PCOM Digest No. 1 2021

NUMBER 1

2021

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

STANDING ON HER

SHOULDERS CELEBRATING META L. CHRISTY, DO, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN ALUMNAE TRAILBLAZERS

FEATURE

VOL. 82, NO. 1, USPS, 413-060 Digest Magazine is produced by the Office of Marketing and Communications under the direction of Wendy W. Romano, chief marketing and communications officer.

EDITOR Jennifer Schaffer Leone, MA PUBLICATION DESIGN Abigail Harmon CONTRIBUTORS – FEATURES Janice Fisher Carol Benenson Perloff David McKay Wilson CONTRIBUTORS – UPDATES Daniel McCunney Orla Moloney Barbara Myers Jordan Roberts CONTRIBUTORS – CLASS NOTES Institutional Advancement Staff Meghan McCall PHOTOGRAPHY Daniel Shippey Photography Bruce Fairfield Melissa Kelly Photography ILLUSTRATION Laura Freeman SEND QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT DIGEST MAGAZINE TO: Marketing and Communications, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 4180 City Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131-1695 215-871-6300 communications@pcom.edu SEND INFORMATION FOR CLASS NOTES AND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: Institutional Advancement, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 4180 City Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131-1695 215-871-6120 alumni@pcom.edu Periodical postage is paid at Upper Darby, PA, and at additional mailing offices.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the College or the editor.

Dear Alumni and Friends: As an institution that educates osteopathic physicians, pharmacists, allied health professionals and behavioral scientists, PCOM has a responsibility to address structural racism and inequities that create and perpetuate healthcare disparities in marginalized communities.

This past year, I convened a Presidential Commission on Racial Justice: Transforming Campus Culture. The Commission advocates for racial parity within all of our College campus environments and within the healthcare profession at large. The Commission’s actions underscore our institution’s unwavering commitment to justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. In addition, the Commission works to identify strategic priorities and initiatives, aligning them with actionable steps, in the new PCOM 2025 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan.

And so as to serve as an embodiment of the increasingly rich and inclusive community our College is, I am pleased to announce that the PCOM Board of Trustees has approved the renaming of Overmont House. Meta Christy House, scheduled to open in 2021, has recently been converted into student housing units. The building’s namesake is the same one that this issue of Digest Magazine commemorates. It is an honor for all of us to mark the 100th anniversary of the graduation of Meta L. Christy, DO, the College’s first African American student and the first African American doctor of osteopathic medicine in the nation as recognized by the American Osteopathic Association.

DIGEST

© 2021 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

All rights reserved.

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Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81 President and Chief Executive Officer

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

C O NT E N TS 2 Updates 10 Institutional Heritage: Founders’ Day

12 Meta L. Christy, DO:

The First African American Osteopathic Physician

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16 Standing on Her

Shoulders: Celebrating Meta L. Christy, DO, and African American Alumnae Trailblazers

25 Class Notes

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Cover Illustrator

For its commemorative issue about Meta L. Christy, DO, Digest Magazine commissioned Laura Freeman, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honoree.

Ms. Freeman’s work has been recognized with an NAACP Image Award; has reached the New York Times Best Seller List; and has been honored by the Society of Illustrators, the Georgia Center for the Book, and in the Annuals for Communication Arts and American Illustration.

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UPDATES

DONNING THE WHITE COAT—VIRTUALLY The nation’s potential healthcare workforce was boosted by 600 members when PCOM students in Philadelphia, Suwanee and Moultrie received their white coats in an online ceremony held on December 29. The students include 468 Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine students, 40 Doctor of Physical Therapy students, and 92 Physician Assistant Studies students.

Kenneth J. Veit, DO ‘76, MBA, provost, senior vice president for academic affairs and dean, called the event “particularly meaningful at a time when the members of our professions face unique challenges as frontline workers during a pandemic.”

Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer, welcomed the students to “an observance that marks a pivotal educational and professional milestone and represents the world of clinical medicine.” He said, “By donning the white coat, your world shifts to putting the patient first, a priority that must never waver throughout your professional career. When you put the patient first, everything else takes care of itself.”

ADMISSIONS INTERVIEWS GO ONLINE For more than a century, PCOM has provided hands-on and holistic training in the growing field of osteopathic medicine as well as the health and behavioral sciences. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, PCOM experienced increased applications and interviews for most of our programs, but more dramatically in our DO program at all locations,” said Adrianne Jones, chief admissions officer.

“Going virtual has amplified our ability to remain agile in the face of the changing landscape of graduate and professional school admission. While we are still early in the admissions cycle for summer/fall 2021 enrollment, we are very pleased with PCOM’s ability to adapt our processes to meet applicant needs despite the restrictions we all face during a pandemic,” Ms. Jones said.

