DMU Magazine - Fall/Winter 2020

T H E M AG A Z I N E O F D E S M O I N E S U N I V E R S I T Y • A M E D I C I N E A N D H E A LT H S C I E N C E S I N S T I T U T I O N

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DMU

Taking a stand against The body in the barrel racial disparities / PAGE/PAGE 10 and other mysteries 6 Purple & Proud on aretires roll, Dean Jodi Cahalan sets new goal / PAGE 12 on a high note /PAGE 9 The “human theater” Alumnus puts artificial ofintelligence emergencyin medicine the / clinician's PAGE 22 toolbox /PAGE 23

STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGE As cases continue to rise, teamwork, resilience and hope prevail.

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VISION ARISES FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS, DMU has been planning the medical and health sciences university of the future.

The new campus, located on 88 acres in West Des Moines, will advance the educational transformation the University envisions. Detailed renderings of the new campus buildings and grounds were unveiled at a public groundbreaking at the site on Sept. 10 (see page 5).

“Our future has never been stronger and more promising,” said DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., at the event.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY’S TRANSFORMATIONAL PLANS, VISIT DMU.EDU/NEW-CAMPUS.

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EDITOR

Barbara Dietrich Boose ART DIRECTOR

Julie Probst GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Brianna Schechinger PHOTOGRAPHY

Brett Roseman, Rich Sanders CHIEF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

Contents F E AT U R E S

Mark Danes

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PRESIDENT AND CEO

Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D.

LETTERS & OTHER SUBMISSIONS

Editor DMU Alumni Magazine 3200 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50312-4198 barbara.boose@dmu.edu

ADDRESS CHANGES

Email: alumni@dmu.edu Online: dmu.edu/alumni Call: 515-271-1388 Mail: Development & Alumni Relations Des Moines University 3200 Grand Avenue Des Moines, IA 50312-4198

White Coats for Black Lives More than 250 DMU students, faculty and staff gathered on campus on June 5 in solidarity against racial disparities and oppression.

ABOVE, everyone wears a mask on campus these days. AT RIGHT, Megan Johnson, M.S.N., practice manager for the DMU Family Medicine Clinic, prepares to greet patients when a freak caption “derecho” storm temporarily cut power on campus.

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Stepping up to the challenge As COVID-19 continues to pile on difficulties, hardships and sorrow around the world, DMU alumni, students and employees soldier on with teamwork, resilience and hope.

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Our mission is to improve lives in our global community by educating diverse groups of highly competent and compassionate health professionals.

The “human theater” of emergency medicine

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Connect with us at: FACEBOOK.COM/ DESMOINESUNIVERSITY TWITTER.COM/ DESMOINESUNIV INSTAGRAM.COM/ DESMOINESUNIV# YOUTUBE.COM/ DMUEDU

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DMU salutes the 2020 Alumni of the Year

Campus News Alumni News Class Notes What’s Your Why?

In their diverse careers, endeavors and achievements, this year’s honorees represent the very best aspects of a DMU education.

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In his new book, More Letters from the Pit, Patrick Crocker, D.O.’80, M.S., FACEP, shares the good, the tragic and the outright weird aspects of his specialty.

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DMU HOLDS GROUNDBREAKING FOR NEW CAMPUS

The day was gray, but DMU’s future shone brightly when President Franklin, second from left, and members of the DMU Board of Trustees broke ground for the new campus. Below, President Franklin and Trustee Michael Witte, D.O.’77, address event attendees.

While thousands of truckloads of dirt had already been moved to shape DMU’s new campus in West Des Moines, its construction got a literal and symbolic start when University leaders broke ground during a public ceremony at the site on Sept. 10, 2020.

“Today, we celebrate the strong future of growth and innovation for DMU and commemorate the beginning of this new chapter in the evolution of our University,” said DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., during the event.

DMU’s partners in creating the new campus include RDG Planning & Design, the architectural firm; Turner Construction, the general contractor; and Formation Group, the University’s representative. The University is on track to occupy the new campus in 2023, the year that marks DMU’s 125th anniversary.

“This move is made more exciting by the expansion and enhancements we recognize within the City of West Des Moines and its commitment to providing the finest quality of life for its citizens, businesses and organizations,” President Franklin said.

Visit DMU.edu/new-campus to access more information, images and the project timeline.

An online webcam offers additional real-time views at public.earthcam.net/DMUNewCampus/.

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Because mental illness is tough enough

Study shows DMU program may reduce health care providers’ biases against people with mental illness A recent study by investigators at DMU and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) shows that NAMI’s Provider Education Program can improve the way medical students perceive and treat patients with severe mental illness, or SMI, helping reduce the stigma these individuals face in health care.

A pilot offering of the NAMI program was made possible at DMU beginning in 2018 through a grant from the Mid-Iowa Health Foundation. The recent study was funded by an ongoing annual grant from the Iowa Department of Public Health with support of the Iowa Governor’s Office.

Lead author of the study is Jeritt Tucker, Ph.D., a psychologist and former assistant professor in the department of behavioral medicine at DMU. Additional authors are Andrew Seidman, who was a Ph.D. student in counseling psychology at Iowa State University and a graduate assistant on the study; current DMU faculty Julia Van Liew, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral medicine, and Lisa Streyffeler, Ph.D., chair of behavioral medicine; Teri Brister, Ph.D.,

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LPC, national director of research and quality assurance at NAMI; and Alexis Hanson and Sydney Smith, both fourth-year students in the University’s doctor of osteopathic medicine program.

“Although there have been significant advances in the treatment of mental illness, patients presenting with SMI continue to face complex barriers in receiving competent care for both psychiatric and general medical conditions,” the authors state in an article about the study, published in Academic Psychiatry in July. “It is critical to continue finding ways to increase providers’ emotional competence, beliefs, and behavior toward patients with SMI early in their medical education.”

The study evaluated the attitudes, beliefs and behavior of 41 third-year DMU osteopathic medical students who completed the 15-hour NAMI program and, as a control group, 80 students who didn’t. The program was offered as an elective course and was described to students as an opportunity to improve skills related to caring for patients with severe mental illness.

The course is now required of all third-year

DMU osteopathic medical students.

Students who participated in the NAMI curriculum reported increased positive attitudes, improved beliefs and improved behavioral intentions during acute psychiatric emergencies and in routine physical care. A majority of these findings were sustained three months after students completed the program.

Designed for groups of eight to 24 participants, the NAMI Provider Education Program is led by a team of three trained facilitators: a person living well in recovery from SMI, a family member of someone with SMI and a health care provider with personal or family experience with SMI. The curriculum emphasizes facilitators sharing personal, familial and clinical experiences with SMI and recovery.

The authors acknowledged the study was conducted at a single institution, but they say a structured, contact-based approach such as the NAMI Provider Education Program is “promising.”

“This study was the springboard for embedding the program into our doctor of osteopathic medicine curriculum,” Streyffeler says. “We have also been able to collaborate with NAMI to tailor the program specifically for medical students.”

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New dean named for College of Health Sciences ​​​Wallace “Wally” Boeve, Ed.D., PA-C, joined DMU on Nov. 1, 2020, as dean of the College of Health Sciences. He had served as the founding program director and professor in the physician assistant master’s program at Bethel University. Earlier, he served as department chair and program director of physician assistant studies in the College of Health Professions at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, MI. Boeve has served and consulted in health-related activities in state and national physician assistant leadership positions. He is past president of the Michigan Academy of Physician Assistants and worked on the executive board of the Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants. His clinical work included experiences in rural family medicine, occupational medicine, urgent care and inpatient psychiatry. He also has participated extensively in global health service and has authored numerous book chapters and articles.

Boeve earned his bachelor of science degree in biomedical sciences at Grand Valley State University and his master of science degree in physician assistant studies at Baylor College of Medicine. He earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership and administration from Eastern Michigan University. Read more about him at dmu.edu/CHS-dean.

CONGRATULATIONS The 2020 CPMS graduates’ first-time pass rate on Part III of the American Podiatric Medical Licensing Exam, the final step in state licensure, was 100 percent.

AROUND CAMPUS The annual DMU Research Symposium occurred virtually on Dec. 3. Poster and oral presentations are available for online viewing as are six five-minute “lightning talks” by DMU students. In addition, a keynote was given by S. Vincent Grasso, D.O.’91, MSIS, M.B.A., a surgeon, solution/software architect, medical informaticist and the global practice lead in health care and life sciences for IPsoft, the global leader in enterprise artificial intelligence. Visit the DMU continuing medical education website for more information. ◆ The University established a Faculty and Staff Diversity Council to aid in the recruitment, development and successful matriculation of under-represented minority students and to support the identification and recruitment of under-represented minority faculty and staff candidates.

PUBLICATIONS Noah Marcus, Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology and pharmacology, was among the authors of “Cardiac remodeling and arrhythmogenesis are ameliorated by administration of Cx43 mimetic peptide Gap27 in heart failure rats,” published in Scientific Reports in April 2020. ◆ Collin Pehde, D.P.M.’02, FACFAS, and John Bennett, D.P.M., FACFAS, associate professor in the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, published two papers in the April

2020 issue of Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery. The papers were titled “Development of a 3-D printing laboratory for foot and ankle applications” and “Orthoplastic approach of surgical treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.” Student co-authors included Brad Peck, D.P.M.’21, Logan Gull, D.P.M.’21, and Megan Kingston, D.P.M.’22. Pehde, past assistant professor in the college, practices with the Foot and Ankle Center of Nebraska and Iowa at its clinics in Omaha and Council Bluffs, IA. ◆ Muhammad Spocter, M.Sc., Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy, was among the authors of “Brain gyrification in wild and domestic canids: has domestication changed the gyrification index in domestic dogs?” published in the June 2020 edition of the Journal of Comparative Neurology. He also was among the authors of “The brain of the African wild dog: anatomy, architecture, and volumetrics,” published in the journal in July 2020. In addition, Spocter was lead author of "Reproducibility of leftward planum temporale asymmetries in two genetically isolated populations of chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)," published in the September 2020 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. ◆ Faculty and students of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery contributed several articles in the July 2020 edition of Clinics in Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, published by Elsevier. Sean Grambart, D.P.M.’01, FACFAS, assistant dean of academic affairs, served as guest editor of the issue. The CPMS authors and articles: Grambart, “Trephine procedure for revision tarsometatarsal arthrodesis nonunion”; Grambart and Joseph Brown, D.P.M.’21, “Revision surgery for failed lateral ankle stabilization”; Kathy Frush, D.P.M.’05, FACFAS, associate

professor, and Amanda Niester, D.P.M.’21, “Revision of recurrent neuromas”; Grambart and Katherine Ternent, D.P.M.’21, “Revision of chronic syndesmotic injury”; Grambart, Danika Anderson, D.P.M.’22, and Travis Anderson, D.P.M’22, “Bone grafting options”; Erin Nelson, D.P.M.’06, FACFAS, clinical department chair of DMU Foot and Ankle, and Mary Brandt, D.P.M.’21, “Biologics for tendon surgery.” Grambart also contributed the chapter on acute Achilles rupture for the 2019 Trauma of the Foot and Ankle ebook. ◆ Kristin Lowry, P.T., Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy, was among the authors of the research, “Long-term effects of calcium HMB and Vitamin D3 supplementation on muscular function in older adults with and without resistance training: a randomized, double-blind, controlled study,” published in August in the Journals of Gerontology. The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

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PRESENTATIONS Amy Morris, Ph.D., assistant provost, accreditation and quality improvement; Julie Ronnebaum, D.P.T., Ph.D., GCS, associate professor of physical therapy; and Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D., associate dean, academic assessment quality and development, College of Osteopathic Medicine, presented “Using interprofessional education as a quality improvement project” during the Heartland Interprofessional Education conference, a virtual event July 23-24.

DMU was among the sponsors of the event.

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LADE MADE HUMAN RESOURCES “HUMANE” Becky Lade, PHR, began her tenure at DMU in 1986 on the third floor of the old St. Joseph’s Academy building that once stood on campus, near quarters that previously housed the former Catholic school’s nuns. There were bathtubs in the restrooms and uneven floors that caused unlatched filing cabinet drawers to roll open. And while Lade initially had no idea what osteopathic medicine was and applied for the job only on the recommendation of a colleague of her husband, Tom, at Iowa Methodist

New human resources chief brings a focus on service Marc Wachtfogel, Ph.D., has had diverse roles in public and private sectors in human resources, management consulting and global marketing. But he also believes he’d make a “great host at an Italian restaurant.”

“I want people to feel at home,” he says, a philosophy he incorporates in his work.

Wachtfogel, who became DMU’s chief human resources officer on Aug. 17, previously was director/chief human resources officer at Minot State University in Minot, ND, and its two-year affiliate, Dakota College at Bottineau.

To read more about him, visit dmu.edu/ HR-leader.

Hospital, she quickly learned she enjoyed working in human resources.

“I did not find HR; HR found me, and once I was at DMU, it just captured my heart,” she says. “There is so much opportunity to impact employees and the organization as a whole in very positive ways.”

That’s what Lade did for the next 33-plus years. She was promoted to director of human resources in 1994 and chief human resources officer in 2014.

She extended her retirement date to July 31, 2020, as the University continued to navigate the pandemic while searching for her successor.

“She was working up to the very last minute,” says DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D. “She is a consummate leader and was our voice of reason. I really valued our relationship, her loyalty to the University and to me.”

The feeling is mutual: Lade served on the search committee that hired President Franklin. “That will stick with me for the longest time. I remember thinking, ‘This is the person we need at this time.’”

