Welcome to ROUNDS!
This weekly e-newsletter goes out to all OU-COM and CORE personnel and students.
The ROUNDS archive is here.
NEWS
Administrators remembered on anniversary of tragedy
This week marks the fifth anniversary of a commuter airline crash that killed two OU-COM administrators.
Bridget Wagner, D.O. (’94), assistant dean for the CORE Northeast Regional Office, and Kathleen Gebard, administrator for the CORE Southwest Regional Office, were en route to a conference on humanism in medicine at the A.T. Still University/Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo., when Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashed shortly before landing. Besides Wagner and Gebard, 11 others on the flight were killed. Two passengers survived but with serious injuries.
Wagner, mother of three daughters, was a 1994 graduate of the college and joined the university in 2001. She was dedicated to providing medical care to underserved populations around the world, including Kenya, Belize and Brazil, and she was active in many minority medical education programs. As CORE assistant dean, Wagner served as the academic officer for medical students in their third and fourth years. She also was the liaison for the CORE system and its affiliated hospitals and colleges of osteopathic medicine.
In 2001, the Ohio Osteopathic Association established the M. Bridget Wagner, DO, Humanitarian Award to recognize osteopathic physicians or individuals associated with the osteopathic profession for acts of philanthropy and service to mankind. Her parents, Thomas and Susan established the M. Bridget Wagner, D.O., Endowed Memorial Fund at Ohio University in 2005 to support osteopathic medical students participating in OU-COM international programs.
Gebard; wife, mother and sister to six siblings; joined Ohio University in 1989 and as administrator in the Dayton area. She helped establish medical education programs, including one for disadvantaged Dayton high school students interested in medical careers, and she was active as a community volunteer and student mentor. Gebard offered guidance and support for medical students in their third and fourth years, monitored their progress, and coordinated medical training opportunities. In 2005, Gebard’s husband, Timothy, established the Kathleen Gebard Endowed Memorial Fund at OU-COM and the CORE to support programs in medical education and improve access to medical education for disadvantaged students. This fund is co-administered by the CORE Southwest Regional Office at Grandview Medical Center.
University honors Burke for outstanding contributions
William Burke, D.O., FACOFP (’88), associate professor of family medicine, was recognized at the Ohio University Alumni Awards Gala Friday, Oct. 16, with the Distinguished Service Award. The honor is given to an alumnus/a each year for outstanding contributions to the university and community.
Burke is director of the family practice residency program at Doctors Hospital in Columbus.
Cooper receives Riland Medal
Nancy Cooper, Health Policy Fellowship coordinator, received the Riland Medal for health policy from the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT). Each year, NYIT recognizes individuals who have shown consistent dedication to medical research, health policy and the osteopathic philosophy. Recipients of the award seek to improve health care through both policy work and community service.
In her leadership role with the National Health Policy Fellowship program, Cooper has developed in-depth health policy expertise and served as a mentor to many fellows. In addition, she volunteers as a court-appointed special advocate/guardian ad litem (CASA/GAL) for abused and neglected children.
Faculty member receives grant to conduct stroke research
Yang Li, M.D. (equiv.), Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical sciences, was recently awarded $221,250 from the National Institutes of Health to continue his research on “Elevated zinc in ischemia and reperfusion.”
Li’s study follows his previous discovery of elevated levels of zinc in cells before their death following hypoxic-ischemic brain injury. This type of injury to cells in the brain and spinal cord is the result of a lack of oxygen and lack of blood flow to the brain—which can cause strokes.
Li’s suggestion that zinc could be involved in a pathway that leads to cell death and, by extension, brain damage following ischemic strokes, may refute the current theory that calcium is responsible for ischemic strokes.
(ROUNDS will run stories on each of the recent federal grant awardees covered in this recent story: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/News/stories/ResearchFunds09/index.htm.)
Students elected to office in national organization
Three OU-COM students were elected to offices in the national student chapter in the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP) during the group’s scientific seminar held in Boston, Mass. Andrew Little, OMS II, was elected president of the national student chapter, which also qualifies him to serve as a member of the ACOEP Board of Directors. Suzanne Staraitis, OMS II, was elected vice-president, and Jeremy Wachenschwanz, OMS II, was elected public relations co-chair.
Faculty, staff honored with yearly awards
A list of faculty and staff who achieve yearly milestones of five, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service to OU-COM will be posted on the college’s web site later today, in addition to various departmental awards for academic year 2008-09.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Deadline set for AOA poster production
Students and faculty members presenting posters at this year’s American Osteopathic Association Annual Meeting, Nov. 1-5 in New Orleans, must submit them to OU-COM’s design services by Monday, Oct. 26.
Templates for posters, submission information and requirements can all be found on the communication design research page, www.oucom.ohiou.edu/communications/posters2009.htm.
