Students Offer Complimentary Dermatology Exams, Attend an Internship Connecting Medicine and Climate Change and More
Published May 21, 2024
Campus Roundup Inside OME
Student Doctors Offer Complimentary Skin Checks
Photo: Quinn Schroeder, OMS I, Dustin Portela, DO and Haily Fritts, OMS I.
Quinn Schroeder, OMS I, and Haily Fritts, OMS I, co-chairs of Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine (ICOM)’s Dermatology Interest Group, assisted Dustin Portela, DO, in providing free skin cancer screenings to the local community through his mobile dermatology clinic.
Dr. Portela, a board-certified dermatologist, has amassed a large social media following with 2.4M followers on TikTok. His mission is to expand dermatology access across Idaho, and his new mobile clinic allows him to do that.
DMU-COM DO Student Selected for Internship at Global Change Research Program
Swati Vattem, who is completing her first year in Des Moines University’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program (DMU-COM), will complete an internship this summer with the U.S. Global Change Research Program as part of DMU’s Distinguished Global Health Internships program.
“As a future physician, I think it’s imperative to study climate change because of its profound impact on human health through the spread of infectious diseases, food and water security and extreme weather events,” she says. “Understanding these connections allows me to be a better physician and advocate for my patients.” Read more about her internship and what she hopes to learn.
Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine Promotes Health to Local Elementary School Students
The Noorda College of Osteopathic Medicine (NoordaCOM) launched their first-ever Kaufusi’s Keikis health event. This health outreach program was named in honor of Mayor Michelle Kaufusi and aims to offer free, opt-in health screenings to elementary-aged students in Provo, Utah. The event was able to serve several hundreds of children at Timpanogos Elementary. View more photos on NoordaCOM’s Instagram.
UNTHSC-TCOM’s Class of 1980 Returns Home to Reminisce and Celebrate
A tight-knit group from the first day they set foot on campus in 1976, the University of North Texas Health Science Center-Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNTHSC-TCOM)’s Class of 1980 reunited for the first time in 44 years as they celebrated together on the UNTHSC-TCOM campus. The reunion, spearheaded by graduates Gregg Lund, DO, and Jack Cohen, DO, was four years in the making when COVID-19 scrapped their original plans for a 2020 reunion, but the excitement never ebbed. Read more about the reunion.
CHSU-COM Celebrates the Inaugural Class of 2024
Photo: Graduates Yusur Alsalihi, Samantha Lynch and Megan Fedeli.
The California Health Sciences University College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM) interviewed seven students from their inaugural Class of 2024. Watch the videos of recent graduates Yusur Alsalihi, Megan Fedeli, Samantha Lynch, Roxanne Zuniga, Hannah Streiff, Kate Nhu Duong and Oluwabomi Adekoya.
Former VCOM-Virginia Sports Medicine Fellows Recognized as AOASM Fellows
Photo: newly appointed 2024 AOASM Fellows (l-r) Kevin Valvano, DO, FAOASM; Christina Wong, DO, FAOASM; Jos Edison, DO, FAOASM; Jacob Turnbull, DO, FAOASM; and Stephanie Aldret, DO, FAOASM
During the 2024 American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine (AOASM) Clinical Conference, five former Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Virginia Campus (VCOM-Virginia) sports medicine fellows were honored to receive the prestigious designation of fellow (FAOASM). These newly appointed fellows include Kevin Valvano, DO; Christina Wong, DO; Jos Edison, DO; Jacob Turnbull, DO; and Stephanie Aldret, DO. They received the honor from the AOASM Board of Directors in Tulsa, Oklahoma. View this story and more on VCOM-Virginia’s Facebook.
$6 Million in Federal Funding to Help WVSOM with Planned Research Expansion
Plans to increase medical research capabilities at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) have received financial support with a $6 million appropriation in a federal funding package.
West Virginia’s two U.S. Senators, Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, championed the $6 million appropriation to expand the school’s Fredric W. Smith Science Building, which houses the school’s current research facility. U.S. Representative Carol Miller also voted for the package that included the WVSOM appropriation and a total of more than $138 million for 80 West Virginia projects.
The WVSOM project will provide about 15,000 square feet of additional space for modern research laboratories and clinical and translational science research. The project is expected to create 110 construction jobs in Greenbrier County and 25 faculty and staff jobs on the school’s campus.
WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, PhD, said expanding and renovating the current space is the initial phase of WVSOM’s plan to grow its research enterprise.