, D.O. CORE Assistant Dean Appointed President of the State Medical Board of Ohio RESEARCH GRANTS: Brian C. Clark, Ph.D., and James S. Thomas, P.T., Ph.D. Professor of Physiology and Director of Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute and Professor in Division of Physical Therapy, School of Rehabilitation and Community Sciences $2.1 million, five-year grant, National Institutes of Health “The RELIEF Study”

Medical Research

Niveidita Devraj, Dennis Molina and Rosa Helena Rivas

The Tropical Disease Institute (TDI) received additional funding from two sources that will expand its Chagas disease research and blood safety monitoring efforts.

The Ministry of Health of Ecuador approved nearly $107,000, a 46 percent increase from 2012, to fund a renewal of the External Performance Evaluation of Blood Screening in Ecuador for 2013. The project ensures blood screening is performed correctly by strict daily monitoring of every screening test performed, inter-laboratory proficiency evaluations and technician training and certification.

“Our program has played a major role in the transformation of the blood bank system in Ecuador,” said Mario Grijalva, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences and director of TDI. Dr. Grijalva manages the project

through the TDI’s Center for Infectious Disease Research at the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador in Quito.

The Catholic University also approved more than $105,000 for six different Chagas disease-related projects. More than $44,000 will be used as matching funds for a $35,000 Ohio University 1804 Fund grant Grijalva received last year to develop a long-term disease control strategy.

In addition, the funding allows TDI to complete a study on Chagas disease insect vectors in 90 communities in Ecuador’s Manabi Province and funds several other smaller Chagasrelated projects. “These funds will be used for activities that will involve our students and strengthen the collaborative research enterprise we’ve implemented in Ecuador,” Dr. Grijalva said.

Chagas disease research boosted by funding

Gillian Ice, Ph.D., M.P.H. Associate Professor of Social Medicine $7,922, Ohio University Research Committee “Attitudes and use of bed nets in the fight against malaria in western Kenya” Erin Murphy, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medical Microbiology $8,000, Ohio University Research Committee “Prevalence and antibiotic resistance patterns of neisseria meningitidis at Ohio University” Consortium for Health Education in Appalachia Ohio (CHEAO), an Area Health Education Center $89,690, Federal Area Health Education Center Community Health Programs $80,309, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Columbus Affiliate

Mario Grijalva, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences and director of the Tropical Disease Institute and Maria Rodionova, OMS II.

College Check-up Students, physicians lobby Congress during D.O. Day on the Hill

NATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Faculty make Affordable Care Act recommendations

Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., M.B.A., director of the Appalachian Rural Health Institute and associate professor of family medicine, completed her tenure as chairperson for the federal Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages. Jay Shubrook, D.O. (’96), associate professor of family medicine, was also a member of the committee. In February, the committee published its 11th report, Continuing Education, Professional Development, and Lifelong Learning for the 21st Century Health Care Workforce, which contains recommendations on grant programs authorized under Title VII, Part D of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Affordable Care Act. The committee was created by Congress to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and ranking members of Congress about programs related to Area Health Education Centers, geriatrics, allied health, chiropractic, podiatric medicine, social work, graduate psychology and rural health. The secretary appoints committee members. Dr. Hamel-Lambert served on the committee for four years, assuming the role of chairman her final year.

Read the Advisory Committee’s report: http://www.hrsa.gov/advisorycommittees/ bhpradvisory/acicbl/Reports/eleventhreport.pdf

More than 60 OU-HCOM students boarded a bus on March 14 and headed to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. There they joined forces with more than 1,000 other osteopathic medical students and D.O.s wearing their white coats as they lobbied legislators on the key issues facing osteopathic medicine during the 14th Annual D.O. Day on the Hill.

The Ohio Osteopathic Association sponsored the trip, and the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) hosted a breakfast during which the AOA leadership and staff welcomed participants and briefed them on their upcoming appointments.

OU-HCOM students were divided between meetings with Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), as well as some of Ohio’s 16 House representatives.

Led by Peter Bell, D.O., M.B.A., assistant dean and professor of emergency medicine, the delegation focused on physician payment reform, repealing the Medicare sustainable growth rate formula and the need for additional primary care residency program slots.

Photos provided by Marc Richards, OMS I.

STUDENT Q&A

Nathan Denlinger, OMS II

As a first year medical student, Nathan Denlinger became involved with Ohio University Hillel’s “Got Swabbed?” campaign, a partnership with Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation aimed at identifying young donors of bone marrow or blood stem cells. According to Hillel, Ohio University is number one in the nation for campus bone marrow drives, securing the largest number of swabs from 18- to 26-year-olds. Campus drives are especially important to the cause, since research shows that cells from younger donors lead to more successful transplants. The more people swabbed, the more likely donors can be identified, and Denlinger has an ambitious goal to swab 2,000 by 2014 by bringing his OU-HCOM colleagues into the campaign.

OUM: Tell me about your role in the “Got Swabbed” program.

ND: I’m the liaison between OU-HCOM and Hillel. At first I was helping out, learning how to swab people and how to talk to people about the program. Then as time went on, I talked to them about the massive pool of volunteers we have at HCOM who are willing to help out. All medical students are looking for a way to give back. I started to ask for volunteers from my class, and we started putting together events under the supervision of Rabbi Danielle Leshaw of Hillel.

I thought it was such an amazing idea to go after the untapped resource of 20,000 college students at OU. People aged 18 to 25 are the number one source of bone marrow donors. Also why not? It’s so easy.

You can save someone’s life by just donating some of your blood.

How does it feel to be a part of the nation’s most productive campus bone swabbing campaign?

It’s crazy. They’ve done something like 7,500 students in the past five years. That’s pretty wild, and I can’t believe other schools aren’t doing it.

How many OU-HCOM students volunteer?

So far I’ve swabbed about 170 of the existing 240 [OU-HCOM] students, most of the people in my class and about half of the first years (70 first years, 100 second years). Then there are about 25 volunteers, both first and second years, that I have on an email list who come help out at events.

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At an event last November, you helped put 600 students into the registry, but you said you have a goal of swabbing another 2,000 students this year. How is that coming along?

That was the big one. We had 15 people from OU-HCOM come and volunteer for about four to five hours each at Baker Center. I was there the whole time making sure things went smoothly.

The back end of the school year is always harder because we have already swabbed so many of the new students, and you can only add people once. But thinking about what we have done in the past, and what we can get planned for next year when the freshmen arrive, I think we can definitely get 2,000 in 2013. I’m going to be in Columbus for my rotations, so I want to bring swabbing there, too. I’ll also come back to Athens and help coordinate first- and second-years.

Your greatest accomplishment?

My greatest accomplishment was when I heard that two of the students that we swabbed as OU-HCOM volunteers have gone on to donate. It’s very rare; only one in 500 people are really a match. So we got two people. I felt pretty awesome about that.

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Architectural rendering of the new Anatomy Laboratory Building at the Dublin site.

Good-bye lecture halls, hello “Learning Pods” Renovation begins at our central Ohio site Faculty and staff have completed work with BHDP Architects to redesign the three buildings at our Dublin site to deliver on an exceptional medical education experience. Construction within the 65,000 square feet of space begins in June.

“This new site has been developed to meet the needs of medical education 10 years into the future,” said Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O., executive dean of OU-HCOM. “It is being designed with all the latest educational technologies, to encourage interactive, team-based learning and group collaboration.

This site has incorporated quiet spaces for more contemplative individual study.”

The impetus for developing a central Ohio medical school extension campus came from the April 2011 gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. Funding for the real estate purchase and planned renovations will come from the $105 million award, one of the largest in the history of higher education in Ohio, the largest ever given to a U.S. medical school and the largest ever in support of primary care education.

Take our online tour: http://tinyurl.com/CentralOhioCampus

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Athens

n

Columbus

n

Cleveland

(in all medical disciplines, both ambulatory and hospital-based)

To learn more about getting involved at any of our three locations, please contact:

• Clinical Skills Lab Instructor/Examiner

Jill Breeze Coordinator, Medical Informatics, Operations and OHF Vision 2020 Office of Medical Informatics 740.593.2524 breeze@ohio.edu

• Lecturer

www.oucom.ohio.edu/campuses

• OMM Table Trainer • Case-Based Learning Facilitator

• Faculty and staff positions are posted at www.oucom.ohiou.edu/AFS/employment.htm

We’re recruiting students for Columbus!

In December 2012, OU-HCOM received approval from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation to begin recruiting students for our central Ohio site.

In a public exit conference attended by faculty and staff, the accreditation team chair commented, “You may not realize how great this place is. You all are the gold standard for colleges of osteopathic medicine. I appreciate what you do here. This is a very special place.”

Recruitment is now underway for the first class of 50 medical students who will begin classes in July 2014 and complete all four years of medical school in central Ohio.

“The response has been tremendous,” said John Schriner, Ph.D., assistant dean of admissions. “We’ve had so many inquiries from prospective students about the campus. People are really interested in the outstanding facilities, the partnership with OhioHealth and the opportunity to train where they plan to practice.”

share information and contribute ideas with each other, with their fellow students and with faculty across all sites on central displays. They can also teleconference from multiple locations.

Transformations in Teaching

Get Involved! Join us!

• Clinical Preceptor

Instead of lecture hall-style seating, the new sites will have workstations called “learning pods.”

Learning pods integrate furniture and technology to reshape the way people collaborate. Students

OhioHealth is OU-HCOM’s preeminent education partner for the central Ohio site.

Medical student rotations and early clinical contact experiences will take place in hospitals throughout the OhioHealth system as well as other central Ohio health care systems.

For admission to this site, prospective students apply first through the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application System. Students can then select their site preference on the secondary application. Those interested in central Ohio are asked to provide an additional essay stating why they should be considered for the central Ohio site.

“Three important factors will be taken into consideration: they want to train in central Ohio, they plan to stay in central Ohio to practice, and they have a proven interest in going into primary care,” said Dr. Schriner.

Our new locations have become the catalyst for broadranging change throughout the college. One example of this: delivering great classroom experiences across three sites simultaneously. This means big changes in the ways faculty and staff develop and deliver content.

When the new sites open, faculty no longer will teach solely to students from a lecture hall; the instructor may be teaching from the central Ohio site, from Athens or from the northeast Ohio site. Informally called “The Year of Faculty Preparedness,” one full year in advance of classes starting in Dublin, instructors are learning how to use new technologies to simultaneously teach to the audience at hand and to those at a distance.

