LECOM Connection Fall/Winter 2020

CONNECTION Magazine of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

FALL/WINTER 2020

Welcome to LECOM at Elmira!

CONNECTION Magazine of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine

John M. Ferretti, DO President/CEO Silvia M. Ferretti, DO Provost, Senior Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Eric Nicastro Institutional Director of Communications and Marketing Stephanie Bruce Senior Communications and Marketing Specialist Sheena Baker Communications and Marketing Specialist Rebecca A. DeSimone, Esquire Chief Writer, Editor-in-Chief Copyright © 2020 Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine To submit editorial material or change address/unsubscribe: LECOM Communications & Marketing Department at (814) 866-6641 or communications@lecom.edu

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine is to prepare students to become osteopathic physicians, pharmacy practitioners, and dentists through programs of excellence in education, research, clinical care, and community service to enhance the quality of life through improved health for all humanity. Serving as a guiding light and cornerstone in medical education and true to the core principles of its founders, the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine has expanded its reach to include exceptional programs in graduate studies designed to provide scholars superlative education in the respective areas of study. The professional programs are dedicated to serve all students through innovative curriculum and the development of postdoctoral education and interprofessional experiences.

John M. Ferretti, DO - President/CEO 02 LECOM CONNECTION | FALL/WINTER 2020

IN THIS ISSUE FEATURE 08

LECOM Expands to Elmira

03

Querying the President in a Post-COVID World

07

Credos of Our Calling – Common Sense

12

From Pandemic to Parade

14

Advancing the Mission

15

Leadership-Driven, Entrepreneurial Exceptionalism Underpins New Campus

16

Trailblazer, Advocate, and Leader – Silvia M. Ferretti, DO

18

LECOM Names New Dean of the School of Pharmacy

19

LECOM RN to PharmD Bridge Program

20

LECOM Bradenton Professor Examines Neurological Manifestations in COVID-19 Patients

21

Homegrown Health Care Initiative Advances LECOM Mission

22

LECOM Spotlights Grant

24

LECOM MHSA Graduate Leads in Cannabis Therapies

25

LECOM School of Pharmacy Once Again Earns National Honors

27

Matching the LECOM Mission

28

Mask Creations Highlight Community Cooperation

29

An Open Letter from a Grateful LECOM

31

Dr. Daniel Stephen Manganaro Student Memorial Award

32

Randy Kulesza, PhD Dean of LECOM School of Biomedical Sciences

33

16th Annual Scholarship Golf Classic Concludes with Grand Success

34

Student, Faculty and Alumni Notes

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

QUERYING THE PRESIDENT IN A POST-COVID WORLD In this departure from the customary President’s Message, the LECOM Connection (LC) is pleased to feature an interview with LECOM President and CEO, John M. Ferretti, DO With the fallout of a global pandemic still fresh in our collective consciousness, and as the mission of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) approaches its third decade of medical exceptionalism, it seemed a fitting time to query the man behind the mission.

Henry Ford maintained, “you can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.” It seems that John M. Ferretti, DO, has lived by that credo. His life is a testament to action, to objective – to purpose. Hailing from the Erie, Pennsylvania enclave of

Little Italy, this native son teamed with his sister – Silvia M. Ferretti, DO – to become the instrumental founders of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

As a champion of excellence in medical education, Dr. John Ferretti has forged the way for LECOM to take its proper place in healthcare history. When he, along with the Board of Trustees of Millcreek Community Hospital, founded LECOM in 1993, the school became the 16th college of osteopathic medicine in the United States. Since that time, LECOM has grown to become the largest medical school and the only osteopathic academic health center in the nation.

The LECOM Connection asks President Ferretti to assess the events of 2020, to define the challenges that face healthcare education in a post-COVID environment, to comment about his vision – one that has made this educational mission in medicine so successful – and to share with readers just what is it that motivates him.

LC: Dr. Ferretti, the new decade began with a year consumed by an unimaginable global pandemic. It still seems unfathomable that the entire world was placed on pause and that so many have been harmed by this once-in-a-century

calamity. Would you share a few of your thoughts about the pandemic and highlight the way in which LECOM responded to the onslaught?

Dr. Ferretti: Of course, by now most everyone is aware that the Coronavirus, or COVID-19 as it has come to be called, made its way to the shores of our nation, bringing with it many unknowns.

With questionable origins, the viral components and the best practices to control and combat the illness were of key concern to those charged with countering the public health crisis. Our clinical sites, many of which were in hotspots, experienced the @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 03

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

full brunt of the pandemic. Our alumni used all of the arrows in their quiver of superlative medical training to acquit themselves as true healthcare heroes.

Through all of the assessments of the medical ramifications of the virus we, at LECOM, spent considerable care following and implementing CDC protocols, ensuring that our institutional enterprise could respond rapidly and with agile adaptability to changes as information about the virus was made available to us, and ensuring that the thoroughness and richness of our students’ education was uninterrupted.

From the perspective of LECOM as an educational institution, the response was first rate.

The educational objectives in medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry, as well as those across our other graduate degree programs were transitioned well from classroom to online remote access. Clinical settings adjusted quickly and effectively to meet the requirements and scholarship needs of the students. Our comprehensive preparedness resulted in a full complement of graduated healthcare professionals in the Class of 2020 - our largest graduating class to date. The pandemic was a challenge to be sure, but our focus was clear and the result reflected that determination. We achieved our goal.

You mentioned Henry Ford earlier; I recall also that Ford once said that, “Obstacles are those frightful things that you see when you take your eyes off of your goal.� Today, the goal, the mission, the comprehensive pursuit of LECOM is as it was at the beginning - that of ushering in a better world of medicine

through providing excellence in education, affordable and accessible training, innovation, and community service - to make certain that our best days are still to come. Despite the vicissitudes that we faced at the start of the pandemic, we have triumphed and we served our students well.

LC: A piece in Forbes Magazine noted that "the Coronavirus will kill 500-1,000 colleges."

Understanding that LECOM is a medical college (and not an undergraduate school), would you elaborate upon some of the challenges facing higher education and the way in which LECOM is addressing these challenges?

Dr. Ferretti: Just as the pandemic has, for the moment, changed the way in which we live, new challenges face the realm of higher education. Not only were universities forced to transition all on-campus classes to a virtual format, but they also were faced with concerns about enrollment, finances, and student support. While it is premature to define the long-term effects, concerns persist throughout the arena of higher education.

Many private institutions rely upon traditional economic models to sustain them; this is accomplished generally by enrolling a consistent number of tuition-paying students. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy and the reliability of traditional models, pressuring institutions of higher learning to adjust their strategies.

It may be instructive to note that there have been fewer high school graduates recorded in recent years - an occurrence in place even before the onset of COVID-19. Fewer high school graduates mean fewer college graduates and accordingly, fewer

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scholars pursuing advanced professional degrees. In 2017, there were 80,000 fewer high school graduates than in the previous year, a decline of more than two percent nationally.

Add to this statistic, the fact that most American colleges offering advanced degree programs are expecting declining international student enrollments due, in large part, to the pandemic.

To address these challenges, a number of institutions, including LECOM, have placed an increased focus upon online education and online course offerings that expand access to adult and non-traditional students. LECOM has been well underway in this regard, long before the arrival of Coronavirus, offering an array of masters degree programs in the health services, biomedical ethics, and health administration fields.

LECOM has been focused keenly upon bridging the skills gap. It is an opportunity for the College to provide program instruction to transition those in healthcare education businesses to develop courses and programs that prepare workers for highly valued roles within the healthcare environment. The recent addition of the LECOM RN to PharmD Program is just one such example.

As artificial intelligence attempts to personalize the student journey - tailoring student support to every step of their journey - the personalized connection that students have with medical instructors remains essential for effective medical training. Indeed, clinical settings rely upon in-person instruction. As such, LECOM competency-based education helps students graduate on time and as superbly skilled medical professionals.

Within the framework of program design, LECOM helps students commit to life-long learning and continuous development by taking a learner-centric approach to education. Our individualized student pathways have formed the core of personalized learning from the very inception of the College.

Further, and importantly, with one of the lowest medical school tuitions in the United States, LECOM - as its hallmark - always has offered superlative medical education at an affordable cost.

The pledge to make medical education affordable to scholars has been a LECOM passion. The LECOM Student Scholarship Fund employs a host of annual fundraising events - including two gala auctions - that serve to offset the burdensome cost of medical education to deserving scholars.

As LECOM facilitates students access to classes, to excel in their programs, and their ability to manage tuition costs, the challenges you mention become much more manageable.

LC: With all of the unprecedented and concerning financial declines wrought by the outbreak of the Coronavirus, doctors, healthcare professionals, and hospitals in the United States were particularly disadvantaged due to the forced suspension of elective procedures, among other concerns. Would you discuss the way in which the LECOM Health system has weathered this storm?

Dr. Ferretti: There is no doubt that the expansive and extended shutdown and state government responses to the threat of Coronavirus caused challenges to many of the healthcare centers across the

nation, including some of the LECOM Health affiliates. The whole of the health system is emerging strong, united, and ready to educate the next generation of frontline healthcare professionals.

LECOM Health Medical Associates of Erie endured the several months of shutdown while continuing to focus upon community outreach and providing key information to a concerned populace both locally and regionally.

As the College continued, across its multiple campuses, to educate students remotely, the LECOM Health system tightened budgets where necessary to streamline operations and we advanced key projects that support and sustain the LECOM mission - including finalizing the new partnership with the Achievement Center (a landmark operation in Erie, Pennsylvania which, for almost 100 years, has served children with emotional, social, physical, or behavioral challenges). The organization is now known as the Achievement Center of LECOM Health.

We also moved forward with great enthusiasm and regional support to open LECOM at Elmira. Truly, our strategic plan has spotlighted continued leadership and a steady hand that has navigated LECOM through a quarter century of success. Despite the setbacks of this year - setbacks of which few in any sector were immune LECOM is sound and growing.

LC: Beyond the pandemic, it seems that 2020 has been a year filled with tumult on a national level. LECOM has long valued its history and heritage; in that vein, what are your thoughts

about LECOM and its historical place as a national campus?

Dr. Ferretti: There is little that is more important for an American citizen to know and for a student of medicine to embrace than the history and traditions of this country. At LECOM, we recognize great value in historical memory as it crosses the broad spectrum of experiences - from education to politics, from literature to medicine, from administration to research. It is clear that without knowledge of history, one stands uncertain and defenseless before the world, knowing neither the origin from whence one has derived nor the direction toward which one is headed. With such knowledge, one is not solitary; rather one draws strength far greater than one’s own - strength culled from the cumulative experiences of the past and blended with a summative vision of the future.

Like our nation, the field of medicine is facing a time fraught with transformation.

The pandemic has served to define medical professionals as the paragons of community health. The LECOM legacy has been a story of a remarkable American educational institution - set upon a mission to build the future of healthcare that it sees possible - to offer hope where there is today only anxiety, to offer solutions in a world too often focused upon only looming challenges, to educate and to inculcate at a superlative level. The tumult, as a result of the pandemic and the brewing national tempest, has further highlighted the true need and value of knowledge of our history, of the healthcare professions, and of the importance of those who serve on the frontlines of health.

LC: Dr. Ferretti, you have a prodigious career in medicine and in medical education. After more than a quarter century of medical education excellence, LECOM is recognized around the globe. What inspired you to establish a medical school?

Dr. Ferretti: The value and attainment of knowledge and a passion for medical understanding must be considered key aspects of any motivation, of course. A desire to develop potential in others and to enable them to bring health and healing to a needful world was keenly in mind.

Perhaps, chief among these considerations though, was the fact that every endeavor that I have championed has been centered upon the filling of a need - indeed, to find a need and to fill it; to find a hurt and to heal it; to find a problem and to solve it. There existed a palpable need for physicians in Erie County that many did not see decades ago. LECOM quickly filled that need; and we are very proud and honored to continue to seek out need and to make the difference that truly counts. We continue, to this day, finding and filling needs.

LC: Under your guidance, LECOM has gained national prominence and it has realized unprecedented growth. Over the course of a quarter century, the growth and development of the institution as a whole has become particularly noteworthy, both on a regional and a national level. To what do you attribute this unbridled ability to flourish?