Large work files, posters and/or poster files can also be submitted to Danette Pratt, graphic artist and biomedical illustrator, at an FTP dropbox account at http://dropbox.yousendit.com/DanettePratt11894102 by following the instructions at the site.
Brown bag lunch series on biomedical funding
The Office of the Vice President for Research will host a brown bag lunch series on how to obtain external funding for biomedical science research, including from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend.
The first event will be held from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 27, in Room 141/145 of the Human Resources building on West Union Street. John Kopchick, Goll Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of molecular biology, will talk about his experiences with external awards. Group discussion and networking will follow.
For information, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Research at research@ohio.edu or 593-0370.
The following topics have been established for AACOM’s 2010 Medical Education Mini-Grants:
1. Identification of best practices in the teaching/learning and assessment of the core competencies.
2. Identification of the distinctive features of osteopathic medical education, e.g., training in the use of touch as part of osteopathic practice, more clinical work in outpatient settings.
3. Identification of faculty/preceptor development approaches that lead to positive change in student learning outcomes, or student attitudes and opinions toward teaching/learning (could apply to new or current faculty/preceptors).
4. Studies comparing the outcomes of student learning in inpatient and outpatient teaching/learning environments.
5. Identification of the impact of technology integration into the teaching/learning process.
Mini-research grants will be supported to the maximum amount of $5,000. Osteopathic medical education researchers are invited to review the protocols for application and submit a proposal before January 5, 2010, deadline. Contact Linda Heun, PhD with questions and input.
CALENDAR
Family Medicine Residency Information Session
Join us for an evening of dinner, speakers, roundtable discussions and tours at the Fairfield Medical Center in Lancaster Wednesday, Oct. 21. Please contact Janice Brenstuhl, medical education coordinator, with questions or to RSVP at 740.687.8651 or janiceb@fmchealth.org.
AHEC hosts health literacy training program.
AHEC hosts the program, “Health Literacy: Helping Patients Understand.” To learn about the day long program, go to www.oucom.ohiou.edu/News/stories/AHEC09/index.htm.
Holiday cheer for the troops
The Association of Military Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons is undertaking a project to bring Christmas cheer to U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanastan. The group will host a two-hour session in which OU-COM students, faculty and staff may sign holiday cards to be sent to the troops. AMPOPS will supply the cards.
Retirement reception
A retirement reception will be held for Mary Dailey, administrative coordinator, academic affairs.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The “Introduction” of every lecture should have three steps:
1) Attention: You’ll want your audience to begin firing neurons related to your topic—tell a story, show a picture, use humor, try a related ice-breaker. Welcome their perspectives.
2) Motivation: Our students appreciate clinical relevance. Present a clear connection to the course learning topics/objectives.
3) Overview: Begin with the end in mind. Let them know, “by the end of this lesson you will be able to ______ (insert target skill or understanding). Use the course learning topics/objectives and lay out what part of the big picture you are addressing (show them the “puzzle box picture” and which pieces you are contributing that day).
For your audience, launching directly into a lecture without these steps is like taking a trip without a destination or a map; they must constantly work just to understand where they are and were they are going rather than actively learning the material.
For help in remembering and planning a good introduction, see our quick lesson planning template at: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/fd/Quick%20lesson%20plan%20counter.htm.
Find more “Teaching Tips” at your OU-COM & CORE faculty development Web resources: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/fd/programs.htm or www.ohiocore.org/cf/index.htm. If you have a great strategy that seems to always work, please send it to me, and I’ll include it in a future Faculty Development Tidbit.
Tidbits courtesy of your Office of Faculty Development, with Steve Davis, Ph.D.; Robbin Kirkland, Ph.D.; and Olivia Sheehan, Ph.D.
OU-COM IN THE NEWS
The Athens News (10-19-09)
“Cancer intrudes into student's life”
www.athensnews.com/news/campus-news/29353-cancer-intrudes-into-students-life
WOUB (10-19-09)
“OU professor receives seventh National Science Foundation Grant”
The Post (10-13-09)
“Professor ‘bridges’ modern species to dinosaur fossils”
http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=29460
The Post (10-13-09)
“Compound creates hope for combating cancer”
http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=29428
WOUB (10-12-09)
“Diabetes dilemma: Appalachia’s critical health problem”
The Columbus Dispatch (10-09-09)
“Witmer TV”
http://blog.dispatch.com/darkmatter/2009/10/witmer_tv_1.shtml
The New York Times (10-08-09)
“Paper challenges ideas about ‘early bird’ dinosaur”
www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/science/09fossil.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
(Dr. Witmer is quoted as an expert.)
Please send your news/announcements to rounds@oucom.ohiou.edu each week by Wednesday, 3 p.m. for consideration in the following ROUNDS. If you have questions, suggestions or corrections, please contact Anita Martin, assistant director of communication, at 593.2199 or martina@oucom.ohiou.edu.