THE CAMPAIGN FOR
The Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine
Contents letter from the chair
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expanding scholarships
14
supporting faculty
20
strengthening community health 28 how you can help
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in the potential of incoming students— each an aspiring physician.
Photography by John Sattler BFA ’87
in faculty, whose research holds the key to some of our region’s and nation’s most pressing health care challenges.
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in alumni, who serve and heal through their patient care and laboratory discoveries.
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within the generosity of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and all of those whom we are proud to call friends.
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in the richness of our history and the boldness of our vision, which are proudly represented in our new name: Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
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Fellow Alumni and Friends: As Ohio University embarks on its largest capital campaign ever, we at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) are proud to be recognized as a national leader in the osteopathic profession. The college opened its doors to its first class in September 1976. In the short 35 years since, our school has made a measurable difference in southeastern Ohio, the state, the nation, and the world. Our graduates are excellent primary care physicians, specialists, researchers, educators, and inventors. The effects of our alumni’s service are felt daily, both near to and far from our humble beginnings in Grosvenor Hall in Athens. The college has grown considerably, and with it so has recognition of the quality of our research, our education programs, and our community service. We have experienced considerable growth, including increased admission class size, the establishment of the Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education, additional hospital affiliations, the opening of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic and Research Center, and the extensive research ongoing at our college. Recognition does not come easy in today’s competitive world, but through the hard work of so many, OU-HCOM has received the largest single gift ever given to a state university in Ohio: $105 million. Because of this gift—which will establish a central Ohio campus for OU-HCOM, expand diabetes and neuromusculoskeletal research on the Athens campus, establish endowed research chairs and faculty support, develop new student scholarships, and enhance community health programs—we as alumni and friends must focus our goals to provide endowments and establish scholarships for the college’s future. Our students are our school’s greatest assets and the future of our profession. The cost of a medical education continues to increase, and our students are faced with even greater economic challenges. If we are to maintain our academic programs and continue to recruit the best and the brightest students, we must establish additional endowed scholarships to aid our future osteopathic physicians. We must actively promote OU-HCOM and work to obtain gifts to support our researchers at the college’s Academic and Research Center, the Diabetes Research Center, and the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute. The Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine has given each of us both great pride and a great profession, empowering us to fulfill our lifelong missions to serve our communities. The Promise Lives Campaign is our opportunity to remember that OU-HCOM represents our individual futures and the future of our profession.
THOMAS M. ANDERSON, D.O. ’83
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CAMPAIGN CHAIR, THE PROMISE LIVES: THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE OHIO UNIVERSITY HERITAGE COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE
Our nation today faces a full-blown health care crisis. Urban and rural areas alike are painfully short on primary care physicians and long on uninsured residents. Ohio is far from immune to these issues. Projections indicate that the number of practicing primary care physicians statewide is markedly inadequate, with certain regions—particularly rural and inner-city areas—projecting severe shortages.
That’s why the mission of OU-HCOM is so critical. Since 1975, we’ve educated physicians committed to practicing in Ohio, with an emphasis on primary care. In fact, no other medical school in the state is better prepared to graduate primary care physicians for Ohio. Thanks to our students, faculty, and alumni, OU‑HCOM is poised to become a model for primary care education and service, and one of the leading osteopathic research institutions in the nation. In a step integral to this mission, OU-HCOM recently undertook a comprehensive strategic planning process. The resulting plan, Vision 2020: Leading the Transformation of Primary Care in Ohio, sets a rigorous course, making the following pledges:
• to provide a clinically integrated, learning-centered, osteopathic medical education continuum for students, interns, residents, and fellows,
• to embrace diversity and public service, and
• to improve the health and well-being of underserved populations.
This is an ambitious vision, one that will require a substantial investment of time and resources. This investment began in earnest with the $105 million commitment from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations. But this is only the beginning. Our hope is that this transformational gift energizes our alumni and friends to invest further in OU-HCOM. In fact, the award requires Ohio University and the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine to raise $40 million in additional support over the next 16 years for the initiatives of this transformational gift. This is why OU-HCOM has launched The Promise Lives: The Campaign for the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. This $123 million fundraising effort aims to achieve the Vision 2020 goals—and to meet the challenges of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations award—by providing increased support to students and faculty and strengthening our community health programs.