Helping employees be the best they can be requires a lot of heavy lifting: negotiating employee benefits for health insurance and determining vacation time, paid family leave, professional development support and more. Maintaining compliance amid ever-changing and sometimes contradictory regulations.

Mastering the massive technology advancements of the past three decades, including three complete overhauls of DMU’s HR system.

“After the second one, I said I’d never

do another one,” Lade laughs. “But all these efforts were huge collaborations with the HR team, the accounting staff and other staff.”

Colleagues say they miss Lade’s collaborative and generous spirit. “After working with her 24 years, Aug. 3 was a challenging day as extension 1485 was silent for the first time in my tenure at DMU,” says Mark Peiffer, CPA, M.B.A., senior vice president and chief financial officer. “She had a daily commitment to providing great employee benefits, was always looking for improvement and focused on fairness for each and every employee.”

Although retired, Lade is excited about watching the progress on DMU’s new campus in West Des Moines, and she will continue to be proud of her former employer. In dealing with family members’ health issues, she always asks the providers where they got their degrees.

“It warms my heart when I see those graduates out there who I didn’t teach, but I contributed to their education,” she says. “It’s why our mission is so powerful. We are providing the education for future health care professionals – and during a pandemic, when has that ever been more important?”

CORRECTION: The spring 2020 issue of DMU Magazine featured a generous gift from Robert Lowry, D.O.’37, to create an endowed scholarship fund.

The correct name of the fund is the Robert W. Lowry D.O. and Verna L. Lowry CRNA Endowed Scholarship. DMU Magazine regrets the error.

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Storm spurs DMU volunteers into service Many Iowans had never heard the word “derecho” before Aug. 10, but they’ll likely never forget it now. Defined by the National Weather Service as a widespread, long-lived windstorm associated with thunderstorms and tornadolike destruction, the derecho – pronounced “deh-RAY-cho” – inflicted nearly $4 billion worth of destruction in the state, blasting roofs, downing trees and utility poles, flattening crops and leaving tens of thousands without power for days.

The weekend after the record storm passed, approximately 70 DMU volunteers sprang into action on a community cleanup effort. Following pandemic safety protocols and armed with rakes, shovels, saws and pruners, they deployed to residential properties identified in the new 2-1-1 community support

hotline and coordinated by the national nonprofit Crisis CleanUp. The student coordinators leading the charge were Grace Austin, D.P.T.’22, Physical Therapy Club president; Cole Crawford, D.P.T.’22, club vice president; and Spencer Derifield, D.P.T.’22, community experience coordinator.

“We decided to help the

elderly, those with disabilities and the lower socioeconomic populations. All of the residents were very grateful for the help from all the volunteers,” Crawford says.

“As future health care providers, it is important that we have empathy, compassion and a willingness to serve. I think our students, faculty and community saw that this weekend, and we couldn’t be

more proud to represent DMU.” Tracy Porter, P.T., D.P.T., Ed.D., assistant director of clinical education in the physical therapy program and the Physical Therapy Club adviser, says the cleanup effort reflects the values of the physical therapy profession.

“These students have been motivated by the need to help their fellow citizens recover some sense of normalcy in this very challenging year,” she adds.

Just when people thought 2020 couldn’t get stranger, parts of Iowa were struck by a freak storm that wreaked havoc in August.

DMU students responded as they often do – with empathy, compassion and a willingness to serve.

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D M U S TA N D S I N S O L I DA R I T Y W I T H

WHITE COATS FOR BLACK LIVES More than 250 Des Moines University students, faculty and staff – wearing masks and practicing physical distancing – gathered on campus on June 5 to demonstrate solidarity in accepting the shared responsibility of protecting people of all backgrounds by addressing racism and oppression of all kinds.

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“No longer is it okay to sit on the sidelines and say, ‘It’s someone else’s problem, or it’s someone else’s issue, or it doesn’t affect me,’” DMU President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., said during the event. “As a campus community, we are all about caring, compassion and empathy for others. So how can we stand by and not acknowledge the fact that people are hurting, people

are struggling, people are feeling unjust treatment? There are those having to endure violence and strife in the streets, maybe as we speak today.

This is a time for us all to come together.

And if not now, when?”

The event came about after George Floyd, an African American, died in police custody in Minneapolis. During the event, attendees kneeled for eight

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minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time that Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck. But third-year osteopathic medical student Ruffin Tchakounte told attendees the issue “is beyond the death of George Floyd and many other black men and women who have lost their lives, unarmed, at the hand of police officers.” The issue also includes inequalities and barriers in health care

that people of color experience.

LeAndre Kennedy, a second-year podiatric medical student who grew up in Minneapolis less than 0.1 miles from where George Floyd died, shared with the audience his sorrow in seeing his neighborhood “on fire” and his pride that residents of the city have expressed their outrage. He emphasized that a “much bigger problem” is at hand.

“There are no ifs, ands or buts about fighting racism. It must be eradicated,” he said. “This is an issue for every single one of us here because it takes allies to defeat this. If the black community could stop racism, it would have been eradicated a long time ago…In the end we’re all in this together, and we all need each other.”◆

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Stark joins DMU Board; Feldman retires

David Stark, M.A., FACHE, president and chief executive officer of UnityPoint Health – Des Moines, joined the DMU Board of Trustees this summer.

Stark began working at UnityPoint Health – Des Moines in 1995. Since that time, he has held multiple positions throughout the organization including chief operating officer at Iowa Lutheran Hospital; president and chief operating officer for Blank Children’s Hospital; and executive vice president and chief operating officer for UnityPoint Health – Des Moines. He took his current position in July 2018.

Retired from the DMU Board is Bernard Feldman, D.O.’80, FACG. A physician with MercyOne Gastroenterology Care Clinic in central Iowa, he joined the board in September 2008. He chaired the board’s Institutional Advancement Committee from 2012 to 2015 and was vice chair of the Audit/Compliance Committee from 2016 to 2019.

Feldman was named the College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumnus of the Year in 2010.

He and his wife, Ava Feldman, D.O.’83, founder of Heartland Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center PC in Clive, IA, established the Bernard and Ava Feldman Scholarship to benefit students in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

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DMU supporters achieved the $25 million goal of Purple & Proud – the Campaign for Des Moines University last December, more than a year before its expected conclusion in December 2020. Their enthusiasm continues to fuel DMU's transformational plans to build a new campus in West Des Moines. The University has extended the campaign with a new goal of $50 million.

As of November 29, 2020, the campaign had raised a total of

$30,094,034 contributed by They included

4,073

individuals and organizations.

2,976 alumni and 76% of DMU employees.

In addition to exceeding its $25 million goal, highlights of Purple & Proud during the last fiscal year (July 1, 2019-June 30, 2020) included the following: Contributions totaled

$6,171,765 Donors created three new scholarships. A total of 495 scholarships were awarded totaling $2,413,110.

Six new members were inducted into the Founders Society, which honors donors for cumulative lifetime giving of $100,000 or more.

During “One Day for DMU,” from noon to noon April 27-28, 2020, 262 alumni, employees and friends gave a total of $175,807 to the University.

ONEDAY FORDMU

Construction began on the new Behavior Health Center, which is set to open this fiscal year.

Des Moines University is working to not only transform its future, but also to change the world for the better through medical and health sciences education and creating opportunities for diverse future health professionals.

JOIN US AT CAMPAIGN.DMU.EDU

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DMU DONORS CONTINUE TO BE PURPLE & PROUD

At DMU’s 17th annual Glanton fundraising event on Oct. 8, President and CEO Angela L. Walker Franklin, Ph.D., said it looked “different” from previous years, and not just because it was held virtually.

Glanton 2020: an event for change “This year, we possess an even greater sense of urgency for change – a vital and pressing need to take action against the systematic, institutional, community and interpersonal racism that persists in health care,” President Franklin said. “The Glanton Fund is one way we all can take this action in support of advancing social justice.”

During the 2020 fiscal year that ended June 30, the endowed fund reached nearly $3.3 million. It has awarded more than $2.5 million to students since it was created in 2004. Named in honor of Iowa attorneys and civil rights advocates Willie Stevenson Glanton and Judge Luther T. Glanton, the fund generates scholarships for minority students, who are under-represented in the health care professions, and supports programs that foster the cultural humility of all DMU students.

During the Oct. 8 event, Richard Salas, Ph.D., DMU’s chief diversity officer, described some of the University’s efforts to achieve the Glanton Fund’s goals.

“Increasingly, the persistent race-related health disparities we are experiencing demand action.

DMU, for one, has been pioneering,” he said.

“We have been intentional and specific in strategies to address the situation…Clearly, the call for change has never been stronger.”

Russell Dixon, PA-C’11, a physician assistant in the emergency medical department of the Veterans Administration Central Iowa Health Care System, a past Glanton Scholarship recipient and now a sponsor of the event, told attendees he is “just one of many examples” of how donors’ support of the fund benefits communities.

“Your investment not only opens doors to aspiring health care providers like me. You also are having a positive impact on the patients we serve and the health organizations we are part of,” he said.

President Franklin urged attendees to embrace the responsibility we all have to “tackle difficult racial and ethnic issues in health care to bring about much-needed change.”

“The good news is that we can,” she added.

“Supporting the Glanton Fund lets us have a direct impact on health care.”

The annual Glanton event is an opportunity for DMU to honor individuals in the community who work to create opportunities for others. This year’s Glanton honorees were Loretta Sieman and Bob Sieman, D.O.’73, the first DMU graduate to receive the honor. He is an obstetrician/ gynecologist and medical director of New Leaf Wellness in West Des Moines, IA, and in Oklahoma. She is a retired teacher, the first woman to serve on the West Des Moines City Council and a volunteer for a wide range of causes and organizations. You can read more about the couple at DMU.EDU/GLANTON.

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STEPPING UP TO THE CHALLENGE

>>>>> From providing patient care to leading health centers and systems, members of the DMU community persevere in doing what they were trained to do.

Were 2020 an ill person, it would be tempting – merciful, even – to terminate all life support. The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated nearly every aspect of our lives and dealt devastating blows to our physical and mental health and the economy. As of this writing, the coronavirus has killed MORE THAN 250,000 Americans of all ages and all walks of life, with the elderly and people of color especially hard hit. That’s on top of racial disparities and unrest, destructive extreme weather events and polarizing politics.

Of course, pulling the plug on 2020 won’t change a situation that appears to be getting worse. Even if a vaccine is approved quickly, it will take months to distribute, likely will vary in effectiveness and may not sustain immunity – and that’s among those who choose to get it.

At the same time, living with a sense of doom is no way to live. The individuals featured on the following pages inspire with their commitment to patients, colleagues and communities. Despite the challenges they have risen to, day after night after week after month, they strive to collaborate, innovate and otherwise rally to the health care cause. They do what they were called to do with resilience, gratitude and even hope.

“It’s been very rewarding just getting to see how the entire hospital community has come together to fight this virus and find an efficient and effective way to work with our patients,” says Keegan Mulder, D.P.T.’19, a physical therapist at Iowa Methodist Hospital, UnityPoint – Des Moines, who works with COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients. “I can’t help but be grateful for the people I work with....I know if we have health care workers like this around the country, we are in really good hands.”

Read on for some much-needed cases of positivity – the healthy kind.

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As cases continue to rise, teamwork, resilience and hope prevail

DMU family adjusts to pandemic realities As a child, Madison Galligan gave check-ups to her stuffed animals. Now a second-year DMU osteopathic medical student, she likely was influenced in part by her parents, Don Galligan, D.O.’84, and Doreen Rioux-Galligan, D.O.’85, who met at DMU. “Growing up, my family was always so focused on helping others – strangers, people at school and church – that I felt it was in my blood,” Madison says.

At a time when so many aspects of life feel unsure, the family members remain deeply committed to medicine, even as each has had to make adjustments.

Rising coronavirus cases reduced the volume of Don’s anesthesiology group by 80 percent. Doreen, a primary care provider who practices as Dr. Doreen Rioux, and her colleagues switched to telemedicine; she saw approximately 10 patients a day, less than half of her prepandemic count.

“That was a whole new world for me,” she says. “I’m used to touching my patients. People were used to shaking my hand and giving me a hug.”

Richard Ma, D.O.’21, observed that firsthand when he did his first family medicine rotation with her in February.

Her style is why he returned for another rotation at her practice in October.

“Her dedication to her patients is exemplified in each and every one of her patient encounters,” he says. “Her relationship with her patients goes beyond just that of a physician, but also as their trusted friend. Dr. Rioux is the

Don Galligan, D.O.’84, and Doreen Rioux-Galligan, D.O.’85, in a happier time with their children, Megan, Madison and Matt

perfect example of the kind of physician I strive to be.”

Doreen also assisted at a COVID-19 screening clinic, which she acknowledges wasn’t the “most practical thing.”

“I’m in my 60s, we have one grandchild and one on the way, and I take care of my father,” she says.

Her bigger concern, however, were patients who needed non-coronavirusrelated care but who canceled appointments out of fear. “We saw blood sugar levels, blood pressure, triglycerides and cholesterol all go up,” she says. “People were more sedentary and eating things they don’t normally eat.”

Don’s practice is back to 90 percent volume but not back to normal. Like other providers, he wears full personal protective equipment, and every surgical procedure takes 40 to 50 minutes longer now to allow staff to sanitize the patient’s room before and afterward.

“Anyone who sets foot in the surgery suite is tested for COVID-19,” he says.

“It’s something to be respected and feared.”

