Clinical labs, Free Clinic granted a new home
Osteopathic Heritage Foundation gift is
second largest in college history


A $2.3 million grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation will create state-of the-art clinical skills training labs for OU-COM students. The renovated facility also will provide a permanent, contemporary home for the college’s Free Clinic, which serves the uninsured and underinsured in Southeastern Ohio.

The grant marks the second largest gift in college history. It supports the construction of the namesake Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Center for Clinical Training and Assessment and Free Community Health Clinic.

“This new facility fits well within the foundation’s mission,” says Rick Vincent, president and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. “The medical education provided in this facility will help students hone their diagnostic skills and their ability to connect with patients, which is a distinguishing characteristic of osteopathic physicians. The space will also give the Free Clinic a permanent facility, which will improve medical access for those in the community who don’t have other means for health care.”

Dean Jack Brose, D.O., says that this renovation follows OU-COM’s tradition of innovation. “Our college was one of the first medical schools in the country to offer clinical labs with standardized patients,” he says. “We were fortunate to be ahead of the curve. This facility will help OU-COM keep that edge into the future.”
Planning is underway for the new facility, to be housed in Grosvenor Hall and Grosvenor Hall West on the Athens Campus. Project completion is scheduled for early 2011.

Clinical training and assessment

The new clinical training center will continue to utilize standardized patients. These community volunteers portray a specific illness or injury—from Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and diabetes to psychiatric disorders—to test and refine students’ clinical skills. The larger space—nearly twice the size of the current Irvine Hall Clinical Training and Assessment Center—will accommodate the growing classes at OU-COM.

According to Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), FACOFP, FACOEP, assistant dean for preclinical education, OU-COM students begin training in the center in August of their first year, and log more than 80 hours in the training lab during their first two years of medical school.

“It is remarkable to watch the students in just one year’s time as they begin to put skills and knowledge together in the clinical training center,” says Wadsworth, who is the instructor of record for first- and second-year clinical skills courses. “Their comfort level with patient interaction dramatically improves, as well as their understanding of how to obtain a history, perform an exam and put together medical knowledge with cases.”

The new space also creates opportunities for cross-disciplinary training for local providers through professional development sessions and for other health care providers-in-training, such as nursing and physical therapy students attending Ohio University.

“Collaborative partnerships in the health care arena today are absolutely essential,” Vincent says. “Health care is significantly more than just physician care. It involves nurses, therapists, social workers and other allied health professionals. The fact that in this facility they can train to work together as a team is exciting.”

Free, quality community health care

The OU-COM Free Clinic, which will also expand in the move, provides free and low-cost medical care to underserved populations in Southeastern Ohio through both its permanent clinic and its Mobile Health Van.

“While 12 percent of the national population is uninsured, the figure in Appalachian Ohio is above 15 percent,” says Community Health Programs Director Kathy Trace. “Our Free Clinic’s move from Parks Hall will let us expand our hours of operation, which is vitally important for this underserved region.”

Dean Brose, who began the Free Clinic program in 2005, often volunteers his time there, along with many other faculty members and students. In 2008, more than 576 physician volunteer hours were logged at the Free Clinic. That number is expected to double with this new development, which will add up to about $106,000 worth of physician time donated to the people of Appalachian Ohio.

“It’s a responsibility of physicians and other providers in Southeastern Ohio to provide a level of quality care to those who cannot afford it on their own,” Vincent says. “Free clinics need highly qualified health professionals. This facility provides the perfect opportunity to give back to the community and to train future physicians and other health care providers.”