Dr. Ferretti: The short answer certainly would be the fact that LECOM emphasizes exceptionalism and that carries with it an intrinsic value that is aggressively sought out. A more particularized, perhaps multifaceted, answer would highlight a number of key attributes of which LECOM was the pioneer. Within only eight years of its founding, LECOM experienced an intensity of rapid growth as the College was the first of its kind to introduce an effectively innovative approach to medical education, ProblemBased Learning (PBL). By working in small groups through a paradigm of self-directed study, PBL students are tasked to think critically and to solve problems in the same way in which a physician diagnoses a patient. @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 05

FEATURE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

By 2002, College growth and enrollment required LECOM to triple the size of the original medical school building; a trend that has continued. The second part of the answer entails a continuity of vision. As I mentioned, need always has been the catalyst for LECOM action. The LECOM School of Pharmacy in Erie answered a need, the establishment of a medical, pharmacy, and later, a dental school in Bradenton, Florida, answered a need; and where there is need, there is the opportunity to thrive. It must be noted however, had those needs been met with mediocrity, success would have been elusive.

Exceptionalism in offering a superlative medical education brought LECOM to this point.

LC: The modernity of the age seems to dismiss or at times, wholly eschew, values and customs that were highly regarded only a few decades ago; values and customs that guide and form the character of a professional. Would you speak to the way in which LECOM leadership seeks to build character necessary to become a medical professional in the truest sense of the word?

Dr. Ferretti: A medical doctor is one of the noblest professions in existence; certainly, anyone working in the healthcare

profession hears and shares in that noble calling. Humanity and altruism, compassion and commitment, selflessness and generosity, honor and integrity, dedication and perseverance - all attributes that are the hallmark of the good physician - cannot be created solely by taking medical school courses, rather they must be nurtured through community service and through a constant emphasis upon human values. Character is, as it shall remain, an essential strength of LECOM. The upward course of an institution is due in large measure to the robustness of character and soundness of heart of its students, faculty, and alumni.

Character building at LECOM includes an honor code, a dress code, an atmosphere of mutual respect, and an ever-present community-service pledge seeking ever the good that the profession calls us to find.

LC: Much has transpired at the start of this decade; what is your vision for LECOM as we close out this tempestuous year?

Dr. Ferretti: My vision is, as it has ever been, a bold one. With the opening of the new LECOM at Elmira, there is an energy that entails building upon that new frontier while continuing to enhance the established facilities.

Of course, the LECOM Health network is ever expanding and community involvement is robust.

"Despite the setbacks of this year – setbacks of which few in any sector were immune – LECOM is sound and growing."

– John M. Ferretti, DO

LECOM, in 2020 and beyond, just as in prior decades, pledges to educate students in the knowledge of medicine, to teach them to think critically and cognitively; to educate in all aspects, beyond the classroom and into the community; and most important, to place the patient first. Education entails an integrated curriculum with broad knowledge and understanding, effective teamwork, collaboration skills, and intrinsic motivation. It demands hands-on training and interaction with patients to enable scholars to build upon their medical knowledge.

Out of all of the factors, the most important one centers upon academics and academic results. The academic track record, the pass rates, the match rates, and residency positions are key considerations. LECOM educators are ensuring that the residency match rates remain at 100%, a figure which LECOM considers to be of profound importance. Key to this point is the nurturing of a faculty composed of highly qualified doctors with a profound depth of experience in the basic sciences and medical practice. LECOM is establishing itself in research, as scholars, under the capable auspices of a talented and expert faculty, are working on scientific investigation and discovery.

Active student mentoring, peer tutoring, and faculty mentoring programs add to student success. Indeed, the entire institution, as well as the whole of LECOM Health, is committed to remain forward thinking as the impressive accomplishments in medicine and the ever-present healthcare debate have aroused unprecedented interest in the healthcare arena.

LC: You have been instrumental in leading LECOM to its estimable place in medical education and

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in navigating the course for the tremendous successes of LECOM Health. Clearly, you understand leadership. What leaders in history have inspired you?

Dr. Ferretti: Leadership is of fundamental importance. I have always recalled the adage that, “as the twig is bent, so grows the tree.” The way in which one leads sets the tone, it establishes the mission, and it generates results.

There are several notable leaders that come to mind. Winston Churchill was a great leader with unalloyed courage. He was a visionary, immune from the momentary consensus. He stood firmly and with courage even when everyone doubted him; and he, armed with tenacity and moral conviction, led his nation through World War II. President John F. Kennedy was on his way to becoming a great leader. He was possessed of a prescient vision. Kennedy forged bonds in Europe and he began the space program, expanding the reach of mankind. President Ronald Reagan was a great leader. He understood the way in which to motivate a nation, to inspire freedom, and he was instrumental in severing the oppressive bonds of communism in Europe. Truly, leadership - whether that of leading through adversity as did Churchill, expanding frontiers as did Kennedy, or ensuring freedom and liberty where there was oppression as did Reagan - entails a mission of seeking results, of starting with a small twig and bending it to create a strong and mighty oak.

LC: Thank you, Dr. Ferretti, for taking the time to share some of your thoughts and vision with the LECOM Connection.

CREDOS OF OUR CALLING

Common Sense•

Whether one observes United States Presidents, CEOs, or wartime generals, leaders are remembered for their best and for their worst judgments. Confronted with vagueness, uncertainty, and divergent demands, the capacity of a leader to apply common sense indeed directs the very destiny of the whole of the organization. Common sense underpins the very essence of judgment and good judgment begets good leadership.

Despite its seemingly innocuous nature and relevance, common sense always has been a rather blurred notion. The current climate often seeks to stem the use of personal common sense, in favor of putting forth complex rationales and convoluted reasoning to arrive at a conclusion. This circuitous path often leads to faulty

decisions that could have been best made by using simple common sense. Many writings have been clear in noting common sense and judgment as a Providential blessing afforded only to humans, elevating reason to its highest form. Common sense is a critical framework for the judgments necessary to evaluate any situation, for making the call, and for prudently amending it as required. It allows one to assess the multiple and varied arenas of people, strategy, and crises and to manage them accordingly.

Any effective and prudent undertaking presupposes common sense.

The perfect blend of common sense, instinct, sagacity, and vision yield the best results. Yet, a host of other virtues bolster common sense in its genesis. Good common sense cannot form in a vacuum, for it requires the nurturing elements of courage, integrity, and honor, and it is tempered by risk and circumspection.

Whether one is running a small private practice or a global corporation, common sense provides the basis for every undertaking.

Common sense is an irreplaceable necessity in the medical profession. No individual or organization can afford to neglect this crucial discipline. In fact, leaders are not simply born to lead; they develop their skills by building upon the lessons of their times.

Everyone who possesses the ability to learn or to draw wisdom from the daunting circumstances of the transformative moments of life, uses an innate common sense to develop into an effective leader.

To sustain that leadership however, one must possess character, courage, and clearly articulated standards. Common sense is honed and tested in the arena of experience with lessons derived from the full host of those experiences.

The ancient Roman lawyer, orator, and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero, wrote that: “It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, judgment and common sense.”

“Common sense is seeing things as they are, and doing things as they should be done.”

– Marcus Porcius Cato

Centuries later, the same sentiment was echoed by one of the greatest inventors of all time. “The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; and third, common sense,” wrote Thomas Alva Edison. The famous American inventor held the global record of 1,093 patents and he created the first industrial research laboratory in the world.

As the theme of this magazine centers upon carrying the standard in the vanguard of leadership, it is unequivocal that such goals require more than merely staying the course. They entail advancing that standard and leading that charge; and they rely upon an indispensable Credo of our Calling: Common Sense.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 07

FEATURE

Fourth LECOM campus, LECOM at Elmira, welcomed its first class of students in July 2020.

LECOM Expands to Elmira College When preparation meets opportunity, the future can be filled with positive results. The path chosen by the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in all undertakings is one of purposeful action, for action is the preeminent catalyst for change.

120 first-year medical students to its newest campus, LECOM at Elmira, in July of 2020. An expansive, 52,000 square foot state-ofthe-art new academic building houses LECOM on the Elmira College campus.

On July 15, 2019, the New York State Board of Regents approved the LECOM request to operate its Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Program in Elmira, New York. With this approval, LECOM welcomed

John M. Ferretti, DO, LECOM President and CEO, spoke of the importance and of the lasting impact that a new medical college will have upon the health of Southern Tier residents and upon the

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The campus features two lecture halls, each large enough to accommodate 120 students and equipped with the latest technology allowing students and faculty to connect with the LECOM Erie Main Campus. economy of the wider region. “Our goal is to attract students who will study in Elmira, train at local hospitals, and become the future physicians serving Western New York,” noted Dr. Ferretti. “This new building provides a superlative learning environment that will cultivate and present to the region highly qualified, caring, and compassionate doctors who will bring to Elmira and to surrounding communities, improved health and wellness.”

Since 2012, LECOM has embraced the Southern Tier region, sending third-year and fourth-year medical students to the Arnot Health System and to surrounding hospitals for clinical education. “Our relationship with the Elmira medical community and with other affiliated hospitals throughout the region exposed LECOM students to quality training,” said Richard Terry, DO, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for LECOM at Elmira. “The affiliation demonstrated that LECOM could better serve the region by bringing all four years of medical education to Elmira,” he noted.

Elmira College is a private, co-educational, Phi Beta Kappa college offering 30-plus majors, an honors program, 17 academic societies, and 20 Division III varsity teams.

Founded in 1855, it was the first college for women with a course of studies equal in vigor to the best men’s colleges of the time.

Elmira College became a co-educational institution in 1969.

Elmira College is affiliated with LECOM through the Early Acceptance Program (EAP). The Program allows select Elmira undergraduate students provisional acceptance to LECOM when they matriculate at Elmira College. Successful EAP students will be admitted to LECOM upon being graduated from Elmira College.

“We have worked closely with the LECOM team over the past couple of years to help bring this project to fruition. The LECOM presence in Elmira has great benefits for the city, for Elmira College, and for our students,” stated Dr. Charles Lindsay, President of Elmira College. “A certain number of spots each year will be reserved for Elmira

College students who meet the LECOM requirements, and we anticipate that this arrangement will assist Elmira College in attracting more students interested in the health professions,” he remarked.

Designed to complement the surrounding community architecture, the $20 million LECOM at Elmira building boasts two lecture halls, each having ample seating for the first 120 students who arrived on campus when the building was completed. Eventually, LECOM at Elmira will enroll 480 osteopathic medical students.

Each lecture hall is equipped with the latest teaching technology, including four 96-inch LED displays to project lecture presentations and allows for video conferencing with the LECOM campus in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Fifteen classrooms accommodate the casebased Problem-Based Learning (PBL) groups of eight students. LECOM at Elmira College

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 09

FEATURE – Continued from page 09

Students take a hands-on approach to their osteopathic education in the college’s spacious second-floor OMM lab. will use the highly successful PBL curriculum developed at LECOM Erie and used exclusively at LECOM Bradenton and LECOM at Seton Hill. PBL involves small groups of students working together on patient cases. Students develop learning objectives in basic science or clinical care needed to solve the patient case. Those classrooms are equipped with 96-inch network connected smart boards that students use to outline their PBL case studies. A large laboratory provides 38 tables where students learn and practice hands-on diagnostics and treatments that they study as part of the Osteopathic Practices and Principals courses – the basis of the whole-person health care in which LECOM students are expertly inculcated.

A copiously equipped Learning Resource Center serves as an ample study space for students. The Center offers access to library materials, including reference books, research periodicals, and digital library content. Full- and part-time faculty and instructors are housed in 19 offices where access to a research space and conference rooms is readily available to them.

An economic impact study undertaken by Tripp-Umbach and Associates estimates that LECOM at Elmira will deliver $60 million to the local economy and it will create more than 300 direct and indirect jobs in the marketplace during the first two years of its operation.

The economic impact will increase to $79 million as LECOM at Elmira graduates enter the local healthcare marketplace.

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It requires great courage to bring something original into the world.

Creativity takes courage, for it is, at its essence, an act of faith. It is a commitment to a dream of the future.

