CORE receives high praise

“Father” of OPTI concept extols quality, achievements of the CORE system

Nov. 24, 2008

Michael Opipari, D.O., considered the “father” of the concept of Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institutions (OPTI), praised OU-HCOM’s Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE)
at the organization’s semi-annual board meeting on Friday, Nov. 21, at the Fawcett Center in Columbus.

Opipari, who attended the meeting to receive
his Phillips Medal of Public Service—the
highest honor given by OU-HCOM—said the
CORE was “the perfect example” of what he envisioned when developing the OPTI concept.

Opipari said that an OPTI is a partnership between one or more osteopathic medical colleges and a consortium of osteopathic hospitals involved in the education and training of osteopathic medical students
and residents.

“What I see happening here at the CORE and at (OU-HCOM) is exactly what an OPTI is supposed to be,” Opipari said. “You got it, you
understood it, you are doing it and you are doing it extremely well.”

Opipari had planned to accept his Phillips Medal at last summer’s OU-HCOM Convocation and White Coat Ceremony, along with the two other recipients, Anne Pope and Levente Batizy, D.O., but he was unable to attend due to a brief illness.

“He has become one of the true leaders of the osteopathic profession,” Dean Jack Brose, D.O., said of Opipari, who this summer was named one of the 37 “Great Pioneers” of the osteopathic medical profession by the American Osteopathic Association’s House of Delegates.

Integrating education, research and faculty development into clinical training provides the foundation for an OPTI, Opipari said. “With the CORE, those are not just words, but the reality of what is happening
in this organization: very high quality osteopathic medical education.”

Opipari said that the achievements and quality of the CORE have made receiving the Phillips Medal even more special to him. “(An honor like) this means so much more when it comes from an individual or an organization that is highly regarded, respected and distinguished, and that is certainly the case of (OU-HCOM) and the CORE, both of which have achieved significant heights in terms of high quality in osteopathic medical education.”

From 1971 to 2005, Opipari taught internal medicine at Michigan State University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and since 1979, he has served in a variety of educational and administrative positions with the Detroit Osteopathic Hospital Corporation and the Henry Ford Hospital System. To date, he has authored or co-authored nearly three dozen scholarly publications, abstracts and book chapters.

As a member of the AOA and the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI) since 1970, Opipari served as a member, officer and leader in dozens of committees, programs, councils and organizations that focus on graduate medical education. He was named a Fellow of the ACOI in 1981, and he received distinguished service awards from the alumni association of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1996, the ACOI in 1998 and the AOA in 1999.

Opipari currently serves as Attending Physician Emeritus in the Section of Medical Oncology/Hematology at the Detroit Osteopathic Hospital Corporation, and as chair of the Council on Post-Doctoral Training for the AOA.