And adapted to. Madison has done most of her DMU courses online in her apartment across Grand Avenue from campus. The University canceled a spring break health service trip to the Dominican Republic that she had planned to join. “I knew when they canceled it, this was not going to be good for the world. That was heartbreaking,” she says.

She is maintaining perspective, however. “I’m kind of thankful we were first-year students when this happened.

We didn’t have to think about boards or rotations,” she says. “I know how much more I need to be careful. I want to have the same connections with patients that my mom does, but we’ve lost the ability to have physical contact. That makes me sad, but it also gives me the opportunity to be creative. I’ll have to approach patients differently, based on my mom’s experience with telehealth.”

>>>

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“Rookie” helps lead organizational change at Indian When it became apparent the coronavirus was going to blow up, some of Christina Floyd’s colleagues at the Fort Mojave Indian Health Center, where she is the director, wondered if they were going to stay open. The facility provides primary care to approximately 3,300 patients in remote areas in Nevada, California and Arizona.

“With our primary care focus, we constantly refer patients. Our staff had never provided an emergency response,” she says.

“COVID put us to the test.”

It also tested her expertise and leadership skills. Floyd, a 2014 graduate of DMU’s master of public health program, joined the health center in July 2019; she had just completed her probationary period required of new employees. Despite external and internal obstacles, she was determined to continue serving patients,

Christina Floyd, M.P.H.’14

including implementation of COVID-19 testing for patients and staff.

“It was a very tense time,” she says. “I had to gain my colleagues’ trust very quickly. Yes, I was the rookie, but I was not going to allow us to get into the mindset of falling back. We are health care for the community.”

Floyd is no rookie in public health, however.

Her commitment to patients and two-plus decades of public health experience equipped her to prevail.

“My public health hat kicked in. What is our emergency preparedness plan? I’m not a pessimist, but I like to be prepared,” she says. “It’s being transparent, too. I told our staff that I was as afraid of this pandemic as they were.”

During lockdown, providers become patients’ “family, motivator, friend” In addition to her surgical mask and eye shield, Cheryl Scott’s form of personal protective equipment is a rock-solid commitment to her colleagues at HonorHealth Rehabilitation Hospital in Scottsdale, AZ. The 2007 graduate of DMU’s doctor of physical therapy program is director of rehabilitation at the 50-bed

inpatient facility, which was deemed to be an overflow hospital to its system’s acute care hospitals.

“While we have the opportunity to remain busy, we also have the daily challenges of patient and staff protection and hospital morale,” she says. “It’s a scary time for everybody. It has to change the way you lead.

I feel it’s brought me closer to our staff through communication, openness, honesty and weekly meetings to check in on their mental health.”

Challenges included prohibiting visitors and, at times, providing physical therapy in patients’ rooms.

“When we can’t have visitors and we do half the patients’ treatments in their rooms, we went from being their physical therapist to being their family, their voice of reason, their motivator and their friend,” she says. “I don’t treat patients specifically, but I’ve been jumping in and helping with patients so the staff can see I’m not asking them to do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Scott and her husband, Ryan Scott, D.P.M.’08, FACFAS, a podiatric physician at the CORE Institute in Phoenix, feel fortunate they’re able to take their children, Camden, 5, and Rylee, 2, to their Montessori daycare and school, although that isn’t without worry.

“Every single day, one of us could come home exposed to coronavirus. But what we’ve done as health professionals is what we’ve always done, take care of patients,” she says.

Scott is not optimistic that a vaccine will end the pandemic. She believes that any long-term changes in the nation’s health care system will come from those who work in it.

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Health Center She says COVID-19 has been both a curse and a blessing – the former, for obvious reasons; the latter, because it compelled even “big, bureaucratic organizations” to shift quickly.

“In the Indian Health Service, they would not give telehealth the time of day, but with COVID we had to change course immediately,” she says.

“I had to get the medical staff quickly trained on Zoom and get the required licensing. We serve rural communities who needed this years ago.”

Floyd hopes the pandemic will raise awareness of the importance of public health. “Public health often is in the background. When it works, it works; when we turn a blind eye to it, then we’re left scrambling,” she says. “We couldn’t have gotten through this without public health and health care working together.”

“Our hospitals are stepping up to figure out ways to take care of patients. They will take what they learned during the pandemic and go from there,” she says. “The amazing thing about those in health care is that they see that even the little things, like cleaning a toilet if necessary, is still patient care. I have never been so proud of our hospital, our therapists and the culture that we have created. Together, we will overcome these obstacles, and when we reflect back, we will all see how this situation allowed us to grow as clinicians as well as people. We will be more creative, more empathetic, more business sensed, more flexible, more thankful, and collectively we will be a stronger team.”

Grad helps guide Gonzaga in practicing “smart behaviors” After working with patients for four years at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, the largest hospital in Spokane, WA, Anastacia Lee wanted to help drive “systemic changes needed in our health care system.” She completed her master’s degree in public health at DMU this year as a way to achieve that goal.

Then COVID-19 erupted and opened a career opportunity as a contact tracer at Gonzaga University. “It was a start, and I wanted to be part of the response to COVID,” she says.

Numerous university and college campuses have been hotbeds for coronavirus, but Gonzaga has worked to avoid that. It created a pandemic response task force and a COVID-19 action response team, including Lee, that developed a plan and set parameters for aspects of campus life, from class sizes and instructional delivery to athletics, housing, and health and counseling services.

“It’s really cool to see the benefit of all those steps,” Lee says. “Yes, COVID exists in our community, but we’ve taken good precautionary steps to limit the spread.”

That includes “normalizing” the use of face coverings, which is mandated in the state of Washington. “We work to make people know it’s okay to wear a mask and wash their hands frequently. You’re not being a germophobe,” Lee says.

“It’s celebrating smart behaviors.”

Gonzaga also launched the “ZagCheck Daily Symptom Self-Screening App,” using a Microsoft product, which

Anastacia Lee, M.P.H.’20

allows students and employees to complete a required daily screening that assesses key health factors related to COVID-19. After they complete the screening, ZagCheck lets users know, via the app, email or text message, whether they are permitted to be on campus.

Lee says her work is “really rewarding” because she’s using both her DMU degree and patient care experiences to monitor and educate the university community. She praises Gonzaga’s students for their cooperation and her colleagues for their expertise.

“We have a team of highly educated public health professionals, which has made the experience of coping with COVID so much better,” she says. “We all have the same goals, the same mission, and are on the same page to keep students and employees safe.”

>>>

DMU community copes with coronavirus, too The University has prevailed, despite and during the pandemic, in educating students, continuing research and treating DMU Clinic patients, all while keeping people safe and healthy.

Cheryl Scott, D.P.T.’07, and Ryan Scott, D.P.M.’08, FACFAS, with their children, Camden and Rylee

Read how everyone from facilities staff to faculty worked together to activate an ongoing, comprehensive and collaborative plan: dmu.edu/COVID-response.

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>>> Gregory Margolin, D.O.’97, FCCP, FCCM, knows that a vaccine won’t make the coronavirus magically disappear. “We’re not going to be able to completely shield ourselves from this disease,” he says. “We’re going to have to learn to live with it.”

When the coronavirus surge struck New York City this spring, Margolin jumped at the chance to join the fight against it at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens and Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, the hardest-hit hospitals in the metro. He intubated 15 patients on his first day. He worked with other health

care providers who he says came to help despite being “well out of their scope of practice” but who “stepped up so heroically, it inspires.”

He also praises those providers for working to improve efficient delivery of services and practicing what he calls “MacGyverism,” being creative and improvising like the famously resourceful star of the 1980s ABC television series.

“It’s the most learning I’ve done in my life,” he stated in a video he posted on Facebook. “I met so many amazing people.”

He himself “MacGyvered” a scuba mask as part of his PPE. That led to his contacting the Australian engineer who made it and to two former Navy Seals who supply equipment to the U.S. Department of Defense, and that led this motley crew to file for a patent on improvements they made.

“It’s a total lark, but the mask does provide superior protection for users,” he says.

Margolin worked in New York from midApril through July. Experienced at managing a large number of patients but knowing he wouldn’t have time to perform procedures or talk with families, he partnered with a vascular

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surgeon who could handle those aspects of care. He utilized “floating” physician assistants to handle the proning of patients, a process that requires five people, every two hours, to turn a patient with precise, safe motions onto the stomach as a way to increase oxygen to the bottom and back portions of the lungs. A group of Navy reservists who arrived to help added to what he calls “a mixed bag of medicine – a heterogeneous mix of people with diverse skill sets.”

“In that setting, we all were grateful to be able to make contributions,” he says. “My greatest regret is that I didn’t go to New York a month earlier.”

Margolin, who has transitioned to a critical care position with Sinai Gregory Margolin, Hospital in Baltimore, D.O.’97, FCCP, was featured in May FCCM, wearing with three other travelhis “MacGyvered” ing doctors on NBC’s mask “Today” program for what correspondent Cynthia McFadden described as running into “the burning building.”

He declines praise as a “hero,” however, for what he says was doing his job.

“The real story is not about me. The real story is the absolute failure of our health system. We were caught with our pants down during the first wave and took a while to respond, with horrific things that happened along the way,” he says.

An example: Because of the shut-down of elective surgeries and decline in nonCOVID-19 patients, some hospitals furloughed nurses not in the emergency department or in critical care – yet they threatened to fire those nurses if they asked to be allowed to go to hotspots to help.

“A lot of those nurses were left home, twiddling their thumbs,” he says. “That nurses were threatened economically is one of the system’s largest tragedies.”

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Medical pros practice “MacGyverism” to tackle pandemic pressures

NEED HOPE? Look to tomorrow’s health care professionals Throughout the pandemic, DMU students have volunteered to serve central Iowa health care employees and food distribution efforts. They virtually mentored undergraduates interested in health care careers. And they adapted to new ways of online learning and maintaining a steadfast and optimistic commitment toward their career goals. Here are two examples.

SULEIMAN AMEH, D.O.’24:

PHILIP JURASINSKI, D.O.’21, M.P.H.’21:

pandemic “added to my motivation to become a physician”

“fantastic opportunity” to meld public health, health care

As a teenager, Suleiman Ameh convinced his parents to let him participate in a high school exchange program that took him from his home in a rural village in Nigeria to rural Swea City, IA. “As a child, I had an adventurous spirit and was very independent,” he says.

“That, coupled with stories my dad told me, gives me my motivation.”

What he observed in his village and through the experiences of his late father, Ibrahim Ameh, a nurse, shaped his course.

“I saw a lot of people who were sick who didn’t know what was wrong. People suffered from a lack of health care,” Ameh says. “There was a feeling of hopelessness because we had no physician and no clinic. I want to make a difference in that way.”

In 2009, Ameh was selected to participate in the Global Youth Institute of the World Food Prize Foundation, headquartered in Des Moines; among the program’s activities was a tour of DMU’s simulation center.

Ameh returned to the United States to attend Simpson College in Indianola, IA. A biochemistry major, he conducted research with his academic adviser and professor, Jackie Brittingham, Ph.D. When he needed a type of microscope the college didn’t possess, she connected him with one through her husband, Andrew Brittingham, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at DMU. After graduating, Ameh worked as a phlebotomist and participated in DMU’s Mentored Student Research Program. He and his wife, Megan, befriended Wayne Terry, Ph.D., professor emeritus of physiology and pharmacology, who guided Ameh in applying for medical school.

When he got accepted by DMU, he canceled his other interviews.

The anxieties and tragedies caused by COVID-19 have only fueled his drive to take positive action.

Philip Jurasinski’s work as a nurse practitioner gives him useful perspectives as he now navigates his final year in DMU’s osteopathic medical program and master’s program in public health. He well remembers “suiting up for Ebola” while working at a children’s hospital in Las Vegas.

“I’m viewing this pandemic as the kind of thing I could have anticipated happening during my life,” he says. “I’m ready to get back out there and help. It’s an opportunity to make a difference.”

He knows risks are involved. “Will I as a health care provider get COVID-19? There’s a possibility that could happen,” he says. “We need to accept that fact and do the best we can under the circumstances, to show and lead by example.”

Jurasinski is determined to do so as he explores residency programs via Zoom. “The people I’ve talked with have been very adamant about social justice issues and what we can do about them,” he says. “How can we provide for people with special needs? A lot receive services through school. And people with special needs are at a higher risk, because the services they receive tend to be in person, and a lot of have underlying health issues.”

Despite that and myriad other challenges posed by the pandemic, he also believes it will compel positive change.

“The pandemic reminded me of where I come from. It added to my motivation to become a physician,” he says. “It’s made me think

about ways I could incorporate research as a physician. It’s really a motivating factor.”

“This is a momentous occasion for public health and health care providers to be more synergistic than ever before. We have an obliga-

tion to be a good model not only in health care settings but in public settings as well. We are the people who are going to be turned to for advice and who will be looked to for services. It’s a fantastic opportunity.

“This is an opportunity for people in public health to say, ‘Here are all the services we provide, and here is why we need more funding,” he adds. “America really is at a crossroads. Our response to the pandemic has presented an opportunity to shape our infrastructure.”

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MercyONE tackles COVID-19 with teamwork A Zoom conversation with DMU alumni who are physicians and leaders with the health organization MercyOne in Des Moines epitomized the realities of the pandemic, both grim and good: The virus is very real and deadly for some people; it will continue to create intense and ongoing challenges for health care providers, organizations and systems; and yet those very individuals and entities, working together, will get us through.

MercyOne leaders began collecting information about the coronavirus in December initially for its potential impact on medical supplies, some of which come from China. More concerns arose as the virus spread: What level of personal protective equipment would be needed? Would adequate testing be possible?

