Photo: Students of the Class of 2011 recite the
Student Pledge of Commitment near the conclusion of the
White Coat Ceremony.
by Kevin M. Sanders
Saturday, Aug.
18, Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM)
welcomed a new class of medical students, the Class of 2011, at
its 32nd Convocation Ceremony. Sen. John Carey, of
Ohio’s 17th
Senate District, was the keynote
speaker at the event, which took place at 11 a.m. in Athens at
Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
OU-COM Dean Jack Brose, D.O.,
convened the event by welcoming the Class of 2011 and all those
in attendance.
“We’re very proud
of this class. You are continuing our tradition of recruiting
classes that look like America. This year we have 25 members
from racial or ethnic minorities in this class.
Additionally, this
class has not only the highest overall grade point average of
any incoming class in OU-COM history, but also the highest GPA
in the sciences.
We are very, very proud of this incoming class,” said Brose.
Brose introduced
the speakers and guests for the occasion, which included Kathy
A. Krendl, Ph.D., Ohio University executive vice president and
provost; Robert S. Juhasz, D.O., board of trustees member,
American Osteopathic Association; William F. “Rusty” Emlich,
D.O. (’86), president of the Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA);
Jeffrey A. Stanley, D.O. (’82), president of the OU-COM
Society of Alumni and Friends; Carey; Fred M. DeGrandis, J.D.,
CEO of the Western Region of the Cleveland Clinic Health System;
Daniel F. Dickriede, D.O. (’87), South Pointe Hospital
emergency medicine physician; Peter B. Dane, D.O.,
associate dean for predoctoral education; D. Keith Watson,
D.O., associate dean for graduate medical education;
Gillian H. Ice, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of social
medicine; John D. Schriner, Ph.D., director of
admissions; and Daniel R. Silbiger, second-year medical
student.
Emlich brought greeting from
the Ohio osteopathic medical community to the class.
“You are now beginning a career
of lifelong learning and will forever be an osteopathic student
and part of the osteopathic profession. Your opportunities are
limitless.”
He reminded them of the
life-altering and life-giving power that will be entrusted to
them as physicians, and as such, to pursue excellence in all
that they do professionally and personally.
“You are the future of our
profession. You have been granted the greatest opportunity to
serve mankind, and with it all the obligations that are
commensurate with that responsibility.”
Finally, he said, “Put your
patients first; you are becoming an osteopathic physician.”
The Class of 2011
is comprised of 108 students, of which 59 are women and 49 are
men. Nearly one-quarter (25 of 108) are minority students. Also,
18 of the class are from Appalachian counties in Ohio. The class
is 87 percent Ohio residents.
Brose introduced
the ceremony’s keynote speaker, Carey, who serves as chairman of
the Finance and Financial Institutions Committee in the Ohio
Senate.
Carey delivered a
reflective address, recalling his experiences growing up in
Wellston — where he eventually became mayor — and as a student
at Ohio University, where he began college in 1977.
“I grew up a
quiet kid in Wellston, a town about 35 miles west, working on my
dad’s trash truck. Needless to say, I was not the person most
people would pick to be in public office. However, I knew that I
wanted to make a difference in my community and our region.”
“It was this
desire,” he said, “to impact people’s lives that brought me to
Ohio University in the 1970s, a young, inexperienced kid — the
first in my family to go to college. In fact, I remember
thinking that if I flunked out my first quarter, I could join
the military.”
“I short,” he
said, “I was scared.”
Nonetheless, he
mapped out a career path in public service for himself, he said.
He would work for a state representative, U.S. Congressman and
then become mayor of Wellston. And he did exactly that.
Just as his
education at Ohio University made a difference in his life, OU-COM
has made a difference not only in the lives of the physicians it
has trained, but in the communities that it and those physicians
serve. One such physician, said Carey, is Douglas Jones, D.O.,
a 1981 OU-COM graduate, who was recently named Wellston’s Man of
the Year.
“His service has
been so important,” said Carey, “to the area, that for a time,
if Dr. Jones was not practicing in Wellston, there would have
been no doctor available. He has made a real difference.