The creative vision that resulted in a medical college in the Southern Tier of Western New York connotes investment, it fosters economic vitality, and it provides new physicians to support the health needs of residents, where the need is high and general practitioners are few.

This state-of-the-art medical education facility ensures that people in these rural communities will have increased access to health care.

Encouraged by the solid results consistently put forth by LECOM, the State of New York contributed $3 million to future development of the medical college. Indeed, the ability to fill the vacuum and to address need has been successfully mastered by LECOM as it has, since its inception, transplanted ideas across divides, designed new ways forward, and merged disparate concepts.

When fully underway, the 480 students matriculating at LECOM at Elmira will bring the total LECOM medical student enrollment across all campuses to more than 4,800. To be precise, LECOM enrolls more than 4,400 students in its College of Osteopathic Medicine, School of Pharmacy, School of Dental Medicine, and master’s degree programs at campuses in Erie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and in Bradenton, Florida. Already established as the largest medical school in the United States and as the only osteopathic academic health center

"Our goal is to attract students who will study in Elmira, train at local hospitals, and become the future physicians serving Western New York."

– John M. Ferretti, DO

in the nation, LECOM is firmly ensconced in its position as the definitive standard in providing superlative education at a truly affordable cost.

As an heir to a glorious past and defined by a heritage of inestimable value, the completed facility is far more than a pleasing architectural structure. As the realization of the insightful vision of Dr. John Ferretti and the LECOM Board of Trustees, the new medical school in Elmira represents a precious gift to future generations of graduates and to the community alike.

LECOM has ever echoed the keen wisdom of Abigail Adams, that “learning is not attained by chance, rather it must be sought out with ardor and attended to with diligence.”

With a fixity of purpose and a tenacious will, without which great actions are seldom accomplished, LECOM commits itself to transmitting the torch of its brilliant tradition to future generations and to imbue within its new educational home the leaven of learning that will greatly improve the region and the lives of many.

The Learning Resource Center provides students with ample study space as well as educational assets.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 11

City of Elmira leaders welcomed LECOM to their community, hosting a parade in honor of the school.

From Pandemic to Parade LECOM at Elmira School Welcomes Inaugural Class On July 24, 2020, officials from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) enthusiastically welcomed the inaugural class at the newly opened LECOM at Elmira School of Medicine.

Richard Terry, DO, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs for LECOM at Elmira, spoke to the media representatives in attendance about the abundant precautions implemented to ensure student and staff health and safety.

The gathering of LECOM representatives stood proudly in front of a college noted for superlative education, in a city of historical prominence, in a state well known for bold ideas as they held out the welcoming LECOM banner for all to see.

Students arrived in small groups of 32; two large lecture halls provided ample space for the students to attend the orientation broadcast in two identical sessions that accommodated the full complement of scholars. The enthusiasm and energy of the students was palpable as they began a journey that will transform not only their lives, but the lives of the countless individuals that they will come to serve as medical professionals.

The inaugural LECOM at Elmira Class - the Class of 2024 - arrived on campus in an hour of change and challenge. All of those in attendance had quarantined for 14 days. Some students were welcomed via video conference orientation because they were still completing their required quarantine. Social distancing was the watchword of the day.

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"I am tremendously excited; I've been so looking forward to this moment. It's a bit difficult with COVID because we have to take many extra precautions, but mainly, I'm

thoroughly excited. The building is fabulous and the area is spacious and quite pleasant,” commented Hunter Lakin, a first-year medical student at the LECOM at Elmira campus.

Dr. Terry described the day as “full of emotion, because it was the very first time that the students saw the brand-new campus in person.” Many had virtual campus experiences, but the spark of seeing the LECOM structure for the first time was impactful.

“We have been waiting for this event for five years; and we have been working assiduously to see it come to fruition. The opening of LECOM at Elmira is a significant achievement and effecting this success amid a pandemic is even more rewarding. The reality of the moment is incredibly gratifying and beneficial for the whole of this community," affirmed Dr. Terry.

With the specter of COVID still looming large in daily media reports, students welcomed the in-person learning format compared to that of virtual learning.

"I have been dreaming of attending medical school my entire life, so there is no time like the present and I am just thrilled to be starting at LECOM," declared Shakira Laing, a first-year medical student.

The grandeur and import of the event was emphasized as the City of Elmira welcomed students to the campus with a parade of EMS vehicles circling through the town. The Elmira Fire, Sheriff, and Police Departments processed their vehicles along College Avenue and past the LECOM building, making their way along a route lined with applauding Class of 2024 medical students and welcoming residents.

The week of jubilation continued as the first day of formal class instruction began on July 27, 2020. An incredibly committed LECOM faculty ensured the process of in-person student instruction, implemented in a safe and effective fashion, moved forward smoothly and without interruption.

The long-anticipated opening of the new LECOM at Elmira facility now boasts 120 students who comprise the Class of 2024.

Enrollment for the Class of 2024 across all four campuses is 656. Total enrollment for the College of Osteopathic Medicine (all four years) is 2,383.

"The opening of LECOM at Elmira is a significant achievement and effecting this success amid a pandemic is even more rewarding."

– Richard Terry, DO

“Class instruction will look somewhat different from that which originally was anticipated, due to safety measures necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” explained Dean Terry.

"Students, faculty, and staff will have to stay six feet apart from one another in all situations and they must wear face masks. We are implementing all of the precautions that we can possibly undertake; and of course, we have in place a regimen of constant cleaning,” Dr. Terry emphasized.

"We have students enrolled at LECOM at Elmira from all across our great nation; some hail from California. The majority of our scholars are from New York State," related Dr. Terry. "Nine of our students are natives of the Southern Tier. For our first year, I am quite pleased with that assemblage. That was our goal — to have local students be educated here and practice here; to train them here and retain them here."

With that proud goal in mind, Elmira College is partnering with Rochester developer, Reidman Companies, to construct a new 115-unit apartment complex that will provide housing for LECOM students.

The new housing facility is scheduled to be completed in 2021. This year, LECOM scholars were able to find adequate housing near the school and many of them arrived on campus on foot or by bicycle.

Among those students is Mercedez Tolton of Ithaca, New York, who said that she was fortunate enough to find an apartment only a block from the LECOM campus.

Members of the Class of 2024 crossed the LECOM threshold in a COVID-aware procession, on the first day of classes.

Tolton, who earned her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York and her master's degree from Syracuse University, is delighted to continue her medical education at LECOM.

"I chose LECOM out of all of the medical schools because it was so welcoming and supportive. I thoroughly enjoyed my interview," pronounced Tolton. "It is a great opportunity to attend LECOM and it is also a thrill because it is the first location in New York. Even though I interviewed in Erie, I was able to remain in New York for my schooling."

The Elmira location is the fourth LECOM campus. The main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, along with its Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Bradenton, Florida, locales complete the quad of offerings.

The two-story, 52,000-square-foot Elmira building features two lecture halls, 14 classrooms, a 2,200-square-foot research lab, and a host of other educational tools and amenities.

Local officials noted that the new school represents an important element in the economic revitalization of Downtown Elmira.

Equally important is the potential of the LECOM presence to address a shortage of medical professionals in the region.

The new campus is expected to have an economic impact upon the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes Region of New York totalling more than $60 million. The LECOM arrival constitutes the first and only medical college in the region. LECOM currently enrolls more than 4,400 students across all disciplines, including the School of Pharmacy, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Health Services Administration, and the School of Graduate Studies.

For almost three decades, LECOM has existed as an elevating force for good, lifting each person who crosses its threshold to new heights. Today, nearly 14,000 LECOM alumni are delivering healthcare of quality to patients throughout the United States.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 13

Advancing the Mission LECOM at Elmira Welcomes Alumnus to Leadership Position

Constantino (Gus) Lambroussis, DO, assumes his new charge at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) at Elmira with buoyancy and hope. Dr. Lambroussis will serve as the Assistant Director of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) for LECOM at Elmira, and he will also assist with the instruction of the History and Physical Examination course. A 2014 graduate of LECOM, Dr. Lambroussis hails from Union, New Jersey where his keen interest in medicine was born.

There exists a tight-knit community with a common mission and a shared purpose at LECOM. Dr. Lambroussis’ years of learning and his dedication to a life of medical education and service is a testament to his determination to advance that venerable mission.

Prior to attending medical school, Dr. Lambroussis served as an adjunct professor and microbiology laboratory instructor for the Department of Biology and Molecular Biology at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey. He also served as an emergency medical technician and a Basic Life Support/ CPR instructor. Dr. Lambroussis has published noted research involving the effects of World Trade Center dust upon people; and he has been involved in multiple projects in clinical and laboratory settings.

Dr. Lambroussis completed his family medicine residency at Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, New York, where he had spent the majority of his third- and fourthyear medical school rotations. Since 2014, Dr. Lambroussis also has supervised the student OMM Clinic at Arnot Ogden Medical Center.

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Dr. Lambroussis' resume is replete with contributions to science research and key publications, most recently pieces entitled, Melanoma for Primary Care and Primary Care Recognition and Treatment of Methamphetamine Use Disorder published in the Osteopathic Family Physician Journal.

For more than a quarter of a century in continuity, LECOM has maintained a recognizable character and excellence in education, shaping the local, regional, and national identity. Indeed, the entirety of the intangible heritage of LECOM is promoted and strengthened as a synthesis of everything that it represents; an enduring reminder of that which defines the College and from where it has come.

LECOM is proud that it is imbued with exceptionally educated and highly-skilled alumni - men and women like Dr. Gus Lambroussis - who return with vigorous enthusiasm to sustain, support, and advance the mission of the Alma Mater that has shaped them.

Leadership-Driven, Entrepreneurial Exceptionalism Underpins New Campus With a national economic impact of nearly half-a-billion dollars, LECOM stands as an indelible example of American exceptionalism.

Historically demonstrating a doubled growth within a five year period, the economic benefit conferred by LECOM upon the state of Pennsylvania and nationally has been well established.

As an irrefutable template for economic success in medical education, the combined LECOM alumni impact upon communities, states, and the nation at large exceeds a staggering $7.37 billion and supports more than 49,000 American jobs. Such was the determination of the private research organization and the most experienced nationally recognized provider of economic impact studies - Tripp Umbach.

Of course, those who know the history of all that is LECOM are well aware of its place as the largest medical college in America and that it is the only osteopathic Academic Health Center in the nation.

With the College and LECOM Health at the heart of its medical education system, LECOM consistently has enhanced quality of life by focusing upon total health care in each community in which it has set its cornerstone.

From the award-winning John M. and Silvia M. Ferretti Medical Fitness and Wellness Center, to an ever-expanding comprehensive network of physicians, to a model of care for senior living, LECOM has remained, for decades, unabashedly in the vanguard of visionary community betterment. Healthcare services

developed by LECOM Health have flourished to include an advanced wound care center, an in-patient rehabilitation unit, and the largest behavioral health unit in the region.

Well-paced expansion formed the Erie Bayfront campus for added classroom space, and acquisitions that provide space for educational, research, and clinical programs.

Multiple nationally renowned campus locations include the main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania; LECOM at Seton Hill in Greensburg, Pennsylvania; and the LECOM Bradenton campus in Florida that expanded from a College of Osteopathic Medicine and a School of Pharmacy to include a School of Dental Medicine.

The Dental School, adjacent to the original LECOM Bradenton structure, is complete with cutting-edge dental offices where students and faculty provide oral health care to regional patients. From this platform was found the need to train future dentists in community-based practices thereby impelling LECOM to construct outreach offices in Erie, Pennsylvania, and in Defuniak Springs, Florida.

Truly, the numbers tell the economic story.

In the late fall of 2017, LECOM once again retained the services of Tripp Umbach to measure and to analyze and independently assess the feasibility of developing a fouryear medical education additional location in Elmira, New York.

Tripp Umbach evaluated the overall need for an osteopathic school in the region.

Finding that the rural communities of the Southern Tier of New York are in need of more primary care physicians, as well as in need of specialty physicians, the report determined that as the population continues to increase, the need for healthcare services will rise as well. The physician demand nationally continues to increase faster than the supply of adequate medical care. The study found that physician demand in the area, along with the overall state need, will continue to increase; and the increasing population will place significant pressure upon healthcare needs.