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in Increasing Access and Opportunity:
EXPANDING SCHOLARSHIPS AND CLOSING THE “PHYSICIAN GAP” — 15 —
EXPANDING SCHOLARSHIPS
By the year 2025, some experts predict there will be a shortage of at least 124,000 physicians in the U.S., particularly primary care physicians. To help turn those numbers around, OU-HCOM will expand its class size and build an extension campus in central Ohio.
With support from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, the college will further enhance central Ohio’s growing national reputation as a destination for medical education.
People ask, ‘Are you done with your research yet?’ For me research is never over. PAUL H. EICHENSEER For many first-year medical students, it’s enough to just juggle coursework. When Paul Eichenseer, a fourth-year student, arrived at OU-HCOM, he immediately launched a side-project:
investigating
the
historically
Since its inception in 1975, OU-HCOM has specialized in the recruitment,
understudied joint between the sacrum and
training, and placement of primary care physicians, which includes
the pelvis. Eichenseer received a $3,000
family practice, general internal medicine, and pediatrics. More than half
Sybert Family Orthopaedic Research Award
of the college’s practicing graduates serve as primary care physicians, and
from the college’s Ohio Musculoskeletal
60 percent stay in Ohio to practice. That makes OU-HCOM number one
and Neurological Institute (OMNI) for his
in Ohio, and near the top 10 nationally, in medical schools that graduate
research. “His intellectual input is astounding,”
physicians who practice primary care, particularly in underserved
says Brian Clark, Ph.D., director of OMNI and
rural areas.
associate professor of physiology. “He’s driving
Although OU-HCOM is increasing class size with an eye toward training
candidate would.”
this project like a faculty member or a Ph.D. primary care physicians, becoming a physician remains an expensive proposition. Even though OU-HCOM’s tuition ranks among the lowest of Ohio’s seven medical schools, tuition, room, board, fees, and books total around $58,000 a year, outstripping the vast majority of students’ capacity to pay.
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EXPANDING SCHOLARSHIPS
Not only has it eased the financial responsibility that comes along with medical school, but it has provided me with ways to improve my education. CRYSTAL JOYCE
Despite financial aid, today’s graduates carry an average debt of $174,697. Such indebtedness influences career decision-making. There’s a huge need for primary care physicians, pediatricians, and geriatricians, as well as doctors in rural and inner-city settings, but those practices don’t pay well. Many graduates feel pressed to choose higher-paying specialties just to meet their educational debts. Along the way, what they might have contributed—and their personal vision—may be lost. In the competitive medical education marketplace, financial support plays a pivotal role in enrollment and course-of-study decisions. OUHCOM, with our particular mission of educating primary care physicians, must increase scholarship aid. Each year approximately 200 students compete for OU-HCOM’s 45 to 50 scholarships. When we can’t offer enough financial aid, we sometimes lose talented applicants because they simply cannot afford the expenses associated with medical education and training.
“Words could never fully explain my gratitude
An investment in scholarships is an investment in our most precious
for the Zinni Scholarship,” says Crystal Joyce,
resource: students. OU-HCOM continues to depend largely on private
D.O. ’10, a four-time recipient of the $10,000
support to attract the brightest, most promising people and to keep their
Jerry A. Zinni, D.O., Memorial Scholarship from
dreams of becoming a physician within financial reach.
the Northeastern Ohio Healthcare Foundation. Joyce, a pediatric resident at Akron Children’s
Through The Promise Lives: The Campaign for the Ohio University
Hospital, says she was amazed when she
Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, we will secure significant
received the scholarship her first year of
funding for scholarships and support the building of the extension
medical school. “Now I am even more
campus in central Ohio.
amazed by the wonderful relationships I developed with the foundation board members,” she says.
