UP DATES
Annise Chung, DO ’13 2013 Mason W. Pressly Memorial Medal Recipient, Georgia Campus – PCOM
GA–PCOM Students Score Community Service Opportunity
Dr. Delp confers with GA–PCOM students (from left) Elvira Jasarevic (DO ’16), Charles Hoggard (DO ’16) and Barbara “Joy” Jones (DO ’14) at the 360 Football Academy.
As high school students learned to block and tackle at the Atlanta 360 Football Academy on the campus of Oglethorpe University this summer, members of GA–PCOM’s Family Medicine Club were on hand to administer first aid to students on the football field. Meanwhile, club advisor William Delp, DO, assistant professor, OMM, GA–PCOM, educated students and their parents in the classroom about concussions and heat exhaustion. “The Family Medicine Club was honored to be there educating the students about health along with other companies that taught financial literacy and SAT/ACT prep,” says Barbara “Joy” Jones (DO ’14). “We also had the chance to work with the coaches, who were some of the best NFL players ever to play the game.” “It was a great experience for our students and a great opportunity to continue to introduce GA–PCOM to the community,” says Dr. Delp, a former high school team physician and family physician who has treated his fair share of sports injuries throughout his career. 4
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When Annise Chung, DO ’13, was an undergraduate student at Cornell University, she had never heard of osteopathic medicine. Then one day while perusing medical school brochures in the university’s career center, she noticed several from osteopathic medical schools. She was immediately drawn to the osteopathic philosophy of healing the whole person and leveraging the body’s own immune system. A few years later, Dr. Chung decided to take a “leap of faith,” and quit her job as a health policy analyst at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She applied only to GA–PCOM’s DO program and quickly became a staunch advocate of osteopathic medicine. As a student, she became involved in the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) because she felt so strongly about advocacy for the profession. “It was the only club I joined,” says Dr. Chung. “Many pre-medical students and people out in the community don’t know about osteopathic medicine, and they could really benefit from it. I wanted to spread the word.” While serving on SOMA’s national board, Dr. Chung developed a way to get that message to more pre-medical students. She initiated the first national pre-SOMA “meet and greet” event,
which was held at the 2012 SOMA convention in San Diego. “We invited pre-health advisors and admissions officers from many colleges and universities,” she reports. “We were very pleased with the outcome. Thirty pre-med students attended the event. In addition, a number of medical students from SOMA and the Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents came, which gave the pre-med students great opportunities to ask questions and learn more about osteopathic medicine.” To raise awareness in the community, Dr. Chung revived GA–PCOM’s 5K Run to benefit local charities, which had been on hiatus for a year. “Every little effort will help us increase awareness of the benefits of osteopathic medicine,” she says. “You don’t have to be part of a big plan or program. Little things like sending a letter to your legislative representative or looking for recruitment opportunities in your community will help us get there.” Dr. Chung looks forward to a residency in internal medicine with great confidence in her profession.
OMM Fellows Named Three Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and two Georgia Campus – PCOM third-year students have been accepted into the College’s OMM fellowship program. As OMM fellows, they will attend the College for an additional 12 months, serving in the OMM department as both instructors and practitioners. An annual College provision sustains the fellowship program with assistance from the C. Paul Snyder, DO ’10, and the Frieda O. Vickers, DO ’39, and Major James G. Vickers endowment funds. Additional support comes from special gifts earmarked for OMM. Above: PCOM OMM fellows (from left): Kyle Hummerston (DO ’16), Brianna McMahon (DO ’16) and Daniel Nguyen (DO ’16). Below: GA–PCOM fellows (from left): Hunter Wernick (DO ’16) and Lauren Smith (DO ’16).
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