President's Message – Pillars of Exceptionalism

John M. Ferretti, DO - President/CEO

PILLARS OF EXCEPTIONALISM

in Word and Deed

We live in a world assailed by words. For many of us, the constant and seemingly relentless barrage of words comes as a cacophony of sound as the meaning that underpins those words has been lost in the swirl of chatter and in the din of hollow phrases, of unsupported promises, and of lofty platitudes. In recent years, words have become a form of fustian dissonance, overused to the point of losing their meaning and the power that once they suggested. Words come at us as pelting sands in a desert storm lifted on the winds of empty rhetoric.

Yet words, for centuries, have held their greatest power when they have been supported by concomitant actions. For words without action are as empty as the winds.

This phenomenon holds true for our state of current affairs as a society perhaps – but, since its inception, each word put forth by the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) has been supported by action. Each vision voiced in our strategic plan has been evidenced by the result. Each sentence articulated in the vanguard of osteopathic medicine has been reinforced by a team of leaders and by purposeful commitment to education and to the community that has transformed the field of education in osteopathic medicine to its very place as the largest medical school and the only osteopathic academic health center in the nation.

Virtue manifests itself in action; and virtuous words that manifest themselves in virtuous action form the essence of a remarkable institution. That virtue is found in LECOM – in its promise articulated in words – in its words underpinned by action – in its action reinforced by results and guided by Providence.

Throughout American history, our people have toiled to build the greatest nation on earth. In times of challenge, we have stood together, proudly proclaiming our heritage based upon the pillars of our founding.

The same can be said about LECOM, which has accomplished this pinnacle of attainment through a consistent and unremitting commitment to excellence across its foundational pillars.

The four pillars that define and underpin that glimmering LECOM mission, that create the indelible imprimatur of excellence are: education, community, research, and clinical care. These are the foundational plinths that serve to support the mission of a grand institution.

Indeed, the Four Pillars of LECOM represent the strength of that mission – rooted in superlative medical education and in an unyielding focus upon community betterment. LECOM has sought to elevate the very paradigm of medical education; and the pillars of that purpose remain steadfast to this very day.

In this issue of the LECOM Connection, we highlight our Pillars – education, community, research, and clinical care; and we feature our Regional Training Sites, the extended proving ground of an estimable medical education honed and formed as a result of comprehensive training, transformed into meaningful words, and put into play through focused action.

We introduce you to new students who have chosen LECOM to begin their journey in the noblest of callings, and we highlight scholars and alumni who are excelling each day in the field.

Decades have tested the LECOM commitment – doubted by their peers who scoffed at the founders’ vision of establishing an osteopathic medical school in the early 1990s, pressed by the rigors of the allopathic community’s persistent resistance to the osteopathic field, and sharpened by the recent pandemic and its attendant challenges – LECOM has never wavered in its single-minded focus to educate the next generation of healthcare and to better each community that it has come to serve.

Make no mistake - words do matter! For words do not comprise empty promises filled with hope; rather they comprise hopeful results filled with purpose. LECOM is a testament to this truism - with Pillars strong and enduring. Such has been the mission of LECOM and such is the reason that we mark each day in service to our noble calling.