by Michael Weiser
On Saturday, Aug.
13, Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine welcomed a
new class of medical students, the Class of 2009, at its 30th
Convocation Ceremony. Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O.,
vice president of health
sciences and medical affairs at the New York Institute of
Technology and dean of the New York College of Osteopathic
Medicine delivered the keynote
address at the ceremony, which took place at 11 a.m. in the
Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on the
university’s Athens campus. Ross-Lee served as OU-COM Dean
from 1993 to 2000.
“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 Roderick McDavis,
Ph.D., the 20th president of Ohio University. McDavis
is the second alumnus to head the University and its first
African-American president.
Also present on
the stage was David Bitonte, D.O., president of the Ohio
Osteopathic Association (OOA); Thomas Anderson, D.O. (’83), president
of the OU-COM Society of Alumni and Friends; Peter Dane, D.O.,
associate dean for pre-doctoral education; Keith Watson, D.O.,
associate dean for graduate medical education; Celeste Wallace, D.O. (’02), assistant professor of pediatrics; Mary Healey-Sedutto,
Ph.D., founder and executive director of Hope for a Healthier
Humanity; Kathleen Rice, R.Ph., president and chief operating
officer of Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital; George Dunigan,
director of governmental relations; John Schriner, director of
admissions; and Eric Beck, second-year
student.
McDavis welcomed
the Class of 2009 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. “The
problem-based approach is clearly a major wave of the future. What OU-COM does today will be the model for what others do
tomorrow.”
“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 (CORE) 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 2009
is comprised of 108 students, 64 females and 44 males. Nearly
one out of three (32 of 108) of the class is a minority student.
Also, eight of the class are from Southeastern Ohio. The class is 87
percent Ohio residents and 59 percent female.
OOA President
Bitonte took the podium next on behalf of the state association.
Reflecting upon
his own entrance to osteopathic medical education, he
acknowledged the excitement, apprehension, pride and fear that
they all must be feeling at this ceremony. He assured them that
their choice was a wise one.
“In
four years, when you graduate from OU-COM,” he said, “I can
assure you that you will find that your education here was
superb and better than most other medical schools in the country.”
Bitonte reminded
the students that they were
now beginning a career of lifelong learning. “You will forever
be an osteopathic student, part of the osteopathic profession.”
“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.”
He informed the
students that the white
coats they would be receiving later in the program had been
provided by the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation (OOF), and the copy of “A
Second Voice, A Century of Osteopathic Medicine in Ohio” that
they had received upon their arrival had been provided
compliments of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations.
“Finally, it’s my pleasure to
present to you, the students, and to OU-COM, a check in the
amount of $194,170 from the Ohio Osteopathic Foundation.” The
gift, he said, was the result of the OOF Loan Challenge Match.
Anderson
spoke next, bringing greetings from the Society of Alumni and
Friends.
“It is my
pleasure today to welcome the members of our 30th
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.”
Brose then
introduced the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Dr. Ross-Lee. He
noted some achievements from Ross-Lee’s impressive career, which
included her achievement of becoming
the first African-American
woman to become dean of a college of medicine, that being
OU-COM.
Ross-Lee welcomed the incoming
class of 2009 as the next generation of OU-COM alumni on the
first step of their journey to become osteopathic physicians.
Invoking the significance of
receiving their white coats, Ross-Lee said, “This occasion
marks your first step towards attaining the professionalism that
being a physician requires. Today you are publicly acknowledged
as an osteopathic medical student aspiring, and soon to become a
full-fledged osteopathic physician.”
“However,” she continued, “the
‘soon,’ from your perspective, is really relative.”
To the laughter of the crowd,
she laid out the true nature of the path that they had embarked
upon. “Over the next four years, in fact, … probably over the
next seven, eight or nine years, … in fact, for some of you, it
is ten years or more, you will hear many times that the practice
of medicine is an awesome responsibility.”
“Your future patients and
colleagues will expect you to be well-trained, competent,
caring and reflect the highest of personal and professional
integrity,” she explained.
She offered sage advice to meet
those expectations. “First, that you understand the science of
medicine; second, that you attain the skills necessary to
deliver on the art of practice; and, third, as an osteopathic
physician, that you appreciate and incorporate the power of
touch in the care that you deliver.”