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SUPPORTING FACULTY
Medical faculty are teachers, mentors, preceptors, scientists, researchers, and—first and foremost— physicians. Their skills are in high demand. To achieve our vision, OU-HCOM must recruit and retain these talented, passionate individuals as our faculty. Endowed chairs and professorships are among the most important
in Innovative Research and Creative Activity:
resources OU-HCOM can have in assembling and maintaining a distinguished faculty. Such positions honor and recognize the men and women who hold them—and give the college a powerful tool to recruit and retain eminent researchers. Endowed chairs and professorships are sought after by top faculty because they provide a stable, dependable source of income that fuels their research. Such positions, for example,
SUPPORTING FACULTY
provide funds for special teaching and research materials, library acquisitions, salary supplements, and travel assistance.
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SUPPORTING FACULTY
Competition for the best physicians, teachers, and researchers is acute because Ohio University competes with private industry and the public sector for potential faculty. Such competition is particularly fierce in fields such as health care and the sciences. The additional support and recognition accompanying an endowed chair or professorship will make the difference in our ability to recruit and retain distinguished researchers.
What’s more, the best faculty inevitably attract the most capable students.
OMNI breaks down departmental barriers. The collaboration has raised the bar on all the work. BRIAN C. CLARK
So when we increase the number of endowed chairs and professorships,
Musculoskeletal disorders and diseases cost the
we also raise the caliber of our students. Funds for chairs and
United States more than $850 billion annually
professorships will provide invaluable discovery, teaching, and research
in health care costs and lost wages. Associate
opportunities for osteopathic medical students and residents, and for
Professor of Physiology Brian C. Clark knows
undergraduate and graduate students at Ohio University.
this statistic well. He’s executive director of the
Recruiting top faculty also requires that we offer unmatched research
which is devoted to understanding the causes,
Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute, spaces. OU-HCOM gained a valuable tool to advance research when the
treatment, and prevention of disorders brought
$34.5 million, 89,000-square-foot Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and
on by such factors as aging, injury, and disuse.
Charles R. and Marilyn Y. Stuckey Academic and Research Center (ARC)
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opened in January 2010. The ARC is designed to promote development of
The institute brings together more than
new diagnostics, therapeutics, and treatments, as well as collaborations
20 scientists from eight departments in four
among individuals from OU-HCOM, the Russ College of Engineering
colleges. Over the past decade, its five principal
and Technology, and other partners. As we work to develop additional
investigators have received more than
facilities like this one, we will need additional support—bricks and
$6 million in federal funding and published
mortar investments that, in turn, help attract our field’s brightest minds.
more than 250 peer-reviewed articles.
FACULTY SUPPORT
Studies show that HIVinfected people in rural areas are 1.3 times more likely to be diagnosed with depression than those in urban areas.
OU-HCOM’s research efforts in diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions, cancer, and cardiovascular disease are advancing treatment solutions. For medical students, this means opportunities to become directly involved with exciting collaborative educational programs and research teams that will help our researchers and professors advance health care in our communities.
TIMOTHY HECKMAN
With support from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations gift, we
People with HIV and AIDS are living longer,
Diabetes/Endocrine Clinical Treatment and Research Center will not
and now with higher rates of diagnosis among
only attract prominent researchers to Athens; it will also better serve
those over 50, Timothy Heckman realized
diabetic patients and boost programs designed to prepare primary care
that “we need to assess the psychological
physicians in diabetes management and research. A new facility for the
needs of older adults.” To do so, the professor
Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute will enhance ground-
of geriatric medicine secured a four-year, $1.6
breaking, interdisciplinary research and care for those suffering from
million National Institutes of Health grant to
musculoskeletal disorders and diseases, which are the nation’s leading
study ways to improve coping mechanisms
cause of disability.
will build two new research centers on the Athens Campus. A new
for HIV-infected older adults and rural persons. Heckman is using the grant to
Through this campaign, OU-HCOM seeks to endow professorships and to
lead a nationwide study testing whether
build program support endowments, strategic investments that will help
telephone-administered psychotherapy can
keep us on the leading edge of medical education and research.
reduce depression in these patients and improve the quality of their lives.
