by Brooke Bunch

John Schriner, director of admissions, was recently elected vice chairman of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) Council of Osteopathic Medical Admissions Officers (COMAO) at AACOM’s annual meeting, “Innovations in Osteopathic Medical Education,” held June 23-25 in Bethesda, Md. Schriner was nominated by members of COMAO, which represents the 20 American osteopathic medical schools.

“I was honored to be recognized by my peers as a person who brings passion and commitment to AACOM, specifically as it relates to the admission of future osteopathic physicians,” Schriner says.  

The energetic Schriner had declined the position previously when he was nominated due to his filling two full-time positions at OU-COM — director and associate director of admissions.

Schriner says he is looking forward to serving as vice chairman, adding it turns the spotlight onto OU-COM.

“I’m very excited because it gives me the opportunity to work more closely with my other COMAO colleagues to improve and enhance the processes and policies of osteopathic medical schools,” he says.

“I want to collaborate with my colleagues in an effort to improve the application process. One of our aims is to better identify issues relative to resident status and combined degree opportunities, as well as other areas that would aid the overall admission process,” Schriner says.

“I’ve got big shoes to fill,” he says. “There have been some great people who have gone before me, and I’m sure there will be great people to follow me.”

OU-COM also was represented at the AACOM conference by Olivia Ojano-Sheehan, Ph.D., faculty development coordinator, who presented a poster on faculty development and research, “The Role of Faculty Development in Fostering a Culture of Research.”

Pat Burnett, Ph.D., director of student affairs, and Ann Brieck, associate director of student affairs, discussed college work study for the Council on Student Affairs and made a presentation, “Eyes Wide Open: A Student-Focused Approach to Debt Management,” which focused on the longitudinal research that they completed on OU-COM’s past three graduating classes.

Steve Davis, Ph.D., director of faculty development, discussed individualized professional development planning with a focus on the Dreyfus & Dreyfus model of skill acquisition.

Peter Dane, D.O., associate dean for pre-doctoral education, presented on strategies for effective curricular change that focused on consensus and communication. Dane also spoke on the barriers and opportunities to reduce the gap between the ideal of an educational continuum and the current reality of the discrete, often unrelated parts of medical education from pre-clinical through continuing medical education.

“OU-COM was well represented, and I heard many compliments on our presenters,” says Keith Watson, D.O., associate dean for graduate medical education.