On Saturday, June 4,
2005, at 10 a.m., the college's commencement exercises were held at
Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium. The graduating Class
of 2005 was the 26th for the medical school.
It was the first time
presiding over the OU-COM graduation for Ohio University President
Roderick McDavis, Ph.D. The college’s graduation is held a week
earlier than the university’s other commencement exercises.
“This is my first year
as president of Ohio University,” said McDavis, “and I am especially
proud that our university has a college of osteopathic medicine with
an impressive emphasis on primary care, family medicine and
problem-based education. OU-COM consistently ranks among the top
medical schools in the nation for the percentage of its graduates
who enter family practice and other primary care residencies.
“This commencement is
part of a very special year — the 130th anniversary of
the founding of osteopathic medicine — and now in its fourth decade,
the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Ohio University, already
firmly established as a national model for producing primary care
physicians. The college is becoming a major force in the forefront
of research that will have an undeniable impact upon the whole
medical profession.”
McDavis took note of the
importance of the international programs available for COM students.
“I also am impressed by
the commitment of OU-COM faculty and students show to traveling
abroad and serving those desperately in need of quality health care.
While expanding their knowledge, your deep concern for the
individual is reflected in the care you provide to an African
villager, just as it is in the care you provide to those living in
Southeastern Ohio,” he said.
Ninety-six participated
in the graduation — 55 males and 41 females — which included 24
minority students.
Among those on stage
with McDavis were Jody Gerome, D.O. (’05), a representative
of the Class of 2005; 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; and OU-COM
Dean Jack Brose, D.O., each of whom addressed the class and
commencement speaker Thomas Moyer, J.D., chief justice of the Ohio
Supreme Court.
“Please remember,
education is a lifelong activity,” said Anderson. “Embrace this exit
as an entrance to opportunity. Throughout your career, you will have
many opportunities to learn from your patients, colleagues, friends
and family.
“The future of
osteopathic medicine is poised to face the challenges of this young
millennium. And, it is you and your classmates who will carry
forward the rich traditions of this college. I am confident that you
will utilize the distinctive osteopathic philosophy that emphasizes
the total person.”
President McDavis
introduced Dean Brose, who addressed the audience concerning the
meaning of the graduation for him.
“This is a day of great
pride for OU-COM and our profession,” said Brose. “And, this is a
very special day for me personally.”
“Our students in the
Class of 2005 started in Athens when I became dean.”
“They fought past that
incredible obstacle,” he said humorously, “and, today, I am pleased
to report that OU-COM’s faculty, staff and administration are very
proud of them.
“Today, I can truly
appreciate the incredible pride that our audience members feel,
because my own son is one of our gradating physicians.”
Brose described the
college’s status among Ohio’s seven medical schools and the impact
on health care it has had state and nationwide, including the
research contributions of its scientists.
Brose admonished the
graduating class about the value of character, which knowledge
cannot be a replacement for, he said.
“The information in your
head is remarkable,” he said, “but it is no substitution for the
content of your heart. Your knowledge and medical ability will be
assumed. But you will be judged by your concern for others and your
commitment to your community.”
After an introduction by
President McDavis, Chief Justice Moyer delivered his address. Moyer
has a long, distinguished career as a lawyer and judge and has
served as president of the Columbus Bar Association and on the board
of several universities. In 1991, he received the Ohio Bar Medal,
the Ohio State Bar Association’s highest award.
“It is an honor to be invited once
again to address the students and faculty at the college of
osteopathic medicine. It was about a year ago that I was invited to
speak at the White Coat Ceremony,” said Moyer.
“I always wanted to be a doctor
growing up, even though I was in a family of lawyers. I came to Ohio
State undergraduate school, but after two quarters of physics and
basic fundamental math, I decided, ‘I’m not going to be a doctor.’”
He said he wanted to offer a few
words about the profession the graduates were entering and the
importance of their decisions to become physicians in this day and
age — not an easy decision, he said.
He drew upon the example of W. Mark
Felt, who recently revealed himself as Deep Throat, the shadowy,
anonymous figure of Watergate notoriety principally responsible for
exposing the crimes of President Richard Nixon, which led to his
resignation from the Oval Office. Felt, he said, was someone capable
of making decisions “not easy.”
Regardless of how Felt will be
judged, said Moyer, what he did was “an enormous act of courage.”
Felt met a great challenge, and as doctors their challenges will be
greatly magnified.
“With your diploma, you are handed a
higher set of expectations. You are now a leader of your community.
Your success as a professional will be determined in large measure
by the honesty and respect you afford your patients.”
