by Kevin M. Sanders

On Saturday, Sept. 11, OU-COM welcomed its new class of medical students, the Class of 2008, at its 29^th Convocation Ceremony. Ann Womer Benjamin, J.D., director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, delivered the keynote address the ceremony, which took place at 11 a.m. in Nelson Commons on the university’s Athens campus.

“Today is special because we gather — as we do every year — to extend a hearty welcome to the entering first-year class,” said OU-COM Dean Jack Brose, D.O.

“Our welcome is designed to share with each new student a glimpse of some of the many possibilities and potential impacts that his or her chosen career can have on the citizens of our state and nation.”

Dean Brose introduced the podium speakers, including the 20^th president of Ohio University, Roderick McDavis, Ph.D., who was inaugurated the day before. McDavis is the second alumnus to head the University and its first African-American president.

Also present on the podium was George Thomas, D.O., president of the American Osteopathic Association; Alan Geiger, Ph.D., assistant to Ohio University’s president; Jeffrey Stanley, D.O. (’82), president of the Ohio Osteopathic Association; Thomas Anderson, D.O. (’83), president of the OU-COM Society of Alumni and Friends; Roy Chew, Ph.D., president of Grandview/Southview hospitals; and Boyd Bowden II, D.O., member of the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees.

McDavis welcomed the Class of 2008 to the University and praised the college’s national achievements in primary care and family medicine. He also spoke of the college’s leadership in problem-based education.

“OU-COM is also noted for its international perspective. Each year faculty and students travel abroad to places to serve those in need and to expand their own medical knowledge. Their deep concern for the individual is reflected in the care they provide to an African villager, just as it is in the care they provide to those who live in Southeastern Ohio,” said McDavis.

He pointed out that the college’s Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education provides “a seamless transition from predoctoral to postdoctoral education to a lifelong path of education in osteopathic medicine.”

 The class, he said, had chosen well and was embarked on an exciting journey of discovery at a medical school that “offers an extraordinary environment for learning and professional development.”

The Class of 2008 is comprised of 114 students, of which there are 46 females and 68 males. Almost one out of four (28 of 114) of the class is a minority student. Also, 15 of the class are from Southeastern Ohio. The class is 86 percent Ohio residents and 40 percent female.

AOA President Thomas took the podium next.

“You are embarking on your career as D.O.s during a very special year,” said Thomas, “the 130^th anniversary of osteopathic medicine. I am honored to be here with you today.

Citing the Irish author, Brendan Francis, Thomas exhorted the new medical students to use their talents effusively, “like a millionaire intent on going broke.”

“Connect with your patients,” he said, “and they will connect with you.”

“I believe that osteopathic medicine is the most noble profession in the world. What a privilege we have to provide quality medical care for our patients.

“My wish for each of you is that your careers as D.O.s are just as rewarding as my own! Use your talent to its fullest extent. Go for broke!

“In the end, you will be far richer because you can honestly say, ‘I gave each of my patients everything I had.’

OOA President Stanley then addressed students on behalf of the association.

“I refer to myself as a fellow classmate, because you are now beginning a career of lifelong learning. You will forever be an osteopathic student. Your achievements can be limitless and much will depend on your inner drive and dedication. I encourage you to strive to be the best you can be.

“I implore you to adhere to the high standards of human compassion, sincere personal interactions and genuine motivation when treating your patients. The burning question in your mind must always be, ‘Would I want to be treated this way, and have I sought to do no harm?’

“The Ohio Osteopathic Association exists,” he said, “to maintain the highest standards of osteopathic care and education. We exist to protect the rights of our patients and the rights of our physicians to practice medicine. We are also committed to you now and throughout the spectrum of your professional career.”

The Sept. 11 Convocation included the school’s White Coat Ceremony, during which the members of the Class of 2008 received their white coats and was officiated by Society of Alumni and Friends President Anderson. The white coats donned during the ceremony were provided by the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation.

“It is my pleasure today to introduce the members of our 29^th entering class,” said Anderson. As a member of the Class of 1983, I know from personal experience that the road these young men and women have chosen is a challenging one.

“Although the road before them appears long, the alumni of the college will be there to help each student successfully earn his or her doctorate in osteopathic medicine. As president of the board of the OU-COM Society of Alumni and Friends, I, along with other alumni association members, stand ready to answer your questions and give you guidance.”

After explaining the meaning and purpose of the White Coat Ceremony, he introduced the 114 members of the class as they were coated. He then led them in a recitation of the Student Pledge of Commitment.

“We hope that each one of you will find the next four years to be rewarding and successful,” he said. “Although the program is rigorous and the demands are many, we will, as I said earlier, give you every bit of assistance we can to help you make it through.”

Brose then introduced keynote speaker Womer Benjamin. He noted some achievements from Womer Benjamin’s impressive career, which included, as a legislator, helping shepherd Ohio’s professional liability insurance (medical malpractice) reform bill into law.

Womer Benjamin, a lawyer, recounted to the audience a trip through the Judean Desert from Jerusalem on the road to Jericho that she had taken four years ago. On this road she encountered the reputed Inn of the Good Samaritan of biblical legend. She told the Class of 2008 that the story of the Good Samaritan had had an impact on her long before the trip, influencing her desire to use the law to help people in times of crisis.

