40 minute read
Bricks and Mortar Illustrated Stories of the Places That Indelibly Marked the College’s History
625 OLD PEACHTREE ROAD NORTHWEST, SUWANEE, GEORGIA
PCOM’s reach into the South officially ensued in 2004; an assessment of growing health disparities in the southern United States substantiated an infrastructure for support of new osteopathic and healthcare education programs. The College chose suburban Atlanta for its first branch campus. The College purchased a 20-acre property in Suwanee, seeking to transform a 150,000-square-foot abandoned clothing warehouse into a modern educational facility. Architectural firm Granary Associates led the master design, utilizing quadrants of the building for the medical school with plans to develop the remainder of the building in phases as academic programs grew. PCOM Georgia includes two architectural focal points taking advantage of natural light through the use of skylights and partitions. The main building is an expansive one-story brick structure with stone accents; a walking trail wraps around the edifice. Inside there are large and small classrooms, conference and study areas, practice suites, research and multi-use laboratories, a simulation center, a physical therapy education center and an osteopathic care center. A second 21,000-square-foot building, Northlake, owned originally by an engineering firm, houses College administrative offices and academic departments.
1967
Construction of Evans Hall begins.
The College renamed Philadephia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM).
1970 2005
The College opens branch campus, PCOM Georgia.
2050 TALLOKAS ROAD, MOULTRIE, GEORGIA
The establishment of PCOM South Georgia in 2019 marked a new era in healthcare education in Southwest Georgia, making significant inroads in the growing and systemic disparities in rural health care. Located in the heartland of South Georgia’s thriving agricultural sector, Moultrie, Georgia, is a place known for natural beauty. The facility is built on 30 acres off Tallokas Road, a tract of land donated by Jeter Partners, LLC, a company owned and operated by local real estate developers Jimmy and Dan Jeter. Sasaki Associates, Inc., served as the principal architectural firm, and JCI Contractors of Moultrie served as construction manager. PCOM South Georgia is thoughtfully built into the rural landscape, among the countless longleaf and loblolly pines. The structure takes advantage of the open site and stretches out in four distinct wings framed around a central common space that functions as the social heart of the building—a place of connection for the College community. On the north side of the building, at the public entry point, the wings of the building frame an entry courtyard that features native wildflowers and plantings. The 75,000-square-foot facility, which represents an investment of $30 million, includes expansive classrooms, osteopathic manipulative medicine and anatomy labs, a simulation center, exam and practice rooms and an information commons.
A NOTE ON SOURCES:
Most of the information in this article is taken from Carol Benenson Perloff’s 1999 history of PCOM, To Secure Merit: A Century of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 1899–1999, available at digitalcommons.pcom.edu/history/. PCOM’s archives and yearbooks were also consulted.
The Department of Education approves the College’s application to obtain university status (institutional status only). 2019
2015
PCOM South Georgia is established.
ANGUS G. CATHIE, DO ’31, MSc, FAAO
Dr. Cathie knew anatomy about as well as any person could, and he taught anatomy about as well as anyone possibly could. He had a distinct love of the profession of osteopathic medicine. … He also had the unbelievable ability to draw anatomic pictures on the blackboard, using multiple colors, with both hands at the same time—while he was also lecturing. … You did hope you would not be called on to participate in a discussion for which you probably would not have the full knowledge he expected. So people were somewhat reticent and would slink back in their chairs during his lectures. … In those days, a group of four or five students worked together on one body. Dr. Cathie would move diligently from table to table, reviewing the anatomy, correcting our impressions, helping in our dissections. He was absolutely superb in that respect. … On the other hand, I recall one situation very early in our program when we were doing the dissection, and he was at the front of the class having lunch. That hit some people in a strange way, and a few had to leave the room. … In the second semester of our junior year, Dr. Cathie taught a class in osteopathic manipulative therapy. Of 100 people in the class, 75 people failed his final exam. Fortunately, I passed, but unfortunately I was the class chairman, and it was incumbent upon me to go down to the dean of the school and say, ‘I remember, from my master’s degree in education, that if an overwhelming majority of your class fails a test, either there was some problem with the test or you didn’t teach it well.’ They then called Dr. Cathie down to discuss the matter with me. And I had to take the onslaught after repeating what I had said to them, but he did agree to give another exam for those 75. I had to withdraw from being the chairman of the class for the rest of the semester, which was about a month or so. But, in retrospect, it didn’t harm me whatsoever, and it did help the class. I think it was the makeup of the test, to be perfectly honest. He was a wonderful teacher.”
Dr. Cathie is synonymous with anatomy at PCOM and in the osteopathic profession. Dr. Cathie devoted 21 years of her life to teaching and practicing pathology at the College, mentoring along the way many women students.