Ross-Lee assured the class that they were “selected” for
admission to OU-COM beyond simply the achievement of high MCAT
score or grade point averages. “You were selected because of
your personal integrity, your desire to serve, your maturity and
your competence and your commitment to the profession of
osteopathic medicine.”
She let the students know that they did not have to “survive”
medical school. Rather, she predicted that they would thrive in
this environment. “You were chosen because you have the ‘right
stuff.’”
Ross-Lee ended her address by reciting the Desiderata by
Max Erhmann.
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
Ross-Lee was one of three recipients of the Phillips Medal. In
addition to Ross-Lee, this year’s recipients of the Phillips
Medal were Healey-Sedutto and Rice.
McDavis presented
Ross-Lee her medal for, as noted by Brose, her role as the third
dean of OU-COM (1993-2000) and the first African-American woman
to head a medical school. After leaving OU-COM, she went on to
become vice president of health sciences and medical affairs at
the New York Institute of Technology and dean of the New York
College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she now serves. A
pioneering presence in medical education, Ross-Lee was a driving
force behind the creation of the CORE — the nation’s first
Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institute — and established
OU-COM’s innovative curricular tracks, the Patient Centered
Continuum and the Clinical Presentation Continuum. She is a
diplomate of the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians
and a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family
Physicians. The first D.O. to complete the Robert Wood Johnson
Health Policy Fellowship, serving as legislative assistant for
health for Sen. Bill Bradley in 1990 and 1991, Ross-Lee has
subsequently focused much of her energy on health-care issues
surrounding vulnerable and underserved populations .
Dunigan presented
the award to Healey-Sedutto, founder and executive director of
Hope for a Healthier Humanity Foundation and founder and C.E.O.
of the Pan American Catholic Health Care Network. She served as
president and C.E.O. of the Catholic Health Care System and the
director and secretariat of health for the Archdiocese of New
York. As chief health-care advisor to Cardinal John O’Conner,
she led medical and relief missions to regions suffering from
natural disasters. Her
work targets the health-care needs of many Latin American
countries. Her humanitarian efforts have helped to improve the
health status of thousands of people throughout Latin America
and the Caribbean.
Watson presented
the honor to Rice, president and chief operating officer of
Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital, is a member of the board of
trustees of the OOA and the CORE board. As a member of the CORE
board, she has provided invaluable leadership in furtherance of
osteopathic medical education. She has been a leader in national
osteopathic organizations, including the Foundation for
Osteopathic Health Services and the American Osteopathic
Association Council of Teaching Hospitals. She also serves on
the Akron Roundtable, Cuyahoga Falls Rotary, Area Agency on
Aging and helps direct the Ronald McDonald House of Cleveland.
In 2004 she received the OOA Meritorious Service Award.
The Aug. 13
Convocation also included the school’s White Coat Ceremony,
during which the members of the Class of 2009 received their
white coats and was officiated by Dane.
Dane explained
the meaning and purpose of the White Coat Ceremony. “The
bestowing of a white clinical coat to new members of our
profession represents a rite of passage that establishes a
contract for professionalism and empathy in the practice of
medicine.”
“At OU-COM,” Dane continued,
“it also highlights the importance we place on early exposure of
our trainees to clinical medicine, which they will experience
within a few short weeks as they begin spending time with
physicians and other health-care workers in a real-time setting
of health-care delivery.”
As an emergency physician, Dane
assured the audience that the various emotional and physical
responses that they were experiencing at the ceremony were most
likely due to feelings of pride and not the onset of an acute
illness. He then introduced Beck.
Beck recounted
his experience from last year’s ceremony and offered words of
encouragement to the incoming class.
He explained the
significance of the waist-length coats that they would receive.
“Student physicians
retain that waist length coat until graduation; they then earn
the right to wear a full-length physician coat.”
He continued, “The white coat
is a symbol of humanism and professionalism. This includes
altruism, compassion, accountability, scholarship, duty,
service, honor, integrity and respect.”
Finally, he informed them, “The
pledge you will recite is a statement of your intent to settle
for nothing less than that which is reflective of
professionalism.”
Schriner then
introduced the members of the class. They then crossed the
stage to be welcomed into medical school by Dean Brose.
Dane then led the
class 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.”
At the end of the white coat ceremony, Brose closed the
convocation and invited the students and guests to enjoy a light
buffet lunch and refreshments in the Baker Center Ballroom.
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