To simulate the distance learning experience, OU-HCOM is installing a “satellite classroom” in Grosvenor Hall West that will be linked by live video to a lecture hall in Irvine Hall.

“We want to make use of the time we have leading up to the opening of the first campus to familiarize faculty and staff with specific needs of distance learning and help them learn how to make two classrooms really connect,” said Larry Hurtubise, M.A., faculty development educational technologist

and assistant professor of family medicine, who was recently hired to lead the effort.

Starting this fall, first year students in the Clinical Presentation Continuum, the curriculum for the central Ohio site, will be divided into four groups.

The groups will rotate through the satellite classroom, each spending a week in the room at workstations called “learning pods” (see above).

The instructors will have the option of conducting their activities from either the satellite classroom or their usual space, but they will be broadcasting to both. This will give faculty members the opportunity to develop best practices for video-conferenced learning activities and provide the staff time to check for bugs in the new technology.

Faculty members will identify a colleague to observe several of the presentations from the distant classroom and provide feedback and insight about teaching at a distance. “Just watching others teach will be a significant learning activity,” said Audrone Biknevicius, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and chair of the curriculum team for the new campuses. “We expect those observers to have a head start on their own training.”

Ohio University President, Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D. (left); Osteopathic Heritage Foundations CEO, Richard Vincent, M.B.A. (center); and OU-HCOM Executive Dean, Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O.

Celebrating the new OU-HCOM site at Cleveland Clinic at a reception held last year are (from left) American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Executive Director John B. Crosby, J.D.; AOA President Ray E. Stowers, D.O.; Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis, Ph.D.; OU-HCOM Executive Dean Kenneth H. Johnson, D.O.; and Cleveland Clinic President and CEO Toby M. Cosgrove, M.D.

Northeast Ohio Campus • Pending accreditation, the northeast Ohio site will open with an initial class of 32 medical students in July 2015.

• Cleveland Clinic is our Primary Educational Partner for osteopathic education at this campus.

• “This partnership reflects a national trend toward greater integration among health care organizations and together, we have found an innovative way to work together to improve medical education and patient care for all,” said Toby M. Cosgrove, M.D., president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic.

• The site will include 60,000 square feet of academic and administrative space housed within Building A on South Pointe Hospital’s campus located in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

• Medical students will complete all four years of undergraduate medical education in northeast Ohio.

• Medical student rotations will take place in hospitals throughout the Cleveland Clinic Health System as well as at other local health care systems.

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Feature

Feature

Teaching Team-Based Care Integrating the spectrum of interprofessional experience in first- and second-year medical education

by Aaron Krumheuer illustration by Jeff Brown

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T

he surgeon and writer Atul Gawande, M.D., knows well the changes that have swept the practice of medicine into the 21st century. Responding to the exponential increase in treatment options and specialist roles, he framed the challenge in his 2011 Harvard Medical School commencement address: “Medicine’s complexity has exceeded our individual capabilities as doctors.”

Once a field that prized the individual physician’s autonomy in treating patients, today medicine is moving away from what Dr. Gawande called the “cowboy” model of a lone, frontier doctor with all the answers, to “the pit crew” system of a team of caregivers organized for better patient outcomes and quality of care.

Yet it is not the way that medicine is being taught, Dr. Gawande said. Many educators at OU-HCOM agree.

“In the past, there was a smaller population of people with chronic diseases, and fewer interventions and specialists who could help those people,” said Rick Snow, D.O., M.P.H., system vice president of clinical effectiveness at OhioHealth. “And we’re still teaching that same way.”

To prepare medical students for a changing health care landscape, medical schools must change the way they train students as well, Dr. Snow said.

Spring 2013

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Feature

Testing the team at The Laurels

The pit crew model is the basis of the patient-centered medical home.

It is made up of the full spectrum of health care professionals, who create a team devoted to best outcomes for the patient and supported by detailed medical informatics. The tight-knit atmosphere means patient conditions and past history can be better accounted for, both decreasing unnecessary specialist visits and promoting a greater focus on preventative care. Patients benefit from having a regular source of continuous care, as well, allowing closer relationships with their health care providers and a greater sense of satisfaction.

A number of primary care practices in Ohio have already adopted the patientcentered medical home model, a result of House Bill 198, passed in 2008 to provide incentives for the switch. On a national level, the Affordable Care Act is changing the way Medicare is billed, which sets the standard for all billing.

“The Affordable Care Act is really changing how reimbursements are being made. Historically, reimbursements are made on procedures. The general idea is that Medicare policies drive private insurance policies. So the government has a strong effect on how reimbursements are made system-wide,” said Jeffrey DiGiovanni, Ph.D., associate dean of clinical affairs for the Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions (CHSP).

When doctors are reimbursed for good outcomes rather than the volume of patients they serve, the move to a more efficient—and effective—medical home model becomes an economic necessity.

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Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), associate dean of clinical education and assistant professor of emergency medicine

OU-HCOM has embraced the challenge of interprofessional education with several new initiatives.

Soon, the tenets of the patient-centered medical home will be fully integrated into all education at OU-HCOM. As part of the historic $105 million gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, Dr. Snow and J. Todd Weihl, D.O. (’88), associate program director at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital Family Practice, are creating a new learning model for OU-HCOM called the patient-centered medical home curriculum. It updates the college's current curricular approaches by focusing on four core competencies: patient engagement, quality improvement, team-based care and team-based informatics.

In addition, support from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, an 1804 Grant and the Medicaid Technical Assistance and Policy Program (MEDTAPP) grant are funding several initiatives geared towards the patient-centered medical home.

Today, OU-HCOM is working with allied health professions more than ever to transform the educational experience for our students, using new team-based initiatives to help them learn to work together collaboratively for the good of their patients. New team-based initiatives at OU-HCOM are preparing these students to work together deliberately.

ohio university medicine

About two years ago, faculty members from OU-HCOM and CHSP met to discuss ways for their students to train in the same hospitals.

The group then included Keith Watson, OU-HCOM’s former senior associate dean for academic affairs; Randy Leite, Ph.D., dean of CHSP; Dr. DiGiovanni; and Averell S. Overby, P.T., Dr. P.H., associate professor of physical therapy and interim associate dean for strategic initiatives. Soon, Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), associate dean of clinical education and assistant professor of emergency medicine, joined the team, and they began discussing interprofessional education.

“Our initial conversations centered on clinical rotations that students complete in their later years of training,” said Dr. Wadsworth. “Could we have a team of students from each discipline rotate with somebody? That’s how The Laurels experience came to being.”

At The Laurels of Athens, a nursing and rehabilitation center, the committee arranged for medical students and five other health care professions students to train side by side for the first time.

For the first semester of 2012, OU-HCOM students took part in the pilot interprofessional course with CHSP students from the fields of physical therapy, nursing, speech/language pathology, nutrition and social work. Ten students in two teams of five met with two patients at The Laurels, visiting six times throughout the semester to check in on their care.

“A team-based approach and collaborative care happens pretty naturally in nursing homes,” said Dr. Wadsworth, who taught the course with Dr. Overby.

“It’s a model that has existed for eons, so we thought we could emulate that model with the health professions that we have on campus.”

The course was designed to teach students the boundaries of their colleagues’ discipline. Each student was able to get an idea not only of what their peers were learning but also how they could consult with one another, said Dr. Wadsworth, learning to communicate strategically.

“I believe there’s enough data to support the idea that most medical errors happen when communication doesn't, and that team-based models are a really formal way to not just train students but to promote effective communication in a medical setting,” said Dr. DiGiovanni.

To supplement in-person group work, the students are linked via technology such as Adobe Connect, Skype and online discussion boards, made possible with funding from MEDTAPP and 1804 Grants.

The interprofessional course has also expanded this semester to train 48 students, with 24 at two Laurels sites for the clinical applied experience and another 24 on campus in a classroom-based course, that teaches core competencies for working in an interdisciplinary team. Students in the classroom are then encouraged to sign up for the clinical experience the following semester.

John McCarthy, Ph.D., associate professor of the School of Rehabilitation and Communication Sciences, is teaching the on-campus course, and Dr. DiGiovanni is supervising the clinical experience.

Jeffrey DiGiovanni, Ph.D., associate dean of clinical affairs for the College of Health Sciences and Professions

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Learning it together Cost. Quality. Access. These three major challenges facing the field of health care were at the forefront of a lecture given last February by James Stoller, M.D., a pulmonary and critical care physician at Cleveland Clinic, as part of the Grover Lecture Series.

His presentation, entitled "Preparing the Health Care Leaders of Tomorrow," cited escalating health care costs, noting that health care currently makes up 18 percent of the gross domestic product and is projected to reach 34 percent by 2040, an unsustainable rate of growth. Team-based care is one method to bend the cost curve, Dr. Stoller said, as well as providing better patient care.

According to Dr. Stoller, Cleveland Clinic, in 2007, began reorganizing their clinical institutes around organ and disease systems rather than individual specialties to bring together their various health care professionals in a group care model. Now, their 18 interdisciplinary care institutes are succeeding, as evidenced by decreases in patient costs, reductions in surgeries and declining death rates. Their efforts have created a nationally recognized model for interprofessional health care.

“I often tend in intensive care units, as a pulmonary critical care doctor, and my effectiveness in that setting has less to do with my virtuosity and my

personal fund of knowledge,” Dr. Stoller said. “It has much more to do with my ability to collaborate with nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists, dieticians and speech pathologists in service of our patients’ needs.”

A number of OU-HCOM faculty members are providing integrated experiences in non-clinical classroom and lab activities. For instance, medical students and physical therapy students are working together to understand neuroanatomy—and discovering the overlap between their professions.

“There’s a push nationally to establish that integrated health care network.

That’s what sparked us to think, 'How can we get them working together now, ” said Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Presentation Curriculum and associate professor of anatomy.

After discussing the idea with Dr. Wadsworth, Dr. O’Connor brought medical students and physical therapy students together for neuroanatomy this past fall, the first time the class has been taught together. A combination of 170 second-year students in OU-HCOM and first- and second-year students in CHSP met in the Grosvenor gross anatomy lab to learn the foundations of the nervous system—knowledge necessary for both professions.

