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Q&A with Dr. Brose
 

When the dean’s position opened up in 2000, why did you take the position?
I really never had any ambition to be a dean. When Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee left, I applied because of my love for our college and a strong desire to see the college move to an even higher level of excellence. There is no doubt that this has occurred. One goal you identified early on was to increase the scope of medical care to southeastern Ohio.

Do you feel you have done that?
Yes, we’ve had many successes in this regard, but many more are ahead of us. Establishing the Free Clinic has had a profound effect on underserved patients. We have faculty practicing in a Federally Qualified Health Center and have established an outstanding clinical Diabetes Center. Now we are building upon our strong relationships with such partners as O’Bleness Hospital and OhioHealth to expand health care availability in southeastern Ohio, to expand our local hospital and to simplify referrals to larger centers when that becomes necessary. It is an exciting time to practice medicine in southeastern Ohio.

When you first started, what was the culture or environment like?
The college had just accomplished some amazing and innovative things under the leadership of Dr. Ross-Lee, such as the establishment of the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE) system and the new Clinical Presentation Continuum and Patient-Centered Continuum curricula.

However, with the evolving nature of health care both nationally and in the State of Ohio 11 years ago, the college was not without its challenges. State funding for medical education was decreasing, and students and faculty were anxious to see a number of changes take place in our curricula. Also, our faculty practice plan was operating at a significant financial deficit, and it became clear that a major reorganization was necessary. In addition, like most physician practices at that time, the practice plan was caught in the malpractice crisis and was having difficulty obtaining liability insurance. Finally, our CORE system was not nearly as academically strong and collaborative as it is today.

That said, it was clear to me that the college and the CORE system were ready and anxious to meet these challenges, and that is exactly what happened. It was an exciting and rewarding time to become dean.

What did you think your biggest challenge would be when you first
got the job?
Stabilizing the college’s budget and establishing a high level of trust between the students, faculty, college administration and CORE hospitals were at the top of my agenda. I felt that these were the keys to addressing our issues and moving the college forward. Actually, developing trust turned out to be easier than I thought because of the professionalism and dedication of the CORE faculty and staff, and because of their tremendous commitment to medical education. Appointing superbly competent and forthright people in critical positions was another key to establishing that trust.

Were there unexpected challenges?
The most unexpected challenge was the need to create a financially sustainable clinical practice organization and confront the lack of malpractice insurance availability. We addressed the insurance problem by establishing our own malpractice insurance company, which was a fascinating endeavor. I am extraordinarily grateful to our clinical faculty and college staff for making both of these efforts so successful.

Have you seen any changes in the student body over the years?
Our alumni are incredible and have been a real joy to me as dean. Amazingly, our incoming students just keep getting better and better in terms of academic qualifications and motivation towards osteopathic medicine. I believe the credit for this goes to our faculty who make OU-HCOM a superior place to learn medicine and our staff who put forth tremendous effort to make the student experience a positive one. I couldn’t be prouder of our college in this regard.

Has medical education changed since you became dean, and where
do you see it moving?
Medical educators today have wisely realized that there is a big difference between teaching and learning. Today, the student experience is far more interactive and tied to clinical medicine than it was in the past. In our new curricula, both basic and clinical sciences are related directly to the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

In addition, changes in technology have opened up many new opportunities for learning to take place. Our incoming students are very technologically savvy, and new simulation tools in clinical medicine are changing the way physicians are trained. The challenge is how to take advantage of technology but not lose the tremendous benefits gained from student-teacher interaction.

There is also now more than ever a need to increase the emphasis on interdisciplinary medical education, taking advantage of the skills in other medical disciplines and teaching all health professionals how to work together with everything focused on the patient.

There have been many achievements at the college during your tenure as dean—the Academic & Research Center, the Clinical Training and Assessment Center, the Heritage gift, Dublin and Cleveland Campuses—what is the moment that you’ll always remember?
I am enormously grateful to our faculty and staff, foundation partners, hospital partners and OU administration for making all of these things possible. My greatest joys, however, have been my personal interactions with our students, faculty, staff and alumni. I continue to be thrilled when students or alumni express their pride in OU-HCOM and the new directions in which we are moving. I am even more gratified when our alumni become actively involved in our instructional program.

In your tenure, what were the top three things you have learned about working with faculty? With students? With scientists?
Working with our faculty has been wonderful, and I have developed enormous respect for them and their work. Their talents and dedication are really what have made this college great. I learned that when administration has that genuine admiration and respect for the faculty, strong and collegial relationships follow naturally.

Our students are highly motivated adult learners. They are extraordinarily bright and generally will learn unless obstacles are put in their way. The role of faculty and administration is to provide resources, ensure that the student is learning at an appropriate level, evaluate student progress and remove the obstacles. Teaching of adult learners should be facilitation and partnership, not just the delivery of facts.

Regarding our scientists, their creativity and intelligence continues to astound me. Our best scientists do great things not because it is expected, but because of a drive to succeed that is a part of them. The college can provide resources like funding, equipment and space, but ultimately it is that inner drive that makes them successful. The college can’t create or mandate that. Just as with student education, the role of the administration is to remove the obstacles to success.

Have you seen any changes in research at the college since you’ve
been a faculty member then dean?
We have had some extraordinary successes, Dr. John Kopchick’s medication SOMAVERT® being the most prominent to date. Many new discoveries and medications are on the horizon. OU-HCOM has established itself as a significant research institution. We have a long way to go, but with the support of our Osteopathic Heritage Foundations grant, our future could not be brighter.

What has been your favorite activity as dean?
Or your most favorite part of the day?
Commencement is definitely my favorite event. I get choked up every year as I watch our students receive their degrees and take their physician’s oath.

I also enjoy meeting with our Alumni Board and talking to OU-HCOM alumni at the American Osteopathic Association conventions. Their enthusiasm is really infectious. Finally, I looked forward to my regular dean’s hours with our students. Students make everything we strive to do worthwhile.

For the most part, every moment of my day was taken up meeting with someone. I already miss that. My open door policy did as much to benefit me as it hopefully did for those who came to see me.

Your new title is vice provost for health affairs and dean emeritus.
What will you be doing?
One third of my time will be teaching at OU-HCOM. I find teaching extraordinarily enjoyable and rewarding. The other two thirds of my time will be working with the executive vice president and provost to promote collaboration and seek funding for all of the health-related colleges, advise the university administration on health-related issues, assist our deans in any way possible, further develop the Health Sciences Center, and continue to advance the central Ohio and northeastern Ohio extension campuses.

How’s the fishing at your place?
As much as I love fishing, I’ve only had time to do so five or six times in the past 11 years. During that time the fish in my pond have become pets, so I now feel very guilty about catching them. Thus, I’ve learned to really enjoy just feeding them instead. Actually, when I do go fishing, it usually just turns out to be fish feeding anyway. I also have six or seven snapping turtles that swim over to visit with me and get fed whenever I sit on my deck. Snapping turtles and deans have very similar personalities, and hence we relate very well.