As told by Jay Harris Joseph, DO ’56
RUTH WADDEL CATHIE, DO ’38
Dr. Cathie [at the time, Dr. Waddel] was an excellent teacher and a very hard taskmaster who wanted her students to understand the pathology of the diseases they were going to be seeing in clinical practice. When you first met her in the classroom, you were scared to death of her. I can remember pulling all-nighters just to pass her exams. But when you got to really know her, she was a cupcake. … She wasn’t only a good teacher; she was a good student as well. She’s probably among the first women to be certified in cytopathology, studying under Papanicolaou himself. I asked her to teach me how to do Pap smears, and spent many afternoons after class with her learning how to read them. … I also had the opportunity to see her on a more personal basis. A few of us women students wanted to form a chapter of Delta Omega, one of the female medical sororities on the campuses of the other medical schools in town. We needed a mentor, and she very graciously and very enthusiastically agreed to take on that role. We had our meetings at her home, where she provided both professional and personal guidance. Some of it dealt with how we were looked upon as women in the profession—good advice in terms of just being who you are and doing what you have to do. She was the first woman to chair a basic science department at PCOM [and at that time, the only woman—other than those at Women’s Medical College—who held such a position in the entire City of Philadelphia]. … Dr. Cathie suggested that I take a career in pathology. But I really didn’t like the idea of doing a lot of autopsies, and at that time they did a heck of a lot more than we do today. But after about eight years in general practice, I decided to go into something with a lifestyle that was more in line with raising a family at the same time. And I chose pathology and laboratory medicine, which led me to teaching positions and three directorships of hospital laboratories. … Years after Dr. Cathie had retired, I met her at one of the American Osteopathic Association conventions. She congratulated me on my achievements, and I told her that I had had some truly big footsteps to follow in.” As told by Lillian Hynes-Longendorfer, DO ‘67
Angus G. Cathie, DO ’31, MSc, FAAO, and Dean Otternbein Dressler, DO ‘28, inspect specimens in the cases in the anatomy laboratory at 48th and Spruce Streets (circa 1948).
A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
THE ANGUS GORDON CATHIE MUSEUM OF ANATOMY by Jennifer Schaffer Leone
Angus G. Cathie, DO ’31, MSc, FAAO, was one of the most highly-respected anatomists of his era. Upon his graduation from Philadelphia College of Osteopathy (PCO) in 1931, he immediately joined the faculty. He would serve the College for 40 years as professor and chair of the Departments of Anatomy and Osteopathic Principles and Practice. While he influenced generations of students in the classroom, Dr. Cathie’s most enduring legacy may be the College’s collection of pathological and anatomical specimens that bears his name: the Angus Gordon Cathie Museum of Anatomy. The museum was dedicated in January 1983, as part of the Founders’ Day/Alumni Weekend program. Dr. Cathie’s widow, Ruth Waddel Cathie, DO ’38, former chairman of pathology at PCOM, attended the ceremony. President Thomas M. Rowland, Jr., LLD (Hon.) offered remarks at the time: “Dr. Cathie firmly believed that a thorough knowledge of human anatomy was essential to the practice of osteopathic medicine. He drew upon every resource at his command to instill that appreciation in our students.” Today, the Angus Gordon Cathie Museum of Anatomy is located on the sixth floor of Evans Hall. Antique glass cases house a repository of medical specimens that represent illness and trauma as well as normal anatomy. The collection, which dates back to 1935 and includes over 1,000 samples, enables the history of medicine and public health to inform health care and the health sciences. Many of the specimens were enhanced by Dr. Cathie’s own artistry: arteries painted red, veins blue and nerves yellow. Vintage labels—oxidized by time—still proffer the pathology. The specimens also impart the spatial orientation of structures—critical to learning palpation and diagnostic skills. Specimens from the Angus Gordon Cathie Museum of Anatomy are eligible to review for research purposes upon request.
A sampling of anatomical specimens as identified: “the second to the fifth lumbar vertebrae showing productive bone changes”; “articulated right hand of an adult”; and “a complete set of ribs from the left side of a thorax showing sixteen fractures.” The last is a plastinated heart meticulously enhanced by Dr. Cathie’s own artistry. Images photographed by Melissa Kelly with thanks to Kerin M. Claeson, PhD, professor of anatomy and director of the Cathie collection.
President Thomas M. Rowland, Jr., LLD (Hon.) and Ruth Waddel Cathie, DO ’38, unveil a bronze plaque at the dedication of the Angus Gordon Cathie Museum of Anatomy (1983).
VINCENT T. CIPOLLA, DO ’46
When I first applied for admission to PCOM, Dr. Cipolla was a member of the interview committee. He asked me only one question: ‘Do you know who invented spaghetti?’ And I said, ‘No.’ ‘Well,’ he told me, ‘the Chinese actually invented spaghetti, not the Italians.’ And that was the extent of our interaction. … The next time I saw him was in the fall of 1977, in my first anatomy lecture held in Evans Hall. His opening line was, ‘You gotta know your anatomy, boy, or the guy down the street will.’… The anatomy lab was at 48th and Spruce Streets, where the old hospital used to be. The anatomy lab was almost like an attic, with the smell of formaldehyde everywhere. It had a great feel to it. … You had to wear a tie, which on the surface seems absurd. But I think in part the reason was Dr. Cipolla’s profound respect for the people who had donated their bodies to medical science. In my kind of rebellious way, I would wear a flannel shirt with a tie. One day, early on, Dr. Cipolla just kind of looked at me and grinned, and then that was it. … In anatomy lab, you have partners, you’d be helping each other out. And every once in a while, I’d turn around and, over my shoulder, he’d be there, listening. … I loved anatomy. I would often go down to the lab on Saturdays. Dr. Cipolla asked me one day, ‘Why are you here all the time?’ I said, ‘It’s a chance to have the cadaver all to myself. I don’t have to share it with my lab partners.’ He got a kick out of that. … Over the course of time, he’d walk around during lab, and he’d ask one table an anatomy question, and if they didn’t get it, he’d say, ‘Hey, Feldstein. You know the answer.’ So we had this mutual respect, an intellectual understanding. … He was a general surgeon in the Medical Corp and he would throw in tidbits, with clinical correlation, during anatomy lectures—practical examples of what you were learning. … He could be difficult; he was as eccentric as they come—definitely the type of individual you either loved or hated. Had I struggled in anatomy, it might not have been as much fun. But he was brilliant.”