“The foundational content is very similar, but the neat thing is that you can bring in people who are already beginning to develop their professional identities,” Dr. O’Connor said. “They’re already starting to evolve their own discipline-specific perspectives.”

Dr. O’Connor’s class explored the “emergent properties” of teaching students of both colleges under one roof, reflecting the growing trend towards team-based medical care among all professionals. Physical therapy students and future D.O.s found themselves grouped together in small clusters, and Dr. O’Connor heard several ongoing conversations, comparing the respective approaches to the nervous system.

“When you have an acute problem, the first role of the physician is to identify a possible intervention or treatment to stop the problem. But then rehabilitation often falls to physical therapists. But to serve the best interests of the patient, we need those two different approaches working in tandem.”

Dr. O’Connor envisions someday teaching nursing students, occupational therapists, physical therapists, physicians and physician assistants all together.

“That’s really our intention: to help them understand not only the anatomy, but to get them to understand the same content from another perspective,” he said.

Patrick O’Connor, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Presentation Curriculum and associate professor of anatomy

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Sarah Adkins, Pharm.D., with Ohio State University pharmacy student Justin Peak

Reaching across the state Studies have shown that the old model of primary care makes inadequate use of the full spectrum of specialists as well as preventative health options.

A new partnership between OU-HCOM and the Ohio State University (OSU) College of Pharmacy aims to bridge the communication gap between pharmacy and medical students early on.

Two and a half years ago, Wayne Carlsen, D.O., senior associate dean of academic affairs and associate professor of geriatrics, met with two representatives from the College of Pharmacy, Kenneth M. Hale, R.Ph., Ph.D., assistant dean for professional and external affairs, and Donald Bennett, M.B.A., R.Ph., to set up collaborative rotation experiences for pharmacy students.

“We wanted to give them a feel for practicing in rural Appalachia Ohio,” said Dr. Carlsen.

Together, they wrote the syllabi and established contacts for the clinical training sites. Sarah Adkins, Pharm.D., an OSU pharmacy resident, was then put in charge of the Rural Pharmacy Rotation, which brings OSU pharmacy students to OU-HCOM to train at the same sites as medical students.

Since then, 30 OSU pharmacy students have trained in ambulatory rotations at OU-HCOM’s Community Health Programs free clinics, University of Medical Associates’ geriatric clinic and the O’Bleness Family Medicine & Women’s Health Center. On Wednesdays, Dr. Adkins takes her students to O’Bleness Memorial Hospital to present their work and create relationships with the medical students and residents.

The exchange between medical and pharmacy students is important, Dr. Adkins said, because each discipline deals with different, yet interrelated part of the treatment process.

“Even in family practice, there’s such a wide range of medications and disease states and treatments, and there’s so much information that no one person can learn all of it,” Adkins said. “Even if you know a great deal, the patient still might not get the best treatment because every day there are new recommendations and guidelines and treatment options to be shared.”

D.O.s are apt diagnosticians, whereas Pharm.D.s have strength in therapeutics and pharmacology, she continued. Together, students training in each of these professions begin to learn how to work with one another, creating lasting patterns of collaboration down the road.

“As we look towards different models of health care that are developing related to the Affordable Care Act, and as we look at medical home models, there’s going to be a lot more team-based care delivered,” said Dr. Carlsen.

“So we have to provide the educational opportunities for students to figure out how they’re going to fit into that.”

Through new collaborative learning experiences like The Laurels, the combined neuroanatomy classroom and the Rural Pharmacy Rotation, OU-HCOM is preparing physicians for team-based care. For many at the college, a new, integrated model of interprofessional education is already taking shape.

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COMCorps How a commitment to service leads to a career in medicine

by Richard Heck

Jennifer Mullen, D.O. (’09). Photo by Rick Luettke.

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When Marisa Osorio, D.O. (‘06) graduated from college, she knew she wanted to be a physician. She also knew she wasn’t ready to begin medical school immediately after finishing her undergraduate education. She learned about COMCorps through an advertisement in a local paper and joined, thinking that the experience would be a perfect fit with her long-term goal.

“I gained an appreciation for what it really means to serve the underserved, and I learned a bit about the struggles people face when there are limited resources and how this affects their health,” Dr. Orosio said. Not only did the experience give her a unique perspective during medical school, it continues to influence how she practices today as an attending physician at Seattle Children’s Hospital in pediatric rehabilitation medicine.

Begun in August 2000 and administered by OU-HCOM’s Community Health Programs, COMCorps is part of AmeriCorps’ network of local, state and national service programs that addresses critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment. Established in 1996, AmeriCorps has been called the “domestic Peace Corps.”

“COMCorps has long been a cornerstone of the Ohio AmeriCorps portfolio. The service provided by the AmeriCorps members is a solid investment in the long term health and well-being of the residents of southeastern Ohio,” said William B. Hall, executive director of ServeOhio, the organization that oversees the Americorps program. “COMCorps is a prime example of the intersection of high-impact service and exceptional professional development—allowing members to gain vital experience while instilling an ethic of service that will last a lifetime.”

COMCorps’ focus is primarily on reducing childhood obesity through nutrition education and increasing access to healthy food and primary and preventive health

Spring 2013

care. “For those who are looking to go onto clinical health careers, our program provides hands-on experiences, strengthens their applications and resumes, and provides unbelievable training and self-development opportunities,” explained AmeriCorps Coordinator Lauren Borovicka.

A member of COMCorps for two years, Dr. Osorio spent the first year working with Diana Chalfant, R.N., in the Trimble School District giving health and wellness presentations to elementary school students and assisting with lice, vision and other health screenings. During her second year, she was based at the OU-HCOM Community Health Programs and travelled with the mobile health clinic assisting with childhood immunizations, women’s health screenings including breast exams and Pap tests, and adult wellness evaluations.

“I was able to work in the health care field, earn scholarship money to help defray the cost of medical school, and of course, list the experience on my medical school applications,” she said.

COMCorps members serve an 11-month term working in schools and agencies implementing health-related projects. In addition to a modest stipend for living expenses and health insurance, COMCorps service members are eligible for an education award that can be used to pay off student loans.

Service members are also eligible to defer student loan repayment while serving. Many join soon after completing undergraduate degrees and before committing to a future career.

COMCorps boasts a rare 100% retention rate of its members over the past several years. For many COMCorps service members, the experience led to careers in health care. More than 42 percent of COMCorps alumni have pursued health care careers, including osteopathic medicine.

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Jennifer Mullen, D.O. (’09). Photo by Rick Luettke.

While completing a class during a post-baccalaureate program at Ohio University, Jennifer Mullen, D.O. (’09), participated in a project involving a COMCorps program, which piqued her interest. Although already accepted into OU-HCOM, she decided to defer her enrollment for a year to serve in COMCorps.

“At the time I wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to attend medical school, but I knew I wanted a career in the health field. I have always had a passion for community service and health education, so it provided me with the opportunity to serve the community while planning my future career plans,” she said.

Dr. Mullen’s experience with COMCorps helped shape her current career as a pediatrician practicing in Ohio. Like Dr. Osario, Dr. Mullen was based at the Trimble Local School District during her second year with COMCorps working with the school nurse. Daily activities involved planning health education presentations for the students, organizing health screenings and working with the wellness team on improving school nutrition. She participated in group vision screenings, lice screenings and health fairs for the community.

“Members get to see situations and circumstances that are hard to learn in a book or in a classroom. Many of the situations service members experience may help lower frustration later on in life with patient outcomes,” Borovicka said. “For instance, with an issue that seems as simple as head lice, members get to see how hard it can be to get rid of lice because of some of the situations the children are living in. At the same time, the volunteers learn that there are a variety of community resources to compliment the medical practice.”

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COMCorps strives to make sustainable changes in Athens County to address unmet health needs. By partnering with schools, government and non-profit agencies, and Ohio University, COMCorps members provide the surrounding community with the personnel needed to deliver essential programs and services.

By working as a corps and connecting different agencies through their service, members have the unique opportunity to break down professional barriers and help organizations to streamline the delivery of programs and services.

“My experiences in the school system and community gave me insight into the obstacles to improving school nutrition and health education,” Dr. Mullen said. “I think that learning to teach children at various ages helped me during my early medical education because I learned how to be creative when talking and working with children.”

“COMCorps also strengthened my passion for health education, and confirmed that medicine is what I want to do,” she continued. It gave me time to realize that I could integrate my love for community service and health education into a career in medicine.”

The bedrock of the AmeriCorps program is training and developing members. Of the 1,700 hours of service required, 10 to 20 percent of that time is set aside for member training on such topics as nutrition, vision, leadership, professionalism and self-assessment.

For Randi Amstadt, a second year OU-HCOM student, service was already a part of her undergraduate experience at Ohio Wesleyan University, which included volunteering as a sexual assault response network advocate.

“After graduating, I knew I wanted to do more service before starting medical school. Although I planned to find time for volunteering during school, I also realized that taking a year off would be the last chance for a while that I could completely dedicate myself to giving back to the community,” Amstadt said.

That drive to serve brought Amstadt to COMCorps, particularly because she could continue to serve as an advocate for sexual assault victims through the Sexual Assault Prevention Program at her host site, Tri-County Mental Health and Counseling Services. During her year of service, Amstad founded three Healthy Relationship Clubs at Athens, Nelsonville-York and Alexander Middle Schools to promote teen dating violence prevention. She also served as the advisor of the OU Sexual Assault Prevention Club, co-facilitated a girls club at Coolville Elementary School for fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and taught lessons on healthy relationships and sexual assault prevention at Athens County high schools.

“Being a COMCorps member taught me about Appalachian culture and the health problems that go with it. It has definitely helped me to understand better the life experiences of the patients I encounter. Additionally, I feel like because of COMCorps, I am a more well rounded student. After a year of service, I can’t imagine my life without it.”

Participating in COMCorps confirmed Amstadt’s desire to enter medicine, and it introduced her to osteopathic medicine, thanks to Dean Emeritus Jack Brose, D.O. “Dr. Brose took an hour out of his busy schedule to sit down with me to explain osteopathic medicine,” she said. “Through our conversation I was sold on the philosophy, as it exemplified the best parts of medicine and the kind of physician I wanted to be. OU-HCOM instantly seemed like a good fit for me, and I applied right away.”

Many COMCorps members said that the COMCorps experience and the opportunity to provide health care cemented their interest in medicine.