The most recent key findings put forth by Tripp Umbach indicated that rural New York, specifically the Southern Tier, is in critical need of more physicians. Rural New York, has unique challenges in healthcare that provide difficulties in recruiting and retaining physicians in the area.

While the State of New York overall does not show a higher need for physicians than the nation at this time, the rural area is far behind the state average.

Additionally, it is important to note that nearly half of the physicians statewide are aging and they will be retiring within a 15- to 20-year period.

The need for more primary care physicians as shown by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Workforce is significant.

– Continued on page 38 @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 15

LECOM Honored Dr. Silvia Ferretti During Women in Medicine Month

Trailblazer, Advocate, A Tribute to Silvia M. Ferretti, DO

Silvia M. Ferretti, DO, Provost, Dean of Academic Affairs, and Vice President of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) is nationally recognized as a multifaceted trailblazer, humanitarian, and visionary who, through exceptional public service and steadfast commitment to providing educational excellence to future generations of medical professionals, has led LECOM to become the largest medical school in the nation.

As the first female Dean of an osteopathic medical college and as a constantly active and renown leader in osteopathic medicine, Dr. Ferretti has invested unremitting personal commitment to community, to Commonwealth, and indeed to a needful nation, by improving the health and welfare of its citizens, by training future healthcare professionals in multi-disciplinary medical fields, and by revitalizing numerous areas throughout the nation through the establishment of medical educational institutions, health and wellness facilities, and outreach programs that bolster the municipalities in which they have been instituted. For almost three decades, Dr. Ferretti has led LECOM in its mission to provide exceptional academic training and purposeful community service to its graduates.

When a student crosses the threshold at LECOM, that scholar is met with intellectual enthusiasm, an aspirational pursuit of a virtuous character, sincere collegiality, and unflinchingly probative discourse.

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Scholars, families, children, and educators have benefited from Dr. Ferretti’s leadership in Pennsylvania, across the nation, and internationally. Resolutely dedicated to community service, she has built consortiums and allegiances among agencies and organizations to improve the quality of life of each community in which LECOM has come to lay its cornerstone. She has championed community outreach and economic development in hosts of ventures from the John M. Ferretti and Silvia M. Ferretti Medical Fitness and Wellness Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, to inner-city programs and local sports team support; all of which add to the betterment of life for those touched by her purpose and mission. Dr. Ferretti is involved actively with community groups in minority health issues, outreach programs, and she has aided families throughout the world, personally sending aid and medical supplies to victims of natural disasters to most recently, hospitals facing supply shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Ferretti has been instantaneous in her personal response to need and devastation, personally responding by donating supplies and medical equipment for tattered masses and beleaguered hospitals alike.

Under her leadership, LECOM has earned a reputation for non-profit distinction, cuttingedge innovation, and excellence in providing medical education to students at affordable

and Leader

cost. LECOM has proven instrumental in stemming the “brain-drain” in western and central Pennsylvania, a result of which has produced numerous physicians and pharmacists who have chosen to remain serving in rural areas, thereby underscoring Dr. Ferretti’s mission and commitment to practicing rural and primary medicine within need-based areas. Through her governance, LECOM has come to promulgate its mission and purpose through its evocative sobriquet “The Community is our Campus.” Dr. Ferretti consistently has been committed to increasing student access to medical education by her implementation of the LECOM auctions that raise millions of dollars in scholarships that defray burdensome costs of a medical education. Such scholarships have afforded medical education to students who otherwise would not have been able to pursue their dreams in the calling of medicine. Categorically, Dr. Ferretti defines the noteworthy nature of Trailblazer, Advocate and Leader - Women in Medicine who embody the very essence of the medical calling.

Orators of antiquity have instructed that each person is born with an ability; when that ability is practiced, it becomes a talent, and when that talent is shared with others, it becomes a gift. Of all the talents bestowed upon mankind, none is so precious as the gift of education.

Dr. Ferretti has shared her abundant gifts with generations of progeny.

Her impressive chronicle of significant achievements and notable firsts transcend both medicine and education. As a champion of community service and of economic development through positive impact purpose projects, her legacy of leadership, her contributions, and her commitment to strengthen region, state, and nation to improve the quality of life for so many underscore her place as a luminary in medicine.

Sincere humility of heart joined with visionary and focused leadership define Dr. Ferretti’s persona; a woman of optimism, action, and courage, and imbued with seemingly boundless compassion and gratitude.

She is perhaps best revealed by her own words, offered almost a decade ago, as she accepted the estimable Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania Award.

that it means to build a better tomorrow. To my brothers, who nurture and strengthen the heart of this 'Daughter of PA' and who consistently challenge me to raise the bar – I owe to them an enormous debt of gratitude.

And of course, to the Lord God above, through whom all things are possible and through whom all glories return – I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to work in the fields of medicine and education, to serve in the realm of community betterment, and to give meaning to service – for all work glorifies Him.” Indeed, these words give insight into Dr. Ferretti’s character as an incandescent role model for women. Her dedication to medical education, to American values, and to faith and freedom have established an indelible legacy supporting those noble endeavors for generations to come.

“This award supplants all other awards since it represents the embodiment of all that it means to be a daughter of this great state.

Erie, Pennsylvania, is my home in the deepest sense of the word. I am honored to be named as a worthy Daughter of the Commonwealth.

As a daughter who was raised by loving, hardworking, principled, and faith-filled parents – I owe my thanks to them: my late mother, Silvia, and my late father John – who were the truest daughters and sons of all

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 17

LECOM Names New Dean of the School of Pharmacy The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) takes great pride in announcing that Rachel Ogden, PharmD, has been appointed to the position of Dean of the LECOM School of Pharmacy.

Dr. Ogden joined the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in June of 2008, initiating pharmacy practice services in long term care and ambulatory care at the LECOM Institute for Successful Aging.

In 2012, Dr. Ogden implemented the PGY2 Geriatric Residency Program and she served as its Director until 2015.

Dr. Ogden obtained her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Duquesne University, a PharmD degree from the University of Florida, and two Master’s Degrees - one in Medical Education and one in Health Services Administration - from LECOM. She has extensive experience in the field of geriatric pharmacy and she is a boardcertified Geriatric Pharmacist.

Since 2011, Dr. Ogden has served LECOM as an Associate Dean for the School of Pharmacy. During that time, she guided the 2016 LECOM Strategic Plan and initiatives related to student success. In 2018, Dr. Ogden was awarded the LECOM School of Pharmacy Morris and Faye Bell Award recognizing her commitment to student success.

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Dr. Ogden serves on the Educational Advisory Council and on the Pharmacy Educators and Research Council for the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists.

She completed the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Leadership Fellows Program in 2014.

An eminently skilled pharmacist-educatoradministrator, Dr. Ogden has spent more than thirty years in pharmacy and healthcare administration, serving in a variety of settings spanning community practice, as well as acute-and long-term care.

For ten years, Dr. Ogden served as the Director of Pharmacy for Grove City Medical Center. Prior to joining the LECOM School of Pharmacy, Dr. Ogden was co-owner and Executive Director of Pharmacy Services for Full Circle Solutions, a company that provided education and consulting services to skilled nursing and assisted living facilities.

She has spoken nationally about topics related to the care of the elderly and nursing home administration.

The LECOM School of Pharmacy will continue to meet the growing need for pharmacy healthcare practitioners under the auspices of this distinguished leader.

Please join the whole of the LECOM family in welcoming the new Dean of the LECOM School of Pharmacy – Dr. Rachel Ogden.

New Era in Healthcare Education Flourishing with LECOM RN to PharmD Bridge Program In this transformational moment in healthcare, these new and different times demand a different kind of care provider. It is increasingly necessary that anyone engaged in healthcare delivery be possessed of a sound understanding of the best patient outcomes with a strong emphasis upon management of clinical care.

To this end, LECOM has developed and implemented the RN to PharmD Bridge Program designed specifically as a new profession combining the skills of a nurse and a PharmD. During this trying time, as healthcare professionals address the war of a new age, registered nurses interested in expanding their knowledge and employment opportunities will become skilled pharmacists.

Graduates of this program will receive a PharmD degree with enhanced skills as a nurse. This program seeks to move learners beyond knowledge acquisition and skills development to the integration of pharmacy applications that result in the delivery of excellent patient-centered care.

Ever visionary in anticipating the directional shifts in healthcare, LECOM recognized the need to facilitate the clinical experience.

Nurses always have underscored a foundational core in healthcare delivery, providing compassionate care throughout all practice settings. With this program, nurses become pharmacists gaining the opportunity to apply their direct care experience into the pharmacy profession, leading to improved healthcare outcomes for all future patients.

Deepened with relevant knowledge and a honed critical application, graduates of the LECOM RN to PharmD Bridge Program are able to use the duality of their experience to enhance care delivery and to improve patient satisfaction.

LECOM recognizes that leaders and professionals in the vanguard of healthcare bear a particular responsibility for improving patient-centered care. The RN to PharmD Program will help to assure that the care provided is effective and responsive to individual patient needs. Individuals earning this degree will be placing themselves into high demand for a host of positions in healthcare thereby helping to make the new decade one imbued with a hopeful and healthful future.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 19

LECOM Bradenton Professor Examines Neurological Manifestations in COVID-19 Patients Key knowledge is found within the scope of one’s study. The passion for research guides the mission of medical professionals at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) who devote themselves to a life of formalized inquiry. Time, talent, and training burnish the profoundly purposed pursuit of discovery.

With that discovery in mind, and once again placing itself in the forefront of meaningful endeavors, LECOM is proud to recognize Nitin Butala, MD, a distinguished member of the College research sector.

Dr. Nitin Butala, Assistant Professor of Neurology at LECOM Bradenton, has been performing instrumental work in the study of the neurological manifestations in patients with COVID-19.

In a recent article published in Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience (ICNS), Dr. Butala and his colleagues examine the latest available evidence regarding the neurological implications of COVID-19 and the way in which the novel coronavirus appears to impact patients with pre-existing neurological conditions. COVID-19-specific recommendations

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from the American Academy of Neurology and from other neurologic disease-specific organizations are summarized within the piece.

The results of the study indicate that almost one-third of the patients with COVID-19 have shown neurological manifestations; older age and comorbid conditions are associated with worsened outcomes. Dr. Butala summarizes that it is important to consider the spectrum of neurological manifestations of COVID-19 and the impact of COVID-19 on patients with underlying neurological conditions to improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Nitin Butala is a Neurology Clerkship Director for LECOM medical students. He works as a neurologist and neurophysiologist with Baptist Neurology in Jacksonville, Florida. With abundant experience as a neurologist and a demonstrated history of working in the hospital and healthcare industry, Dr. Butala is skilled in the management of a broad spectrum of neurological disorders.

LECOM takes great pride in recognizing this venerable researcher.

LECOM Scholar Joins the Homegrown Health Care Initiative Global Battle of the Century Advances LECOM Mission Recently, Pennsylvania Congressman, John Joyce, MD, has undertaken a vitally important program known as the Homegrown Health Care Initiative. The goal of the undertaking connects accomplished medical students with local hospitals - opening the door for young doctors to live and work in local communities for years to come.

To combat the physician shortage in Pennsylvania, Congressman Joyce conceived and developed the Homegrown Health Care Initiative to improve the pipeline of doctors entering the region and to strengthen the local healthcare system - all at no cost to the taxpayer.

As part of the program, medical students from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) will complete their thirdand fourth-year clinical studies in south central and southwestern Pennsylvania, enabling the scholars to serve the local communities and to bolster the local healthcare systems.

Now in its first year, the Homegrown Health Care Initiative has the potential to expand and develop each successive year to deliver beneficial results for decades to come.

Congressman Joyce was motivated to seek the implementation of this program because he, himself is a physician who returned home to practice medicine and to serve his community. He began the Homegrown Health Care Initiative with the hope that future physicians will enjoy the advantage of learning and living in an area that they will once again call home. The goal of the Initiative is to demonstrate to students the benefits and rewards of learning in smaller, more personalized environments, while interesting them in remaining in those areas when they become doctors.

Students participating in the Homegrown Health Care Initiative are learning under the expert tutelage and guidance of local physicians and they are caring for patients at hospitals throughout the region.

Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center in Johnstown, Fulton County Medical Center in McConnellsburg, and the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center in Altoona are just a few of the rural Pennsylvania-area beneficiaries of the Initiative.

The Homegrown Health Care Initiative is garnering attention and receiving laudatory responses across the whole of Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial Board recommended that, “Other parts of Pennsylvania should jump on board [Dr. Joyce’s] Program developed to bring medical students to rural facilities."

Access to quality and affordable health care has long been a key component of LECOM community engagement efforts.

The goal of Congressman Joyce’s Initiative mirrors the mission advanced by LECOM to better each community in which it has set its cornerstone. Not surprisingly, LECOM has established its College campuses in areas needful of healthcare services with a key objective to address physician shortages.

For almost three decades, LECOM has existed as an elevating force for good, lifting each person who crosses its threshold to new heights and bettering each community that it has come to serve.

By encouraging is progeny to combine will power with brain power, and strength of character with strength of mind, LECOM enables its scholars to unlock their unbounded potential; and this new Initiative further advances that noble mission.

LECOM is proud to participate in this worthy endeavor and it welcomes the opportunity to broaden and expand the Initiative to further benefit each needful region of the Commonwealth.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 21

Local and regional leaders joined James Lin, DO, in recognition of the LECOM Health effort to combat COVID-19 throughout the long-term care facilities across Northwestern Pennsylvania.

LECOM Spotlights Grant The inspiration of the history of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) entails its vibrant spirit and its commitment to excellence that is indelibly imprinted upon the soul of the College. LECOM holds at its core an enduring reminder that the medical arts and sciences are a source of a healthful and prosperous community. With that mission in mind, the leadership at LECOM takes great pride in announcing a successful undertaking advanced by James Lin, DO. His recent grant award has furthered the founding mission to better each community in which the College has established itself.

On July 14, 2020, LECOM was selected to receive funding through a statewide initiative created to support and improve COVID-19 services in long-term care facilities.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services announced its Regional Response Health Collaboration Program (RRHCP), an expansive program that pairs nine academic health systems across the state with local regulatory agencies and long-term care facilities to develop COVID-19 readiness and response planning.

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Selected facilities will be collectively awarded $175 million to focus upon improving quality and continuity of care, as well as upon expanding COVID-19 testing to asymptomatic members of the community and continuing services in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the virus.

As part of the program, LECOM Health joined the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) to utilize $13.6 million in funding to support long-term care facilities and to conduct health-related programs that will benefit northwestern Pennsylvania communities.

The LECOM Health portion ($6.2 million) will further enhance and advance the estimable undertakings of the institution, including the LECOM Senior Living Center and the LECOMaffiliated senior service organizations.

“This endeavor represents another step forward in cementing our leadership role in post-acute care,” commented President and CEO John M. Ferretti, DO. “Congratulations to Dr. James Lin and to his team on this impressive accomplishment,” the LECOM President furthered.

"Our first priority is protecting our patients while promoting the overall health and wellbeing of the communities that we serve."

– James Lin, DO

Elderly residents of long-term facilities are more vulnerable to COVID-19 due to their age and pre-existing conditions. Close daily contact with other residents and staff also is a contributing factor to the spread of the disease.

News agencies have reported that more than 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths and nearly 10 percent of confirmed cases in the United States have been noted in residents and workers at nursing homes and long-term care facilities.

The disproportionate burden upon personal care homes, assisted living residences, and skilled nursing facilities throughout Pennsylvania has been a motivating factor that has prompted LECOM Health leadership to seek support in the form of grant projects.

Under Dr. Ferretti’s assiduously focused guidance, the LECOM Health system has skillfully navigated the COVID-19 pandemic with its nursing facilities and assisted living residences being well insulated from outbreaks.

Dr. Lin’s objective to empower the aging population to live vigorous, medication-free lives through natural osteopathic care and healthful lifestyles has been a consistent mission. As President of the LECOM Institute for Successful Aging - the leading academic center of excellence in providing education, research, and clinical services throughout the region - Dr. Lin was instrumental in facilitating the RRHCP grant.

Dr. Lin often notes that “the LECOM Institute comprises one of the first health systems in the northwestern Pennsylvania region to provide the full spectrum of geriatric care.”

Indeed, this expertly skilled physician has worked vigorously to advance that spectrum of care. In collaboration with LECOM, Millcreek Community Hospital, and the whole of LECOM Health, Dr. Lin not only developed a robust geriatric service at LECOM, but also he has championed successful grant projects and grass-roots solutions to enhance geriatric care within the region.

Through the implementation of the LECOM NWPA Regional Response Health Collaborative, LECOM Health has directly supported COVID-19 readiness and response planning in 81 long-term care residential facilities in Cameron, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, McKean, and Warren counties.

LECOM Health has provided facility consultation that includes clinical, operational, and administrative support to prevent residents in these area facilities from contracting COVID-19 and it will optimally manage the facilities should an outbreak occur.

improved quality of care; by expanding public health surveillance with COVID-19 testing of asymptomatic staff and residents in facilities; and by implementing best practices in infection control and COVID-19 response.

“Our first priority is protecting our patients while promoting the overall health and wellbeing of the communities that we serve,” explained Dr. Lin. “Throughout this pandemic, LECOM Health has remained ahead of the curve in its mitigation efforts to protect its residents, employees, and staff from contracting the virus.

Now, with this grant, we can expand our efforts to protect a larger portion of Pennsylvania residents and, ultimately, put safeguards in place to diminish the effects of COVID-19 upon society and upon our daily lives,” he concluded.

LECOM takes great pride in the result of this new undertaking and it eagerly anticipates a host of meaningful endeavors to better the lives of the aging population across the greater Erie County region and beyond.

LECOM Health actively advances and promotes health, and it stabilizes the economy of the region by directly supporting COVID-19 readiness in long-term care facilities through enhanced infection prevention efforts and @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 23

LECOM MHSA Graduate Leads in Cannabis Therapies

Nicolas Bottaro, DO, MHSA, a Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) Class of 2016 graduate, has excelled not only in his active residency, but also through the application of his knowledge to cannabis medicine.

Late in 2016, cannabis medicine was legalized in the state of Florida. Dr. Bottaro’s interest was piqued; and he found an opportunity to combine his years of LECOM Problem-Based Learning (PBL) training with the business acumen that he gained as a LECOM MHSA scholar.

“I was able to use the knowledge that I had gained through the LECOM MHSA program to help increase the physician cannabis group from four physicians to more than 30 physicians, making it the largest cannabis physician group in the country,” stated Dr. Bottaro.

Within the first week or two of seeing patients, Dr. Bottaro observed that the cannabis protocol was assisting patients in a way that he had yet to see in his healthcare experience.

He remained cautiously skeptical however, and that was the point during which his PBL training became instrumental.

Dr. Bottaro saw the efficacy of cannabis medicine, but he wished to know more. “I wanted to understand how and why this treatment was working,” he explained. “My training in PBL taught me how to learn; and I

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delved deeply into endocannabinoid research, the science, the current applications, and everything that there was to know about it,” he continued.

“I discovered that the endocannabinoid system - the most complex and intricate physiological system in vertebrates - is incredibly important in a great majority of pathology that we see each day,” noted Dr. Bottaro.

By understanding this system and the medicine used to supplement it, Dr. Bottaro has been able to help patients in ways previously unimaginable.

A survey taken of his patients garnered over 4,000 positive responses. After initiation of cannabis medicine, more than 80% of patients stopped five to ten pharmaceutical medications, and an additional 10% of the patients discontinued more than ten medications. Patients on disability assistance and collecting dispensations from the government were now working again; canes and wheelchairs no longer were required by his patients. Dr. Bottaro noted that families were unifying and patients were enjoying relief previously not successfully obtained through the healthcare system.

Within one year, Dr. Bottaro had become the leading cannabis expert in the state of Florida, with more than 3,000 patients seen. He has been a requested speaker at major national

conferences. Within only a few years, he has seen more than 7,000 patients, developed protocols that are now used throughout multiple countries, and he has been pursued by major cannabis corporations for his expertise.

All of this success has come about while excelling in his ophthalmology practice.

Dr. Bottaro entered the specialty of ophthalmology with over 500 independent surgical cases (the average resident undertakes 100 cases).

The innovative physician has become the medical director of one of the largest cannabis companies in the world, Surterra Wellness.

Dr. Bottaro is integrally involved in medicine formulation, research and development, physician outreach, and he even has been instrumental in forming legislation in other states for carefully crafted cannabis programs.

The noted doctor credits LECOM for developing his ability to excel in ProblemBased Learning and he enthusiastically praises the Masters in Healthcare Administration Program. LECOM education and training have served Dr. Bottaro well as he has become a leading expert in cannabis medicine. As an ophthalmology resident with double the surgical volume of any other residency, Dr. Bottaro completed that mission with great success. LECOM lauds this innovative and forward-thinking physician as he finds success in pursuing the calling of his life.

LECOM School of Pharmacy Once Again Earns National Honors

This spring, the National Consumers League (NCL) and its partners announced the winners of the Ninth Annual Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a competition designed to encourage health-professions students and faculty from across the nation to develop creative ideas, events, and initiatives to raise public awareness about the importance of medication adherence.

The Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) School of Pharmacy was the recipient of the Media Outreach Focused Award of the 2020 NCL Script Your Future Medication Adherence Team Challenge.

As an award winner, LECOM was awarded a plaque and a stipend to use to further advance community outreach in medication adherence.

The 2020 Medication Adherence Team Challenge is part of the National Script Your Future public awareness campaign coordinated by NCL with support from its partners and the Challenge sponsors: the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA).

To earn a National Finalist designation, LECOM pharmacy students in Erie, Pennsylvania, and in Bradenton, Florida, created dozens of community awareness events to demonstrate the importance of taking medications as prescribed by physicians and as recommended by pharmacists. LECOM has earned a top prize in the competition in eight of the nine years that the event has been held.

From January through March of 2020, the pharmacists, physicians, students and faculty collaborated with an array of other healthcare professionals. The message was simple: to promote the importance of medication adherence in the communities of Erie, Pennsylvania, and Bradenton, Florida.

Students contributed untolled volunteer hours through more than 30 service events, which (in conjunction with social media efforts) reached tens of thousands of people.

The Script Your Future Competition allowed pharmacy, medical, and dental students from LECOM to provide a substantive benefit to desperately underserved populations. A majority of the events were focused upon improving adherence and disease education of minorities, children, the elderly, and homeless populations.

Pharmacy students worked with LECOM medical and dental students to reach these underserved groups.

Nearly three-out-of-four Americans do not take their medications as directed. This deficiency in medication adherence may lead to devastating results, particularly for people with chronic conditions. National health advocacy leaders have recognized medication adherence as a public health priority. Improved medication adherence leads to better health outcomes and to reduced total healthcare costs.

LECOM is proud to participate in this worthy endeavor and to heartily congratulate the 2020 champions.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 25

Join the

LECOM Family of Physicians Treating Erie’s Families

We are the physicians of Medical Associates of Erie - the Clinical Practices of LECOM. Our goal is to provide to our patients the very best osteopathic, whole person care – mind, body and spirit – for a lifetime of optimal health.

You can become part of the only Osteopathic Academic Health Center in the nation led by the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Currently, we are seeking physicians in ENT, General Surgery, Neurology, Pediatrics, Pulmonary Medicine, Rheumatology and Family Medicine for our expanding practices.

Please contact Dennis Styn at (814) 868-2504 or dstyn@lecom.edu to learn more about available opportunities.

WELCOME TO WELLNESS WELCOME TO LECOM HEALTH

LECOM Health doctors. Choose one today to join a health system that will focus on your overall wellness for life.

Visit LECOMHealth.com/clinical-practices

Matching the LECOM Mission

"During these seemingly unprecedented times, I wanted to do my part to save someone's life before I complete my medical training."

– Adam Albadawi

In the realm of medical training and service, the pledge to a cause beyond oneself underscores the essence of all that comprises the calling of medicine. The promise and the possibility that is stirred in the heart of those most committed to the purpose of this noble profession is evidenced in the result and in the accomplishment of each day in service.

That venerable philosophy is reflected not only in grand deeds, but in the everyday acts that one undertakes.

