Serving families across the globe
Jaime Rehmann, D.O. (’09), emphasizes cultural sensitivity, options in family planning

By Colleen Kiphart
July 8, 2009

Jaime Rehmann, D.O. (’09) considers the world her hometown.
For most of Rehmann’s life, her family traveled the world to volunteer in underprivileged communities. “I grew up abroad,” she says. “I kind of consider myself a nomad.”

An international experience helped her chose her ob/gyn specialty, she says. “In college I went to Mexico over spring break to do service. A pregnant woman came into the office of the doctor I worked with. He had me put my hands on her belly and showed me how to feel for the position of the baby,” Rehmann says. “Feeling the baby move under my hands—it just blew me away.”

Rehmann deferred OU-COM enrollment a year to travel to Ecuador, where among other things, she assisted on surgeries with Doctors Without Borders and researched non-pharmaceutical family-planning techniques. “I am finishing a study about family planning among Ecuadorian women. I did a survey of their current methods and their attitudes toward natural family planning.”

Her socio-medical research and commitment to underserved populations inspire her peers, according to Rehmann’s mentor, Timothy Barreiro, D.O. (’97), clinical assistant professor of critical care medicine at St. Joseph Health Center (Warren, Ohio). “Her scholarly achievement and special dedication to women’s health have been an example to other osteopathic students.”

As a student, Rehmann served as an ambassador for the Christian Medical and Dental Association, as an international liaison for the Student Osteopathic Medical Association, and as president and founder of Medical Students for Life.

With her research, Rehmann recognizes how cultural values influence medical decisions and emphasizes patient responsibility. “I want to help women take their fertility into their own hands.” Rehmann says, “Family planning is something that they can discuss and work on with their partner.”

Rehmann recently completed a seven-month certification program at the Pope Paul VI Institute for Natural Family Planning in Omaha, Nebraska. “So often we use chemicals like birth control as a cure-all for gynecological problems,” Rehmann says. “With natural family planning, women can work with their doctors to better understand their fertility and the roots of some medical problems.”

During her year in Ecuador, Rehmann became fluent in Spanish, which eases her patients’ nerves, she says. “I spent a month working in ob/gyn in St. Louis, where they have a large Spanish-speaking population. Once, with the attending physician watching, I was able to work with a mother and deliver her baby, talking directly to her in her language. Afterward, the family said they wanted a picture with the doctor who had delivered their baby. I looked to Michelle, the attending physician, and she said, ‘no, they mean you.’ It was incredible.”

Michael Clark, D.O., associate professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology, applauds Rehmann’s command of Spanish. “Being fluent in Spanish brings instant rapport to our migrant patients. Jaime is a people-oriented person. We need more people like her in the medical profession.”

Rehmann will complete her ob/gyn residency in Buffalo, New York. Although there isn’t a large Hispanic population in Buffalo, she says, “I am really excited to get to work.”