OU-HCOM welcomes class of 2016 during Convocation

Ohio Supreme Court justice and Cleveland Clinic president of regional hospitals to receive college’s highest honor

WHAT: 37th Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) Convocation and White Coat Ceremony

WHERE: Ohio University Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium

WHEN: Saturday, July 28, 2012, 2 p.m.

HIGHLIGHTS: 139 aspiring physicians and surgeons will be welcomed to Ohio University and into the osteopathic profession as they receive their short white coats during OU-HCOM’s 37th Convocation and White Coat Ceremony. The new medical students are required to wear the white coat, a mark of professionalism, as they accompany physicians in clinical settings, an educational experience that begins during the first months of medical school at OU-HCOM.

This year’s class is largely recruited from Ohio, with 83 percent coming from Ohio communities and 17 percent recruited from southeastern Ohio. Nineteen percent of the class are minority students.

OU-HCOM will broadcast the ceremony live at http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/Convocation2012/video.htm.

The college will also conduct its annual presentation of the Phillips Medals of Public Service, the college’s highest honor given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to health care, education and/or public service. Award recipients, who will give remarks during the ceremony, include:

• David L. Bronson, M.D., F.A.C.P., president of the Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals and president of the American College of Physicians, the nation’s largest medical specialty organization.
• Yvette McGee Brown, J.D., a justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio – the first African American woman on that court –and Ohio University graduate. Brown was also the first African American elected to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Domestic Division and Juvenile Branch.

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The Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is a leader in providing patient-centered, clinically integrated medical education, from pre-medical education to undergraduate medical education, and on through residency training, with an emphasis on primary care. Focused research and community health programs speak to the college’s commitment to improving health and well-being in Ohio communities and quality of life for patients. Commercialized medical research innovations have saved patient lives worldwide and placed Ohio University first in state and fourth in the nation among higher education institutions for research return-on-investments. Visit us at http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/