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Randi Amstadt, OMS II and Dane Klink, OMS II. Photos by Josh Birnbaum “Halfway through my undergraduate degree in computer engineering, I decided I wanted to pursue medicine,” said Dane Klink, OMS II. “Before I applied, I wanted to make sure I was cut out for a career where you dedicate yourself to service. I ramped up my volunteer hours during school, but I wanted a more serious opportunity to test myself. COMCorps was the perfect fit.”

“COMCorps was initially an experiment or test of sorts,” Klink recalled.

“The life of a physician can be grueling—intellectually challenging, long hours, surprises around every corner. I got a taste of that from COMCorps, and I was relieved to discover I thrived in that environment. COMCorps helped give me the additional boost of confidence that, yes, I was ready for the challenge.”

Klink was based at Coolville Elementary School, serving in the school clinic for his service year. Besides influencing his decision to enter medical school, Klink noted that his experience with COMCorps changed his outlook on community service and making a difference for others. While living in the bubble of a college town may mask some of the issues existing in the wider community such as poverty and unmet health care needs, he noted participation in COMCorps enabled him to view Athens County from a different angle.

“COMCorps helped show me that although technology is great, the lack of it isn’t always the problem,” Klink said. “The sheer number of hours our team put into setting up events and helping out the community, the human presence, the dedication and the time were all infinitely more important. Submitting my last timesheet was a bittersweet experience. In an ocean of unmet needs, I felt good knowing I had put more than 1,700 hours into the community.”

COMCorps is supported by ServeOhio, the state’s commission on service and volunteerism, and local community partners.

Marisa Osorio, D.O. (‘06), attending pediatrician at Seattle Children’s Hospital

Lauren Borovicka, Americorps Coordinator

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the mentee Andrew D. Henson, D.O. ('12) Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital

&Guides

ROLE MODELs For physicians-intraining, what happens with a mentor can be as important as what happens in the classroom.

by Sydney Webber

At the start of the Colorado State University school year in 2005, Andrew Henson began his first day as a resident assistant in Ingersoll Hall. He had no idea that a chance meeting that day and a request for a dust cloth would so greatly alter the direction of his professional life.

“No one in my family had been to university yet. I knew I wanted to be a doctor early on so I enrolled in a regular pre-med program.

My first day as a resident assistant, a freshman named David moved in next door to me in the residence hall. During the move, his mom came to my room and asked me for a dusting rag. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but then she came back and introduced herself as Dr. Steinbergh and we started talking. I found out she was an osteopathic physician. My physician at home was a D.O., but honestly I never really knew what that meant. In fact, I’d never really had a conversation with a physician about what I wanted to do or where my career was going. That first day she sat with me for 45 minutes and we discussed just that.

She visited campus a couple of times that first year, and when we met, our conversations were informal but always quite professional. Dr. Steinbergh went out of her way to encourage me and to share her knowledge. During those early conversations she would also ask me about things like my upbringing, my goals and my thoughts on different subjects like politics and academic obligation. Looking back, I think she was feeling me out to see where she could help me most. I think she decided that what I needed most was a real life perspective. Over time she gave me that.

I immediately connected with her story; she is a self-made person, she worked hard to achieve what she has, and she wasn’t handed anything. I also learned what being an osteopathic physician meant to her.

Being a doctor was important, but being a D.O. had shaped her identity as a person and a physician. Early on, that was the biggest lesson I learned from her.

One day I got an email from her. She said that, based on our conversations, she thought I’d make a great doctor, and if I was really serious about going to medical school, I should come to Ohio for a week.

I could hang out with her son, do some shadowing and take a tour of Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

I flew out in January and was amazed because she not only let me shadow her in the office, she set up a day of rounds with Dr. Bill Burke, the family medicine program director at Doctors Hospital, then with Dr. Randy Hinkle, one of the CORE assistant deans working with the medical students at Mt. Carmel.

Looking back she was very deliberate about her choices. She wanted to expose me not just to physicians but physicians who were committed to the profession, committed to OU-HCOM, and committed to teaching. I had a really wonderful experience with both men, who are real advocates for young physicians and students.

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on leading by example My feelings on mentorship are that there are two types of mentors; 1) the type that takes a person under their wing and guides them through a particular career or obstacle and 2) the type that is more subtle. I am more experienced with the latter of the two. To me this type mentors by example rather than by pushing the "mentee" in a specific direction. I observed my mentors in their lives and practices and decided that I wanted to be like them. They were there to help with whatever I needed and often times anticipated my needs.

—Phillip “Duke” Starr, D.O. (’95) Chairman and Residency Director of the Department of Family Practice at St. Joseph Health Center, Clinical Professor of Family Medicine at OU-HCOM, and CORE Assistant Dean

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on starting early Begin early. I believe that most students do not recognize that they need a mentor until they are at their clinical site and realize that, in a short amount of time, they need to make a career choice that will affect their entire future.

—Ron Russ, D.O. (’98) Vice President of Graduate Medical Education at Summa Western Reserve Hospital, Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at OU-HCOM, and CORE Assistant Dean

on education Mentorship of medical students is a mix of what must be (to graduate) and what could be (to excel).

Frequent contact or engagement with the medical students is essential. Taking an interest in their concerns and sharing your experiences builds bridges.

—Peter A. Bell, D.O., M.B.A. Emergency Medicine Attending Physician at OhioHealth Doctors Hospital, Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at OU-HCOM, and CORE Assistant Dean

Later in the week we went to OU-HCOM and I got a tour of the college with Dr. John Schriner.

We talked about my background, what the college looks for in students, and what I wanted to get out of my education. I then went to lunch with, much to my surprise, Dean Jack Brose and Dr. Schriner, and Dr. Steinbergh. I couldn’t believe I was sitting there with these amazing people. I wasn’t even a medical student, I was just a senior in college, yet these people had taken the time to get to know me. It was at that moment I knew OU-HCOM was my future.

It was a defining moment in my life. I knew then that I was committed to being a D.O., and I had someone in my corner, someone who wasn’t just giving me advice but was also taking an active role in a process. In that one week, Dr. Steinbergh helped set my course and helped me fully define what I was capable of.

A lot of people don’t realize when they decide to go into medicine that there will be a tremendous amount of sacrifice and selflessness required. The reality is that once you’re a physician you have to give-up a part of yourself for your patients and your education. In addition, there are enormous emotional aspects most don’t recognize. Dr. Steinbergh provided me this insight as a student. She talked about what to expect from myself and from others, what kind of commitment one has to make in terms of family and free time and how medicine changes you. She prepared me for that with her candid and realistic assessment of the profession.

I am only just now beginning to understand the obligation physicians have to the future generations of practitioners. My relationship with Dr. Steinbergh is a living example of that. When you are part of the medical community, particularly the osteopathic community, you have an inherent obligation to the next generation, to pursue and help them. It’s an osteopathic value.

I’m now a resident at the Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital, and I’m in family medicine. I think it is not a coincidence that I am where I am. My mentor is a family doctor.

Our conversations now are quite different. I realize that we are talking more like peers these days. It is a great feeling. Dr. Steinbergh is now a CORE assistant dean, and her medical students are looking for residencies. When she has students coming to Cleveland, she has asked me to seek them out. Taking on that role was another powerful moment for me. It showed me that not only had we accomplished what we had set out to accomplish five to six years ago but that she is imparting a leadership role to me.

She still pushes me to become an osteopathic leader and a mentor myself. Based on our history, she would never let me get away with it if I didn’t.”

the mentor

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anita Steinbergh, D.O., CORE Assistant Dean 1999 Phillips Medal of Public Service Recipient Drew was very special to me from the start. I could see that he was going to be a physician, that he was very interested in osteopathic medicine, and that from his personality and his goal orientation, he was going to become what I felt was the next generation of osteopathic physicians.

I took an interest very early on in his career, and it was a mentoring relationship from the beginning.

He saw me that way and knew I was going to play that role in his life. When you ask what makes a good mentor, the first thing that comes to my mind is that you have to be receptive to it. You have to be totally engaged.

The importance of a mentorship like this is to have a vision for the young person. l look to him to be better than I am. That’s my goal for him.

Drew has seen me in a variety of roles: I serve on the State Medical Board of Ohio, I am a CORE assistant dean at Mt. Carmel Health System, I chair the credentials committee at St. Anns, and over the years, I have had many different leadership roles. We have talked about the importance of those things in life, but first he has to become the best physician he can be. Drew is always going to be someone who gives back to his profession in part because he has seen me do those things. That is part of mentorship.

He has also seen me as a wife and a mother. He understands our family unit and the responsibilities that I have at home as well as in my career.

The fact that I have influenced this young man’s life is so personally rewarding. Mentoring him has been so fulfilling that I see the absolute value of it.

Anita Steinbergh, D.O., and Andrew Henson, D.O. (’12)

I got to hood him last year when he graduated, and this year, believe it or not, in the year 2013, I am serving as president of the State Medical Board and I will get to sign his medical license. This is just incredible! What else is going to happen in our lives? There is so much more to come.

On enduring mentorship I still respect [Gregory Bloxforf, D.O.] as a mentor even to this day, but I have come to love him as a friend who has looked out for me in the various positions that I have assumed for HCOM and medical staff leadership of our hospital.

It is a truly a blessing to me that I get to work with a mentor of mine every day.

—David Tolentino, D.O. (’02) Vice President of Medical Staff at St. John Medical Center, Clinical Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine at OU-HCOM, and CORE Assistant Dean

There are many characteristics that go into making a person an effective mentor, but I believe it boils down to this: A good mentor must be two things—a role model and a guide. A good mentor models the personal and professional characteristics that a trainee will hopefully develop, and then he/she gently helps the trainee to develop these traits and abilities. I think that to be a truly outstanding mentor, you have to give your student time and space to figure things out on her own, learn from her own mistakes. You must be available to provide guidance and support, but you must be flexible and willing to engage the student’s individual learning needs. A oneapproach-fits-all method to mentoring does not work, as each student has unique strengths, weaknesses and learning needs.

—Andrew Culver, D.O. (’99) Emergency Medicine Attending Physician at Affinity Medical Center, Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at OU-HCOM, and CORE Assistant Dean

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ill’s kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Smith, was concerned about him.

Will was having difficulty interacting with his classmates, and although school had been in session for three months, he still had not formed friendships with any of the other children.

