Students Share Artistic Talents, Compete in Anesthesia Olympics, Provide Care in Guatemala and More

First DO to Receive Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Lifetime Achievement Award

Throughout the 60-year history of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO), a DO had never received the Lifetime Achievement Award until now. Joseph M. Kaczmarczyk, DO, MPH, MBA, former dean and chief academic officer of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia Campus (PCOM Georgia), made history when he accepted the award earlier this month.

During his acceptance speech, Dr. Kaczmarczyk attributed part of his readiness to become dean to his collective APGO experience. His enthusiasm and past experiences, however, would not prepare him for the COVID-19 pandemic beginning as he accepted his new position. Having led PCOM Georgia throughout the pandemic, Dr. Kaczmarczyk shared these three pieces of advice to all leaders in medical education, “First, we must continue to become increasingly more comfortable with ambiguity, uncertainty and change. Second, we must enhance the teaching and learning of clinical reasoning. Third, we must increase the strategic focus on and investment in our learners becoming master adaptive learners.”

The APGO Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted by the Board of Directors to honor APGO leaders who have demonstrated consistency of work in furthering the goals of APGO and ob-gyn academic medicine. This award will provide funding for a specific APGO program or initiative selected by the recipient from a list provided by the APGO Development Committee. Dr. Kaczmarczyk selected the APGO Capstone Program, which he believes will provide the greatest impact by benefitting the largest number of APGO members. View a list of previous awardees.

Regional Assistant Dean Brings Global Perspective Home to West Virginia

For the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM)’s newest regional assistant dean, years spent improving the lives of patients around the world taught her lessons that are proving valuable in the Mountain State.

Katherine Calloway, DO, MPH, works in the South-Central Region of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus, which consists of seven regions across the state where third- and fourth-year medical students complete their clinical rotations. The South-Central Region encompasses all of West Virginia’s Kanawha, Boone, Logan and Mingo counties and parts of Fayette, Lincoln, Putnam and Wyoming counties.

Before earning a DO degree from WVSOM in 2008, Calloway graduated from Wake Forest University with a double major in sports medicine and medical anthropology and completed a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University. Outside the classroom, she received an eye-opening and at times harrowing education during a series of international experiences that carried her from the Killing Fields of Cambodia to the developing African nations of Mozambique and Rwanda, among other locations. Read more about Dr. Calloway’s life experiences.

A UNTHSC-TCOM Student Group Is Using Their Artistic Talent to Put Smiles on Faces

Jerry Amomoy’s heart was with art, but he also loved medicine. After his first year as an undergrad, when he worked in an emergency room as a scribe, his heart was pulled toward a career in medicine, but his passion for art never waned. Now Amomoy, a second-year student at the University of North Texas Health Science Center-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC-TCOM), is the president and one of the founders of the Arts in Medicine Club that is displaying the talents of medical students while giving back to the community. Read more about the inception of the club and how it’s grown.

David Cieremans Named PCOM's Student Researcher of the Year

Photo: Third-year medical student David Cieremans has been named PCOM Student Researcher of the Year for his contributions to clinical research and commitment to the principles of osteopathic medicine.

David Cieremans (DO ‘24), an Ensign in the United States Navy, has been named the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)'s Student Researcher of the Year. Cieremans has conducted research in various fields such as neuro-oncology and orthopaedics and recently presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

For Cieremans, the path to realizing this achievement was not linear. A native of northern New Jersey, he knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. Attending undergrad at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, Cieremans was a Classics major and member of the varsity crew team. After college, he accepted a one-year position at his alma mater, Regis High School in Manhattan, where he worked with students struggling academically and taught a medical ethics course to seniors. Read more about Cieremans’ journey through medical school and his interest in orthopaedic surgery research.

NSU-KPCOM Second-Year Students Receive FOMA Student Awards

Second-year Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (NSU-KPCOM) students Danielle Broussard, RDN; Ashin Chadha; Grant Gramling and Riya Kumar were the recipients of the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association Student Awards at the organization’s live convention held March 3-5, 2023, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The awards are presented based on criteria such as possessing leadership skills, political activity and displaying significant interest in the osteopathic profession. View this story and more on NSU-KPCOM’s Facebook.

ICOM Hosts Second Annual ‘Anesthesia Olympics’

Photo: Joshua Garrett, OMS-I, starts an IV during ICOM's 2023 Anesthesia Olympics.