Who should get tested, and who shouldn’t? What triage, treatment and cleaning protocols should be implemented?

“It was a constant learning

process,” says Andrew Terry, D.O.’08, an emergency medical physician and the medical director of MercyOne’s flight program.

“For example, there is no way you can be six feet apart on a helicopter, so there was understandable concern among our flight team.”

Iowa had its first documented case of community-spread COVID-19 on March 14. “We knew it was coming. We were paying attention, trying to figure out how to keep health care providers safe and make sure we could take care of our community,” says Hijinio Carreon, D.O.’03, chief medical officer at MercyOne Central Iowa.

His colleagues’ early monitoring of the situation enabled them to do so. “People were very good about sharing information,” says Bradley Wilcox, D.O.’03, a critical care physician and pulmonary specialist. “It was great

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seeing everybody banding together toward the common good. It’s why we got into this profession.”

Ortho joins motley but heroic crew of medicine during New York City For Andy Michalowitz, D.O.’14, the last 12-plus months were supposed to be a “relaxed but focused year” to hone his surgical skills and clinical acumen at New York University Langone Health in the largest orthopedic surgery training program in the country, “in one of the greatest cities on earth.” It was supposed to include a “once-in-a-lifetime trip” to Zambia, where he and an attending physician planned to set up an NYU orthopedic center.

Then COVID-19 derailed both. Instead, early this spring Michalowitz found himself helping craft a statement to his department that, for the foreseeable future, they would have to “accept morbidity in our pediatric patients over mortality in more vulnerable adults.”

“I never imagined what it would be like to have to tell a family that I could not fix their daughter’s type 3 supracondylar humerus fracture because all surgical suites are filled with prone, vented COVID-19 patients,” he says.

Michalowitz and his wife, Rebecca Minardi, M.P.H.’12, welcomed their second child in 2020, but that, too, didn’t happen as planned. She was 29 weeks pregnant when the couple decided she and their 20-month-old son should stay with her parents in Ohio.

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“I remember on March 12 realizing, ‘Okay, it’s really here,’ when the mayor shut down Broadway, one of the bedrocks of New York City,” she says.

Meanwhile, Michalowitz answered a call for volunteers to assist the critical care, emergency department and internal medicine teams in treating COVID-19 patients.

“Orthopedic surgeons are not meant to sit at home and read medical journals or watch Netflix all day, and the nightly cheers for the heroes on the front lines outside my small Harlem apartment were too much to bear,” he says.

He was promptly placed in NYU Tisch Hospital, a COVID-19 intensive care “step-down” unit. He was joined by residents in psychiatry, internal medicine, urology and dermatology; a junior intern; and two attending physicians – the head of NYU clinical affairs and an ophthalmologist, in practice for 20 years, who had not personally done a history and physical since residency. “It was a motley crew of medicine if I ever saw one,” he says.

Motley but heroic, he adds. Hospital staff did their best despite a lack of published randomized control trials and large case series on possible treatments. Michalowitz had to frantically brush up

Aneesa Afroze, M.D., M.P.H.’18, FACP, AAHIVS, CTH, a pulmonary infectious disease physician, director of MercyOne’s antibiotic stewardship program, president of its medical staff and an adjunct assistant professor of internal medicine at DMU, echoes that: “We really learned how to work with each other. There have been so many meetings with people from different departments – respiratory therapy, pharmacy, supply chain, nursing coordinators.

It’s been a good lesson on how dependent we are on each other.”

That teamwork will be critical as case numbers continue to climb and consequences play out – among them the long-term effects on infected people; the impact of the dramatic decrease in diagnoses of cancer and other conditions; burdens on rural facilities; poor Wi-Fi connections that impair telemedicine; and uncertainties about payer resources.

“We’re still down a number of staff, as people have to be home

taking care of their kids. How will we get through this without burning everyone out?” asks Bill Vandivier, D.O.’03, a family practice physician, MercyOne senior vice president and president of the MercyOne Medical Group.

“COVID-19 also highlighted inequalities in health care, such as its impact on meatpacking workers and people of color,” Wilcox adds.

Despite the numerous unknowns, the MercyOne team, like most health care professionals, aver that COVID-19 is not “just a bad flu” or a “hoax.”

“There is death every day and fear among our employees and patients,” says Afroze. “People need to know this is not a joke, no one is immune to it, and handwashing, face coverings and physical distancing are critical.”

surge on aspects of internal medicine and pulmonology that had faded in his years of surgical training. One of his patients was a 31-week pregnant COVID-19 patient, a nurse who had been tasked with coronavirus testing in February. At one point, Michalowitz received a message that stated, “We have placed a c-section tray at the bedside…you know…just in case we are in a code elsewhere and can’t get there in time.”

Fortunately, that patient delivAndy Michalowitz, D.O.’14, ered a healthy baby, as did Minardi. cuddles his infant daughter, The family now resides in Peoria, IL, Maeve. where Michalowitz is in practice in pediatric orthopedic surgery. But they will never forget their New York experiences – the bad, such as seeing refrigerated trucks parked outside hospitals; the strange, such as riding completely empty subway trains; and the inspiring.

“It was humbling to see so many people step up,” Michalowitz says.

Applying an established therapy to a new disease Two of the many challenges that the coronavirus thrust upon frontline medical providers were having to treat very sick patients for a disease the providers were largely learning about in real time, and facing risks to their own health in doing so. Those realities prompted Matthew Trump, D.O.’08, FACP, FCCP, and his colleagues across UnityPoint Health-Des Moines (UPH-DM) to try a novel treatment for some COVID-19 patients’ hypoxia – using high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) rather than mechanical ventilation.

That approach is less invasive, has fewer complications and can provide some patients with enough breathing support to recover. Unlike being on a ventilator, patients who are being treated with HFNC are able to eat, talk and walk on their own.

“Early on, during the surge of cases in New York, there was a lot of talk about treating patients with intubation and ventilators,” says Trump, a pulmonary and critical care physician with the Iowa Clinic, which works with UPH-DM. “There were reports of hospitals filling up with patients quickly and getting overwhelmed. We knew we had to start planning.”

HFNC therapy, which delivers oxygen and water vapor through a tube in the nose, is not new, but applying it to a new disease was. That required countless meetings among “anybody taking care of patients,” Trump says, to assess data, prepare protocols and mobilize resources.

Their efforts reaped benefits: As of mid-May, UPHDM had treated 73 percent of its critically ill COVID-19 patients without ventilators. The total intubation rate of all the COVID-19 patients across UPH-DM’s five hospitals was 10 percent.

Other benefits: HFNC doesn’t expose providers to disease-spreading droplets from patients’ airways the way intubation can, and the therapy can be applied to patients outside of intensive care.

“We were able to manage more than half our COVID-19 patients outside the ICU, keep the ICU up and running for other surgically critical patients and preserve ICU resources,” Trump says. “That

allowed the hospitals to get patients who didn’t have coronavirus the care they needed.”

What’s your COVID-19 story?

For as many members of the DMU community there are, there are that many experiences relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

The University wants to hear yours: Visit dmu.edu/covid-19/stories and scroll down to the “Share Your Story” form.

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Alumnus’s new book reveals

the “human theater” of emergency medicine ONE WOULD BE HARD-PRESSED to imagine what Patrick Crocker, D.O.’80, M.S., FACEP, did not experience in his nearly 40 years in emergency medicine in Texas. Babies found in dumpsters.

Patients who seemed beyond help who somehow rallied and recovered. Those who refused to stop smoking, abusing alcohol or drugs, eating a high-fat diet or doing any number of other unwise behaviors even as their lives and health disintegrated. Flaws in the health care system that fail and even harm patients.

Crocker shares these and many other true tales of emergency medicine in More Letters from the Pit: Stories of a Physician’s Odyssey in Emergency Medicine, a sequel to his Letters from the Pit, which published in 2019. More Letters debuted in August as the number-one new release in emergency medicine on Amazon and by Sept. 28 was ranked third among all emergency medicine books available via Kindle. Both books are structured as letters to his college friend Jack in a “firstperson, stream-of-consciousness narrative” about his career in a field where “there is little room for error when lives are at stake.”

“I really wasn’t planning to write a second book, but the response to the first one was so positive,” Crocker says. “My goal was the same – to write stories in a fashion that makes you feel like you were there watching.”

His highly visual and detailed writing style puts the reader in the rooms where it happened – the inexplicably listless four-year-old 22

found to have a tick in her ear, the terrifying hulk of a patient crazed on a cocaine overdose, the pre-teen boy who was kicked by a horse but through sheer determination managed to scream for help before collapsing. Crocker is frank about the haunting guilt of patients who don’t survive, the joy for those who do and the frustration of treating patients who refuse to be upfront about their situation.

“One of the most frustrating things I’d encounter was patients who wouldn’t give me the straight truth the first time.

I’m not here to judge you; just tell me what’s going on,” he says.

“When I’d say, ‘What’s wrong?’ and they’d answer, ‘You tell me, you’re the doctor,’ you know you don’t have an ally.”

Tyler Cymet, D.O., FACP, FACOFP, chief of clinical education with the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, in his review of More Letters describes it as an “adrenaline- and emotion-soaked book” on “the bleeding edge on social issues encountered by health care providers.” In one chapter, Crocker describes a patient who, because he couldn’t afford medications for his hypertension, suffered a massive stroke and was bedridden with a feeding tube and catheter.

“Here’s a guy who for $10 a month, we could have paid for his medications,” he says. “Now taxpayers were going to have to pay a million dollars for all his care.”

Knox Todd, M.D., M.P.H.,

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former professor and founding chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in his review says the book “opens a rich window into the human theater that is emergency medicine.” It reveals what Crocker calls “the things that can’t be unseen,” including experiences that cause many emergency medical providers to burn out, quit or worse.

“The pit is a nickname residents gave to the emergency room.

Many of us felt our ER shifts were spent in a pit below the Black Hole of Calcutta, an eighteenthcentury dungeon that was especially deadly to its occupants.

And, for certain, there were shifts that felt like that,” he wrote in the book’s preface. “My career as a whole, however, left me with a profound sense of fulfillment. I recall the deep satisfaction of being

trusted by so many thousands of patients. Helping people in their time of need. Solving medical mysteries with only tiny pieces of information. Stretching my skills to save lives.”

Crocker expressed gratitude in More Letters for health providers who are stretched due to the coronavirus, which “began its rampage across the world” as the book was in final editing stages.

“Despite personal risk – and often without the required personal protective equipment – first responders, emergency room nurses, doctors and hospital medical staff worked courageously to save lives while risking their own,” he wrote. “A tremendous thank you to each and every one only scratches the surface of appreciation for their professional dedication. The entire world owes all of them a special debt of gratitude.”

From More Letters from the Pit:

“He’s Out of Control”

I

’m working the crash area when we receive the alert that EMS, with police escort, are en route with a mid-thirties male who’s out of control. There’s no other information available from the paramedics, but over the radio you can hear yelling in the back of the unit. Figuring it’s simply another drunk causing a ruckus, I go back to work. He’ll be here soon enough, and I’ll worry about him then.

Several minutes later, they roll in. The patient is hardly talking now, lying on the gurney looking angry with Austin police officers on each side of him. Not an uncommon picture on a weekend night. Except for one detail.

This guy is positively enormous. Probably six feet, six inches tall and 300 pounds of sheer muscle. Not an ounce of fat on him.

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two officers who His shoulders are shockingly stayed to do their large, and his biceps are the size paperwork are at of my thighs. His waist can’t be my side in seconds more than thirty-four inches. and help hold the He has the appearance of an door closed. Then overblown G.I. Joe action figure. the two from triage Not someone you want to handle arrive and quickly physically at all. So I’m glad to assess the situation. see he’s calmed down.

[After forbidding [Given the patient’s size, the officers from condition and eventual disorusing Tasers or stun derly conduct, Crocker decides guns, Crocker has his to apply the strong, heavily nurse prepare a fresh woven “Tuff-Man” restraints IV and a dose of a drug before beginning his examithat will temporarily nation. The patient’s rapid paralyze the patient.] heart rate and 104-degree The officers line up temperature raise concerns in twos like an entry he’s ingested crack cocaine or team you see on TV. methamphetamine.]

Eight of them first, with And then the big surme and my nurse to prise comes. Right after the follow. And then comes nurse sets up the monitors another surprise. and steps out of the room, Instead of a simple he becomes absolutely immediate entry, the enraged. I ask him what’s officers crack the door wrong. His response, first open, and three of them with his right leg and then at once direct pepper with his left, is to suddenly spray right onto the paand easily snap the heavy tient’s face. We hadn’t disrestraints off of each leg. cussed that part. But I’m He turns his attention to desperate to get control of his arms, and with one this situation as my patient flex of his biceps and a may be dying. The officers shrug of his shoulder muscles, he slam the door closed. King snaps both free. Shit! I step back Kong throws his body again and toward the open door.

He looks like King Kong and again at the door. It too bows outThe monitoring wires are stares at me for a moment. ward with each impact. I see two ripped off and tossed into the of the officers drop their hands corner. He looks like King Kong I’m certain he’s not mistaken me to their holsters, ready to draw and stares at me for a moment. for Fay Wray or Jessica Lange, as weapons. Jeez, what a mess.