In addition to problems with social skills, Will was experiencing academic difficulties. He often sat at his desk day-dreaming and became extremely upset when asked to complete tasks that were not part of the daily routine. Having experienced similar issues with other students during her teaching career, Smith knew Will needed professional intervention.

She scheduled a meeting with Will’s parents, Susie and Sam Brown, to talk about her concerns and to suggest screening for autism or other developmental difficulties.

The couple acknowledged that something was very wrong, but they had no idea where to begin to get help. Thanks to outreach efforts by Integrating Professionals for Appalachian Children (IPAC), which fosters collaboration between Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM), community healthcare providers and the local school systems, Smith knew where to turn.

Finding Their Wings

Ohio University partnership provides vital care for area children

In January, the Southeastern Ohio Interdisciplinary Assessment Team (SEO-IAT) achieved a significant milestone: they treated their 100th child.

A resource for parents and guardians, this diverse group of health care professionals provides in-depth evaluations and diagnoses for children.

Their services have a profound impact on the lives of these families.

A version of this article was originally published in Ohio University’s award-winning “Appalachia Rising” series in March of 2011.

By Karen L. Deardorff, Ph.D.

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A sea of possibilities Smith referred the Browns to the Family Navigator Program, housed within the Community Health Programs at OU-HCOM. Administered by IPAC, the program seeks to provide parents, physicians, teachers and other agencies with the information needed to make decisions about a child’s behavioral health and development care and to assist with access to medical resources.

Sue Meeks, R.N., C., a pediatric-certified registered nurse who specializes in child and behavioral health, is the Family Navigator Program’s primary point of contact for child services. Through interviews, assessments and ongoing communications, she seeks to create meaningful connections between families, schools and health-care providers.

During the intake interview with Will’s parents, Meeks discussed his difficulties at school and asked questions about his basic health and developmental history including speech, language and hearing abilities, sleeping and eating patterns, toilet training, chronic illnesses, motor coordination, school and social history, and current behaviors.

Based on the assessment, Meeks determined that Will’s care would be best addressed through a multidisciplinary approach. She set up an appointment for the Browns to meet with professionals from the Southeastern Ohio Interdisciplinary Assessment Team (SEO-IAT).

A vehicle for action Originally funded through grants from the Ohio Department of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Rural Health Policy, the SEO-IAT brings together professionals from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the Ohio University Hearing, Speech & Language Clinic and OU-HCOM’s Community Health Programs.

Today it is supported in part by IPAC and Project Launch.

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Comprising local providers, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and a clinical child psychologist from Nationwide Children’s Hospital developmental clinics, the SEO-IAT team takes a family-centered, multidisciplinary approach to assess children who are at risk for behavioral or development disorders.

The SEO-IAT partners work together to assess children suspected of having developmental concerns, behavioral difficulties, cognitive delays and autism spectrum disorders. They also look at a child’s overall physical health, speech/language/hearing status and social/emotional environment.

Because of the intense focus that SEO-IAT brings to one child at a time, families often experience a sense of empowerment, knowing that this team has carefully considered all available options and has given them the tools and guidance to effect change.

A collaboration of care In the SEO-IAT process, families become active participants in decisions about the course of action, and they learn how to advocate for their child. The team draws on expertise from a broad range of agencies and communities, adding to the quality of its offerings.

The program’s evaluation model also helps to generate recommendations and referrals to the necessary support services and resources.

“We know that accessing appropriate services early can potentially lead to enhanced function for these children, or at least to the prevention of further delays,” said Jessica Foster, M.D., a developmental-behavioral pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Jennifer Walton, M.D., of Nationwide Children’s Hospital is now providing developmental behavioral expertise.

Sarah Taylor, M.A., CCC-SLP, the speech-language pathologist on the team, believes having the SEO-IAT staffed primarily by local people—“folks who live here and know the resources and the challenges parents face”—is key.

“Recommendations are made with an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses in our region and take into account the uniqueness and diversity of southeast Ohio,” Taylor said.

Meeks added, “Parents no longer have to drive 90 minutes to Columbus or wait for months for their child to be seen. Our goal is to have local services that meet the needs of children that previously had to travel to Columbus or Cincinnati.”

A holistic approach Brandie Nance, Au.D., CCC-A, Ohio University’s Hearing, Speech and Language Clinic clinical supervisor, fulfills a dual role within the SEO-IAT. Not only does she serve as the team audiologist to ensure that a hearing loss is not causing the behavioral difficulties, she also serves as the SEO-IAT coordinator and works to keep the team organized and on track.

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Dr. Nance explained that the interdisciplinary approach is considered best practice in the diagnosis of many behavioral and developmental disorders.

Under this model, SEO-IAT professionals review each incoming case as a team to determine the child’s needs. After the child is evaluated from each professional perspective, the team reconvenes to review the evaluations. They then meet with the family to provide an assessment overview and a next steps document.

“Our process removes the frustration of telling each provider the same concerns and only having one portion of the concern addressed by that particular discipline,” Dr. Nance said.

Although the collaboration among various disciplines has proven effective for the families they serve, SEO-IAT is always looking for ways to improve on these services.

The group is currently looking into how to employ technology to overcome the barriers of distance, according to Dr. Foster. This includes using teleconferencing technology to meet face-to-face between clinic sessions, as well as developing telehealth technology to support the clinical services being provided at the on-site Athens clinic.

“We hope that our use of technology will help improve the sustainability of our program and improve access to our services in the future,” Dr. Foster said.

A sense of hope Following hours of observation, interaction and evaluation, the SEO-IAT assessment team provided Will and his parents with a diagnosis: autism spectrum disorder.

But the family left the clinic that day with much more than a diagnosis.

They also left with recommendations about services that would be needed. They were provided with information from the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence and other autism organizations. And they were referred to the public schools for in-school services to assist Will in the classroom.

Follow-up Development & Alumni News and Features

Family Navigators also aided the Browns with setting up followup appointments with other health-care professionals and service organizations, as needed. And, since the Browns did not have insurance, a team member helped them complete the necessary financial forms that would qualify them for assistance in covering the costs of the assessment.

“We feel it’s important to be providing some of the best services around,” said Dr. Nance. “The university is (providing) the place for this to happen … and personnel. The structure gives us the opportunity to serve the community.”

“People in Athens and the surrounding communities look to the university for higher learning. We want our families to know we’re also about making sure our community has access to the services they need.”

Above: A SEO/IAT team meeting including, from left, Clinical Childhood Psychologist Carrie Murphy, Ph.D., of Nationwide Children’s Hospital; Elizabeth Kryszak; Melissa Brown; Jennifer Walton, M.D., M.P.H, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician with the Wexner Medical Center at the Ohio State University; Sue Meeks, R.N., C., a pediatric-certified registered nurse; and Sarah Taylor, M.A., CCC-SLP, speech-language pathologist.

Left: Sue Meeks, R.N., C.

For further information about services provided by the SEO-IAT, contact Brandie Nance at the Ohio University Hearing, Speech & Language Clinic, 740.593.1404, or Sue Meeks at the Family Navigator Program, 740.593.9534.

26

ohio university medicine

The future of medicine is in their hands David C. Eland, D.O., professor of osteopathic manipulative medicine, demonstrates technique for Jaime McBride, OMS II, (left), Kerry Horvath, OMS II, and Kerry Bertke, OMS II, (right), in the Grosvenor 118 OMM lab.

And that's him in the same space in the 1990s (above) before the expansion.

OMM had been a part of the Department of Family Medicine until last year, when the Ohio University Board of Trustees approved the creation of a separate Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. “It seemed like it was the right time,” said Dr. Eland, who drafted the proposal for the new department and is now its chair. “With the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations’ grant and the expansion to two new campuses, it was important that the OMM part of the curriculum have a place at the table in those discussions.”

Spring 2013

27

Development Highlight

The Brentwood Foundation

28

A hospital, a vision and the future of osteopathic medical education

Roger Classen, D.O., at the Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital, 2012

When OU-HCOM announced the opening of a location in northeast Ohio in 2012, it was no surprise that the Brentwood Foundation was involved. The two have a long history that involves a family legacy, the origins of the osteopathic profession in Ohio, and a shared mission and future that brings it all full circle.

The story begins in January 1957 when Theodore F. Classen, D.O., opened Brentwood Hospital in Warrenville Heights, Ohio, as a place for osteopathic physicians to practice. A graduate of the Kansas City College of Osteopathic Medicine, he raised the money for the hospital while running a surgery practice. The many patients in the area who shared his vision to improve the health care in the expanding communities of Cuyahoga County helped to complete funding for the new hospital.

“My father worked tirelessly until he retired. He was always very interested in medical education,” said his son Roger Classen, D.O., chairman of the Brentwood Foundation. Dr. Theodore Classen started the internship and residency programs at the hospital in the ‘60s, making it the first osteopathic hospital in Ohio to be approved for the training family practice residents.

The hospital was merged with Meridia Health Systems in 1994, and a portion of the proceeds was put into forming the Brentwood Foundation, a non-profit, private foundation dedicated to the advancement of osteopathic medicine through education. Eventually it was acquired by the Cleveland Clinic Health System. Today the hospital is known as Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital, and

60,000 square feet of space within Building A will soon be renovated as part of OU-HCOM’s northeast site.

The hospital is truly a family affair. Three of Dr. Theodore Classen’s four sons are D.O.s; Dr. Roger Classen is a general surgeon, Dr. Greg Classen is a plastic surgeon and Dr. Gary Classen is a radiologist at Akron General Hospital. In addition the youngest son, Brent Classen, owns and operates Brentwood Health Care Nursing Facility in Sagamore Hills, Ohio. Both Dr. Roger Classen and Dr. Greg Classen work at South Pointe Hospital, having begun their early practice with their father.

“The foundation feels a very strong connection to the college because Cleveland Clinic South Pointe has been training its students since the college opened in 1976,” Dr. Roger Classen said. “It is important that we work together because it is an Ohio college and many of our physicians have attended and come back to practice in the area.”

The Brentwood Foundation has supported the college with numerous gifts totaling nearly $1 million, including a generous gift to support the opening of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic & Research Center in 2010. “The Brentwood Foundation has played a major role in helping the college provide the highest caliber of education and greater prominence in research,” said Sharon Zimmerman, executive director of constituent relations for health affairs at Ohio University. “We have a shared set of ideals, and our core missions are in perfect alignment.