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In 2010, of Ohio’s seven medical schools, OU-HCOM had the highest percentage of African American and Hispanic graduates: 14.4 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively. Ohio University generates more licensing revenue than any other public university in the state, largely thanks to OU-HCOM faculty member John Kopchick. Kopchick, the Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar and professor of molecular and cellular biology, developed Somavert®, a drug that effectively treats acromegaly, a growth hormone disorder. In 2008, Forbes ranked Ohio University fourth in the nation for research return on investment.
In fiscal year 2009–2010, OU-HCOM faculty and staff secured more than $3.1 million in revenue from 56 research grants and clinical trials.
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While 12 percent of the national population is uninsured, the figure in Appalachian Ohio is above 15 percent.
Despite the fact that OU-HCOM has the lowest medical school tuition in the state, the average indebted graduate leaves OU-HCOM with $174,697 in medical school debt. Significantly fewer medical students choose generalist careers largely because of mounting student loan debt and the relatively low earning potential of primary care physicians.
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STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY HEALTH
Since its inception, the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine has been driven by concern for and dedication to the health and well-being of our community. Along with our teaching mission, OU-HCOM provides high-quality health screenings, medical services, and education at little or no cost to individuals. Since 1996, we’ve delivered these services to children and adults in 21 Appalachian Ohio counties. This effort began with our specially equipped mobile health units and expanded in 2006 with the opening of our Heritage Community Clinic. Recently relocated to new, expanded space—thanks to gifts from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations and alumnus Robert J. Hampton, D.O. ’84, and his wife, Suzanne Hampton—
in Caring for Our Community:
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAMS
the clinic provides free and low-cost medical care to underserved populations in southeastern Ohio. The clinic:
• provides primary care services, including screening services,
• emphasizes the importance of prevention and health education,
• advocates for the individual to obtain access to all community resources, and
• educates health care professional students about Appalachian culture and health awareness.
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STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY HEALTH
The college’s outreach programs are designed to increase visibility and encourage collaboration with communities, schools, and other health agencies while providing valuable services to isolated areas in the region. Additional support for these programs will enable OU-HCOM to serve more patients, to provide additional free screenings, to deliver community health and wellness programs, and to influence the overall well-being of the people of southeastern Ohio.
In just one quarter, 18 COMCorps volunteers made 873 health presentations to 8,778 children and 2,092 adults. MAYA PETTIT-SCOTT COMCorps volunteer Maya Pettit-Scott runs a “life skills” class on drug abuse prevention for third-grade students at Trimble Elementary in Glouster, Ohio. Pettit-Scott is just one volunteer with COMCorps, an AmeriCorps program run by OU-HCOM’s Community Health Program for the past 10 years. In fall quarter 2010 alone, COMCorps volunteers made 8,067 individual
contacts
to
provide
health
screenings for vision, lice, and hearing; to measure students’ body mass index; and to assist with immunizations and kindergarten registration.
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STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY HEALTH
The funding will benefit more than 11,000 children living in Athens, Hocking, Vinton and Meigs Counties. JANE HAMEL-LAMBERT She’s a clinical psychologist who joined OUHCOM in 2004 with the goal of promoting
Through The Promise Lives: The Campaign for the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, we will continue to embrace our commitment to the region by providing services and expanding our partnerships to help those in need.
interdisciplinary mental health care in Southeastern Ohio. There’s no question Jane
Hamel-Lambert
great
success
toward
has that
experienced goal.
The
These community services will include:
low-income families through the Heritage Community Clinic,
associate professor of family medicine
screenings, and immunization programs;
and president of the local nonprofit children’s health network Integrating
• p romoting health care to underserved, uninsured, and
• p roviding sustainable access to needed prescription
Professionals for Appalachian Children
medications through prescription vouchers for more than
(IPAC), recently secured a $3.5 million
200 families annually; and
grant to fund Project LAUNCH for Appalachia Ohio. Through Project LAUNCH (Linking Actions for Unmet Needs in
• p roviding health education to 5,000 individuals annually through one-on-one patient education consultations.