“Likewise,” she said, “going into public service out of the blue as a state representative in 1994, I was on an idealistic crusade to help my constituents and help my beloved state of Ohio. For me, it was a very fulfilling crusade.”

“When the governor asked me to consider heading up the Ohio Department of Insurance at the end of 2002, I really wondered what needy element of society I would be able to serve in that position.

“Little did I know,” she joked, “that needy doctors were lining the highways and byways of Ohio, needing medical malpractice insurance to continue to be able to serve Ohio patients!

“Initially I felt like crossing to the other side of the street to avoid the problem or passing it off to someone else — I hadn’t really figured out to whom — but the need and the challenge were too tempting. Ultimately, I am gratified at being able to help wherever the problems arise on my road to Jericho.

“If we are not here to help each other and improve this world,” she asked the students, “why are we here in the first place?”

“I also would like to believe that most if not all of you, having chosen the medical profession in the first place, have identified your own road to Jericho and are ready for the wounded strangers to be found there.”

She spoke admiringly of those, such as the first-responders at the Twin Towers Sept. 11, 2001, who gave their lives during a time of crisis. She said the inspiration of those Good Samaritans and future physicians such as in the Class of 2008 motivated her to stay in the fight to alleviate the financial crisis — a crisis of exorbitantly priced insurance costs — being imposed on those who provide vitally needed medical care.

She praised the Gov. Bob Taft and the dedicated personnel of her department for their efforts at stemming off the insurance crisis. She pledged that the Ohio Department of Insurance would not stop until the crisis was ended.

She said that two realizations led her to set up several measures designed to begin to solve the problem, among which were the Medical Malpractice Commission stipulated by Ohio’s professional liability insurance reform law; authorization to create a state insurance fund to offer “stop-gap” insurance coverage in the face of a coverage shortfall; a patient compensation fund; and legislation which would facilitate the ability of doctors and health-care providers who desired so to insure themselves.

In closing, she urged the members of the Class of 2008 to “learn all you can, achieve all you can, but do not get so caught up in yourself and your achievements that you miss the injured traveler lying inert by the side of the road.”

“He or she will need your education, your knowledge, your courage and your compassion to get safely to the Inn of the Good Samaritan, and you, and society, will be better for your efforts. ”The Phillips Medal of Public Service Ceremony then began.

The Phillips Medal of Public Service was first awarded by OU-COM in 1976. The award was named for Jody Galbreath Phillips and her husband, the late Wallace Phillips, to acknowledge their generosity and contributions to Ohio University, to higher education and to the people of Ohio.

The honor is given to outstanding individuals for medical practice exemplifying the best traditions of the osteopathic profession; administration exemplifying the best tradition of humane, concerned administration and public involvement; and for public policy leadership exemplifying the best traditions of democratic concern for the public good and the public welfare.

Brose provided the audience with a description of each recipient’s accomplishments as they received the medal.

Keynote speaker Womer Benjamin was one of three recipients of the Phillips Medal. In addition to Womer Benjamin, this year’s recipients of the Phillips Medal were Chew and Bowden.

McDavis presented Womer Benjamin her medal for, as noted by Brose, an exemplary career as a lawyer and legislator and for being the first woman to head the Ohio Department of Insurance. Womer Benjamin was a key figure in securing the passage of professional liability insurance (medical malpractice) reform through House Bill 281. In 2001 she was the Aurora Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year, received the Coleman Professional Services’ Distinguished Service Award and was named Legislator of the Year by the Ohio Nurses Association. She served as a House representative for four terms, passing 20 bills, including legislation that toughened Ohio rape laws, secured the State Victims of Crime Fund and allowed judges to suspend the driver’s licenses of those charged with vehicular homicide.

Geiger presented the award to Chew, president of nationally recognized Grandview/Southview hospitals and president of the Ohio Osteopathic Hospital Association. Chew has served Kettering Medical Center in several administrative capacities — including chairman of the Respiratory Therapy Department and vice president for professional Services and Post Acute Care — before its merger into Grandview/Southview hospitals. Under his leadership Grandview has received many national honors including five-star designations from HealthGrades, recognition as one of the preeminent teaching hospitals named in Solucient’s Top 100 Hospitals study and was named as one of the country’s best medical centers by US News and World Report’s in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue for two years in a row.

Thomas presented the honor to Bowden, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Bowden has served the osteopathic profession for the last 30 years as a distinguished physician, educator and leader. Among numerous positions served, Bowden was the president of the American Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and president of the Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics Hand Society, and chaired internship and residency training programs at Doctors Hospital, in addition to being chief-of-staff at Doctors. Currently a member of the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees, he has sought to bolster the prominence of research at osteopathic medical schools throughout the nation. As a member of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees, he helped establish the J.O. Watson, D.O., Endowed Research Chair, a major component of OU-COM’s diabetes and cardiovascular research and clinical initiatives.

At the end of the medal presentations, Brose closed the convocation, and the Convocation luncheon began.