“As incoming
students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, I am confident
that each one of you will also make your mark on the world not
only through your medical practice but because of who each of
you are as individuals.”
Carey addressed
the efforts of the state legislature and Gov. Ted Strickland to
help contain the costs of health care, which he said has put a
tremendous strain on not only governmental budgets, but family
ones, too.
“At the same time
we are working to contain costs, we must also work to improve
access to quality health care,” he said, citing the expansion of
Ohio’s Home First program and State Children’s Health Insurance
Program, which improved access and affordability for children
and seniors.
Focusing on the
role of the medical community, he said that although the state
government may help to pay for health care, “it will be you as
practitioners of medicine that will have biggest influence on
the health of Ohioans.
“As I look out on
this crowd of future doctors, I am confident that Ohio’s
health-care system will have the resources to remain top notch
well into the future.
“Just as I
stepped on this campus 30 years ago with the goal of becoming a
public servant, today begins your journey of realizing your goal
of becoming doctors. I cannot predict all that you will
accomplish, the places you will go, or the way medicine will
change in the years to come, but I wish you Godspeed in the
process.”
Brose then began
the Phillips Medal of Public Service Ceremony.
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 Carey
was one of three recipients of the Phillips Medal. In addition
to Carey, this year’s recipients of the Phillips Medal were
DeGrandis and Dickriede.
Carey, who has
been a public servant for nearly 30 years, was the state
representative for the 94th House District from 1995
to 2002 and also served as a congressional aide for U.S.
Congressman Clarence Miller.
He has had more than a dozen
bills signed into law including House Bill 94 (The State Budget,
124th General Assembly), the Rural Industrial Park
Loan Program and the comprehensive rewrite of Fireworks Safety
Regulations in the wake of the Scottown tragedy.
He has received several awards for
his legislative prowess, including the 2002 National Republican
Legislator of the Year award.
DeGrandis, a past
chairman of OU-COM’s Centers for Osteopathic Research and
Education Board, has been a leader in hospital administration
for more than 30 years, serving as legal counsel, president and
CEO of various health-care institutions in the Greater Cleveland
area. He also has an outstanding record of public service, and
has been honored numerous times for such, including receiving
the All Ohio School Board Award and the 2006 Exemplar Award for
Community Service.
Dickriede, board
certified by the American Colleges of Osteopathic Emergency
Physicians, was one of the first Americans to volunteer with the
Nobel Prize-winning organization Medécins Sans Frontières, or
Doctors Without Borders. From 1992 to 1994, he provided
emergency medical assistance in war-torn Somalia, Afghanistan
and Rwanda. Dickriede is the first alum to receive a Phillips
Medal of Public Service.
The Convocation
also included the school’s White Coat Ceremony, officiated by
Dane, during which the members of the Class of 2011 received
their white coats.
Dane explained
the meaning and purpose of the White Coat Ceremony. “According
to the Arnold P. Gold Foundation, who inspired this 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.’ It signifies the blending of scientific excellence
with compassionate patient care.
“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.”
Dane introduced
second-year student Silbiger, who remembered the excitement and
anxiety he felt last year while sitting in the same place the
students of the Class of 2011 were in this year.
He offered them
some advice he hoped would help guide them through their four
years of medical school.
“Always offer
your patients, peers, nurses, physicians and professors plenty
of respect. Courtesy,” he said, “seldom exacerbates situations
or interactions.”
“Become
comfortable with uncertainty and be secure with yourself. When
you don’t know the answer, you need to say, ‘I don’t know.’
“Be humble.
Overestimating yourself will certainly limit you.
“Always be a team
player. Working together will provide the best results for your
patients.”
Schriner then
introduced the members of the class, as they crossed the stage
and were coated.
Dane led the
class in a recitation of the Student Pledge of Commitment, and
the event was adjourned.
Brose then closed
the Convocation and invited the students and guests to enjoy a
light buffet lunch and refreshments in new Baker University
Center.