They stand at the very center of our partnership.”

ohio university medicine

Both organizations are committed to providing a strong educational foundation for osteopathic medical students by supporting clinical research and graduate medical education, as well as providing for the health and well being of Ohioians. “We believe that we can fulfill all of these responsibilities through educational programs that promote the highest level of academic excellence,” said Zimmerman, making the Cleveland area one of the best in the nation for not only health care, but also in medical education.

OU-HCOM has 420 graduates practicing in seven northeast Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga County and the six surrounding counties, and yet there is still a need to provide adequate access to primary care physicians in northeast Ohio, as well as to prepare for increased numbers of patients coming to primary care physicians in the future.

In 2012, the Brentwood Foundation made a $5 million grant to Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital to support the new OUHCOM site to help address these needs and enhance our training partnership. “The presence of OU-HCOM will help Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital to expand their entire educational program, which will also help with patient care,” said Dr. Roger Classen. “It will also help the osteopathic presence in Cleveland and at the Cleveland Clinic. I think it already has.”

“Our current board of trustees, the attending physicians, and the directors of our programs are enthusiastic about the development of the new school,” said Dr. Roger Classen. “My father would have been so excited to know that we will have students from the school training in the hospital in 2015. His dream is being fulfilled. It all began in 1957 when Brentwood Hospital first opened its doors.

My father would be proud to know that these beginnings have led to the collaboration and growth in osteopathic education and the improvement of health within our community.”

Brentwood Hospital, circa 1980

Chris Albrecht

Senior Director of Development and Executive Director of Alumni Affairs

Dear Alumni & Friends: Passion for the mission.

Shortly after joining OU and HCOM in mid-January, I had a conversation with a former colleague from a medical school at another (out-of) state university.

He asked the usual questions about how’s it going, do you like it, etc., and my responses were all extremely positive. I heard myself say “I haven’t been able to put my finger on it, but there is something different here; this is a special place.”

With a few additional weeks under my belt, and after visiting with dozens of our alumni from across the decades, many members of the faculty and staff, students, as well as several of our “friends,” I can now boil down that feeling I had to one phrase, “passion for the mission.”

Without exception, everyone I have met has genuine passion for everything HCOM—their profession, the principles behind osteopathic medicine, the education of our students, providing the best possible patient care, especially to those in underserved areas, conducting life changing research, and, which has been very evident, a sense of family pride that is pervasive throughout the entire organization and fuels the passion.

The articles in this issue regarding the Brentwood Foundation, Gregory Hill, D.O. (’86), and the Jason Madachy Foundation tell the story of the college from its start through today and into the future. They reflect the impact that “passion for the mission” has had and will have on the osteopathic physicians we educate and those who are affected by their care.

There are many ongoing projects at the college to get excited about, and there will be a variety of ways for our alumni and friends to be involved and further the mission of the college. I look forward to meeting you in my travels, learning more about you and your OU-HCOM experience, and the reasons why you have “passion for the mission.”

29

Follow-up Class Notes

We want to hear from you!

Making a difference in Guatemala

Please send your career and personal updates for our next issue.

Contact Laurie Lach, B.S.C. (‘92), Director of Alumni Affairs Fax: 740.593.0761 E-mail: lach@ohio.edu Online form: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/Alumni StayingConnected.htm Become a fan at www.facebook.com/ouhcom

Alumni Affairs, 203 Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio, 45701

1980 Hinda Abramoff, D.O., started ArtsEGallery (www.artsEgallerycom) an online retail art business with her sister. Dr Abramoff is still an anesthesiologist at Cleveland Clinic.

Randy V. Larrick, D.O., was appointed medical director in the Department of Radiology at the Cleveland Clinic Strongsville Family Health Center in January 2012.

Jules H. Sumkin, D.O., was named the Endowed Chair in Women’s Imaging at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in October 2011.

1990 While traveling through Africa early this year, Gillian Ice, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of biological anthropology and gerontology and director of the Ohio University Global Health Initiative, visited the home of Tim Kubacki, D.O., in Lubango, Angola. The Kubacki family has lived in Angola for the past year, providing medical care in the remote southwestern region through SIM USA, a missionary organization. His son Luke is currently a freshman at Ohio University studying communication and global studies with an Africa focus.

1998

2003

William Addington, D.O., began practicing with Morrow County Hospital Primary Care of Cardington, Ohio, in October 2012. He and wife Diane were married on February 11, 2012.

Catherine Galida, D.O., and husband Thomas Meek, D.O., welcomed daughter Seren Olivia in November 2011.

Heather Phipps, D.O., graduated from Washington State University with an M.B.A. in June 2012.

1999 Alex J. Auseon, D.O., is now director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Training Program at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Last September, he and others in the division of cardiovascular medicine travelled to Washington, D.C., to receive the Diversity in Cardiology Award from the Association of Black Cardiologists for the division's effort to promote diversity in the cardiology workforce.

Kraig Burgess, D.O., joined the staff of the Orthopedic Clinic Association, located in Phoenix, Ariz., in February 2012.

2000 Douglas Finefrock, D.O., was appointed vice chairman of the Emergency Department and Trauma Services and program director of the new Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. James D. Heddleson, D.O., joined Avita Health System in Galion, Ohio, as a pulmonologist and critical care physician in October 2011.

James M. Lawlor, D.O., FACOI, C-CDI, received his certification in Clinical Documentation Integrity and Improvement (C-CDI) in 2011. In October 2012, he started as program medical director of Inpatient Specialists of Southwest Florida at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers, Fla.

Tim Kubacki, D.O., with Diane Lui, OMS IV

1993 Patricia Miller, D.O., accepted a new position in Family Medicine at Oak Grove Family Clinic in Hattiesburg, Miss.

1997 Lisa Henning Low, D.O., and husband Michael welcomed daughter Carly Anne in July 2012.

30

2002 Gregory Applegate, D.O., was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio, in August 2012. He is also an anesthesiologist at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, specializing in acute pain medicine and regional anesthesia.

Tiffani N. Maycock, D.O., and husband Antoine welcomed son Tarver Jason in October 2011.

Jaclyn M. Laine, D.O., completed a fellowship in clinical neurophysiology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., in 2012 and is now practicing with OhioHealth Neurological Associates at Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Stephen Scheper, D.O., presented “Interventional treatment options for chronic axial pain unresponsive to conservative care” at the Hawaii Association of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons 2012 Fall Primary Care Update in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Tracy Sharp, D.O., and husband Darren welcomed son Grant in May 2012.

2004 Thomas E. Carter, D.O., FACEP, was appointed program director for the Southern Ohio Medical Center’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program in Portsmouth, Ohio. Dr. Carter delivered two lectures at the Michigan College of Emergency Physicians 2012 Winter Symposium in Boyne Falls, Mich., “Common things are common” and “So what’s tingling?” He and wife Stacy welcomed daughter Phoebe Aurelia in March 2012.

Jeremy S. Helphenstine, D.O., and wife Sara welcomed daughter Hannah in August 2012.

Nitin Kapoor, D.O., completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton, Ohio, in June 2012 and is now an attending physician at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Washington Cancer Center in Washington, Pa. He and wife Vanita welcomed daughter Anya in November 2011.

2005 Rebecca Fredrick, D.O., and husband Frank J. Rose, III, welcomed twins Faith Olivia and Frank John in September 2011.

Michael D. Skeels, D.O., and wife Melissa welcomed daughter Claire Elena in March 2012.

2006 Jillian Kunar, D.O., started a position with Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, in July 2012.

She and husband Matthew T. Kunar, D.O. (’05), welcomed son Maxwell Frederick in April 2012.

Christopher M. Lloyd, D.O., and wife Julia welcomed son Andrew Richard in February 2012.

Andrea G. Malone, D.O., and husband Jordan welcomed son Griffin Matthew in August 2012.

Michael Paleski, D.O., joined OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, N.C., as a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in September 2012.

Kevin M. Pantalone, D.O., was appointed to associate staff in the Department of Endocrinology at Cleveland Clinic.

Brian Schmidt, D.O., received a staff appointment to Naval Hospital Lemoore in Lemoore, Calif. He and wife Nicole welcomed daughter Evalyn in July 2012.

2007 Yana (Tubin) Duncan, D.O., and husband Brennan welcomed daughter Maya in October 2011.

Devin McCullough, D.O., accepted a position as anesthesiologist at Cleveland Regional Medical Center in Shelby, N.C. He and wife Claire welcomed daughter Lillian Mae in August 2012.

Elizabeth A. Patterson, D.O., received the Osteopathic Residents Advisory Committee Residency Leadership Award at the 2012 Ohio Osteopathic Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. She and husband Eric welcomed daughter Charlotte in July 2012.

2008 Jeff Domingus, D.O., and wife Sarah welcomed Asher Lewis to the family in February 2012.

Paul Levy, D.O., and wife Kristan welcomed twin daughters Caroline and Courtney in June 2012.

Erin N. Remster, D.O., completed a Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship with Summa Health System in June 2012. She started as medical director of Palliative Care Services at Genesis HealthCare System in Zanesville, Ohio, in August 2012.

John L. Weippert, D.O., was one of four residents selected nationally to receive the American Osteopathic Association 2011 Outstanding Resident of the Year Award.

Ashley Simpson, D.O. (’10), Kristen ConradSchnetz, D.O. (’09), Alanna Foglietti Fosyk, D.O. (’12), and Virginia Factor, D.O. (’11), traveled to Tecpan, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, in February with HELPS International, a non-profit organization that partners with individuals, businesses, corporations, and local and national governments to alleviate poverty in Latin America. The four were

part of the HELPS Michigan team, and together they saw 1,586 clinic patients, 266 dental patients and performed 284 surgeries in five days. The Brentwood Foundation provided a majority of the funding for the residents’ travel. Jeffrey A. Stanley, D.O. (‘82), provided his fellow alumni with OU-HCOM scrubs.

Kristina Yoder, D.O., joined Trinity Bettendorf Obstetrics and Gynecology in Bettendorf, Iowa, in August 2012. She and husband Ryan welcomed daughter Ada in February 2012.

2011

2009 Utkarsh Acharya, D.O., was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and received the Outstanding Resident Educator Award from the Medical Student Section and the Humanism Award from the Department of Internal Medicine at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio.