LECOM reminds us that answering the needs of the suffering and of the afflicted comes often in one's own corner of the world.

Works of service and of compassion can be accomplished by each person, no matter one's location.

That message has been taken to heart by LECOM Bradenton medical student Adam Albadawi. While still an undergraduate, the now third-year medical scholar joined the Match Marrow Registry – an organization

that finds Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) matches for patients in need of bone marrow transplants.

Receiving the call from the Registry a couple of months ago - during the height of the Coronavirus outbreak - Albadawi learned that he was an HLA match for a patient suffering from Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).

During the LECOM spring semester, Albadawi volunteered to undergo a series of laboratory tests to confirm that he was indeed a good match. In July of 2020, he began his donation of stem cells (through a nonsurgical method) to the afflicted patient.

The donation process involves taking daily injections of a drug called Filgrastim that essentially increases the number of the needed cells in circulation. These cells are then donated via apheresis, a process similar to dialysis.

Since its very inception, LECOM has believed – in word, in deed, and through its determined commitment to community service – that where there is need, one must stand prepared and equipped to fill it. For decades, LECOM has filled the need in each community in which it has come to lay its cornerstone.

Indeed, that mission, inculcated and imbued within the hearts and souls of LECOM scholars, touches humanity in many ways.

Such focus upon compassionate selflessness and constructive outreach has extended far beyond the confines of the LECOM campuses as scholars, such as Albadawi, venture into the local environs to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

LECOM enthusiastically supports its students who open their hearts, eyes, and hands to find their calling in the service of others.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 27

Mask Creations Highlight Community Cooperation Despite the daily news reports that seem to echo the miseries of the moment, for many, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the best of human nature.

Indeed, the Erie community response and support of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) faculty and staff has been extraordinarily uplifting and heart-warming.

Caring Erieites and organizations have offered their time, talent, supplies, and their encouragement to safeguard the teams at LECOM – teams that are educating the next generation of frontline medical professionals.

The Erie Playhouse - a nationally recognized name in community theatre - has partnered with LECOM – a nationally recognized name in medical education - to provide material from the theatre costume department to help create, maintain, and supplement stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) for the healthcare front line educators and staff.

Many costumes that once graced the stage of the Erie Playhouse are being repurposed to protect and save. Materials with the glitz and glimmer, sheen and show, along with more sophisticated samplings have been measured, cut, and caringly crafted into stylish PPE. LECOM always has enjoyed a profound and enduring connection to the Erie community. Erie is the place from which the LECOM genesis illuminates the medical and educational futures of generations to come.

Having given generously for visions, causes, programs, and buildings, LECOM stands as a beacon, endeavoring always to support the place that it calls home.

Likewise, the art of the Erie Playhouse is a glimmering star in our shared humanity, providing illumination for the community. It is the forum to which one comes to explore that which it means to be alive in all of its depths of sorrow and joy.

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Albert Einstein once remarked that, "The arts and sciences are branches of the same tree, for all of these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, toward lifting it from the sphere of a mere physical existence, and toward leading the individual toward freedom.” This spirit, this shared understanding - is one evidenced by LECOM, for that art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.

It enables one to find oneself and to lose oneself at the same time.

now presents LECOM with beautiful materials that once made their entrances and exits upon the shoulders of local actors.

With this credo in mind, LECOM was profoundly proud to support and sponsor the Erie Playhouse by entering into a 25-year naming rights agreement that began several years ago with the 101st Erie Playhouse season. The stage upon which so many talented men and women have launched careers and entertained locals and visitors alike is referred to as the LECOM Stage at the Erie Playhouse.

Each one of the masks worn by a member of the LECOM extended family is worn proudly in the knowledge that someone has taken the time and effort to protect the LECOM community.

The circle of care is evidenced at this critical moment in our shared history as the theatre

LECOM is ever eager to advance community betterment and to develop the shared tangible and intrinsic benefits of the arts to LECOM students and to citizens alike.

LECOM stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the arts community ensuring that the illumination of the Erie community remains forever bright.

LECOM offers its gratitude to the Erie Playhouse for its caring undertaking in creating so many wonderful face masks that not only are fully functional, but that also are very attractive pieces of an acclaimed theatrical history.

An Open Letter from a Grateful LECOM Generosity Toward the Future Thrives in the Soul of Erie

Those in the healthcare professions rise each day, prepared to give life and energy to others. Through the healing arts and sciences, physicians, pharmacists, and dentists serve as a constant source of inspiration, encouraging patients to overcome challenges and to become whole in mind, body, and spirit.

Although the global pandemic of 2020 has highlighted this aspect of a noble profession, it is a truism that has endured throughout the ages.

Those in the healthcare fields always have something to give – whether it be the medical knowledge to facilitate healing, the energy to encourage and to engage a patient, or the gift of time.

Reaping and sowing in every facet of life exists as a Providential principle, purposefully incorporated into all of life. It offers a realization that life gives back and that often one reaps the rewards of one’s efforts.

It is in this vein and through this prism that the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) extends its deep appreciation and abiding gratitude to the community that it calls home and to the one that actively participated in the 2020 Erie Gives event.

Amid a global pandemic, with many in the region feeling the personal and fiscal constricts of the calamitous event, the Tenth Annual Erie Gives Campaign raised a record $6.2 million for 422 nonprofit organizations during the 12hour fundraiser. A grateful LECOM ranked fifth among the hundreds of recipients. The year of the virus set a record with 11,418 donors, shattering the previous record of 8,900 donors, set in 2019.

The 27-percent increase during a national health crisis highlights the generosity and goodness of the Erie Region.

Indeed, generous people energize others.

They are the rare souls central to a community; those who realize that generosity is never about how much one has, rather it is about the way in which one gives. Generosity cannot be defined by an event - even an event as devastating as a global virus - for generosity is formed in the heart.

Winston Churchill astutely noted, “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” His sage maxim has long been evidenced by the LECOM mission and it is received in turn by the community that has given it its genesis.

Generosity funds a grateful spirit. Philanthropic people instinctively lead the way. As the waymakers, it is often their lead that inspires others to stretch their faith and to make a difference in society. Those living a life of generosity are very intentional about giving and about sharing a purposeful largess.

Generosity is contagious. Bold acts of altruism can transform and inspire the world. When others see certain acts of generosity, often they are inspired to replicate or even to exceed them.

The Erie community has inspired others, it has changed circumstances, and it has reflected a grateful heart; and for these reasons, LECOM extends abundant gratitude to the place it calls home.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 29

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LECOM Announces Memorial Scholarship Award

Daniel Manganaro

The whole of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) family was shocked and saddened, earlier this year, by the sudden loss of Daniel S. Manganaro, a fourth-year medical student from LECOM. The 27-year-old scholar from Chemung County, New York, died in a mid-April mishap while canoeing with a friend on Seneca Lake.

Daniel was a respected and highly capable LECOM student. Word of his loss affected the College deeply. He was an enthusiastic and energetic force, a compassionate medical scholar, and he possessed a clear passion for his calling. His absence leaves a vast hole in the fabric of the LECOM family.

LECOM is continuing to remember the life of Daniel, establishing a scholarship in his name as an enduring reminder of his passion for the noble calling of medicine and of his effervescent energy in the pursuit of his passion.

Daniel’s name will live on and his memory will be ever present at LECOM.

“From the first day that he arrived on the LECOM campus two years ago, Dan told me how much he looked forward to becoming an orthopedic doctor. He never wavered from that mission during his entire two years; and then, he achieved it - matching into a very competitive and difficult orthopedics program,” recalled Dr. Richard Terry, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at LECOM at Elmira.

The Dr. Daniel Stephen Manganaro Student Memorial Award will be presented upon graduation to a LECOM scholar who has demonstrated a passion for orthopedics and who will continue in the field of orthopedic medicine.

Members of the LECOM community or anyone who is interested in advancing this scholarship mission may contact LECOM at Elmira.

Daniel’s legacy will remain as a testament to those who seek to work for the betterment of others. May the light of his all too brief life bring a sense of hope and purpose to others as his mission lives on in that which he leaves behind.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 31

Randy Kulesza, PhD

Dean of LECOM School of Biomedical Sciences

Randy Kulesza, PhD has been named as Dean of the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) School of Biomedical Sciences.

In announcing the appointment, Silvia M. Ferretti, DO, LECOM Provost, Senior Vice President, and Dean of Academic Affairs noted that “the LECOM administration was confident in choosing Dr. Kulesza for this position because of his many successes - his outstanding service to the advancement of exceptional medical education, his role in the LECOM community, and, in particular, his achievements as leader of a research team that has been consistently successful."

A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Dr. Kulesza earned a BS in Biology from Gannon University in 1996 and a PhD in Neuroscience and Anatomy from West Virginia University in 2002.

Dr. Kulesza joined the LECOM family in 2002 as an Assistant Professor of Anatomy and he was named Director of Anatomy in 2005.

In 2008, the dedicated faculty member was promoted to Associate Professor and progressed to Professor of Anatomy in 2014.

In 2008, Dr. Kulesza also was appointed to serve as Director of the Post Baccalaureate Program. He developed the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences Program in 2009 and he was promoted to Assistant Dean in 2011.

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In 2017, Dr Kulesza developed the first LECOM PhD Program in Anatomy Education.

He was promoted to Associate Dean in 2018.

Dr. Kulesza’s research lab, the Auditory Research Center, utilizes brainstem circuits to study structural and functional changes in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. His research efforts have led to 58 peer-reviewed publications and to 115 abstracts. He has served on thesis committees for 28 masters students and on the dissertation committee for 5 Ph.D. students, most of which he chaired.

Dr. Kulesza also holds administrative positions on the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners.

As one may discern from the foregoing litany of responsibilities, his tasks have been complex and his work highly regarded at LECOM. His wide-ranging leadership and focused administrative skills together with an evident adroitness in relational management make it clear that he is a forward planner on the LECOM team.

Dr. Kulesza’s work offers great meaning for LECOM. He looks forward to performing his new charge as he continues to be an integral part of the LECOM family. LECOM welcomes this indispensable specialist to serve as Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2020.

16th Annual Scholarship Golf Classic Concludes with Grand Success The victorious mixed group included Beth Rajakovich, Rick Federici, Josh Solt, and John Melody.

Under the auspices of Martin M. Kelly, Corporate Compliance and Ethics Officer for Millcreek Community Hospital, the Golf Scholarship Classic has raised over $800,000 to benefit the LECOM Student Scholarship Fund. This year's tournament raised an impressive $68,352.

The 16th Annual LECOM Health Millcreek Community Hospital Golf Scholarship Classic was held at Lake Shore Country Club on September 3, 2020.

While LECOM scholars dedicate time and energy to their studies, LECOM leadership is ever dedicated to making medical school affordable for students.

Gathering on the scenic tournament grounds as breathtaking views of Lake Erie abounded, more than 160 golfers participated in the worthy event held to benefit the LECOM Student Scholarship Fund.

LECOM continues to attract many of the best and brightest candidates from across the country, and it does so while maintaining one of the lowest costs in the nation for private graduate school education. Each year, the College conducts fundraisers for the sole purpose of providing scholarship assistance to its deserving students.

The 2020 winning team included Dr. Vincent Fierro, Dr. John Dudzinski, Dr. Alan Esper, and Dr. Bob Esper. The victorious foursome has participated in the annual outing since the inception of the worthy event.

The Golf Scholarship Classic has concluded another successful year further facilitating the advancement and betterment of affordable medical education.

Automatically Support LECOM Each Time You Shop!

AmazonSmile is a simple way for you to support Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. When you shop online at smile.amazon.com and select Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine as your charity, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible purchases to the LECOM Student Scholarship Fund.

smile.amazon.com @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 33

STUDENT NOTES College of Medicine Second-year Bradenton medical students, Anna Kaiser and Sriya Reddy, joined Francis Liuzzi, PhD, LECOM Professor of Anatomy, in writing, Characterization and Histological Examination of a Rare Giant Cell Glioblastoma, published in Cureus.

The trio collaborated with fourth-year students, Amber Gordon and Matthew Von Zimmerman, on another article entitled, Gross and Histological Examination of a Large Spheno-orbital Meningioma, published in Cureus.

