by Brooke Bunch

Isabelle Escano is proud to be a future osteopathic physician.

Now she’s OU-COM’s 2005 Student D.O. of the Year and proud to carry this title.

Escano, a fifth-year medical student, was recently bestowed the prestigious honor for her service to the school, the community and the osteopathic profession.

“It’s definitely an honor to receive something like this,” Escano says. “There were a lot of deserving students nominated. To be picked from among them is an honor.”

“While winners of this award are always star students,” says Christina Peters, a second-year student and student government president, “the intent is to recognize the global achievements of outstanding osteopathic medical students whose efforts include striving to improve the community around them.”

In order to be considered for the award, applicants submitted current copies of their resumes and 500-word essays. More than 30 students were in the running for the award. Escano was nominated by second-year student Amy Zidron, fourth-year student Jody Gerome and Gillian Ice, Ph.D., assistant professor of social medicine.

The Student D.O. of the Year Award is sponsored by The Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents. It is designed to recognize the overall achievements of outstanding student D.O.s from all osteopathic schools and emphasizes service rather than academic performance.

Escano has performed various community service duties throughout her years at OU-COM, including Operation Safety Net, during which she actively sought out the homeless of Pittsburgh to help provide them medical care, food, clothing and hygiene kits. Escano volunteered at Little People’s Hospital, administered flu vaccinations at the 2001 Flu Shot Clinic in Parks Hall and led Convocation tours for incoming students and their families. She also presented a HIV video from the Student National Medical Association.

She is a member of the American Academy of Family Practice, the Cranial Academy, the Family Practice Club, the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, the Undergraduate American Academy of Osteopathy, the Ohio Osteopathic Association, the International Federation of Medical Students Association, the Student National Medical Association, the Christian Medical and Dental Association, the American Medical Student Association and the American Medical Association.

Escano has wide-reaching international experience. She participated in the Kenyan Grandparents Study in Kisumu, Kenya, in 2004 and traveled with the Tropical Disease Institute to Quito, Ecuador, in 2001. She also was a member of medical missions to the Philippines in 1999 and to Juarez City, Mexico, in 1996. 

Escano, who served for two years as the president of the Class of 2004, is currently completing the final year of a family medicine fellowship. She looks forward to practicing osteopathic medicine.

“I’m interested in keeping people healthy, promoting healthy lifestyles and preventive medicine,” she says. “I love doing osteopathic manipulative medicine. I definitely want to incorporate OMM in my practice.”

Escano is interested is the continuity of care.

“You get to see families go through, and you see their kids; it’s really neat,” she says. “Patient interaction is important to me.”

In June Escano will graduate and begin a family medicine internship at University Hospitals in Cleveland.