I’m certain he’s not mistaken me I don’t see a milligram of kindness Fortunately, my patient is too for Fay Wray or Jessica Lange, as I disoriented to remember he must don’t see a milligram of kindness in his eyes, only pure fury. twist the door handle to open in his eyes, only pure fury. He the door. After a minute or two jumps up and crouches on the bed, he drops, writhing on the floor, ripping his IV out as well. He grabs rubbing his face, coughing, and having difficulty breathing. That the IV pole, and I head out the door, closing it behind me and was a lot of pepper spray and results in worsening his delirium. holding the door handle so he can’t easily open it. Fat chance I’ll And then we charge in, and everyone piles on him. One or have holding it with this beast pulling on it, but it’s all I have. two officers on each arm, one on each leg, one on his chest, and His next move really gets our attention. He takes the heavy one pinning his head sideways to the floor. Our nurses are the IV pole and starts slamming it into the Plexiglas window, which best, and this guy’s veins are the size of pencils. She pushes the I no longer consider unbreakable after witnessing his perforparalytic drug in, and, within thirty seconds, he’s as limp as a mance with the restraints. I hear our clerk overhead, paging for rag. And not breathing. Terrific. police to the ER STAT. The officers look relieved and relax as though the emergency He bangs repeatedly on the window with the IV pole, and I can see it bow outward with each blow. I figure it won’t last long. The has ended. I yell at them, “We need to pick him CONT’D ON NEXT PAGE FALL/WINTER 2020

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A LU M N I N E WS up and put him on the gurney! He’s not breathing, and I need to get his airway controlled!” And like a scene from Gulliver’s Travels, the little people lift our giant off the floor and position him onto the gurney. I easily get the breathing tube down into his lungs and the ventilator attached.

[Ultimately, the staff are able to send the patient to the intensive care unit.]

During the rest of my shift, I think about all the other ways this case could have gone. Had the police officers not been so Johnny-on-the-spot and only two had been present, my patient would have likely been shot and killed. Had they not refrained from using three Tasers at once, he also might have died. And all the other possible bad outcomes, including injury to our ER staff, that were avoided.

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I know there isn’t enough appreciation for the work that first responders do in our communities. Police, Fire, EMS, and the ER staff all sometimes risk their own lives to save another. And rarely is anyone offered thanks.

Those thank yous would be appreciated. But none of us really expects them. We’re just doing our jobs.

As I leave the hospital for the night, I realize I’m looking forward to my next discussion with the hospital administrators who are intent on having our police officers replaced with unarmed security guards. A fool’s errand, if I’ve ever heard one.

I wish one of them had been there tonight. Or maybe had helped hold that door closed to keep King Kong in his cage. They might just change their minds. ◆

Grad’s novel spans “war, love, religion and history” By all standards, Kirk Raeber, D.O.’76, had an epic dream 25 years ago. He held it in the back of his mind for years, eventually sharing it with his wife and friends. “You’ve got to write a book,” they told him. More years passed. He had a busy career as an emergency medicine physician. In 2007, the Raebers

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lost their rural San Diego, CA, home in a fire.

Finally, in 2012, he began transforming his dream into his 2016 self-published historical novel, Forgotten Letters.

“Writing it was very exciting, and so much different from practicing medicine,” he says.

The poignant and engaging novel tells the story of Robert Campbell, who at age 8 travels with his father, a Methodist pastor, and mother to Yokohama, Japan, in 1924 to rebuild a church after an earthquake.

There, the family meets the Asakawa family, including a young girl, Makiko.

Robert also befriends a classmate, Kaito, who shares his love of baseball. The Japanese government’s hostility toward foreigners led the Campbells to return to America seven years later, but Robert’s, Makiko’s and Kaito’s paths cross again, in life-changing ways, during World War II. The boys’ love of baseball, Robert’s distinctive birthmark and letters he and Makiko exchange over the years help shape events.

“The book has all the elements – war, love, religion and history,” says the author, who retired from practice in 2018. “I learned a lot doing the research for the book.”

Raeber, who was stationed in Japan for one year while serving in the U.S. Navy, also learned about the process of publishing a book.

He Googled “ghost writers” and eventually connected with Mario Acevedo, a bestselling fantasy/horror writer who became his co-author.

“I needed help because I’m not a trained writer. I didn’t take literature classes in college,” Raeber says.

That didn’t stop him from writing and publishing a second book, for children, titled Don’t Step on the Spider, this year. It uses an element from Forgotten Letters – when Makiko’s mother, Yumi, stops young Robert from killing a spider. “You must learn how to respect all life,” she says. “Even the lowliest of spiders has a place in the universe. Remember, all life is precious.”

In the children’s book, which Raeber co-authored with Mark Graham, young Tim is dissuaded from killing a spider by his grandfather, who instead “introduces” him to a caterpillar, ant, earthworm, bee and other creatures who pollinate plants, keep the soil healthy, eat harmful insects and otherwise benefit the environment. The book was illustrated by Marc Zapata and has been translated into a Spanish version, No Pices la Arana.

The literary “bug” has bit Raeber, who’s planning a sequel to Don’t Step on the Spider as well as another historical novel, this one set in Germany before and during World War II. For information about his works, visit TheForgottenLetters.com.

A LU M N I N E WS

DMU salutes the 2020 Alumni of the Year They have made the quality of life better for patients and citizens. They are leaders in their organizations and in their professions. They also are proud Des Moines University graduates who continue to serve their medical/health sciences alma mater.

“The 2020 Alumni of the Year personify the mission of Des Moines University with their achievements, contributions, leadership and service,” says Jami Haberl, M.P.H.’03, M.H.A.’03, president of the DMU Alumni Association Board of Directors and executive director of the Iowa Healthiest State Initiative. “Their commitment to patients, their professions and their communities represents the very best aspects of a DMU education.”

For more information on this year’s Alumni of the Year, visit dmu.edu/2020-aoty.

DAVE KAPASKA, D.O.’86, M.B.A., is a 1972 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy who flew Air Force cargo jets in the Vietnam War era, earned his master of business administration degree from Southern Illinois University and worked in sales management for Mobil Chemical Company before enrolling at DMU. He then practiced family medicine in Sac City, IA, his hometown, and Ankeny, IA, for more than 10 years.

Kapaska was recruited to become the senior vice president/chief medical officer at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD. In 2004 he initiated “Avera e-ICU care,” a pioneering telemedicine program for intensive care.

In 2006 Kapaska became chief medical officer at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines. He returned to Avera McKennan in 2008 as chief medical officer and in 2010 became its CEO and president. He retired in 2017.

Kapaska was involved with multiple professional organizations and numerous Sioux Falls community organizations for several years. He was selected for the DMU Board of Trustees in 2017, chaired the Academic Affairs Committee and now is vice chair.

College of Osteopathic Medicine

SCOTT NELSON, D.P.M.’00, FACFAS, is a foot and ankle surgeon with Catholic Health Initiative (CHI Health) Department of Orthopedics in the greater Omaha, NE, area. In February 2020 he took office as the 69th president of the 7,800-member American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) during the college’s 78th annual scientific conference.

He also is past president-elect and secretary-treasurer of the college. He currently serves on the Nebraska Podiatry Board and is active in the Nebraska State Board of Health.

An ACFAS Fellow, Nelson is board-certified in both foot surgery and reconstructive rearfoot and ankle surgery by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery. He is a journal article reviewer for the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery, is well published in several medical journals and has written chapters in textbooks regarding foot and ankle conditions and treatment.

College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery

TRAY WADE, M.H.A.’08, M.A., is president and CEO of EveryStep, an organization headquartered in Des Moines that offers a continuum of compassionate care and supportive services for vulnerable Iowans statewide. They include prenatal support and home visits to new and expecting moms, assistance to immigrants and refugees, wellness services to communities, hospice and home care services, and grief and loss support. In recent years, Wade led the effort to unite its many programs as EveryStep to clarify its mission of serving Iowans through every step of life.

Wade is chair of the Dallas County Hospital Board of Trustees and a member of the hospital’s foundation board. He also serves on the DMU Master of Health Care Administration Advisory Board, the Greater Des Moines Partnership Government Policy Council and the United Way of Central Iowa Agency Director’s Advisory Council. He received the Nonprofit Staff Leadership Award at the 2019 Iowa Nonprofit Summit for having a successful impact on community challenges.

College of Health Sciences

Nominate next year’s Alumni of the Year, “Rising Star” Nominations are being accepted through Dec. 31 for next year’s alumni honorees.

Alumni of the Year demonstrate significant professional accomplishment or distinguished service. A new Rising Star Award will honor a graduate of the past 15 years for noteworthy contributions to their industry or community. Winners are selected by the DMU Alumni Association Board. For more information, visit the "quick links” at dmu.edu/alumni.

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ALUMNI NE WS DMU Alumni Board welcomes new members, thanks retirees Alumni representing all three DMU colleges and four academic programs joined the DMU Alumni Association Board of Directors this summer, while three graduates retired from the board. For the full story on these individuals, visit dmu. edu/alumni-boardupdates.

Johan Aerts, D.O.’03, is a surgeon who specializes in kidney transplants.

He practiced at Mercy Transplant Center and Iowa Methodist Transplant Center, both in Des Moines, and now is an adjunct lecturer in surgery at DMU. He is a member of the University’s Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) network, which connects alumni mentors with current students, and a member of the advisory board of the Iowa/ Nebraska chapter of the National Kidney Foundation.

Russell Dixon, PA-C’11, is a physician assistant in the emergency department of the Veterans Administration Central Iowa Health Care System and at the Iowa Clinic P.C. He is co-chair of the Physician Assistant Professional Standards Board of the VA Central Iowa Medical Center. Dixon also is a preceptor for DMU students, and he helps recruit prospective students.

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DES MOINES UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE

Kelly John, D.P.M.’99, M.H.A.’99, is a foot and ankle physician at Rockford-Roxbury Clinic in Rockford, IL, and chair of the podiatry department at Rockford Memorial Hospital. She also is the director of a podiatric medical and surgical residency program she helped develop. A member of DMU’s ASK network, she was named the Alumna of the Year of the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery in 2018.

Eric Neverman, D.O.’12, M.H.A.’11, is chief medical officer of Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center, IA. He is an adjunct faculty member at DMU and a preceptor for students. He is a member of the Regional and Local Physician Governance Council and of the Northeast Iowa Medical Education Foundation Board.

NEW MEMBERS

Pam Harrison Chambers, PA-C’92, M.P.H.’01, was a member of the University’s physician assistant faculty from 1994 until she retired in 2018 as associate professor emerita. She helped create DMU’s previous College of Health Sciences Alumni Board and was a member from 2005 until the transition to a single DMU Alumni Board in 2011. She joined that board and was elected president in 2015. Chambers was named the College of Health Sciences Alumna of the Year in 2011.

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Luke Groben, D.O.’06, is a cardiologist at the Iowa Clinic P.C. He is a member of the DMU ASK network and a preceptor for DMU students. He serves on the Polk County, IA, STEM Task Force and the outdoor beautification committee and book fair committee of Bergman Academy, an independent school in Des Moines.

He also chairs the outdoor beautification committee at the Montessori Children’s House.

Sue Schooler, PA-C’92, founded and operates Skin Iowa P.C. in West Des Moines. She was the first president of the College of Health Sciences Alumni Board and helped plan the transition to a single University alumni board. A longtime preceptor for physician assistant and osteopathic medical students, she was named the College of Health Sciences Alumna of the Year in 2006.

Sanford Zelnick, D.O.’80, M.S., is director of the Sumter County, FL, Health Department.

He served 24 years in the U.S. Air Force Medical Service, retiring with the rank of colonel in 2007. He joined the DMU Alumni Board in 2011 and served as president from 2017 to 2019.

A LU M N I N E WS

DMU grad installed as president of the American Academy of Osteopathy Paul R. Rennie, D.O.’87, FAAO, of Henderson, NV, was installed as the president of the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO) on March 14 during the AAO’s 2020 annual convocation. He had served for one year as the president-elect of the AAO, the nation’s largest medical society devoted to fostering neuromusculoskeletal medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine (NMM/OMM).

Board-certified in NMM/OMM and in osteopathic family medicine, Rennie has chaired the department of osteopathic manipulative medicine at the Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUNCOM) in Henderson for 11 years. He previously served on the AAO’s Board of Governors and Board of Trustees, and for more than 16 years he has worked with the Educational Council on Osteopathic Principles, a national collaboration dedicated to developing curriculum for osteopathic principles and practice. He has served with the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners since 1997, developing assessment services for the osteopathic profession. In addition, he has spent 12 years as a member of the NMM/OMM certifying board, the American Osteopathic Board of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine.

Rennie is the author of Counterstrain and Exercise: An Integrated Approach, which outlines a more learnable anatomical approach to the counterstrain methodology, and he is a coauthor of the straincounterstrain chapter of the second through fourth editions of Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine, the most widely used textbook in the field.

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CL ASS NOTES

Tell us about yourself! We’ll post news of marriages, births, career changes, retirements and other achievements. Either fill out the attached card or e-mail Class Note information to alumni@dmu.edu.

1964

1977

Norman Rose, D.O.’63, FACOS, FICS, was among the first class of Distinguished Fellows of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS), a distinction created to recognize and honor longstanding ACOS Fellows for their outstanding and sustained demonstration of engagement and service to the ACOS, exceptional professionalism, consummate integrity and noted leadership in the college and the osteopathic community.

Past president of the ACOS, Rose is clinical professor of surgery at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine; academic director emeritus of the general surgery residency at Larkin Community Hospital in South Miami, FL; and clinical professor in the department of biomedical sciences at Larkin University in Miami.