Stephen Bacak, D.O., received the Best Resident Teacher Award 2011-2012 at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, Ohio. In May 2012, he also received 1st Place Resident Research Award at the Northeast Ohio Medical University Annual Ob/Gyn Research Day, 2nd Place Resident Research Award from the Cleveland Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and 1st Place Maternal Fetal Medicine Society Award from the Cleveland Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Heather Lewis, D.O., and husband Thomas, welcomed son Thomas Bennett in February 2012.

Mary Ellen Margocs DiDonato, D.O., received an award in June 2012 from the OU-HCOM students at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, for Outstanding Career Guidance. In August 2012, she joined the Cleveland Clinic Department of Family Medicine and is practicing out of their Wooster Family Health Center in Wooster, Ohio.

Christopher McIntosh, D.O., and wife Allison welcomed son Austin in August 2011.

Michael Todd O’Neil, D.O., and wife Lori welcomed daughter Evelyn in June 2012.

Jonathan Winner, D.O., and wife Michelle welcomed son Benjamin in June 2012.

2010 Stephen Detzel, D.O., and wife Nicole married on September 3, 2011.

Matthew Schefft, D.O., and wife Katherine welcomed son Samuel Timothy in April 2012.

Sheila Whiteley, D.O., and husband Nathan Lowien, D.O. (’08), welcomed daughter Audrey Jean in July 2012.

Spring 2013

Janeen Masternick-Black, D.O., and Keith R. Black, D.O., married on June 18, 2011.

Brenton McCoy, D.O., and Erin Mary Elizabeth Scott, M.D., were married on October 22, 2011.

Jerrad Nickell, D.O., and wife Amanda welcomed son Trevor in July 2011.

Our apologies

John S. Urse, III, D.O. (’82) In the previous issue of Ohio University Medicine magazine, we incorrectly named John S. Urse, III, D.O. (’82), as the late husband of Geraldine Urse, D.O. Her husband was John S. Urse, Jr., D.O., FACOS. We apologize to the Urse family. Dr. Urse, III, assures us he is alive and well and practicing at Orthopedic Associates of Southwestern Ohio in Dayton. He is a master hip instructor for the Arthroscopic Association of North America, has lectured national audiences on gluteus medius hip tendon repairs, and is conducting ongoing research on gluteal tendon biomechanics.

His father, Dr. Urse, Jr., was a 1955 graduate of the Des Moines Still College of Osteopathy and Surgery. As reported in the last issue, the naming of the conference room in the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic & Research Center was a tribute from his wife to his memory.

Follow-up

Lori (Gill) Grennan, D.O. (’03), a clinical assistant professor of family medicine and a family medicine physician at Family Medicine at Darby Creek in Hilliard, Ohio. A dedicated humanitarian, Dr. Grennan raised more than $100,000 for inflammatory breast cancer research. She died on Jan. 21, 2013, at the age of 36.

Ruth E. Purdy, D.O. (Hon. '06), died on April 2, 2013, in her 93rd year of life. Dr. Purdy was a friend to the college and to generations of physicians. She was a teacher and mentor to hundreds of OU-HCOM students over the years and was considered a true luminary in the osteopathic profession.

Dr. Purdy was a pioneer in medicine, entering the field in the 1950s when the profession had few women. She was the first female internal medicine resident at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and later became the first female to serve on the hospital Board of Trustees. In 1970, she was elected hospital chief of staff.

Countless awards and accolades were bestowed upon Dr. Purdy including some of the most notable in the profession. In 1984, she received the OUHCOM Phillips Medal of Public Service, the college’s highest distinction for outstanding individual contributions to health care, education and public service. She also received the first-ever American Osteopathic Association Mentor of the Year Award, and the Ohio Osteopathic Association Distinguished Service Award.

In 2006, Dr. Purdy was made honorary alumna of OU-HCOM and in 2007, the Ruth E. Purdy, D.O.,

32

Linda Ha, D.O. ('04), leads scientific committee

May 11 34th Annual OU-HCOM Commencement Templeton Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 9:00 a.m.

“The word doctor in Latin is ‘teacher.’ We live by that model,” said Linda Ha, D.O. (’04). For the past four years, Dr. Ha has served as the chair of the scientific committee for the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP), creating learning opportunities for physicians and students.

2013 Spring/Summer

In Memoriam Robert Alan “Rob” Cravenor, D.O. (’07), was an orthopedic surgeon, a lifelong goal of his, and valued alumnus from OU-HCOM. He died on Oct. 9, 2012, at the age of 31, after a five-year battle with ALS.

Alumni Calendar of Events

Robbin Kirkland, Ph.D., was the assistant director of faculty development and an assistant professor of family medicine at OU-HCOM. He regularly provided crucial insight and counsel to hundreds of physicians throughout the CORE. For many in the community, Kirkland personified professionalism, excellence in education and passion for learning. He died on Sept.

15, 2012, at the age of 65.

Richard A. Shuler was the assistant coordinator for OU-HCOM Community Health Programs. He drove the Mobile Health Clinics for nearly 10 years, making health care accessible to many in southeastern Ohio. He died on March 15, 2013, at the age of 71.

Endowed Scholarship was established to support medical education. It continues to support OU-HCOM medical students to this day.

Her dedication to the college and to the whole Ohio medical community was unmatched in her lifetime, and she will be missed.

May 15 - 19 Ohio Osteopathic Symposium Hilton Columbus Easton Town Center Columbus, Ohio

May 19 OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board Meeting 8:30 a.m.

August 2 OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Panel Discussion Irvine 194 Ohio University, Athens, Ohio August 3 OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board Meeting Grosvenor West 111 Ohio University, Athens, Ohio OU-HCOM 38th Annual Convocation Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Ohio University, Athens, Ohio

2013 Fall September 27 - 29 Ohio University Black Alumni Reunion Weekend Athens, Ohio OU-HCOM Event To Be Announced

September 30 - October 4 American Osteopathic Association 118th Annual Osteopathic Medical Conference and Exposition (OMED) Las Vegas, Nevada October 2, 2013 OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Event Reception 5:00 p.m.

Follow-up

Founded in 1915, the ACP is the largest organization for internal medicine in the nation. The president of the ACP is David L. Bronson, M.D., FACP, president of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals.

Each year, Dr. Ha and the scientific committee hold a meeting to provide education, didactics, conferences, lectures and networking opportunities for its members. The theme of last October’s meeting was “The Duty to Teach,” and it celebrated the 10th year anniversary of the ACP’s Ethics Manual. During the conference, three OU-HCOM students competed in the Student Doctors’ Dilemma, a Jeopardy-style medical quiz game that encourages participation among students in the organization.

“We recognize that medical students are the future of our medical society and chapter. We want medical students to come to these meetings and look around, meet internists, specialists and people in the field to discuss what their future careers can be,” Dr. Ha said, who practices internal medicine at Summa Health System Akron City Hospital in Ohio.

“With OU-HCOM being a leader in encouraging students to seek primary care, it’s such a great opportunity for me to be a part of that,” Dr. Ha said.

Linda Ha, D.O. (’04), with Gregory W. Rouan, M.D., governor of the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Physicians

Charles T. Mehlman, D.O. (’89), M.P.H., with William Hilyard, alumni chair of the Ohio University Board of Trustees

Mehlman receives university distinguished service award Charles T. Mehlman, D.O. (’89), M.P.H., received the Distinguished Service Award from the Ohio University Alumni Association on Friday, Oct. 12, for his contributions to OU-HCOM as a medical educator, researcher and mentor.

“This college did amazing things for me,” said Dr. Mehlman, who is part of a pediatric orthopedic group in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, director of musculoskeletal outcomes research and co-director of the Brachial Plexus Center. “It gave a farm boy from eastern Ohio amazing opportunities.

Of all my alma maters, the one that I feel the most love for, without a doubt, is Ohio University.”

The Distinguished Service Award recognizes exceptional service on behalf of alumni chapters, clubs, constituent societies and, in special instances, the university and its colleges and schools. Dr. Mehlman, a valued member of the OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board of Directors, was selected for his engagement with students about pediatric orthopedic surgery, career paths and research opportunities during visits to campus as well as his mentorship in the Careers in Medicine program.

In 2006, he was awarded the OU-HCOM Medal of Merit, in addition to numerous other honors for his research and scholarly publications. Writing on a full range of orthopedic diseases, deformity, trauma and

tumors in children, he has published more than 80 peer reviewed articles and an equal number of book chapters. He delivered the keynote address during the 2010 OU-HCOM Commencement exercises.

“I like to point out that all of us have jobs because kids get hurt. Trauma in kids is important. Trauma has been the number one killer of children since they started measuring,” he said. “You can combine all other causes of death for children, like infectious diseases and cancer, and trauma is still the biggest killer.”

After graduating from OU-HCOM, Dr. Mehlman completed a rotating internship and an orthopedic surgery residency at Grandview Medical Center in Dayton and an internal medicine residency at Akron General Medical Center. After completing a pediatric orthopedic surgery fellowship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, he went on to earn a Master of Public Health degree in clinical effectiveness and outcomes research at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Through the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Healing the Children program, Dr. Mehlman has traveled to Shanghai, China, to volunteer medical service. His wife, Elsira Pina, D.O., a Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine graduate, is an associate professor of medicine and pulmonologist at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute.

Ruth Purdy, D.O. (HON. ’06) ohio university medicine

Spring 2013

33

Alumni Profile

On the front lines of surgery at home and abroad Gregory Hill, D.O. ('86)

by Aaron Krumheuer

Gregory Hill, D.O. (’86), president of the OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board of Directors, will provide the opening remarks for Saturday morning’s program honoring veterans’ and their families at the 2013 Ohio Osteopathic Symposium.

These programs are held in support of the White House Joining Forces Initiative, a project led by Michelle Obama to call attention to the education, employment and wellness of U.S. veterans. The special health needs of those who have served are subjects Dr. Hill knows firsthand.

A native of Akron, Ohio, Dr. Hill joined the U.S. Army in March 1983 while a student at OU-HCOM. He was deployed for two tours of duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom: from November 2003 to March 2004 in Baghdad with the 28th and the 31st Combat Support Hospitals, where he functioned as an orthopedic trauma surgeon, and in Anbar province, from August to December 2005, where he served as battalion surgeon for a forward operating base.

Gregory Hill, D.O. (’86), is an orthopedic surgeon at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was deployed twice to Iraq as an orthopedic trauma surgeon.

