By Brooke Bunch

(Editor’s Note: you can view a video of the Dean Brose's State of the College Address here.)

Dean Jack Brose, D.O., urged an auditorium of OU-COM students, staff, faculty and medical professionals to imitate the hedgehog if the college was going to achieve its highest potentials. Using the parable of the hedgehog and the fox to illustrate, Brose told how by attacking, instead of curling up into a ball, the hedgehog excelled in the ability to fend off a fox. With that lesson in mind, Brose applied it to OU-COM’s advancement at the 2004 State of the College Address in Irvine Hall.

“The hedgehog understood that if you focus on things that you can do better than anyone else, you can compete with the best,” Brose said.

In what he dubbed “the next leap,” Brose said OU-COM needs to combine resources, passion and specialties to become “the best in the world” in certain areas.

“We’re ready to make the next leap, from very good to great,” he said. “We are a well-kept secret, and we have to stop being that.”

Brose announced OU-COM is going to meet the challenge of Ohio University President Roderick McDavis, Ph.D., to elevate the college’s standing among medical school research institutions.

McDavis, who was present in Irvine, said OU-COM has a “huge advantage” in setting off on the course prescribed by Brose.

“Our location is special,” he said. “We are part of an area that begs for attention in terms of health care. We don’t need to go to Cleveland; we don’t need to go to Columbus; we just need to stay right here. We just have to reach out and embrace the challenges that are right here.”

Brose hopes to meet the research challenge by developing new incentives for faculty who are successful in securing externally funded research, to increase National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation grant applications by 50 percent this year and to add research grant personnel to research offices.

Among OU-COM’s recent research highlights, Brose noted a rare fossil discovery; the Haptic Back Project; the invention of Somavert, the first effective medical treatment for acromegaly; and the establishment of Appalachian Rural Health Institute Diabetes/Endocrine Center, which Brose said can, and will, be a major strength of OU-COM.

Referring to Diabetes/Endocrine Center, Brose asserted, “This is an area we can be the best in the world.”

Brose hopes to increase faculty size by recruiting surgeons, a geriatrician, pathologist, family physician, muscle physiologist and an endocrinologist.

The dean said he also intends to increase number of minority faculty, adding that diversity is a major component of the university’s future. Boasting the highest percentage — 23 — of minority students of any college on campus, OU-COM can and will aim higher in issues of diversity, said Brose.

“We’re very proud of that,” he said. “But I think we can do better.”

To achieve the diversity goal, Brose said the college has allocated funds for a new position devoted entirely to developing diversity-related issues in the curriculum and to aid in minority recruitment. In addition, the college will aim to expand its international programs.

As far as curriculum is concerned, Brose said OU-COM’s two curricula are among the most successful and innovative in the country.

“Our Clinical Presentation Continuum block teams and Patient Centered Continuum developers have made tremendous improvements in our curricula,” he said. “Our student’s Part I Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination pass rates were the highest in at least the past seven years.”

In addition, OU-COM’s financial status is very stable for now.

“Because of the fiscal responsibility exercised by everyone in the college, we improved our financial condition at a time the state was decreasing our budget,” Brose said. “So we can be very, very proud of that.”

However, Brose warned of looming state budget cuts, adding that the college must prepare for potential reductions in the state’s subsidy in the upcoming years.

McDavis said he was pleased with Brose’s plan, noting the crucial role OU-COM plays within the university.

“After watching the presentation, it’s clear to me the dean has the right spirit and is ready to rise to the next level,” McDavis said. “I’m convinced that in order to advance, we cannot get there without the College of Osteopathic Medicine leading the way.”

McDavis said the standard must be set high.

“Dreams can become reality, but you have to first set the goal,” he said. “You may not get there tomorrow, you may not even get there next year, but you have to set the standard high.”

Also at the address, Brose presented 11 OU-COMers with two of the school’s top awards. Receiving Dean’s Awards for 2004 were Joanne Bray, clinical competency assessment coordinator; Wayne Carlson, D.O., chairman of the Department of Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology; David Eland, D.O., associate professor of family medicine; Sharla Groves, instructional coordinator; Joy Matthews-Lopez, Ph.D., Centers for Osteopathic Research director of research; and Frank Schwartz, M.D., director of the Appalachian Rural Health Institute’s Diabetes/Endocrine Center.

Receiving the Standard of Excellence Award were Peter Bell, D.O., assistant CORE dean; Steve Carter, curriculum coordinator; Gillian Ice, Ph.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of social medicine; Richard Klabunde, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences; and Elizabeth Minor, director of the Health Careers Opportunity Program.