William Pettit, D.O.’77, is dean of the Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine and associate dean for rural health. The college has campuses in Tulsa and Tahlequah.

1969 Charles Vonder Embse, D.O.’69, received the 2020 Trustee Award from the Ohio Osteopathic Association. The retired family physician has been active in osteopathic organizations at the local, state and national levels since he graduated from DMU.

1976 Daniel Callan, D.O.’76, M.P.H., FACOFP, retired as a captain in the U.S. Navy after 32 years of military service.

He is board-certified in family practice, aerospace medicine and occupational medicine and a medical Fellow in all three areas. He has a civilian medical practice in Tennessee.

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1981 Boyd Buser, D.O.’81, clinical professor of osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM) at the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, was appointed to a threeyear term on the board of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the nonprofit private council that is responsible for accrediting all graduate medical training programs for physicians in the United States.

Buser has served UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine for many years in various roles, including chair of OMM, associate dean for clinical affairs and interim dean and vice president for health services. He is currently instructing first- and second-year students.

Lance Owen Yarus, D.O.’81, FAAOS, BCFE, is an orthopedic surgeon who practices at Regional Orthopaedic Associates in Philadelphia. He also is affiliated with WellSpan Good Samaritan Hospital and Girard Medical Center. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and a board-certified forensic examiner.

1983 Tom Benzoni, D.O.’83, this spring became secretary-treasurer of the Polk County Medical Society. He is an assistant professor of family

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medicine at DMU and an emergency medicine physician with UnityPoint Health in Des Moines.

David E. Drake, D.O.’83, is presidentelect of the national Physicians for Social Responsibility. He joined PSR’s board of directors in 2017, the year he attended his first conference of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. He recently returned to Des Moines after 18 months working in his native Colorado and opened a new private practice in psychiatry/ psychotherapy focused on serving families, couples and individuals throughout Iowa, including via telehealth.

1984 Kelly H. Woodward, D.O.’84, M.P.H., is the medical director for the Park City (UT) LiVe Well Center/Intermountain LiVe Well Center. Boardcertified in preventive medicine and family medicine, he previously was the medical director of a New York-based concierge medical group focusing on wellness and preventive medicine.

Woodward also served his country for more than 22 years in the United States Air Force, during which he led numerous Department of Defense programs in preventive medicine and health promotions and served in hospital leadership.

1990 Troy Boffeli, D.P.M.’90, FACFAS, was lead author and Jonathan Thompson, D.P.M.’10, M.H.A.’10, FACFAS, was among the authors of “Cheilectomy combined with first tarsometatarsal joint arthrodesis for surgical treatment of

midstage hallux rigidus complicated by medial column insufficiency: prospective evaluation of outcomes,” published in the July-August edition of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. Boffeli is the director of the foot and ankle surgical residency program at Regions Hospital/ HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research in St. Paul, MN. Thompson is a foot and ankle surgeon at the Orthopedic Center of the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, WI. James Taylor, D.O.’90, FACOS, is a cardiothoracic surgeon on the surgical staff of LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, VA, and on the physician staff of LewisGale Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery.

A Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, he is a member of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Heart Association and several state osteopathic associations. Taylor has been honored with several awards and recognitions, including the Robert C. Erwin National Literary Achievement Award by the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons and the Meritorious Community Service Award by the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association.

1991 Jon Peterson, D.P.M.’91, joined the specialty medical staff of Lakewood Health System in Staples, MN. Scott Young, D.O.’91, a board-certified anesthesiologist, is affiliated with PBS Anesthesia LLC, a part of Dignity Health, and North Vista Hospital,

both of which are located in Las Vegas.

1992 Joseph Falcone, D.O.’92, is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in primary hip, knee and shoulder replacement surgery and reconstructive and complex revision hip and knee surgery. He is on staff at ECMC Hospital in Buffalo, NY; in practice with General Physician PC, with offices in Williamsville and Dunkirk; and is affiliated with several medical centers and hospitals. In addition, he is a clinical assistant professor of orthopedics at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Erie, PA, and an adjunct clinical assistant professor of orthopedics at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Board-certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, Falcone has received several certifications including in anatomic to reverse shoulder arthroplasty, direct anterior approach to hip replacement surgery and MAKO robotic joint reconstructive surgery for total knee and total hip replacement surgery.

1993 Stephen Frascone, D.P.M.’93, practices with the Great Lakes Foot and Ankle Institute, which has locations in Chesterfield, Clinton Township, Fort Gratiot, East China Township, Shelby Township and Rochester, MI. Gloria Wright, D.O.’93, AOBFP, practices primary care medicine “with an alternative flare”

at Total Health Primary Care and is the medical director for Rejuvenating Transformations Medical Spa, which recently became known as RejuvUrSkin Medical Spa, in Selma, TX. She is board-certified in family practice and osteopathic manipulative medicine.

1995 Walter Rustmann, D.O.’95, was named the 2020 Teacher/Preceptor of the Year at the Edward Via Osteopathic College (VCOM) in Auburn, AL. He is director of clinical preceptorships.

Richard Perez, D.P.M.’95, practices with San Antonio Podiatry Associates PLLC in Texas and is its chief operations officer.

He also is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

1996 Dustin Arnold, D.O.’96, leads the coronavirus response from the hospital where he was born – as chief medical officer of UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, IA.

1997 Michael Carnes, D.O.’97, FAAO, was elected to the American Academy of Osteopathy Board of Trustees on March 12 at the AAO’s annual business meeting during its convocation in Colorado Springs, CO. He has been teaching and practicing at the University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine since 2013. Carnes served on the AAO’s Postdoctoral Standards Committee from 2001 to 2016

CL A SS N OTES

DMU grads elected officers and trustees of the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association

Brian Meeker, D.O.’84, top left, a physician with the Vinton Family Medical Clinic in Vinton, IA, was elected vice president of the Iowa Osteopathic Medical Association (IOMA) this spring. He completed his residency at St. Luke’s Medical Center and internship at Davenport, IA, Medical Center. Board-certified by the American Board of Family Medicine, Meeker has been a dedicated family medicine provider in the Virginia Gay Hospitals and Clinics since 1992.

In elections for trustees to the IOMA Board, Mary Malcom, D.O.’01, center left, was elected for a two-year term. She practices at Acute Care Inc. in Ankeny. Randall Messerly, D.O.’81, a general surgical specialist with Regional Medical Center in Manchester, was reelected for a two-year term. Also elected for a two-year term was Eric Petersen, D.O.’95, who practices with Medical Associates of Maquoketa PC. In addition, Kevin de Regnier, D.O.’85, FACOFP, bottom left, was re-elected to the position of IOMA speaker of the House, which he has served as since 2017. President of Madison County Medical Associates in Winterset, he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), of which he was president in 2015-2016. He was named by the ACOFP as its 2019 Osteopathic Family Physician of the Year and named by IOMA as its Physician of the Year in 2000.

Founded in 1898 and headquartered in Des Moines, IOMA represents the more than 1,000 osteopathic physicians practicing in Iowa.

and on the American Osteopathic Board of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine from 2008 to 2019. He was awarded the first Emerging Leaders Award from the American Osteopathic Foundation in 2002, and he became an AAO Fellow in 2008.

1998 Paul Ouradnik, D.P.M.’98, is the medical director of Billings Clinic, a community-governed nonprofit health care organization based in Billings, MT. The facility has more than 330 physicians and non-physician providers and more than 50 areas of medical specialty.

Ouradnik joined the clinic in 2018 and specializes in podiatric surgery and podiatric wound care.

John Christopher Moore, D.P.M.’98, FACFAS, FAPWCA, became chief of the podiatry service line in the surgery department at Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. He

practices with Moore Foot and Ankle Specialists.

2000 Chad Rappaport, D.P.M.’00, FACFAS, is a podiatric physician with Kayal Orthopaedic Center PC, serving the Franklin Lakes, NJ, community where he grew up. He is board-certified in reconstructive rearfoot and ankle surgery and foot surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery. In early 2017, he performed the first total ankle replacement to be done at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Chad Stephens, D.O.’00, is president of Noble Pain Management and Sports Medicine in Southlake, TX. Boardcertified in sports medicine and family medicine, he has a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in sports medicine.

A seasoned speaker at national and international health care and educational

conferences on innovative concussion and migraine management, Stephens has provided expert opinions on numerous radio and TV stations throughout the country.

He is a regular Fox News contributor.

2001 Kelly Sparks, PA-C’01, on May 1 joined Sovah Health’s medical staff at its Spectrum Medical location in Danville, VA. He offers orthopedic services for patients in Danville, Pittsylvania County and the surrounding region and has diverse training and experience in orthopedic spine surgery, trauma, sports medicine and emergency medicine.

Sparks assists orthopedic surgeons in surgery as well as in the clinic. A former dental assistant and combat medic in the U.S. Air Force, he was honorably discharged to attend DMU.

2002 Mark LeDuc, D.O.’02, joined Des Moines University as an assistant professor in specialty medicine/obstetrics and gynecology. He had been in private practice for 14 years with the Mercy Obstetrics and Gynecology practice in Mason City, IA.

2003 James J. Arnold, D.O.’03, FACOFP, FAAFP, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps, was named Family Physician of the Year by the Uniformed Service Academy of Family Physicians. He is a member of the family medicine/ obstetrics faculty and the osteopathic medical director of the family medicine residency at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida.

Brian Black, D.O.’03, FAAFP, a clinical assistant professor at the Marian University College of

medicine and highlighted COVID-19. Colbert is the assistant director of the emergency medicine residency program and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Chicago and a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves.

Kiersten Krause, D.O.’03, in May was appointed as a new member of the Hope College Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is a 1997 graduate of the college, which is located in Holland, MI. Krause is a partner at OB/GYN Associates of Holland.

While maintaining a full-time practice, she staffs the Hope College Health Center gynecology clinic and sits on the medical staff performance committee at Holland Hospital.

2005 Osteopathic Medicine, was recently named president of the Indiana Osteopathic Association.

He was featured in a new webcast, “All IN D.O.” (www.inosteo.org/), where he discussed how he chose osteopathic medicine and DMU’s osteopathic medicine program and gave general advice for new D.O.s. Black serves as the medical director for Elara Caring Hospice in Indiana as well as for several nursing homes, works with his family at Acute Medical Care in Greencastle, IN, and enjoys emergency medicine at Putnam County Hospital.

Christopher Colbert, D.O.’03, FACOEP, FACEP, FAAEM, was recently appointed chair of continuing medical education for the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians (ACOEP). In April 2020 ACOEP held the first virtual emergency medicine conference, which addressed cutting-edge topics of emergency

Micah Beachy, D.O.’05, FACP, was elected governor of the Nebraska Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP). He is vice president/chief quality officer at Nebraska Medicine and associate professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s internal medicine department. He became an ACP Fellow in 2012.

Amy EngelhardtKalbfleisch, D.O.’05, was appointed by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to the state’s Certificate of Need Commission. Chief medical officer-associate at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, EngelhardtKalbfleisch was appointed to represent physicians licensed to engage in the practice of osteopathic medicine and surgery, for a term from Aug. 7, 2020, to April 9, 2023.

Charles Fraley, D.O.’05, is a physician with Rancho Family Medical Group, which has 10 clinics in southwest Riverside County, CA. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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Nadine Miller, PAC’05, joined Skin Care Doctors P.A. in its Edina and Orono, MN, offices. A boardcertified dermatology physician assistant, she has experience in medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology.

She has served as a clinical preceptor for several physician assistant students and has also been an adjunct instructor at Rasmussen College.

Miller is a member of the Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants, with Diplomate status, and of the American Academy of Physician Assistants and Minnesota Academy of Physician Assistants.

Breck Tiernan, D.P.M.’05, provides adult and pediatric foot care at Advanced Foot and Ankle Center of Joliet, part of Advanced Foot and Ankle Centers of Illinois. He opened the practice in 2007.

2006 Angela MarshallOlson, D.O.’06, is a physician with Fanno Creek Clinic in Portland, OR. She specializes in internal medicine, primary care and HIV care. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Legacy Health in Portland.

2007 Ryan Heitmann, D.O.’07, joined the WVU Center for Reproductive Medicine in Morgantown, WV. A boardcertified reproductive endocrinologist, he had served the past six years as the reproductive medicine division director and obstetrics/ gynecology residency director in Tacoma, WA. He recently left active duty service with the Army after 13 years.

Kevin Hejtmanek, D.P.T.’07, completed his master’s degree in health care administration (M.H.A.) at Des Moines University in May 2020. He also was selected for the Dean’s Leadership Award, which recognizes one student in the graduating class chosen by faculty for exemplifying strong integrity and professional leadership skills in health care. Hejtmanek is a physical therapist with Stewart Memorial Community Hospital in Lake City, IA.

2008 Matthew Kapalis, D.O.’08, a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist, joined Bryan Heart in Lincoln, NE. Board-certified in cardiovascular disease

and clinical cardiac electrophysiology, he served as an assistant professor at UNMC and Creighton University and practiced as a clinical cardiac electrophysiologist in the Omaha area for the past five years.

Jonathan King, D.P.M.’08, practices with the Great Lakes Foot and Ankle Institute, which has locations in Chesterfield, Clinton Township, Fort Gratiot, East China Township, Shelby Township and Rochester, MI.

2009 David Cornelder, D.O.’09, joined Mahaska Health in Oskaloosa, IA, as emergency room medical director. He completed his residency at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines in 2012 and has served as an ER physician for the last seven years.