Dr. Hill is now a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and the Ohio Army National Guard.

“It’s probably made me more confident as a physician overall, in that I don’t get too worried about much from a clinical standpoint here in the states,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of bad injuries.”

It was a learning experience, he said, in which he had to face the constant stress of being in harm’s way. Amidst live ammunition, explosions and a constant barrage of injured soldiers, Dr. Hill and his team had to make use of the limited medical resources available in Baghdad and the Anbar Province to treat out-of-the-ordinary physical trauma.

He was also witness to the intense psychological and social pressures that exist in a war zone, compounded by the stress of being thousands of miles away from family and friends.

Many soldiers face a tough time as they reintegrate into their homes and communities after being deployed. The Invisible Wounds of

War Study by the RAND Corporation found that close to 20 percent of veterans returning from the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were affected by post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, and about the same number reported suffering from traumatic brain injury.

Dr. Hill cited his faith as one of the main strengths that sustained him through his tours of duty.

“We had a chapel that was a part of our unit there. That was a part of the group, so I would meet pretty regularly with my chaplain. We’d have coffee and talk about being deployed, about family and food, in the midst of combat. That was very valuable,” Dr. Hill said.

He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Certificate of Appreciation and the Global War on Terrorism Medal.

Dr. Hill is an orthopedic surgeon at Summa Western Reserve Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He is also the

orthopedic surgery residency program director at the hospital, where he orchestrates rotations, teaches, and supervises residents and interns.

“I love that I can stay engaged with the college and things that are going on in Athens,” he said.

Dr. Hill was the second minority student to graduate from OU-HCOM, and he remains involved in minority health affairs to this day. He is president of the National Osteopathic Medical Association (NOMA), which advocates for diversity in the osteopathic profession. Former OUHCOM Dean Barbara Ross Lee, D.O., was the first president of NOMA, as well as the first African American female dean of any medical school. Dr. Hill works to encourage NOMA membership and participation on campus with medical students. In addition, he is a father of four, grandfather of five and the husband of Judi Hill, a proud supporter of his work at the college.

The session at the symposium addressing veterans' health was developed by OUHCOM’s Area Health Education Center as part of a nationwide effort to mobilize their networks to educate civilian health professionals about deployment-related health issues.

Surgical resident Maria Crespo, D.O., (left) confers with Dr. Hill.

Andrew Yuan, D.O. (’87) When Andrew Yuan, D.O. (’87), decided to become an osteopathic physician he knew he was in for a unique challenge. An upper and lower extremity amputee, he was going to need to craft his own way to practice osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM).

“Most osteopathic manipulation requires bimanual dexterity, and I think I’m the first one back in the ’80s that entered with a significant impairment prior to medical school,” Dr. Yuan said.

Today Dr. Yuan runs a private rehabilitation and physical medicine practice in Fairfield, Conn., where he treats the severely injured and impaired, those who have suffered brain and spinal cord injuries, strokes and amputation. As a physician with a physical disability, he has been given “the golden key” in gaining the trust of his patients, being able to communicate not only through words, but also through body and spirit, he said.

Before opening his private practice, Dr. Yuan ran several rehabilitation units, worked as a medical director for insurance companies for three states, served as state president of the Connecticut Osteopathic Medical Society for 15 years and led the Connecticut Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Society for four years.

Harold Thompson, D.O., assistant professor of emergency medicine, was a member of the 1982 selection committee that admitted Dr. Yuan into the college.

“He always had a smile, he was always positive, always wanted to help. What more could you ask for in a physician?” asked Dr. Thompson. “Empathy goes a long way.”

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Our new Affinity Shop is sponsored by the OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends. Proceeds benefit the society’s philanthropic activities. bobcatstore.ohioalumni.org/ou-hcom/ Or call 740.593.4300

Dr. Yuan as a medical student “The committee had a great trust in me that I could do it,” Dr. Yuan said. “More so than I had at the beginning.”

OMM faculty members strongly encouraged him to pursue OMM, and it meant tailoring lessons and coursework. Dr. Yuan cites Anthony Chila, D.O., professor emeritus of OMM, as one of his great mentors who taught him some of the most valuable aspects of his practice: how the body can heal itself, how one can set aside prescription drugs for pain management and reprogram traumatized tissue to learn to rest and recover.

Dr. Yuan considers himself a primary care physician for the physically impaired community, and finds enormous gratification and success in administering OMM to about 60 percent of all his patients.

“I’m really fortunate to have the Ohio University training because for osteopathic physicians, it is one of the best schools for primary care,” Dr. Yuan said. “Without the primary care training background and learning, I don’t think I could have become the physician I am today.”

Follow-up

Follow-up

Alumni Profile

Laurie Lach, B.S.C. (‘92) Director of Alumni Affairs

Dolly and Joe Madachy

A remembered son inspires gift for first year medical students

by Richard Heck

All first year medical students at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine carry a stethoscope engraved with the phrase “Excel in Leaving a Mark.” It is a poignant and lasting gift given to remind each of them to do their best and to be the best at what they do.

The 139 students in the Class of 2016 were the first class at the college to receive the Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope during their 2012 orientation. The gift was made possible by the Jason Madachy Foundation, which Dolly and Joe Madachy established in memory of their son Jason, and a matching gift from the OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board.

The Madachys were on hand that day to present a stethoscope to each student in person. “We very much understand the commitment by each of you as you embark on your medical career. Your work extends from your heart to the hearts of your patients,” said Mrs. Madachy. “As this tool touches the hearts of your patients, we hope too that you never lose sight of the other parts of your life,” Mr. Madachy added.

“Mr. Madachy presented us with the stethoscope. Mrs. Madachy presented us with a pin and she hugged all of us. It was very moving,” said Ashley Fuentes, OMS I. Jason Madachy, a 2007 graduate of Miami University, tragically died just a few weeks after his graduation and a short time before beginning his first year at the Marshall University College of Medicine.

Dolly and Joe Madachy wanted to find a way to meaningfully commemorate his life and to inspire others to give back. “We’ve always been involved with philanthropic activities, as was Jason. He also wanted to become a doctor since a young age, and he was always giving back,” Mrs. Madachy said.

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While the Madachys were still in shock over the sudden death of their son, the idea to present first year medical students with stethoscopes came to them while at the White Coat Ceremony for Marshall’s College of Medicine Class of 2011, of which Jason would have been a member. Two faculty members at Marshall presented each class member with a stethoscope in Jason’s memory. “That planted the seed in our minds,” Mrs. Madachy said.

The foundation presented its first stethoscopes to A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Class of 2013, in which Jason’s younger brother, Jeff, was a member. Jeff had earned his undergraduate degree from Ohio University, and six years ago he founded the annual Polar Bear Plunge fundraiser for the Special Olympics in honor of his brother. Jeff is currently finishing his fourth year clinical rotations at OhioHealth’s Doctors Hospital. “Jason was involved in philanthropic fundraisers at Miami, and I was just following his lead by doing something similar here [at Ohio],” Jeff explained.

Jacqueline Zuponcic, OMS III, first connected the college with the Jason Madachy Foundation after receiving a stethoscope from the foundation upon her matriculation to OU-HCOM. “My classmates at Miami University who also matriculated received stethoscopes as gifts from the foundation as well.” Dolly Madachy contacted her about providing stethoscopes to new students at OU-HCOM in honor of Jason.

So far, the Jason Madachy Foundation has distributed stethoscopes to medical students at more than a dozen medical colleges, including most

ohio university medicine

in Ohio and several colleges of osteopathic medicine across the country.

The OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends Board matched the foundation’s gift in 2012 and together they have committed to providing stethoscopes to first year students–on all three OU HCOM campuses–well into the future. In addition, OU-HCOM alumni will have the opportunity to “sponsor” the purchase of a stethoscope for an incoming student.

“The stethoscope is amazing. I know if I hadn’t gotten this gift I wouldn’t have been able to get such a good one for school,” said Fuentes. “We used it the very next day in our labs to listen to heart sounds, and I use it all the time in all of my clinical experience.”

The gift of a quality stethoscope is something a student will use every day of their careers, observed Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), associate dean for clinical education. “But it is more than a medical instrument. It is the most recognizable symbol of being a physician. It represents caring and giving to others.”

Greetings from the OU-HCOM Alumni Affairs Office!

Our alumni have such a great passion and energy for OU-HCOM! As I travel around the state and meet our graduates, their individual achievements and pride for our college truly leaves me in awe. In this magazine, every time you see a date in parentheses next to a name in bold, you see our alumni achieving excellence and the college being elevated by their hard work and creativity.

My personal mission is to find ways to keep you engaged; to help you network with friends, colleagues, faculty and future physicians; to help ensure the college is a resource for your professional achievement and growth; and to help continue making the college a place of excellence and one that you are very proud to call your alma mater.

As OU-HCOM experiences unprecedented growth, so do these opportunities for engagement. Our new campuses in central and northeast Ohio will provide additional hubs for learning, interaction and networking.

In fact, we are already connecting alumni in central Ohio with additional opportunities for teaching, mentoring, lifelong learning and research.

There are more ways to connect with the college every day. In fact, not only has the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium evolved into Ohio’s premier CME program, this year a majority of the presenters are OU-HCOM grads who have become experts in their areas of practice. The OU-HCOM Society of Alumni and Friends also co-hosts the Careers in Medicine Networking and Mentoring Reception at the symposium. This new event offers opportunities for meaningful conversations with medical students and residents who are exploring various medical specialty areas. It is a great way to get to know our future physicians!

Please consider this your personal invitation from me to learn more about what’s happening at the college and how you can get involved! Be on the lookout for more information about our new stethoscope annual fund (see the story on the left) and to learn how you can have a personal impact on the education and career of an incoming OU-HCOM student. In the meantime, give me a call, and I’ll gladly share all the possibilities and news. lach@ohio.edu 740.593.2151

Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), associate dean of clinical education, and Joe Madachy

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Lab Light Display The lab is bathed in red, but for Kira Slepchenko, laboratory technician, the real light show is under the microscope where zinc glows bright green, a product of glucose stimulation, insulin secretion and fluorescent dye.

Working with Yang V. Li, M.D., Ph.D., their research is shedding light on how zinc inhibits insulin secretion in the pancreas. The project is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Read about this research on Page 3.