Dr Cipolla put his anatomy students on guard: “You gotta know your anatomy, boy, or the guy down the street will.”
As told by Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, President and Chief Executive Officer, PCOM
CAMILLE DiLULLO, PhD
Igot to know Dr. DiLullo first when I was in the biomedical sciences program. She was like a mother to me at PCOM. And there were some striking similarities to my own mom in that they’ve both experienced hardships in their lives, gone through a lot of things, but that’s never been an excuse for them to stop or to stall. You just keep moving forward. She was an amazing woman, and when she passed away, it was like losing a confidant and a best friend. … Dr. DiLullo was maybe five feet tall, quite petite. She was grace and mercy and strength and beauty. Being a woman in medicine, a woman in a mostly male academic department for a very long time, she had to speak up. If something needed to be addressed, she was going to address it. She thought things through and wasn’t going to change her mind. … At times, I questioned her decisions, and she just looked at me, and I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll go ahead and do the work instead of questioning what you’re telling me to do.’ She was trying to convey to me, ‘I know it’s getting rough, but you’ve got to push through.’ And that’s what I needed. …The number one thing Dr. DiLullo cared about was the person. She conveyed that to us, when we became medical students, always stressing how your patients come first. … As an educator and researcher, she was demanding, yet, she was very patient. So she touched a lot of us as mentees because you knew that even though she was pushing you, it’s because she cared about you. … When I was an osteopathic medical student, she helped me start the nonprofit Medicine for Education to teach high-school girls from underserved communities how to get into medical school and succeed once they get there. She was unyielding in her commitment to training and mentoring women and inspired my work. …We also shared a love of fashion, and looking your best and presenting your best to the world. She always did. Dr. DiLullo commanded the whole room—and she was the smallest thing in there.”
Dr. DiLullo lived by three rules: speak your mind, put patients first and always look your best.
As told by Cierra Lewis, MS/Biomed ’16, DO ’18, MEd
TAGE KVIST, PhD
Dr. Kvist was part of the reason I agreed to transition from pharmaceutical research back into academia. I had been out of the teaching environment for probably a decade, so
I was nervous. He was a great mentor, able to advise without critiquing my personal style. … Understanding how to present a dissected specimen to students on an exam might seem straightforward, but there’s an art to it. And Dr. Kvist was able to guide me and others to make sure we were assessing students in a fair but appropriate manner. When I started here at PCOM, he had us sit down as a department and go through every question on a written exam to make sure the scientific content was accurate.
That was his level of commitment to the reputation of the courses. … He was the first chair of the Department of Bio-
Medical Sciences and was instrumental in helping a diverse group of faculty integrate into one umbrella group—able to navigate different personalities, and different courses and requirements, and bringing us together so that we worked cohesively. … Throughout all of this, he was very humble. He wasn’t looking for recognition. He just did the the work he did, including his work as one of the earliest educators to begin plastinating biological specimens for teaching purposes, and he was proud of the work he did. He had been at PCOM for 39 years when he retired. … Dr. Kvist had a very dry sense of humor, and it was incorporated into every one of his lectures, but very rarely did you hear students laughing. Later, though, students would tell me, ‘I listened to his lecture again, and he’s really funny!’ His humor was so subtle that, in the moment, you could miss the nuances. … One thing that endeared him to students was that he spent unscheduled hours helping them in the anatomy lab. Medical students took gross anatomy as their first course, and a lot of times they were overwhelmed by volume. He probably helped countless students get through that first term over his years here. … As a mentor, he gave me a perspective on caring about students and the job that we’re supposed to be doing: trying our best to make sure that they’re successful.”
The first chair of the Department of BioMedical Sciences, Dr. Kvist touched countless students and faculty during his 39 years at PCOM.