Katherine Heineman, D.O.’09, opened a private micro-osteopathic manual medicine practice in Des Moines in January 2020. She previously was a clinician and chair of osteopathic manual medicine at DMU. She is board-certified in neuromusculoskeletal medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine.

2010 Jonathan Thompson, D.P.M.’10, M.H.A.’10, FACFAS, was among the authors of “Cheilectomy combined with first tarsometatarsal joint arthrodesis for surgical treatment of midstage hallux rigidus complicated by medial column insufficiency: prospective evaluation of outcomes,” published in the July-August edition of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. Lead author of the article was Troy Boffeli, D.P.M.’90, FACFAS. Thompson is a foot and ankle surgeon at the Orthopedic Center of the Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire, WI. Boffeli is the director of the foot and ankle surgical residency program at Regions Hospital/ HealthPartners Institute for Education and Research in St. Paul, MN. Amanda Van Wyk, PA-C’10, joined the Adair County Health System as a dermatology provider at its specialty clinic in Greenfield, IA.

2011 Jason Kruse, D.O.’11, this spring became president-elect of the Polk County, IA, Medical Society. He is an internal medicine physician at

Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines.

He completed his internship and residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

2012 Ashley Dikis, D.P.M.’12, became an associate member of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, earning the designation “AACFAS.” She is an assistant professor in DMU’s College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery and a podiatric physician in DMU’s Foot and Ankle Clinic.

Jason Ellis, D.O.’12, joined the Grand River Medical Group in Dubuque, IA. He had been an attending faculty member at the Cedar Rapids, IA, Medical Education Foundation, teaching new doctors fullspectrum family medicine in the hospital and in the outpatient clinic.

He is board-certified in family medicine.

Ryan Rogers, D.P.M.’12, practices with the Great Lakes Foot and Ankle Institute, which has locations in Chesterfield, Clinton Township, Fort Gratiot, East China Township, Shelby Township and Rochester, MI.

Reunion

During the pandemic, staying connected has become more important than ever.

That’s why DMU plans to hold class reunions virtually on May 26 for the classes of 1981, 1980, 1971 and 1970 and earlier years.

Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more details.

save the date: May 26, 2021

Whether you graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery on Sixth Avenue, downtown Des Moines…from COMS housed in a former Catholic girls’ school…or from the newly renamed University of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery… you all share a bond with your medical alma mater. Celebrate that bond by planning to attend your reunion in May from the safety and comfort of your home or office!

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2013 Rachel Blankenship, D.O.’13, M.P.H.’15, joined the Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital in Bethany, OK. A pediatric physiatrist, she is board-certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. She completed a categorical physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and a pediatric rehabilitation fellowship at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

Clayton Jordan, D.O.’13, joined the Iowa Clinic in Des Moines as a gastroenterologist.

He completed training in internal medicine in 2016 at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), where he was chief resident, 20162017. He then completed a gastroenterology/ hepatology fellowship at UNMC from 2017 to 2020, during which he was chief fellow.

Scott Lundgren, D.O.’13, assistant professor of medicine in the internal medicine department at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), was named associate director of UNMC’s advanced heart failure and transplant fellowship program.

Jana Van Rybroek, D.O.’13, joined the Group Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialists PC in Davenport, IA. Susan Slycord, D.O.13, joined Oncology Associates at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. She completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 2016. She completed a hospice and palliative care fellowship in 2017 and is completing a hematology and oncology fellowship.

Slycord is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care.

CL A SS N OTES Heather Reif Zelna, D.P.M.’13, and Brendon Zelna, D.P.M.’13, practice at Coastal Foot and Ankle Specialists in St. Petersburg, FL. They completed surgical residencies at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital near Detroit.

Lauren Christman, D.O.’14, joined the obstetrics and gynecology department of Murfreesboro Medical Clinic in Murfreesboro, TN. A board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist, she completed her residency training through the University of Kansas at Wesley Medical Center.

2014 Peter Crisologo, D.P.M.’14, AACFAS, was among the authors of “Clinical outcomes of foot infections in patients without diabetes,” published in the JulyAugust edition of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. He is a fellow in the department of plastic surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Captain Rachel Ely, D.O.’14, joined Cypress Creek Emergency Medical Services in Harris County, TX. A nationally registered paramedic for the past 10 years, she is an emergency medicine physician with Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) who has been on active duty with the U.S. Air Force since starting her residency training there in 2015. She also served as clinical faculty in the BAMC emergency department before an emergency medical services and disaster medicine fellowship.

Andrew Mastay, D.P.M.’14, AACFAS, serves on the legislative committee of the American Podiatric Medical Association and on the APMA Young Physician Leadership Panel, a liaison to the Council of Teaching Hospitals of the American Association of Colleges

of Podiatric Medicine.

He practices with Shores Podiatry Associates in Roseville, MI, and has multiple hospital affiliations. He completed his podiatric surgical and reconstructive residency at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Charter Township, MI, where he served as chief resident. Mastay is an Associate of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and a wound specialist physician certified by the American Board of Wound Management.

Kelsey Waltz, PA-C’14, joined the Orthopaedic Medical Group of Tampa Bay, FL, in 2016.

Allison Wildin, D.O.’14, a rheumatologist, joined the Capital Region Physicians Internal Medicine team of Capital Region Medical Center, Jefferson, MO. Wildin completed her internal medicine residency at Indiana Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, IN, and her rheumatology fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and rheumatology.

2015 Chelsea Graham, D.O.’15, is a primary care physician in Rhode Island where she works at a community health center and teaches residents at the Brown Family Medicine Residency.

She takes care of a large LGBT community and teaches residents about transgender and genderdiverse health care. She is also involved in global health work in Mexico, where she collaborates with Partners In Health. In February she participated in a panel discussion about intersectionality, equity and inclusion as part of the Alumni in Residence program at the high school she attended, New Hampton School, in New Hampton, NH.

Elaine Grant, D.P.M.’15, practices with the Great Lakes Foot and Ankle Institute, which has locations in Chesterfield, Clinton Township, Fort Gratiot, East China Township, Shelby Township and Rochester, MI. She completed a three-year surgical residency at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit.

Travis Langan, D.P.M.’15, AACFAS, was lead author of the article “Talectomy as part of chronic foot and ankle deformity correction procedure: a retrospective study,” published in the JanuaryFebruary 2020 issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. He also was among the authors of “Surgical treatment and management for chronic dislocated subtalar joint,” published in the journal’s March-April issue. He is a resident in the podiatric medicine and surgery residency program in the department of orthopedics at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Jonathan Severson, D.P.T.’15, is a physical therapist with Select Therapy headquartered in Baxter, MN. His specialties and interests include the cervical spine, headaches, and post-surgical and vestibular rehabilitation.

Eric So, D.P.M.’15, AACFAS, was on a team of researchers whose work was featured in the nationally acclaimed Physician’s Weekly in July.

The team’s research was the first to quantify the relationship between ankle fractures among elderly patients and bone mineral density (BMD).

A related review article, “Association between bone mineral density and elderly ankle fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” of which So was lead author, was published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery.

He also was among the authors of the case report “Conversion of first

CPMS alumnus leads virtual journal club Grad gains benefits by serving students Townsen Kennington’s externship back in February with Gage Caudell, D.P.M.’05, FACFAS, at Fort Wayne Orthopedics in Indiana was everything an aspiring podiatric physician could want.

“He placed me as his assistant in surgery. It’d be him, the scrub tech and myself. I learned the most that month, being placed in a one-on-one instructor-to-student environment,” says Kennington, now a fourth-year podiatric medicine student at DMU. “It gave me ample time to ask questions and be trained

by Dr. Caudell. Everyone in the group adopted his easygoing, efficient and hardworking attitude…I personally came away hoping to do exactly the same thing when I get out in practice.”

He also came away wanting to learn more from his mentor.

“I kept bugging Dr. Caudell for insights and questions that I had after getting back to Des Moines,” he says. That gave the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery alumnus an idea – to create an online journal club for CPMS students. The timing was perfect given the pandemic had shut down much in-person, hands-on learning.

“When COVID-19 hit, students weren’t getting that much clinical exposure. Plus it keeps me reading, and I like interacting with the students,” Caudell says. “I let the students pick an article to review, and I’ve given them a few, too. What they want from me are perspectives from the clinical side, guidelines and my critique of the articles.”

As many as 40 students have participated in the club’s Zoom sessions, which occur a couple of times per month. As the partner and owner of a large, high-volume group where he treats and performs surgeries for foot trauma, bunions and diabetic foot issues, Caudell has a good brain for the students to pick.

“You can ask him questions about any topic. He gives his time and doesn’t seem to be in a rush to check off the box,” Kennington says. “He’s glad to help out and teach us kids. It’s a pretty good deal to have an alum like Dr. Caudell.”

You, too, can be a rock star for DMU students by joining the Alumni Sharing Knowledge (ASK) network.

Read the article on the next page or visit dmu.edu/alumni and click on the “Alumni Leadership” link on the right.

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CL A SS N OTES CONT’D FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

metatarsophalangeal joint arthrodesis to interpositional arthroplasty with acellular dermal matrix for first ray ulceration,” published in the MayJune 2020 issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. In addition, he was among the authors of the case study “Internal amputation in Charcot neuroarthropathy complicated by diabetic foot osteomyelitis,” published in the journal’s July-August 2020 issue.

So is a fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeon at Capital Foot and Ankle in Lincoln, NE.

2016 Sarah Hoffmann Hirsch, D.O.’16, was among the individuals inducted in the Western Dubuque, IA, High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020.

A physician with Dubuque Ob/Gyn and Midwifery, she excelled in the discus, softball, basketball and the

shot put. She went on to throw for Wartburg College, where she was a member of four national championship teams.

Kristin Kindred, D.P.M.’16, a foot and ankle surgeon, joined Decatur County Memorial Hospital in Greensburg, IN. She completed her residency with Community Health Network and a fellowship with American Health Network Foot and Ankle Reconstructive Surgery, both in Indianapolis.

Maggi Schutte Meyer, D.P.T.’16, is a physical therapist in rehabilitation services at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. She was accepted into the Integrative Oncology Scholars (IOS) Program through the University of Michigan and National Cancer Institute. The mission of the program is to develop a cohort of oncology professionals across the nation with the knowledge and skills to provide safe and evidencebased integration of complimentary therapies

in conventional oncology care, increasing the safety and quality of life of cancer patients.

Nicholas Raasch, D.O.’16, joined Mowery Women’s Clinic in Salina, KS. He completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita, KS. Janean Wedeking, D.O.’16, accepted a position as a family medicine physician at the Floyd County, IA, Medical Center hospital and clinic, including delivering babies. She is currently completing her residency in family medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where she is also a captain in the Air Force at Offutt Air Force Base. Wedeking and her husband, Derek, have two daughters, Margo and Milly.

Lauren Wurster, D.P.M.’16, joined Arcadia Foot and Ankle PC in Phoenix. She completed her three-year foot and ankle surgical

residency at Dignity Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco, where she served as chief resident of the program in her final year.

2017 Chase Brown, D.O.’17, joined the Shenandoah, IA, Medical Center as a family medicine physician. He has interests in obstetrics, emergency medicine, inpatient medicine, preventative care, sports medicine and small office procedures.

He completed his residency at Utah Valley Family Medicine. He and his wife, Jennifer, have four children.

Dylan Lowe, D.O.’17, in August joined the medical staff of Knoxville, IA, Hospital and Clinics as an emergency department physician. He completed his three-year family medicine residency at Broadlawns Medical Center in Des Moines.

Theresa Marko, D.P.T.’17, P.T., M.S., is a board-certified clinical

Be a rock star for DMU students –

Join the ASK network!

In lively discussions via Zoom this fall, more than 140 DMU osteopathic medical and podiatric medical students got advice from and were able to ask questions of distinguished alumni about landing residencies. Their presentations and roundtable talks were part of Alumni Sharing Knowledge, or ASK, a network of graduates who sign up to mentor students individually and at events. Created in 2012, ASK is a great way for alumni to be rock stars for students who value their expertise. All alumni are encouraged to participate and can set how much time they want to commit.

“One of my favorite parts about these ASK sessions was hearing from individuals who were in our same shoes just a couple of years ago,” says Josh Treimer, D.P.M.’22, who participated in a roundtable discussion on podiatric medical residencies. “Since they have been through the gauntlet, they provide great insight and information with regards to being successful throughout school, clerkships and residency.”

You can be a rock star for DMU students by joining the ASK network. For more information and an application form, visit dmu.edu/alumni and click on the “Alumni Leadership” link on the right.

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specialist in orthopedic physical therapy with her practice, Marko Physical Therapy PLLC, in New York City. She is a member of the public policy and advocacy committee and the private practice section government affairs committee of the American Physical Therapy Association. She also serves on the practice affairs committee of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapists and on the finance committee of the APTA Academy of Orthopaedic Physical Therapy. She was recently named federal affairs liaison for the New York chapter of APTA.

2019 Rachel Egdorf, D.P.M.’19, was among the authors of “Comparison of radiographic measurements before and after triplane tarso metatarsal arthrodesis for hallux valgus,” published in the MarchApril 2020 issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. She is a resident at AMITA St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago.