For the second consecutive year, students at the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM) had an opportunity to put their anesthetics skills to the test during the College’s “Anesthesia Olympics” event.

Working in teams of two, ICOM’s “Anesthesia Olympics” required participants to complete six stations showcasing different skills, including: starting an IV; intubating an adult patient; intubating a neonatal patient; correctly placing an epidural needle; correctly placing a 22-gauge spinal needle and correctly placing a 25-gauge spinal needle.

KCU-COM Student Doctors Provide Care in Guatemala

A team of third- and fourth-year student doctors from Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCU-COM) traveled to Guatemala recently to provide care to underserved communities with attending faculty members and alumni. During the trip, the Global Health Outreach team provided basic healthcare services, including diagnostic tests, osteopathic manipulative treatment, joint injections, reading glasses and medications free of charge. Most of the nearly 2,000 patients treated lack access to medical resources or cannot afford to see a physician. Led by Gautam Desai, DO, professor and chair of primary care, and Ken Stewart, DO, assistant professor of primary care, the team continued a 20-plus year tradition of traveling to Guatemala to deliver care to those in need. Watch a video of the local news coverage.

VCOM-Virginia Students Go 12 Rounds with Stress-Relief 

Photo: VCOM-Virginia second-year medical student Amariah Sledge, president of the VCOM-VA chapter of the Student National Medical Association, high kicks stress.

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Virginia Campus (VCOM-Virginia) students engaged in some much-needed self-care and stress management, with a boxing dummy on a beautiful spring day. The Psychiatry and Neurology Student Interest Group (PsychSign) set up mannequins and provided boxing gloves. No mannequins were hurt during this activity, but stress was definitely TKO’d. View more photos from the event on VCOM-Virginia’s Facebook. 

VCOM-Louisiana Students Participate in Career Day at Local Elementary School

Photo: VCOM-Louisiana second-year medical students (left to right) Sonia Vanegas, Cassidy Papso, Delaney Yu and Samantha Jacobson participated in Career Day at a local elementary school.

Students at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana) participated in a Career Day event at an elementary school in Monroe, Louisiana, in early March. The medical students spoke with elementary students in 3rd-6th grades about being a physician. VCOM-Louisiana students demonstrated a variety of medical tools and taught the elementary students about bones, as well as how to stay healthy during the cold and flu season. For students in 2nd grade and younger, the school hosted a “Read Along Character Day,” which VCOM-Louisiana students were able to participate in as well. View more photos from the event on VCOM-Louisiana’s Facebook. 

VCOM-Auburn Holds Mini-Match Celebration 

Photo: Student portrait photos were put in cupcakes and students put their photos on maps of their third-year rotation site locations.

A "Mini-Match" Day Celebration was held on March 2, 2023, for Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Auburn Campus (VCOM-Auburn)’s second-year students. Students found out about the hospital/clinic sites where they will be stationed for their third-year rotations. View photos from the celebration on VCOM-Auburn’s Facebook. 

VCOM-Carolinas SimCenter Celebrates New Interns

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Carolinas Campus (VCOM-Carolinas)'s Simulation Center held a luncheon at the DuPre House in honor of the center's new interns. Sim interns are second-year medical students who choose between simulation, clinical procedural skills, standardized patients and research. They spend time in the lab designing, setting up and facilitating various scenarios in those areas, which they and other students use to practice techniques, hone skills and build emotional endurance under pressure. They are recognized at graduation for this work above and beyond their medical school curriculum. View more photos from the luncheon on VCOM-Carolinas’ Facebook.

DMU-COM Students Spark Boys’ Interest in the Health Sciences

Photo: DMU-COM students inspire youth at Boys Reaching for Opportunities in the Sciences.

On a recent Saturday at Des Moines University, approximately 120 students gathered to learn about osteopathic manipulative medicine, anatomy, surgical scrubbing-in procedures and more – even though none has yet entered high school. They were attending DMU’s Boys Reaching for Opportunities in Science, or BROS, during which 4th-7th graders explored aspects of the health sciences and medicine at 15 stations staffed by 115 university students along with faculty and staff.

“My husband and I were both very impressed with the amount of volunteers who helped make it such a success,” the mother of one BROS participant commented after the event. “Our son talked nonstop the whole way home about all the things he got to experience. He said he asked a lot of questions and was impressed with how they [the DMU students] always knew all the answers.” View more photos of the event.