Sarah Ann Lohbauer, OMS4, is the acclaimed top prize recipient of the 2020 American Osteopathic Foundation Golden Ticket Award. This scholarship program provides financial assistance to exceptional osteopathic medical students who are at risk of completing their education due to the financial burden of student loans. Nominees must excel among their peers in academics, display true leadership, possess a strong commitment to the osteopathic profession, and demonstrate themselves to be active participants within their local community. As a finalist, Lohbauer received a $5,000 award; she then proceeded to emerge victorious receiving the $20,000 Golden Ticket.

Jean-Marc Lucas, OMS2, Ali Sandouka, OMS2, and Oren Rosenthal, PhD, Professor of Anatomy, co-authored an article entitled, Coexistence of Brachial Plexus-Anterior Scalene and Sciatic Nerve-Piriformis Variants, published in Cureus.

Delaney Stuhr, OMS2, contributed to a review entitled, A Contemporary Review of Clostridioides Difficle Infections in Patients with Hematologic Diseases, published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.

School of Pharmacy George McConnell, P4, authored articles entitled, Efficacy and Safety of Dapagliflozin in the Elderly: Analysis From the DECLARETIMI 58 Study and Using a Quality Initiative to Improve Population HbA1c Testing, published in Diabetes in Control.

Joan Prifit, P4, contributed an article entitled, Leading Causes of Mortality in People with Diabetes, to Diabetes in Control.

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Leyany Feijoo Ramos, P4, contributed articles entitled, Consumption of Certain Macronutrients at Dinner Could Affect Mortality and Glycemic Control May Reduce the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease, to Diabetes in Control.

Melinda Rodgriuez, P4, contributed several articles to Diabetes in Control. Her authored pieces include, Glucose-Lowering Medications and COVID-19 Outcomes in Patients with Diabetes; Systematic Literature Reviews Elucidate Cost-Effectiveness of Diabetes Interventions; Predictors of COVID-19 Outcomes in Patients with Diabetes; and Semgle: Insulin Glargine Biosimilar Approved for Diabetes in the U.S.

School of Dental Medicine Lauren Cuculino, D4, co-authored a review entitled, Prospective Nanotechnology Applications in Endodontics: A Brief Overview, published in the Endodontic Practice Today.

Gwen Stokes, D1, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in July of 2020. Stokes also is the recipient of the Army Health Professions Scholarship for Dental Medicine and she will serve as a dentist in the Army following her schooling.

FACULTY NOTES College of Medicine

Roger Biringer, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, authored an article entitled, The Enzymology of Human Eicosanoid Pathways: The Lipoxygenase Branches, published in Molecular Biology Reports.

He also wrote, A Review of Prostanoid Receptors: Expression, Characterization, Regulation, and Mechanism of Action, published in the Journal of Cellular Communication and Signaling.

Anupam Bishayee, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology, co-authored an article entitled, Targeting Multiple Signaling Pathways in Cancer: The Rutin Therapeutic Approach, published in Cancers. Dr.

Bishayee and Carly Wallace, OMS2, contributed to another article entitled, Targeting Multiple Signaling Pathways in Cancer: The Rutin Therapeutic Approach, also published in Cancers.

Bertalan Dudas, MD, PhD, Assistant Dean of Research and Scholarship, co-authored an article entitled, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone Axonal Varicosities Appear to Innervate Dopaminergic Neurons in the Human Hypothalamus, published in Brain Structure and Function.

Ping He, MD, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, Mohammed Razzaque, PhD, Professor of Pathology, and third-year medical students, Jacob Fling and Olivia Mann-Collura co-authored an article entitled, High Phosphate Active Induces Cytotoxicity

by Rewriting Pro-survival and Pro-apoptotic Signaling Networks in HEK293 and HeLA Cells, published in FASEB Journal.

The American Osteopathic Association has appointed Mark Kauffman, DO, LECOM Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, as Chair of its Bureau of Osteopathic Education.

Christine Lomiguen, MD, Assistant Director of Pathology, and Justin Chin, DO, a Master of Science in Medical Education student, contributed to an article entitled, Benefits of Probiotic Yogurt Consumption on Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review, published in Cureus. Dr. Lomiguen also co-authored an article with Mark Terrell, EdD, Assistant Dean of Medical Education, entitled, Mental Health Matters: Comparing the Self-reported Mental Health of Medical Students with their Wellbeing and GPA, published in Health Professions Education.

LECOM Professors of Anatomy Francis Liuzzi, PhD, and Oren Rosenthal, PhD, joined 2020 graduates Carly Gunderson, DO, and Carey Roberts, DO, and Jean-Marc Lucas, OMS2, in co-authoring a case report entitled, Acquired Diverticulosis of the Entire Colon in a Cadaver, published in Cureus.

Mohammed Razzaque, PhD, Professor of Pathology, co-authored an article entitled, Vitamin D and the Host-Gut Microbiome: A Brief Overview, published in the Japan Society of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry.

Dr. Razzaque authored a second piece entitled, COVID-19 Pandemic: Can Maintaining Optimal Zinc Balance Enhance Host Resistance? That item was published in The Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine. A third piece entitled, Regulatory Role of the Transcription Factor Twist in Cancer-Associated Muscle Cachexia, was published in Frontiers of Physiology.

Dr. Razzaque’s article, Can Excessive Dietary Phosphate Intake Influence Oral Diseases? was published in Advances in Human Biology. He also contributed to an article entitled, Pancreatic Cancer Triggers Diabetes through TGF-β-Mediated Selective Depletion of Islet β-cells, published in Life Science Alliance.

Chelsea Schwartz, DO, PBL Instructor at LECOM at Seton Hill, co-authored an article entitled, Ultraviolet Light Gel Manicures: Is There a Risk of Skin Cancer on the Hands and Nails of Young Adults? That item was published in the Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology. Dr. Schwartz contributed to another work entitled, Cytomegalovirus Enterocolitis Secondary to Experimental COVID-19 Therapy, published in IDCases.

Regan Shabloski, DO, Assistant Dean of Clinical Education, received a Certificate of Excellence from the Center for Development Security. He also received the Joint Task Force Commander’s Coin for Excellence marking his exemplary service in the Pennsylvania National Guard. The honors highlight Dr. Shabloski’s dedicated military service during the Coronavirus Pandemic.

School of Pharmacy Daniel Austin, PharmD, Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacy Practice, and alumni, Daniel Offei, PharmD, and Adil Shivji, PharmD, co-authored an article entitled, Analysis of a Novel Enrichment Strategy for an Integrated Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology Course, published in Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning. Dr. Austin contributed to a second piece, The Chemistry of Poisons: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Integrating Chemical,

Toxicological, and Medicinal Principles, published in the Journal of Chemical Education.

Tayanna Richardson, PharmD, Director of Experiential Education, is one of 29 African American female leaders across the United States selected to participate in the ninemonth Higher Heights Senior Leadership Fellowship Program.

School of Dental Medicine Nader Abdulhameed, BDS, Assistant Professor in Restorative Dentistry, coauthored an article entitled, Novel Methodology for Measuring Intraoral Wear in Enamel and Dental Restorative Materials, published in Clinical and Experimental Dental Research.

Second-year dental students selected Patrick Cardinale, DMD, Simulation Clinic Faculty, as the LECOM School of Dental Medicine Instructor of the Year. This year marks the third consecutive year in which Dr. Cardinale has received the estimable award recognizing the instructor who has made the greatest impact upon the students’ preclinical education.

David Mateer, DMD, has been appointed to the position of Acting Director of Patient Care Services at the Erie Clinic for the LECOM School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Mateer has served as a clinical preceptor at the facility since its opening in 2015.

School of Health Services Administration Mary Badawy, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology, welcomed a son, Benjamin Wassem Faragalla, in July of 2020.

School of Biomedical Sciences Randy Kulesza, PhD, Dean, LECOM School of Biomedical Sciences, and Yusra Mansor, OMS4, co-authored an article entitled, Multiple Rare Anatomical Variants: Lessons From One Neck, published in the Journal of Anatomical Variations. They also authored

another article entitled, A Tale of Two Arteries: Dual Posterior Cerebral Arteries with Vascular Bridges: A Possible Protective Pattern? That item was published in Folia Morphologica. Dr. Kulesza was a contributing author of two pieces that indicate chronic exposure to air pollution is a key contributor to early development of brainstem-centered neurodegenerative disease in children.

Both items were published in Environmental Research. The first article is entitled, Gait and Balance Disturbances are Common in Young Urbanites and Associated with Cognitive Impairment: Air Pollution and the Historical Development of Alzheimer's Disease in the Young. The second is entitled, Quadruple Abnormal Protein Aggregates in Brainstem Pathology and Exogenous Metalrich Magnetic Nanoparticles: The Substantia Nigrae is a Very Early Target in Young Urbanites and the Gastrointestinal Tract Likely a Key Brainstem Portal.

ALUMNI NOTES Class of 2002 Shawn Storm, DO, has been appointed Director of the LECOM Health Orthopedic Surgery Residency Program in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Class of 2003 David A. Williams, DO, has transitioned his practice in Meadville, Pennsylvania, to the Medical Arts Center on the campus of Wesbury, a nearby nonprofit Christian continuing care retirement community. In doing so, Dr. Williams has broadened his practice to include patients from neighboring rehabilitation centers.

Class of 2004 Stacey Langsam, DO, has joined Pediatric Associates of Connecticut, P.C., in Waterbury, Connecticut. Dr. Langsam is board certified in pediatrics and she is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

@1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 35

Class of 2006

Class of 2011

Class of 2013

Glen Digwood, DO, has been appointed to the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute Board of Directors. The Institute, based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, seeks to ease the burden of cancer upon residents of northeastern Pennsylvania. Dr. Digwood is the Co-Director of Palliative Medicine at Geisinger Health System. He also is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine.

Patrick Coffey, DO, has joined Vascular Specialists of Tinley Park, Illinois.

Kathryn Graham, DO, is serving her second one-year term as the Young Physician Representative on the Board of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medicine Association. Dr. Graham practices inpatient hospital medicine in DuBois, Pennsylvania.

Lauren Hertel, DO, has joined the staff of Butler Health System (BHS) Primary Care.

Dr. Hertel is board certified in internal medicine and she is seeing patients at the BHS Benbrook Medical Campus in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The Arthroscopy Association of North America has selected Joshua Tuck, DO, MSMedEd, as a Distinguished Arthroscopy Leader. Dr. Tuck is one of only two physicians in Pennsylvania and one of just 37 physicians in the United States to hold this designation.

Class of 2010

Class of 2012

Megan Morrison, DO, and her husband, Pezh Shoureshi, DO, have opened Harpeth Valley Dermatology in Thomson’s Station, Tennessee. Dr. Morrison is a board-certified dermatologist and a fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon. She is a member of the Tennessee Dermatology Society, Tennessee Medical Association, and the American Society of Dermatology Surgeons. Dr. Shoureshi also is a board-certified dermatologist with a special interest in complex medical dermatology and cutaneous oncology. He is President of the Tennessee Dermatology Society and a member of the Nashville Dermatology Society, Tennessee Medical Association, American Academy of Dermatology, and the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.

William “Russ” Carpenter, DO, is the recipient of the 2020 President’s Award presenter by the Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (MAOPS). Dr. Carpenter earned this honor for his work on the Physician Wellness Committee, serving as Medical Director for the MAOPS Physician Health Program, and for his work as faculty on the MAOPS physician wellness team. He practices psychiatry at Capital Region Physicians Center for Mental Wellness in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Megan Wasson, DO, has been named Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology as well as Chair of Medical and Surgical Gynecology at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, which includes campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. Dr. Wasson also was named an Outstanding Emerging Educator at the Mayo Clinic. This honor recognizes staff who, early in their careers, have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment to education.

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John Fetchero III, DO, has joined Core Physicians Primary Care at the Plaistow Regional Health Center in Plaistow, New Hampshire.

United States Army Capt. Adam Szabat, PharmD, has been promoted to Major and he is currently stationed in Germany.

Addison Haynes, DO, completed her MBA at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis.

Russell Hyde, DO, has joined the surgical team of Central Michigan University Health in Saginaw, Michigan.

