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by Kevin M. Sanders
On Saturday, Sept.
11, OU-COM welcomed its new class of medical students, the Class
of 2008, at its 29th Convocation Ceremony. Ann Womer
Benjamin, J.D., director of the Ohio Department of Insurance,
delivered the keynote address the ceremony, which took place at
11 a.m. in Nelson Commons on the university’s Athens campus.
“Today is special
because we gather — as we do every year — to extend a hearty
welcome to the entering first-year class,” said OU-COM Dean
Jack Brose, D.O.
“Our welcome is
designed to share with each new student a glimpse of some of the
many possibilities and potential impacts that his or her chosen
career can have on the citizens of our state and nation.”
Dean Brose
introduced the podium speakers, including the 20th
president of Ohio University, Roderick McDavis, Ph.D., who was
inaugurated the day before. McDavis is the second alumnus to
head the University and its first African-American president.
Also present on the
podium was George Thomas, D.O., president of the American
Osteopathic Association; Alan Geiger, Ph.D., assistant to Ohio
University’s president; 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; Roy Chew, Ph.D., president of Grandview/Southview
hospitals; and Boyd Bowden II, D.O., member of the American
Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees and the Osteopathic
Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees.
McDavis welcomed the
Class of 2008 to the University and praised the college’s
national achievements in primary care and family medicine. He
also spoke of the college’s leadership in problem-based
education.
“OU-COM is also
noted for its international perspective. Each year faculty and
students travel abroad to places to serve those in need and to
expand their own medical knowledge. Their deep concern for the
individual is reflected in the care they provide to an African
villager, just as it is in the care they provide to those who
live in Southeastern Ohio,” said McDavis.
He pointed out that
the college’s Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education
provides “a seamless transition from predoctoral to postdoctoral
education to a lifelong path of education in osteopathic
medicine.”
The class, he said,
had chosen well and was embarked on an exciting journey of
discovery at a medical school that “offers an extraordinary
environment for learning and professional development.”
The Class of 2008 is comprised of 114 students, of which there are
46 females and 68 males. Almost one out of four (28 of 114) of
the class is a minority student. Also, 15 of the class are from
Southeastern
Ohio. The class is 86 percent Ohio residents and 40 percent
female.
AOA President Thomas
took the podium next.
“You are embarking
on your career as D.O.s during a very special year,” said
Thomas, “the 130th anniversary of osteopathic
medicine. I am honored to be here with you today.
Citing the Irish
author, Brendan Francis, Thomas exhorted the new medical
students to use their talents effusively, “like a millionaire
intent on going broke.”
“Connect with your
patients,” he said, “and they will connect with you.”
“I believe that
osteopathic medicine is the most noble profession in the world.
What a privilege we have to provide quality medical care for our
patients.
“My wish for each of
you is that your careers as D.O.s are just as rewarding as my
own! Use your talent to its fullest extent. Go for broke!
“In the end, you
will be far richer because you can honestly say, ‘I gave each of
my patients everything I had.’
OOA President
Stanley then addressed students on behalf of the association.
“I
refer to myself as a fellow classmate, because you are now
beginning a career of lifelong learning. You will forever be an
osteopathic student. Your achievements can be limitless and much
will depend on your inner drive and dedication. I encourage you
to strive to be the best you can be.
“I
implore you to adhere to the high standards of human compassion,
sincere personal interactions and genuine motivation when
treating your patients. The burning question in your mind must
always be, ‘Would I want to be treated this way, and have I
sought to do no harm?’
“The Ohio Osteopathic Association exists,”
he said, “to maintain the highest standards of osteopathic care
and education. We exist to protect the rights of our patients
and the rights of our physicians to practice medicine. We are
also committed to you now and throughout the spectrum of your
professional career.”
The Sept. 11
Convocation included the school’s White Coat Ceremony, during
which the members of the Class of 2008 received their white
coats and was officiated by Society of Alumni and Friends
President Anderson. The white coats donned during the ceremony
were provided by the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation.
“It
is my pleasure today to introduce the members of our 29th
entering class,” said Anderson. As a member of the Class of
1983, I know from personal experience that the road these young
men and women have chosen is a challenging one.
“Although the road before them appears long, the alumni of the
college will be there to help each student successfully earn his
or her doctorate in osteopathic medicine. As president of the
board of the OU-COM Society of Alumni and Friends, I, along with
other alumni association members, stand ready to answer your
questions and give you guidance.”
After explaining the
meaning and purpose of the White Coat Ceremony, he introduced
the 114 members of the class as they were coated. He then led
them in a recitation of the Student Pledge of Commitment.
“We hope that each
one of you will find the next four years to be rewarding and
successful,” he said. “Although the program is rigorous and the
demands are many, we will, as I said earlier, give you every bit
of assistance we can to help you make it through.”
Brose then
introduced keynote speaker Womer Benjamin. He noted some achievements
from Womer Benjamin’s impressive career, which included, as a
legislator, helping shepherd Ohio’s professional liability
insurance (medical malpractice) reform bill into law.
Womer Benjamin, a lawyer,
recounted to the audience a trip through the Judean Desert from
Jerusalem on the road to Jericho that she had taken four years
ago. On this road she encountered the reputed Inn of the Good
Samaritan of biblical legend. She told the Class of 2008 that
the story of the Good Samaritan had had an impact on her long
before the trip, influencing her desire to use the law to help
people in times of crisis.