Citing the code of ethics of the
American Osteopathic Association, he said, that physician-patient
relationships must be founded in mutual trust, cooperation and
respect. “Those are not,” he said, “relative standards. They are not
negotiable. They are constant principles that have guided your
profession since the very beginning.
“Trust is a bedrock principle of
your profession.”
Trust in the goodwill and honesty of
those affect our lives so dramatically is essential, he said.
“In that sense, the profession of
medicine and the profession of law are no different.” Judges have to
render decisions that sometimes will not be liked by parties in
conflict, he said, but nonetheless the system is able to function
because of trust.
In the future, he said, the legal
system and medical profession will depend more and more on trust
because of the growing intersection of science and law, which is
being accelerated by technological advance. Science, he observed,
stands in the center of modern life, but it is in the courts that
issues of life and community must go in hope of being settled.
“It is judges who determine which
scientific facts and compositions form the basis of very important
courtroom decisions.”
Thus, he said, the explosive
advances of the life sciences, genetics, biomedicine and
biotechnology require more resource education to be made available
to the judicial system.
Ohio, he said, is positioned to be
in the forefront of judicial education, which should, in turn, also
have a beneficial economic impact upon the state.
Quoting U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Steven Breyer, Moyer said, “The practice of science depends on sound
law. … It is equally true that law itself increasingly requires
access to sound science.”
Concluding, he said, society is more
dependent on technologically advanced knowledge as it moves forward.
Science and the courts are called upon to address the issues that
arise because of the application of such knowledge.
As such, liability, privacy, access
to health-care and patient rights issues are a part of today’s and
tomorrow’s court docket, he said.
Singling out the members of the
Class of 2005, he said, “You and your colleagues will be called upon
to shape … these debates. You will carry a civic responsibility
throughout your lives. And also (a responsibility) to contribute to
civic discussion by providing expert testimony, writing journal
articles and participating in symposiums.”
“The link between science and law
which Justice Breyer observes,” he said, “will be given new strength
by your active contributions.”
“We — you and I,” he told the
graduates, “because of our education, our advanced knowledge and our
experience have a responsibility to give new meaning to our
experiment in democracy.”
University Provost
Katherine Krendl, Ph.D., presided over the conferral of degrees to
the Class of 2005. Brose hooded the graduates as they received their
doctor of osteopathic medicine (D.O.) degrees.
Graduates earning
outstanding student awards were Jason Patrick Cappuzzello, D.O.
(’05), Osteopathic Heritage Award; Manisha Marie Nanda, D.O.
(’05), Dean’s Award; Walter Christopher Coats, D.O. (’05),
Family Practice Award; Danielle June Williams, D.O. (’05),
Specialty Medicine Award; Jody Michelle Gerome, D.O. (’05),
Obstetrics and Gynecology Award; Elizabeth Ann Zmuda, D.O.
(’05), Pediatrics Award; Matthew Lowe, D.O. (’05),
Geriatric Medicine/Gerontology Award-Ohio Department of Aging;
Isabelle Escaño Lane, D.O. (’05), Social Medicine–Medical
Humanities Award and the Student D.O. of the Year Award; and
Mark Edward Brauner, D.O. (’05), Biomedical Science Award.
Receiving the Donna
Moritsugu Award, which is given to a medical student’s spouse in
recognition of his or her support, was Amy Paulson, the wife of
Toby Paulson, D.O. (’05).
The Centers for
Osteopathic Research and Education gave awards to outstanding
students its 11 hospital sites. Award recipients were Mark Edward
Brauner, D.O. (’05), St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center;
Gregory St. Aubyn Johnson, D.O. (’05), Firelands Regional
Medical Center; Stephanie Ann Sieg, D.O. (’05), St. John West
Shore Hospital; Edward Crist Stevens, D.O. (’05); St. Joseph
Health Center; Kevin Michael Nasky, D.O. (’05), Cuyahoga
Falls General Hospital; Kellie Jo Zaylor, D.O. (’05), South
Pointe Hospital; Sarah Ann Barber, D.O. (’05), Doctors
Hospital of Stark County; Adam Michael Peterik, D.O. (’05),
Doctors Hospital of Columbus; Jody Michelle Gerome, D.O. (’05),
O’Bleness Memorial Hospital; Safet Osman Hatic II, D.O.
(’05), Southern Ohio Medical Center; and Manisha Marie
Nanda, D.O. (’05), Grandview Hospital and Medical Center.
Concluding the ceremony,
Brose led the new osteopathic physicians in reciting the Osteopathic
Oath. An on-the-Green reception followed.