Darrell McBride II, DO, has been appointed Regional Dean for Student Affairs at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in Danville, Pennsylvania.

Blake Stewart, DO, has joined the Mount Nittany Physician Group General Surgery in State College, Pennsylvania. Dr. Stewart served previously as a general surgeon with Lehigh Valley Physician Group in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

Bradley O’Neill, DO, has joined The Eye Associates in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. O’Neill is a board-certified ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in cataract/refractive surgery.

Jeffrey Powell, DO, has joined the staff of Geisinger 65 Forward Health Center in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Class of 2014 Oncologist Anthony Dominick, DO, has joined Cape Fear Cancer Specialists in Wilmington, North Carolina. His special interests include benign and malignant hematology.

Tammy Gebo-Seaman, DO, has joined the staff of Watson Clinic Highlands in Lakeland, Florida. Dr. Gebo-Seaman is fellowship trained in gastroenterology and she is board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine.

Gastroenterologist Cale Sebald, DO, has joined the team at McLaren Northern Michigan Digestive Health in Petoskey, Michigan.

Class of 2015 Seth Lapic, DO, has joined the Aiken Regional Medical Centers Aurora Pavilion Behavioral Health Services team in Aiken, South Carolina.

Daniel Martino, DO, has joined Northern Light Mercy Surgery in Portland, Maine, as a general surgeon. Dr. Martino’s fields of interest include robotics and laparoscopy.

Evan Ruppell, DO, co-authored an article entitled, Oncologic Emergencies of the Abdomen and Pelvis, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology. Dr. Ruppell is a fellow in cancer radiology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

Victoriya Strukova, DO, has joined Bond Clinic in Winter Haven, Florida. Dr. Strukova is a board-certified rheumatologist whose interests include rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, osteoporosis, gout, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Class of 2016 Chase Cates, DO, has joined the staff of Alamo Area Resource Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Rex Gido, DO, has joined the Guthrie Ithaca (New York) medical team. Dr. Gido is a fellowship-trained family medicine and sports physician with clinical interests in concussion management, non-surgical treatment of musculoskeletal injuries, and sports physicals.

Class of 2017 Michael Basedow, DO, has joined the staff of Basedow Family Clinic in Ironton, Ohio. Dr. Basedow joins his parents, William Basedow, DO, and Arlene Basedow, DO, in the practice as a family physician with an emphasis upon musculoskeletal medicine and osteopathic manipulation treatment.

Carly Chamberlain, DO, and Richard Terry, DO, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at LECOM at Elmira, co-authored an article entitled, Recognizing Postoperative Nutritional Complications of Bariatric Surgery in the Primary Care Patient: A Narrative Review, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

Lauren Martinez, DO, has joined the Lakeland Regional Physician Group as a hospitalist at Lakeland (Florida) Regional Health Medical Center. Dr. Martinez completed her internal medicine residency at HCA Healthcare/USF Morsani College of Medicine at Largo Medical Center in Largo, Florida.

Katherine O’Connell, DO, was named Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine Resident of Month for August (of 2020). Dr. O’Connell is completing her final year of a neurology residency at the school in Huntingdon, West Virginia.

Pediatrician Muhammad Rashid, DO, has joined the team of Auburn Community Hospital and Children’s Health Specialists in Auburn, New York. Dr. Rashid completed his residency at the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and the Osteopathic Medical Education Consortium of Oklahoma.

Kelsey Short, DO, has joined Mount Nittany Physician Group Family Medicine’s Mount Nittany Health in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.

Christina Tatara, DO, has joined the staff of Lutheran Health Physicians in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A Fort Wayne native, Dr. Tatara is a graduate of the three-year family medicine Fort Wayne Medical Education Program.

Leah Tehranchi, DO, has joined Access Health Care Physicians, LLC, in Hudson, Florida. Dr. Tehranchi is a board-certified family medicine physician.

Erika Crockford, DO, has joined the staff of St. Mary’s Hospital in Eagle River, Wisconsin.

Class of 2018

Sara J. Hawksworth, DO, has joined the staff of Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Daratany, DMD, has joined the staff of Hampden Dentistry and Orthopedics in Denver, Colorado.

Nicholas Lemley, DO, has joined the staff of Cuero (Texas) Medical Clinic. Dr. Lemley is a board-eligible family medicine physician with advanced training in obstetrics and endoscopy.

Steve Waite, PharmD, has been hired as the wrestling coach for Fort LeBoeuf High School in Waterford, Pennsylvania. Dr. Waite graduated from Fort LeBoeuf in 2007, the same year in which he captured the state Class 2A Championship in the 135-Pound Class.

Annie McCray, DO, has rejoined the staff of Spartansburg Regional Health Center in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania. Dr. McCray worked at the practice as a Physician Assistant before enrolling in the LECOM Accelerated Physician Assistant Pathway Program to earn her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree.

and Rehabilitation Residency Program in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Libby is one of four physicians selected from a group of 300 applicants to participate in the program, which includes clinical, educational, and research opportunities.

Kurtis Schuyler, DMD, has joined the Franklin County Dental and Implants team in Washington, Missouri. In this role, Dr. Schuyler provides general, cosmetic, and restorative dentistry services.

Arjun Vyas, DO, has announced his engagement to Samantha Zimmer. The couple is planning a July 2021 wedding.

Dr. Vyas currently is a resident at UPMC Pinnacle in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Class of 2020 Max Jacobs, DO, was one of six individuals to receive the inaugural CDC-Hubert Global Health Award, an honor presented to outstanding recipients who completed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemiology Elective Program. Dr. Jacobs also contributed to a letter entitled, Clinical and Virologic Characteristics of the First 12 Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States, published in Nature Medicine, as well as an article entitled, Enhanced Contact Investigations for Nine Early Travel-related Cases of SARS-CoV2 in the United States, published in PLOS ONE. Cody Newell, DO, co-authored an article entitled, A Review of Thermal Burns for Emergency Clinicians, published in Emergency Medicine Reports.

Chardae Whitner, PharmD, contributed articles entitled, Early Detection of AdultOnset Type 2 Diabetes in Youth; and The Promising Future of Oral Insulin, to Diabetes in Control.

Class of 2019 Jina Libby, DO, has started post-graduate training through the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital Physical Medicine @1LECOM | LECOM CONNECTION 37

NOTES

LECOM Connection wants to hear from

YOU! Send us

career updates, recent appointments, residencies, fellowships, research or student activities, award or honors, or other

important life events.

Please contact the LECOM Communications & Marketing Department at (814) 866-6641, 866-6641 or email communications@lecom.edu. communications@lecom.edu

All submissions are subject to editing for clarity and length.

38 LECOM CONNECTION | FALL/WINTER 2020

– Continued from page 15

As of January 2018, there were 7,176 Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).

Collectively, it would take approximately 9,376 additional primary care practitioners to meet the current need for primary care providers in the United States.

Currently, New York has 107 medically under served areas and 18 medically under served populations.

Strategies across New York for addressing primary care access issues are strikingly similar. While the vast majority of respondents are working to recruit primary care physicians (PCPs) to meet demand and are increasing capacity at their primary care clinics, that task remains extremely challenging.

Educating students in the area is critical to retaining them as physicians in the area. Tripp Umbach determined that the shortage in the Southern Tier remains severe.

The direct and indirect economic impact of the new osteopathic medical school during the two-year start-up period is expected to total $60.4 million, provide 301 jobs, and add $1.7 million in taxes to communities in the Southern Tier region. In addition, by 2028, the economic impact of the campus will increase to $78.9 million as the local and regional communities will begin realizing healthcare benefits and additional economic impact as graduates of LECOM at Elmira establish themselves in the region and state. Tripp Umbach estimates that by 2028, when the first class of medical students complete their residencies, these new primary care physicians also will yield real savings, as emergency room utilization declines; savings that are expected to total $10.7 million annually by 2028.

The LECOM investment into the transformation of the landscape of the Elmira region reminds the entire populace that the most enduring traditions and purposeful missions are ever-ready to respond to the needs of the community through growth and renewal.

LECOM has been a stalwart perpetuator of community betterment, responding to need by answering the call.

As is ever the case in creating forwardthinking projects, developments came as a result of a LECOM response to community need for increased access to medical services in underserved areas and to affect the betterment of health and wellness across a widespread region.

Thanks to LECOM and to the full complement of its resources, the mission and purpose that it began decades ago - to constantly improve access to health services and to affect community betterment - places LECOM squarely in the forefront of pinnacle care and community development as it serves each region economically as well as medically.

There is little doubt that Elmira will find rebirth, in large part, due to the unremitting vision of the College founders and concomitantly, as a result of the laborious efforts of an administration and of a Board of Trustees that recognizes an exceptionalism that can be brought about by a commitment to excellence and through an unyielding persistence to achieve the possible.

Indeed, LECOM at Elmira has created a footbridge between the present and the future of medicine throughout the Southern Tier region of New York. The current and future needs of whole body health care will be served by the professionals schooled and trained at LECOM at Elmira, a noteworthy benchmark in the journey that defines a profound and purposed contribution to community and to care.

LECOM stands triumphantly, welcoming with the vision and purpose that which will leave the landscape of tomorrow even more promising than that of today.

Each year that passes serves to change us in some way, change us as a people and change us individually. This year, however has been a wholly transformative one. It will live in our minds and within our collective consciousness for many years to come.

Throughout the vicissitudes of 2020 – a time that for many has been dark and wrought with worry, trepidation, and uncertainty – we looked ahead with hopeful optimism to the light and to the assurance that a new day will arrive, bright and filled again with the joys of the possible.

The Season of Light – the Christmas and Hanukkah celebrations – remind us of that hope and of that joy of the possible. It is a time ordinarily filled with the gleeful sounds of families gathering, of age-old traditions being shared, of worship and reflection.

This year, our holiday celebrations may look somewhat different to us. We may not gather closely around the Christmas tree or the Menorah. We may be cautious in the proximity of our family exchanges, in our

festive events, and even in our places of worship. For we have been put upon by an external calamity from a distant land.

message of Hanukkah – that the only antidote to darkness is light – reminds us of the light of courage and faith.

Yet, as we keep faith honoring and welcoming our grand traditions, perhaps we may see a glimmering parallel in the Christmas Story or in the message of Hanukkah.

As we look eagerly forward, seeking to put behind us the trials of a most challenging year, and as we look ahead to a new year, it is worth remembering that it is often the small steps, steady and sure, that bring about the most meaningful change.

The core of the Christmas Story is found in the birth of a child in a time of calamity. It was a quiet and seemingly unremarkable event that was overlooked by most who lived in Bethlehem.

Yet, the birth of Jesus Christ would show to the world the way in which small steps taken in faith and in purpose have the power to overcome great odds to bring understanding and harmony.

Likewise, the story of Hanukkah begins in strife, but ends triumphantly in the Festival of Lights recalling the miracle of the oil enough to last a single day, but instead, burned brightly for a full eight days. The

The Christmas Story holds timeless value for so many, for it seeks not to offer weighty explanations of the complexities of life.

Rather, it celebrates the birth of a child and the hope that birth, more than 2,000 years ago, brought to the world.

As we celebrate the holidays, perhaps a bit differently this year, may we find that the true message of the season lives within us. May we share that hopeful message in the spirit of friendship and reconciliation, in peace and goodwill; and no matter how we celebrate, may we take joyful heart in the light that always will break the darkness.

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2021 PRIMARY CARE CME CONFERENCE Join Us March 5-7, 2021

This year, the 2021 LECOM Primary Care CME Conference will be offered in a virtual conference format entirely online through the Zoom platform.

This conference offers a unique learning experience for physicians and health care professionals seeking the opportunity to learn the latest information on medical advancements and treatment options.

Topics for this year cover cardiovascular issues, psychiatry, two hours of Act 31 child abuse recognition and reporting, integrative medicine, orthopedics and so much more!

LECOM clinical faculty will present topics from the perspective of a primary care physician.

Registration Information

CME Credits

cme.lecom.edu to register. Registration Fee: $400

Credits.

To reserve your virtual seat for the 2021 conference, go to

PC2021_Ad.indd 1

LECOM anticipates AOA approval for 20 Category 1-A

11/24/20 3:42 PM