As told by Michael P. McGuinness, PhD, Professor of Anatomy, Department of Bio-Medical Sciences, PCOM
JoANNE PIERINGER, PhD
When I started teaching at PCOM, I listened to tapes that students had made of JoAnne’s lectures. It was so easy to follow her. JoAnne was a very good teacher. … She always had a smile. I remember giving one lecture when I had just started teaching. Those lecture rooms are huge, holding about 270 people. And there she was in the audience, near the front. At one point when I looked up, she had the best smile on her face. It was such a wonderful thing to see. … JoAnne was probably about five foot four or five, with short, straight hair and looked like she would be no-nonsense. And in some cases she was; she was a strong woman. But really, she was just fun. She never got frustrated with me, with students, with anybody. Students loved her! … When JoAnne met Barbara [now Dr. Thornton’s spouse] and me, we were a couple. We remember going to events and how welcoming she was of both of us. She was always interested in people. … JoAnne’s field was lipids—so was her husband’s [Ronald Pieringer, PhD, was Dr. Thornton’s professor when she was a doctoral student at Temple University]— and that’s not my favorite subject. So she and I complemented each other intellectually. … JoAnne had her own research. But when Dr. Mochan [Eugene Mochan, PhD, DO ’77, then department chair] was there, he had a particular research project in molecular biology he wanted the department to do. JoAnne was able to shift gears on this ongoing project. She was a kind of gung-ho type of person: ‘I’m just going to jump in here, and I’m going to do it. And I’m going to enjoy it.’… I became the chair of the department after Dr. Mochan stepped down. I found that a lot of my ideas about how to approach students and how to manage people had come from JoAnne. We only overlapped for perhaps two years before she passed away, and I didn’t realize at the time how much I was getting from her. There was no expectation of her being my mentor; it just happened. …When she died, Dr. Mochan, Dr. Ruth Borghaei and I set
up a scholarship fund in JoAnne’s name, along with a brick laid in the Donor Garden outside Evans Hall.” As told by Ruth Thornton, PhD, Professor Emerita It was hard to miss Dr. Pieringer’s smile, cheery disposition and genuine interest in other people.
JASON O’NEAL, PharmD ’14
Our favorite hangout was the study room. That’s where you’d often find Jason, James [Lindsay, PharmD ’14] and me, cracking jokes while perusing our pharmacology books. More than a few times, Jason retreated there on his own to lie on the floor and to pray the pain of sickle cell anemia away—once in the middle of an exam. … Our study room now bears Jason’s name, dedicated in loving memory to my best friend and fellow graduate of PCOM’s inaugural
PharmD class, a lasting tribute to Jason
Walton O’Neal’s grit, gumption and sly smile I’d do anything to see again. …
Complications from sickle cell disease took Jason from us on August 12, 2016, too young at age 35 and only two years after he’d accomplished his goal of becoming a pharmacist, which at times seemed like an impossible dream when you consider the many health obstacles he had to overcome during those four years. … Jason was the first person I met at PCOM Georgia. We showed up for our pharmacy school interviews together in 2010, nervous and excited and hoping we’d be accepted into the school. You know how you meet someone for the first time, but you sense you’ve met before? That’s how it was with Jason and me. Turns out, we had graduated a year apart from Southwest DeKalb High
School some 10 years before our paths crossed again. … The truth is, I didn’t know how sick Jason really was—nor did his other classmates or professors. Jason kept his illness private and didn’t want anyone’s pity. The only outward signs of his disability were a limp in his right leg from a childhood stroke that many mistook for a strut, turned-in fingers on his left hand and his tall (6 foot), slender (130-pound) frame. … Yet it was hard not to notice all the classes Jason missed while hospitalized with repeated bouts of pneumonia.
‘Sicklers’ are susceptible to lung infections. ‘You were in the hospital?’ classmates would ask when he’d reappear on campus. ‘Man, this is normal for me,’ was all he’d say. …
That was the thing about Jason. He just kept on resisting, persisting and never, ever giving up despite his punishingly cruel and relentlessly unforgiving illness. … It’s tough not having him here—in our daily text messages, at Atlanta Falcons games and at my sons’ birthday parties—but Jason continues to inspire and amaze me, just as I hope he does for future PCOM School of Pharmacy students.”
Jason O’Neal beamed with pride upon graduating with his PharmD degree from PCOM Georgia in 2014.
Photo courtesy Beulah O’Neal
As told by Eddie Williams, PharmD ’14
DAN AND JIMMY JETER
We acquired 130 acres of land in Moultrie, Colquitt County, right in the center of Southwest Georgia. We donated 30 acres, and kept the remaining 100, and the College built and opened PCOM South Georgia in 2019. There is the potential for growth; you could have housing on the back half, where you get a nice residential feel, with a spring-fed lake and a creek and pine trees and native grasses. There’s a whole lot of wildlife back there too: deer, quail, turkey; they all make their home in this little rolling area in the bottomland. … As real estate developers, we understand the need for medical buildings in Moultrie. We have a development on 15 acres less than a mile to the south of PCOM South Georgia, right by the hospital. The building started out with one OB/GYN practice, and now we have nine medical buildings there. It was a very positive investment experience, and it gave us the sense of the possibilities if we were to have a school to educate physicians and other healthcare professionals on the tract of land. … We believed that having a medical school here would be good for the health of South Georgia. National statistics show that when health professionals finish their training, they often settle within 50 or 60 miles of their place of training for the duration of their career. That’s proved true for the first classes; the majority of those who graduate from PCOM South Georgia plan to stay in Southwest Georgia. … We’re a rural county with poultry processing, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, corn. Our economy is split between agribusiness, government, manufacturing and retail. Our YMCA has been around for 100 years, our arts center is second to none for a community of our size, and our diving facility has attracted Olympians who come here to train. … People are coming to Southwest Georgia. About 50 percent of our high school graduating classes return to Colquitt County to live and work. They recognize the great quality of life. They desire to live and raise their children here. … We’re so glad that PCOM came into the region with the self-interest of educating healthcare professionals and the shared interest of improving health care for Georgians. The College wanted to make Moultrie a better community, and they certainly have. We are honored to be part of the PCOM story.” As told in their own words—Dan and Jimmy Jeter
Jimmy (left) and Dan (right) Jeter, real estate developers, generously donated the land for PCOM South Georgia.