Elizabeth “Liz” Swartz Lahr, D.P.T.’19, practices at Breathe. Physical Therapy and Wellness in Des Moines and West Des Moines, a practice that specializes in dry needling, women’s Garth Summers, D.O.’17, health, pregnancy/ and Taylar Swartz, postpartum pain and D.O.’18, M.P.H.’15, recovery and pelvic floor became engaged. Both dysfunction and pain. are residents in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Jillian Teslow Rickertsen, D.P.M.’17, joined Kentucky/Indiana Foot and Ankle Specialists in Bowling Green, KY. She has extensive training in elective foot and ankle surgery, reconstructive operations and diabetes prevention and treatment. She completed her surgical residency at Ascension Macomb-Oakland Hospital in Warren, MI. Creighton Woolsey, D.P.M.17, joined Citizens Memorial Hospital in Bolivar, MO, where he specializes in diabetic foot care, toenail problems, bunions, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis, ankle pain, foot numbness and foot fractures. He completed a residency in podiatric surgery at Catholic Health System, Sisters of Charity Hospital, in Buffalo, NY.

2018 Zach Wittenberg, D.O.’18, is in his second year in an internal medicine residency at Creighton University.

2020

Stefany Carvalho, D.P.M’20, was a co-author of a study published in the March-April 2020 issue of the Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery titled “Comparison of radiologic measurements before and after triplane tarsometatarsal arthrodesis for hallux valgus.” She is a first-year resident in podiatric medicine and surgery with reconstruction rearfoot/ ankle surgery at University Hospital in Newark, NJ. Kelsey Castek, D.P.T.’20, is a physical therapist with Physical Therapy Solutions in Dyersville, IA. Ashley Klein, D.P.T.’20, joined Kinetic Edge Physical Therapy at its clinic in Centerville, IA. Micah Kohlwey, D.P.T.’20, joined Decatur County Hospital in Leon, IA, where he provides physical therapy to patients who use the hospital’s rehabilitation services.

Josh Kruize, PAC’20, joined the Mille Lacs Health System in Onamia, MN.

CL A SS N OTES Amanda Lankford, M.H.A.’20, was named assistant administrator at Bethany Life, a nursing home, assisted and independent living facility and at-home care provider in Story City, IA. She had been working there as a project manager. In May, she passed the nursing home administration board examination.

Pallavi “Tanya” Mukherji, D.O.’20, is in an emergency medicine residency at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL.

Jenna Niccolls, PAC’20, joined the weight loss surgery team at MercyOne Cedar Falls, IA, Weight Loss Center and Bariatric Surgery.

Leanne Pettit, D.P.T.’20, joined Integrated Physical Therapy Sports Medicine in Des Moines.

She has interests in general orthopedics, pelvic health and work with athletes.

Edee Renier, D.P.M.’20, is a foot and ankle surgery resident at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle.

This spring she was awarded second place in the 34th annual American Podiatric Medical Writers Association Student Writing Competition for her paper, “Dr. Internet and the Cyber Friendly Patient.”

William Reiche, D.O.’20, is in an internal medicine residency at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, NE.

In Memoriam ’52 – William J. Lurie, D.O., Hubbard, OH, Jan. 29, 2020 ’53 – Arnold S. Miller, D.O., Warren, OH, June 5, 2020 ’54 – Waldo E. Frankenstein, D.O., Bellevue, MI, June 12, 2020 ’54 – E. Stanley Nelson, D.O., Springfield, MO, Jan. 8, 2020 ’55 – Irwin J. Kurtzack, D.O., New York City, Dec. 29, 2019 ’56 – Alvin Hinders, D.O., Orange Park, FL, Nov. 13, 2019 ’56 – Richard M. Kotz, Des Moines, Aug. 26, 2020 ’57 – Lamar C. Miller, D.O., Port Richey, FL, July 8, 2020 ’57 – Tom L. Sefton, D.O., Dayton, OH, Aug. 1, 2020 ’58 – Gilbert S. Bucholz, D.O., Huron, OH, April 5, 2020 ’59 – Robert L. Beech, D.O., Ankeny, IA, Jan. 1, 2020 ’60 – Richard E. Vermillion, D.O., Boone, IA, Oct. 14, 2020 ’61 – Bert M. Bez, D.O., West Bloomfield, MI, April 18, 2020 ’62 – Raymond V. Failer, D.O., Surfside, FL, Aug. 10, 2020 ’62 – Robert K. “Keith” Simpson, D.O., Sidney, OH, Dec. 9, 2019 ’67 – James M. Duggan, D.O., Sioux City, IA, Jan. 13, 2020 ’68 – Maurice “Dale” Parry, D.O., Anthem, AZ, Aug. 29, 2020 ’68 – Raymond F. Sorensen, D.O., Tulsa, OK, Feb. 22, 2020 ’69 – Stephen N. Snyder, D.O., Miami, FL, Nov. 22, 2019 ’71 – Floyd A. Jones, D.O., Shenandoah, IA, Aug. 12, 2020 ’71 – John J. Maceluch, D.O., Panama City, FL, March 23, 2020 ’74 – Robert S. Hedges, D.O., Ames, IA, Sept. 11, 2020 ’80 – Richard A. Strickler Jr., D.O., Winterset, IA, May 11, 2020 ’83 – Brian R. Bonte, D.O., Hutchinson, MN, Dec. 15, 2019 ’87 – Mary J. Robinson, D.O., Azle, TX, March 23, 2020 ’88 – Cheryl A. Branon, D.O., Brookhaven, PA, April 15, 2020 ’91 – Douglas E. Lewis, D.O., Amarillo, TX, May 23, 2020 ’01 – Ann M. George, M.H.A., Iowa City, IA, Oct. 1, 2020 ’09 – Marilyn L. Finnerty, M.H.A., Urbandale, IA, Oct. 8, 2020

DMU mourns alumni and longtime trustees Drs. Bucholz and Kotz DMU is in debt to two graduates who were steadfast advocates of the osteopathic profession and their medical alma mater.

Gilbert Bucholz, D.O.’58, of Huron, OH, was a retired radiologist who passed away on April 5. He served as president of the American Osteopathic Foundation, the American Osteopathic Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association. He also was president of the Northwest Ohio Radiologists and a member of the American Osteopathic College of Radiology Board of Trustees.

In addition, he was a member and chair of the DMU Board of Trustees, retiring as emeritus trustee in 2015 after 39 years of service. He was named Alumnus of the Year of DMU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1992 and was a member of the University’s President’s Society, which recognizes donors of $1,000 or more annually.

Dr. Bucholz was a clinical professor of radiology at DMU and the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He was a leading force behind the establishment of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine and a team physician for the World Wrestling team at the 1968 Olympics.

Richard “Dick” Kotz, D.O.’56, who passed away in Des Moines on Aug. 26, served on the DMU Board of Trustees for more than four decades, including as chair from 1990 to 1995.

In practice, he was chair of pathology and medical laboratory director at the former Des Moines General Hospital.

He was president of the American Osteopathic College of Pathologists in the mid-1970s and was an examiner for the American Osteopathic Board of Pathologists from 1967 to 1976.

Dr. Kotz supported the University as a member of the Founders Society, which honors donors for cumulative lifetime gifts of $100,000 and greater. He and his spouse established the Margaret A. and Richard M. Kotz Scholarship to benefit students in DMU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine who have demonstrated academic achievement, leadership qualities and financial need.

A past member of the Iowa State Comprehensive Health Planning Advisory Council, Dr. Kotz also served on the medical advisory committee of the Health Planning Council of Central Iowa. He helped found the Blood Center of Central Iowa and served on its board of from 1962 to 1991. He received the National Leadership Award from the Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation in 1975.

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a covid twist on a traditional assignment

W

HEN SHE REFLECTS ON the hardships of being a first-year student in DMU’s physician assistant (PA) program, Emily Delzer concludes, “It’s not about me.”

Delzer made that conclusion in her Humanities in Gross Anatomy (HuGA) project, a requirement for the gross anatomy course. The anatomy faculty created that requirement in 2007 as a way to socialize students to the humanities and to facilitate reflective learning. At the end of the course, students, either individually or as a group, submit a project – a narrative, poem, song, video, etc. – that describes how they had been personally touched by a body donor's gift and how it contributed to their professional growth and education.

Because the pandemic prevented the PA students from performing traditional donor dissections this year, Lauren Butaric, Ph.D., associate professor of anatomy, decided the traditional implementation of the HuGA project “just didn’t fit.” She still wanted students to have the opportunity to reflect on what they’d learned in the anatomy course, however.

“I had the students write a short piece to self-reflect on how being a PA student during the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their education and their future careers; they also had the option to discuss the social injustice pandemics, including systemic racism, that are occurring concurrently,” she says. “I encouraged them to see past the negatives – which are often all too easy to focus on – and try to find some of the positive

take-away messages. What have they learned during these multiple pandemics that will make them a better PA for their patients?”

Butaric says the project helps reveal the students’ creative side and affirms they are “so much more than the grades they get.” The submissions of two PA students are featured here.

“This year, being able to read their self-reflections – many focused on perseverance, adaptability, advocacy – instilled hope and pride in me for our students,” she adds. “I know that in these trying times, while many would solely lament the change in curriculum or the state of the world, our students are staying focused on what any health care provider should be focused on: the best patient care they can provide.”

My education wasn’t put on hold And I am very thankful, truth be told Although this experience wasn’t ideal There was much I had to feel From learning and viewing on a screen In-person experiences far and few in-between I’m sure you had so much to give When I think about the life you lived Are all so very true Taylor Scott, PA’22, is a firstyear physician assistant student from Delavan, WI.

The pathology opens my eye Often makes me wonder, why?

The gift you gave is more than enough I think about your family and how this time may be so tough I hope you lived a beautiful life Full of love and none of strife

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ISTOCKPHOTO: PATRICK DAXENBICHLER; THITAREESARMKASAT

The opportunities to learn from you

students were assigned to write a short piece to self-reflect on how being a PA student during the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their education and their future careers

While people around the country struggle to breathe, I feel trapped AS I SIT IN MY COLD, DARK BASEMENT THROUGH YET ANOTHER in the clutches of a rigorous professional program. I realize that the Zoom lecture, losing track of the day of the week, it seems as if the ever-changing platform of online schooling has made me adaptable, world outside these four walls is ending. If somebody had told me flexible, and has strengthened my optimism muscle. I know that I would be completing the majority of my first year of PA school every aspect of my education will help me be the best provider I amidst a global pandemic, I would never have believed them. can be to make every person who walks through my door feel seen, When I first found out we would be entirely online, I admittedly heard, and valued. felt a mini-temper tantrum boil inside me: “It’s not This is not about me. fair,” and “Why is this happening now?” It didn’t It’s about the young girl who comes to the take me long to stop stomping my feet and put my office where I work who has been mistreated and bottom lip back in its place. abused based on the color of her skin, struggling It’s not about me anymore. to make ends meet. It’s about the elderly man Three months before I was set to start PA who is unable to say goodbye to his wife of 50 school, a virus swooped over our lives, setting fire years in person due to contact restrictions in to every best-laid plan we had. People struggled the hospital. It’s about the child whose life is to take their last breaths as it gripped their lungs completely changed after suddenly losing his before anybody even knew what this was. The father in a police shooting incident and now has to detrimental effects of this unforgiving disease help raise his younger siblings. I will never be able forced families to say goodbye to their loved ones to understand the pain these people have faced, over the phone, isolated people in nursing homes Emily Delzer, PA’22, is a but I will have the tool kit and empathy to offer for months, and stole people’s jobs and savings. first-year physician assistant support and healing.

It’s not about me. student from Rapid City, SD. It is not about me.

I take a break from studying microbes and We are not being trained solely to diagnose a biochemical pathways invisible to the naked eye to set of symptoms and match that to a pharmaceutical agent to cure go online where I witness overt horrific injustices on social media them. We are being trained to serve the entirety of the human taking place a few hours north of where I am sitting. It’s difficult to population, to heal whatever ailments our neighbors – who come focus on seemingly mundane studies when you feel completely from all walks of life – may be facing. worthless in the fight to end the systemic racism affecting your The unconventional manner in which we are receiving an friends and neighbors. education during this time is truly not about me anymore. When They can’t breathe. people around the country are suffering and can’t breathe – It’s not about me.

I hope that with my education and training, I can use my breath When it seems the only thing brightening my days is the soft glow to help them. of my laptop, I reflect on the ways I can better the world around me.

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Non-Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Des Moines, Iowa Permit No. 584

3200 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50312-4198

they are ...

Start or continue your good habit of consecutive-year giving by making a gift at CAMPAIGN.DMU.EDU/GIFT

START A HIGH-IMPACT HABIT Watson Gutowski, D.O.’58, has donated to DMU every year since 1972. He and his wife, Catherine, also established the Catherine A. Gutowski and Watson A. Gutowski Endowed Scholarship Fund to benefit DMU students.

“It has been an honor and my pleasure to support Des Moines University, which has given my family and myself a very wonderful life,” he says.

Marc Baumert, PA-C’14, and Morgan Baumert, M.H.A.’15, shown here with daughters Claire, left, and Reece, began their consecutive-year giving habit four years ago. “We recognize the benefits of our time at DMU each year in the careers that the faculty prepared us for, and so we’re grateful we’re able to continue our support each year as well,” Morgan says.

These donors’ consecutive-year giving is a great way to invest in high-quality health care and its future leaders. Donors who give regularly provide a steady income stream that gives the University the ability and confidence to fund ongoing operations and seize new opportunities. They also help DMU control the cost of tuition, which has a powerful impact on our students – your future colleagues.

Consecutive-year giving is easy for you, too.

Set up your annual, quarterly or monthly contribution and never worry whether you’ve supported one of the causes that’s important to you. Gifts of any size make you a member of this important group. DMU celebrates consecutiveyear donors when they reach giving milestones at 10 years and then at every five-year increment.