Children), IPAC will work to provide and sustain effective, integrated services that support the wellness of young children and their families.
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In 2010, Academic Medicine ranked OU-HCOM as one of the top U.S. medical schools for producing graduates who practice in rural areas. Approximately half of our graduates practice in communities with fewer than 50,000 residents. Last year, the Free Clinic Program reached nearly 400 patients, providing about $106,000 worth of donated physician time, 231 prescription vouchers, and pharmacy services totaling nearly $20,000. Physicians from OU-HCOM and the ARHI Diabetes/Endocrine Center provide medical care to more than 5,000 people annually in the Appalachian Ohio region through more than 55,000 patient encounters. Outreach programs currently operate in the underserved Ohio towns of Belpre, Coolville, McArthur, Nelsonville, and Waverly.
Sixty percent of OU-HCOM graduates practice in Ohio, with 14 percent practicing in Appalachian Ohio.
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The promise lives
in the research and development of revolutionary cancer medications. °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
He developed Somavert®, a globally marketed drug that treats the growth hormone disorder acromegaly, but John Kopchick hasn’t stopped there. The GollOhio Eminent Scholar and professor of molecular and cellular biology has used that seminal work to launch projects on cancer treatment, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, aging and even performance-enhancing drugs in athletes. In April 2011, the prolific researcher earned the British Society for Endocrinology’s Transatlantic Medal, an award given only to North America’s very best endocrinologists.
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The promise lives
in improving diabetes care and screening in our community. °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
Julie Bellissimo, a fourth-year osteopathic medical student, volunteers at the monthly Diabetes Free Clinic, a service of OU-HCOM’s Mobile Health Unit, which offers free health care to uninsured people in southeastern Ohio. In Appalachian Ohio, at least 11 percent of the population has diabetes—three points higher than the rest of the nation. Last year, Bellissimo and fellow student volunteers contributed nearly 4,000 hours of service to the community.
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The promise lives
in better treatment for the 10 million Americans with peripheral vascular disease. °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
James D. Joye, D.O. ’88, had an idea for a safer, less invasive way to treat vascular disease. That idea, sketched on a napkin, turned into a company, CryoVascular Systems, where he developed a patented process using nitrous oxide to freeze arterial plaque. Joye is widely credited with developing this new procedure, called cryoplasty, which is less traumatic than bypass surgery or angioplasty and has a lower incidence of restenosis, or reclogging.
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The promise lives in you. °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
The Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine was founded on a promise: to provide Ohio with more primary care physicians, particularly in the state’s most underserved areas. Now approaching our 40th year, OU-HCOM has kept that promise. We’ve kept that promise thanks to our creative students, visionary faculty, and talented alumni. We’ve kept that promise thanks to you and other generous supporters who have strengthened the college with charitable giving. We’ve kept that promise in the achievements and vision that inspired a $105 million award from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, the largest private donation ever to a public college or university in Ohio. And, with your help, we’ll continue to keep that promise—and to honor our heritage—in the future.
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What’s your promise to Ohio University? OU-HCOM has fulfilled and continues to honor the promise of our founding in 1975: to produce more primary care physicians for Ohio areas where there is the greatest need. Continuing to fulfill this promise in the future depends upon you. Our partners and friends have played an important role in shaping the college’s success. Today, we embark upon The Promise Lives: The Campaign for the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, an ambitious $123 million fundraising effort. The outcomes will be dramatic, especially for those initiatives addressing some of the most pressing health care issues facing Ohio. As we implement these initiatives, OU-HCOM and our partners will become prominent national leaders in primary care medical education.
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Share in the promise with Ohio University by contacting the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine: 740.593.2176 | ou-hcom.development@ohio.edu | www.oucom.ohiou.edu
The Promise Lives Campaign • Grosvenor Hall • Athens, Ohio 45701 T: 740.593.2176 • F: 740.593.0761 • ou-hcom.development@ohio.edu