META L. CHRISTY, DO 1921
Icome from a family of immigrants, and I’m the first in my family to attend medical school. So for me to know the story of Dr. Christy, another Black, minority woman, who did something so unorthodox, really is a motivator. … She was a pioneer: the College’s first African American student and the first African American doctor of osteopathic medicine. When she died, she was a widely known and respected osteopathic physician. She healed so many, especially the poor. … You see pictures hanging on the walls of PCOM of a lot of people who have had an impact. But when you walk into the College and see the face of someone who looks like you, when you see her name on a new [student housing] building, that’s very meaningful. … Dr. Christy had to be a very tough woman to be able to go to medical school when she did [1917–1921]. One brother and her father had died by the time she was ten. And her mother, one of the biggest supports she had, passed away just a few years after she graduated from PCOM. Just understanding how courageous she was, how resilient, how she didn’t let anything keep her back—I really adore that. … I’m transitioning out of my role as the co-president of the Student National Medical Association on campus, which works to increase the presence of minorities in medicine as well as to help support them throughout their journey. I work for the diversity office on campus as well, making presentations for their mentorship program. I’m also involved in a nonprofit organization, Girls on a Mission with Ambition. I’ve talked to students about being in medical school, and to students already in college or taking a non-traditional route who want to get back into the swing of things. I mentor them mainly because I didn’t have that. … When I was in college, Google was my best friend, because I didn’t have many people in my life who were physicians, let alone physicians who looked like me. So I had to do a lot of the work figuring out what I should study and how to get into medical school. It’s not just about representation,
A pioneer, Dr. Christy was the first African American student at PCOM and the first African American doctor of osteopathic medicine in the nation. but it’s about the resources you provide. … Now that I’m here, I have a lot of people I can reach out to, ask questions. They tell me, ‘I do this because someone did it for me, and I want you to be able to do it for somebody else.’ ” As told by Beverly K. Andre, MS/Biomed ’20 (DO ’24)
1963
Vincent A. DeMuro Sr., DO,
Toms River, NJ, retired from practice at Bartley Manor and Bartley Assisted Living.
1966
Alex S. Macaione, DO,
Medford, NJ, retired after 48 years of practicing dermatology. He looks forward to enjoying more sun and more golf.
1967
Sherman N. Leis, DO, Bala Cynwyd, PA, retired at age 80 after 48 years spent in practice. During his career, Dr. Leis founded and directed the PCOM Plastic Surgery Residency Program, teaching thousands of students and training over 100 plastic surgeons. He hopes to have made a lasting impression on each student, patient and colleague he has worked with over the years.
1976
Stephen N. Finberg, DO,
Paradise Valley, AZ, was featured in a Channel 12News story, “Monoclonal Antibody Treatments Remain in Short Supply at Arizona Hospitals” (January 12, 2022).
1977
Edward P. Balaban, DO,
Penllyn, PA, was named the 2022 Advocate of the Year by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Joan L. Moore, DO, MSc,
Frankford, WV, is still practicing oncology as a locum. Dr. Moore also spends her days enjoying time with her four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
1978
Kenneth J. Baker, DO,
Norridgewock, ME, recently retired from his 43-year career in general practice. After graduating from PCOM in 1978 and completing a rotating internship at the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine in Portland, Dr. Baker opened his private practice in Norridgewock. In addition to his private practice, Dr. Baker held volunteer and staff physician positions at Pine Tree Camp, Redington-Fairview General Hospital, Waterville Osteopathic Hospital, Goodwill-
DAVID BARON, DO ’78
Supporting the Mental Health of Team USA in the 2022 Winter Olympics
by Meghan McCall
Long before the U.S. Olympic Committee invited him to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to serve as Team USA’s sports psychiatrist, David Baron, DO ’78, knew that mental well-being was as important to an elite athlete’s performance as nutrition and conditioning.
A third-generation psychiatrist, Dr. Baron had studied the impact of mental health on athletic performance throughout college, his time at PCOM and during his internship. Dr. Baron’s first Olympic experience, at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, sparked an interest in working with athletes and high-end sports. “We had some athletes with panic attacks and anxiety issues, and because I was a psychiatrist, they quietly referred them to me,” says Dr. Baron.
While the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing marked Dr. Baron’s sixth time serving as a physician for the Games, this was the first year he was asked to serve in an official sports psychiatry capacity for Team USA.
Today, Dr. Baron is considered an expert in the field of sports psychiatry, serving as a consultant for the NCAA, on the Behavioral Health Advisory Board for the International Olympic Committee and on the Behavioral Health Committee for the NFL. Throughout his time in the field, Dr. Baron has noticed a shift in how the athletic community addresses mental health.