“Likewise,” she
said, “going into public service out of the blue as a state
representative in 1994, I was on an idealistic crusade to help
my constituents and help my beloved state of Ohio. For me, it
was a very fulfilling crusade.”
“When the governor asked me to consider heading
up the Ohio Department of Insurance at the end of 2002, I really
wondered what needy element of society I would be able to serve
in that position.
“Little did I know,” she joked, “that needy
doctors were lining the highways and byways of
Ohio, needing medical malpractice insurance to
continue to be able to serve
Ohio patients!
“Initially I felt like crossing to the other side
of the street to avoid the problem or passing it off to someone
else — I hadn’t really figured out to whom — but the need and
the challenge were too tempting. Ultimately, I am gratified at
being able to help wherever the problems arise on my road to
Jericho.
“If we are not here to help each other and
improve this world,” she asked the students, “why are we here in
the first place?”
“I also would like to believe that most if not
all of you, having chosen the medical profession in the first
place, have identified your own road to
Jericho and are ready for the wounded strangers to be
found there.”
She spoke admiringly of those, such as the
first-responders at the
Twin
Towers
Sept. 11, 2001, who gave their lives during a time of crisis.
She said the inspiration of those Good Samaritans and future
physicians such as in the Class of 2008 motivated her to stay in
the fight to alleviate the financial crisis — a crisis of
exorbitantly priced insurance costs — being imposed on those who
provide vitally needed medical care.
She praised the Gov. Bob Taft and the dedicated
personnel of her department for their efforts at stemming off
the insurance crisis. She pledged that the Ohio Department of
Insurance would not stop until the crisis was ended.
She said that two realizations led her to set up
several measures designed to begin to solve the problem, among
which were the Medical Malpractice Commission stipulated by
Ohio’s professional liability insurance reform law;
authorization to create a state insurance fund to offer
“stop-gap” insurance coverage in the face of a coverage
shortfall; a patient compensation fund; and legislation which
would facilitate the ability of doctors and health-care
providers who desired so to insure themselves.
In closing, she urged the members of the Class of
2008 to “learn all you can, achieve all you can, but do not get
so caught up in yourself and your achievements that you miss the
injured traveler lying inert by the side of the road.”
“He or she will need
your education, your knowledge, your courage and your compassion
to get safely to the Inn of the Good Samaritan, and you, and
society, will be better for your efforts. ”The Phillips Medal of
Public Service Ceremony then began.
The Phillips Medal of Public Service was first awarded by OU-COM in
1976. The award was named for Jody Galbreath Phillips and her
husband, the late Wallace Phillips, to acknowledge their
generosity and contributions to
Ohio University, to
higher education and to the people of Ohio.
The honor is given to outstanding individuals for medical practice
exemplifying the best traditions of the osteopathic profession;
administration exemplifying the best tradition of humane,
concerned administration and public involvement; and for public
policy leadership exemplifying the best traditions of democratic
concern for the public good and the public welfare.
Brose provided the audience with a description of each recipient’s
accomplishments as they received the medal.
Keynote speaker
Womer Benjamin was one of three recipients of the Phillips Medal. In
addition to Womer Benjamin, this year’s recipients of the Phillips
Medal were Chew and Bowden.
McDavis presented
Womer Benjamin her medal for, as noted by Brose, an exemplary career
as a lawyer and legislator and for being the first woman to head
the Ohio Department of Insurance. Womer Benjamin was a key figure in
securing the passage of professional liability insurance
(medical malpractice) reform through House Bill 281. In 2001 she
was the Aurora Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year,
received the Coleman Professional Services’ Distinguished
Service Award and was named Legislator of the Year by the Ohio
Nurses Association. She served as a House representative for
four terms, passing 20 bills, including legislation that
toughened Ohio rape laws, secured the State Victims of Crime
Fund and allowed judges to suspend the driver’s licenses of
those charged with vehicular homicide.
Geiger presented the
award to Chew, president of nationally recognized Grandview/Southview
hospitals and president of the Ohio Osteopathic Hospital
Association. Chew has served Kettering Medical Center in several
administrative capacities — including chairman of the
Respiratory Therapy Department and vice president for
professional Services and Post Acute Care — before its merger
into Grandview/Southview hospitals. Under his leadership
Grandview has received many national honors including five-star
designations from HealthGrades, recognition as one of the
preeminent teaching hospitals named in Solucient’s Top 100
Hospitals study and was named as one of the country’s best
medical centers by US News and World Report’s in its
annual “America’s Best Hospitals” issue for two years in a row.
Thomas presented the
honor to Bowden, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon. Bowden
has served the osteopathic profession for the last 30 years as a
distinguished physician, educator and leader. Among numerous
positions served, Bowden was the president of the American
Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and president of the
Osteopathic Academy of Orthopedics Hand Society, and chaired
internship and residency training programs at Doctors Hospital,
in addition to being chief-of-staff at Doctors. Currently a
member of the American Osteopathic Association Board of
Trustees, he has sought to bolster the prominence of research at
osteopathic medical schools throughout the nation. As a member
of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Board of Trustees, he
helped establish the J.O. Watson, D.O., Endowed Research Chair,
a major component of OU-COM’s diabetes and cardiovascular
research and clinical initiatives.
At the end of the medal presentations, Brose closed the
convocation, and the Convocation luncheon began.
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