“We never talked about it before, and athletes suffered in silence,” says Dr. Baron. “A lot of the prejudice toward mental health is starting to change, and I think a great driver of this has been athletes like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles who are speaking out about the importance of mental health. When you have high-profile marquee athletes discussing their mental health struggles, that institutes more change than any paper or book that I or my colleagues have ever written.”
The U.S. Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee made a strong commitment to supporting the behavioral and mental health of athletes going into the 2022 Winter Olympics, in large part because of restrictive COVID regulations that caused significant anxiety and depression, says Dr. Baron. Safety measures in place to protect teams from COVID included a threeday quarantine for the entire team at a hotel before flying to Beijing, daily testing and not being able to leave the Olympic Village. “We weren’t locked in our rooms, but we did have to stay in the bubble of the Olympic Village,” explains Dr. Baron.
What had an even greater impact on athletes was the absence of their support systems and loved ones. “Competing in nearly empty arenas just wasn’t the same,” says Dr. Baron. “You couldn’t have your loved ones cheering you on. Only your coaches and teammates were there to support you. That, paired with being in a bubble of sorts, caused the biggest stress for most athletes.”
While Team USA had a large behavioral health team, Dr. Baron was the only psychiatrist. He hopes to see more psychiatrists and more osteopathic psychiatrists at the next Olympics. “We have a unique skill set, given our combination of osteopathic training and psychiatric training. We understand the connection between movement and mental health,” he says.
In addition to his work in sports, Dr. Baron serves as senior vice president, provost and professor of psychiatry at Western University of Health Sciences and is passionate about opening doors for future osteopathic physicians. Dr. Baron
Hinckley School, and Togus VA Medical Center, all in central Maine. He is grateful to PCOM for providing him with the opportunity and education to be of service to his community.
1983
Daniel F. Battafarano, DO,
San Antonio, TX, was granted the designation of master by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Dr. Battafarano was recognized for his outstanding contributions to the ACR and the field of rheumatology through scholarly achievement and service to patients, teaching and the profession. Nancy E. Braese, DO, Rye, NH, is serving as a preceptor for the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency Program at Portsmouth Hospital. Larry P. Doroshow, DO, Maple Glen, PA, was a featured guest on an episode of SBN Newsmakers, where he discussed diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer (March 24, 2022).
Carol L. Henwood, DO,
Pottstown, PA, was the recipient of the 2022 American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors outstanding individuals who have demonstrated career-long service to patients, osteopathic family medicine and the ACOFP.
1985
Bruce H. Grossinger, DO,
Wynnewood, PA, was a guest on a podcast episode titled “The Lawyers of Pond Lehocky Show with Guest Dr. Bruce Grossinger of the Philadelphia PRP & Stem Cell Institute” (March 7, 2022). Additionally, Dr. Grossinger was featured as a guest on the pod-
cast Pro2Pro with Marla Viturello (August 26, 2021).
Joan Sureck Naidorf, DO,
Alexandria, VA, had her book, Changing How We Think about Difficult Patients: A Guide for Physicians and Healthcare Professionals, published by the American Association for Physician Leadership. In her book, Dr. Naidorf uses a multitiered approach to bring awareness and introduces simple, actionable tools that every physician, nurse and care-provider can use to change their mindset and actions to avoid patient-associated burnout.
Karen E. Arscott, DO, MSc, Waverly, PA, received her certification in addiction medicine from the American Board of Preventive Medicine. David M. Brill, DO, Bay Village, OH, was featured in an article published by Yahoo! Life titled “If You Notice This on Your Body, Have Your Blood Checked” (February 12, 2022). Jon S. Fisher, DO, Jamison, PA, received the 2021 Outstanding Service Award from Body Focus International.
Bruce W. Peters, DO, Toms River, NJ, was named a 2021 Top Doc in Otolaryngology by New Jersey Monthly Magazine (January 11, 2022). Craig J. Ross, DO, Trappe, PA, was featured by Risk & Insurance in an article titled “2022’s Million Dollar Question: What Will the Workplace Look Like Coming Out of COVID?” (March 20, 2022). The article explores a few takeaways from a conference panel discussion led by Dr. Ross, who is a regional medical director with Liberty Mutual.
Robert P. Finkelstein, DO,
Bradenton, FL, started an integrative dermatology practice after taking an integrative dermatology one-year course in 2020. This experience allowed Dr. Finkelstein to use osteopathic holistic training and philosophy within the specialty more effectively. Emil P. Lesho, DO, Webster, NY, was interviewed for an article published by FingerLakes1.com titled “Should I Get COVID-19 on Purpose? Doctors Say This Is a Bad Idea” (January 19, 2022). Dr. Lesho is an infectious disease physician at Rochester Regional Health.
James J. Tayoun Jr., DO,
Somers Point, NJ, joined the staff at the surgical division of Shore Physicians Group in Somers Point.
1991
Elizabeth A. DeFoney Olek, DO,
San Francisco, CA, was appointed senior vice president of clinical development at Kronos Bio, Inc. Douglas P. Dietzel, DO, East Lansing, MI, joined the orthopedics and sports medicine team at Sparrow Medical Group in Lansing. Eileen L. Hug, DO, West Bloomfield, MI, was appointed community assistant dean for the College of Human Medicine’s Detroit campus based at Henry Ford Hospital.
Felecia S. Waddleton-Willis,
DO, Silver Spring, MD, received the Conclave of Fellows Award at the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians 59th Annual Convention and Scientific Seminar in March 2022.
1992
Wende A. Goncz, DO, Wexford, PA, was named president-elect of the UPMC Passavant medical staff. She will begin her term as acting president in January 2023. Dr. Goncz currently serves as clinical director of anesthesia and vice-chair of the UPMC Passavant Anesthesia Department.
Joyce Wanglee Wald, DO,
Narberth, PA, was profiled as a “Heart Health Champion” by Philadelphia Magazine (February 2022).
1993
Michael J. Reihart, DO,
Columbia, PA, was appointed director of Emergency Services at Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center.
1994
Paula L. Jones, DO, Powell, OH, was featured by Surat Khabar Sports in a profile titled “Paula Jones, DO, an Emergency Physician with Rejuvenate You, LLC” (January 24, 2022).
1996
Joseph M. Flynn, DO, Titusville, FL, was featured in an article in WHAS11 titled “What Is Omicron BA.2? Understanding the Newest COVID Variant and How to Protect Yourself Against It” (March 24, 2022). Dr. Flynn serves as chief administrative officer for Norton Healthcare.
1998
Simona C. Eng, DO, Salisbury, MD, was named interim chief medical officer of TidalHealth Peninsula Regional.
1999
Jennifer K. Stuck, DO, Malvern, PA, was featured in an article published by the Bump titled “What Happens at the 20-Week Ultrasound?” (March 21, 2022).
2000
Nicole M. Garofola Bentze,
DO, Lakewood Ranch, FL, was inducted as a Fellow at the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Medical Women’s Association on March 26, 2022. Keith A. Boell, DO, Danville, PA, co-authored a study published by NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery Journal titled “Collaboration to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening Using Machine Learning” (March 16, 2022). Suzan E. Marshall, DO, Spokane, WA, was profiled by the Spokane Journal of Business in an article titled “Plan B Forensics Seeks Answers in Death Cases” (March 24, 2022). Dr. Marshall is the owner of Plan B Forensics, LLC, a death investigation company based in Spokane that works on cases throughout the United States.
David J. Thomas, DO,
Hermitage, PA, joined the Surgical Specialists Practice at Steward Medical Group as a general surgeon.
2001
Millicent A. Channell, DO,
Philadelphia, PA, is the 2022-2023 president-elect of the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO). On March 24, 2022, during the AAO Annual Convocation in Orlando, Florida, Dr. Channell was elected by the Academy’s membership. After spending this year as president-elect, Dr. Channell will become the 20232024 president of the AAO. Dr. Channell will be the first African American to hold this office.
Sharee L. Livingston, DO,
Lancaster, PA, was appointed as a board member for Patients R Waiting, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating health disparities by increasing diversity in medicine.
2002
Joshua S. Coren, MBA, DO,
Hatboro, PA, is the recipient of the 2022 American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians Osteopathic Family Medicine Educator of the Year Award. This award honors an individual who exemplifies the osteopathic family medicine profession’s highest standards of excellence in teaching and who has made significant, commendable and long-standing contributions to the academic advancement of osteopathic students, residents and the osteopathic profession.
Rebecca J. Johnson-Castillo,
DO, Warsaw, IN, joined the staff at Goshen Physicians Family Medicine in Ligonier. Suraj K. Saggar, DO, Ridgewood, NJ, was appointed to the Enzolytics, Inc. advisory board.
Gregory T. Wilson, DO,
Reading, PA, has joined the cardiology team at Geisinger St. Luke’s in Schuylkill County.
2003
Catherine R. Mauss, DO,
Biglerville, PA, recently opened her own practice, Gettysburg Osteopathic Family Health Center. Sherri L. Sandel, DO, Somers, NY, was featured in a profile by Wag Magazine titled “Medicine with a Personal Touch” (April 8, 2022). Dr. Sandel was recently appointed medical director of Northern Westchester Hospital/ Northwell Health in Mount Kisco.
2004
Sharon Virginia Elwell, PsyD,
Drexel Hill, PA, is enjoying retirement after a 27-year career in psychology. Dr. Elwell now spends her time seeking out and engaging in opportunities to support social justice and the environment in the Philadelphia area.
2005
Brian A. Acunto, DO,
Brigantine, NJ, was inducted into the Marquis Who’s Who Biographical Registry. Dr. Acunto was recognized for his outstanding work in the emergency medicine field (April 8, 2022). Tammy L. Dietz, DO, Austin, TX, was featured on the Marquis Who’s Who list of celebrated professionals in the field of medicine (February 22, 2022).
Chavone D. Momon-Nelson,
MBA, DO, Carlisle, PA, was featured in an article published by PennLive.com titled “Enrollment of First-Year Black Medical Students Climbs to Historic Levels” (February 16, 2022).
Rebekah A. Sensenig, DO,
Yorktown, VA, an infectious disease specialist with Riverside Health System, was interviewed by 13News Now for an article titled “Health Experts: If You Catch Omicron, You Could Still Get Long COVID” (January 27, 2022).
2007
Laura A. McGowan, DO,
Clarence Center, NY, has joined the staff at Mount St. Mary’s Lockport Health Center as a primary care physician. Alfredo L. Rabines, DO, New York, NY, chief medical officer at Bayonne Medical Center, was interviewed by the Hudson Reporter for an article titled “Bayonne Medical Center Coping with Post-Holiday COVID19 Surge” (January 11, 2022).
2008
Jay D. Bhatt, DO, MPH,
Chicago, IL, was appointed executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions and the Deloitte Health Equity Institute. In this role, Dr. Bhatt will direct the research, insights and eminence agenda across the life sciences and health care industry while driving high-impact research and collaborations to advance health equity.
Peter F. Bidey, DO, MSED,
FACOFP, Haddonfield, NJ, vice-chair of the Department of Family Medicine, PCOM, was appointed to the 20222023 Board of Governors of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. Additionally, Dr. Bidey was featured in a US News Health article titled “Night Sweats: What You Need to Know” (February 23, 2022).
Alexandra M. Buford, DO,
Somers Point, NJ, joined the staff at Shore Physicians Group in their primary care division.
Nicole M. Geissen, DO,
Chicago, IL, was featured in an article by NBC5 Chicago, “Rush University Medical Center to Hold Lung Cancer Screenings for Firefighters” (March 24, 2022). Dr. Geissen, a thoracic surgeon at Rush University Medical Center, participated in a special series of lung cancer screenings for firefighters in Chicago.
CHRISTINA ESPOSITO, PsyD ’04, EdS ’06
Empowering Families through ADHD Coaching
by Meghan McCall As the mother of a child with ADHD, Christina Esposito, PsyD ‘04, EdS ‘06, understands the unique challenges that the disability can have on parents and families. In 2020, Dr. Esposito fused her expertise in clinical psychology and school psychology to found Branch Upward, an ADHD and behavioral coaching service focused on teaching parents strategies to empower their children.
“ADHD is so often misunderstood by parents and teachers,” says Dr. Esposito. “It’s a hidden disability. These poor kids are told to just try harder or work harder, but the kid is dancing as fast as they can.”
While schools and individual therapists can provide resources and accommodations for children with ADHD, Dr. Esposito noticed a lack of professionals who could help with everything—from the child’s academic needs, to their social needs, to their needs at home. With a focus on coaching, Dr. Esposito is able to teach practical, forward-focused strategies to parents and families in a collaborative environment.
To make her approach work, Dr. Esposito requires parents to be involved in her sessions. She explains, “Parents often don’t realize how their actions impact the child. When I work with mom, dad and other family members to teach them to react differently, it greatly reduces some of the behavioral outbursts and ADHD symptoms in the child.”
One way that Dr. Esposito gains greater insight into a family is by meeting with them in their homes. “I get more insight into the family dynamic and how to make small changes that parents don’t even realize could help them in their everyday lives,” Dr. Esposito explains.
While at PCOM, Dr. Esposito says she learned the importance of collaborating with other professionals. Beginning with when she noticed her daughter struggling with ADHD and now as a coach, Dr. Esposito frequently works with pediatricians, physical therapists, occupational therapists and even professional organizers.
“Children with ADHD sometimes struggle with transitions throughout the day. I partner with a professional organizer to come into the home to determine how we can set up the child’s room, desk or mudroom to make that transition easier,” explains Dr. Esposito.
Besides collaborating with other professionals, Dr. Esposito enjoys a high level of collaboration with the parents she works with. As a fellow parent of a child with ADHD, Dr. Esposito feels she’s able to easily connect with and empathize with her clients. “I’ve sat on that side of the table. I known what it’s like to watch your child struggle. If someone like me would have been available when I was in their shoes, I would have hired them in a heartbeat,” Dr. Esposito says. Dr. Esposito
2009
Amy Lee Curry, DO,
Williamsport, PA, joined the colon and rectal surgery team at UPMC Williamsport.
Matthew A. Moffa, DO,
Pittsburgh, PA, was featured in an article published in the Sacramento Bee titled “Omicron BA.2 Subvariant Is Steadily Growing but May Not Pose a Serious Threat” (March 28, 2022). Dr. Moffa serves as medical director of infection prevention at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital.
2010
Chadd K. Kraus, DO,
Lewisburg, PA, was appointed director of research for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). As the first person to hold this position, Dr. Kraus will lead the effort to build the research group at ABEM. Research initiatives will include analyses of certification programs, the specialty and physician education.
2011
Aravindhan Arumugarajah, MS,
DO, Valparaiso, IN, was recognized by Marquis Who’s Who for his expertise in the nephrology and hypertension fields. Carol K. Kniess, DO, Forksville, PA, joined the emergency medicine team at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayer.
2012
Aaron E. George, DO,
Montpelier, VA, was interviewed by WDVM News for a report titled “Doctors Say ‘Stay Safe’ During Super Bowl Celebrations” (February 12, 2022). Dr. George