“The admissions team continues ongoing strategic discussions on the meaning of the applicant and yield numbers as they could be impacted by several factors even outside of the pandemic. With the exception of mail delivered by USPS, we have transitioned every aspect of our delivery of the admission, recruitment and enrollment process to the virtual landscape.”

In July, the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) encouraged colleges to provide applicants with a virtual interview throughout the entire 2020–2021 application cycle. AACOM advised that virtual interviews will ensure safety and lower interview costs for prospective students.

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Dana Brooks, assistant director of admissions at PCOM South Georgia, said that the guidelines encouraged by AACOM are a change for all parties involved, but there are benefits to virtual interviews. “Most candidates feel more relaxed in their own space, so they may interview better,” she said. “In addition, virtual interviews are more affordable for the candidates, as they are not having to travel and stay overnight.”

PHARMACY ACCREDITATION EXTENDED UNTIL 2028 The Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) recently granted the PCOM Doctor of Pharmacy program eight years of continued accreditation. The accreditation term was extended through June 30, 2028, which represents a customary eight-year cycle, according to ACPE. Shawn Spencer, RPh, PhD, dean and chief academic officer of PCOM School of Pharmacy, noted, “ACPE safeguards quality in pharmacy education by verifying accreditation standards are met within the Doctor of Pharmacy degree program. The faculty, staff, students, preceptors and administrators within the School of Pharmacy have all worked together to ensure programmatic excellence which helped us achieve continued accreditation status in light of more rigorous ACPE standards.”

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UPDATES

LISTENING TO VETERAN HISTORY

This fall, a group of first-year DO students at PCOM took part in “My Life, My Story: Advancing the Veteran Experience,” a community experience in the medical humanities course designed to challenge students’ critical listening skills. Veterans have compelling and deeply moving stories to tell—stories that may shed greater light on their overall health status. In addition to honoring their military service, these stories give voice to each veteran’s unique life experience, often yielding clinical information that might otherwise go undetected.

PCOM partnered with the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center to connect each student with a veteran interviewee. Students were required to set up a phone interview, compiling a list of questions that they felt were most important for writing a robust patient history. Students were not given access to any of the veteran’s

WELLNESS FEST SUPPORTS PCOM HEALTHCARE CENTERS This fall, PCOM held its third annual Wellness Fest, title sponsored by Independence Blue Cross. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the event was hosted online. More than 700 people registered for the event.

PCOM and its sponsors offered free online health and fitness classes, cooking demonstrations and an interactive “Ask the Doctors” Q&A. Monique Gary, DO ’09, and Lady B, on-air personality with Radio One, led a discussion on “COVID-19 in the Community.” Participants also received a voucher for a free flu shot from Rite Aid. The event raised $170,000 for the PCOM Healthcare Centers, which provide physical and behavioral care to underserved populations in Philadelphia and serve as training sites for the College’s DO and psychology students.

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history, either personal or medical. Students then transcribed what they learned, and transcriptions were shared with the veteran to test the student’s accuracy.

“This community experience was a reminder that when you’re treating a patient there is a whole life history that we may not know about,” shared Erica Redmann (DO ’24), a member of the first cohort of students in the course. “It’s exciting to know that the personal histories we’ve written [once reviewed by the veterans for accuracy] will be included as part of their patient history file. Their physicians can look to these personal histories when deciding a course of care for these patients in the future. Ultimately, this experience supports more effective patient-centered care,” she continued.

STUDENTS CREATE MEDICAL SPANISH “PLAN DE ESTUDIOS” A strong believer in diversity and inclusivity, Jeisson Garcia (MS/Biomed ’21) experienced firsthand the language barrier that exists between many Spanish-speaking patients and their healthcare providers. Born in Colombia, South America, he was forced to leave his country and family to seek political asylum in the United States. When he first arrived at age 15, a family friend invited him to live in the nursing home they owned until he found a more stable situation.

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How are you? HELLO Heart Rate symptoms paciente PAIN MÉDICO pruebas Hola blood pressure patient presión arterial Ritmo Cardiaco Cómo Estás

“While I was living there, I felt alone and lost, not knowing what my future would be,” he said, but he soon realized he was not alone. An unlikely kinship formed. “A few of the nursing home patients—non-English speakers—felt the same way,” he said.

“We became good friends. They were the only people that I could talk to, and I was the only person that they could talk to, because we did not know how to speak English.”

From their discussions, Mr. Garcia realized that there was an underlying issue. “Some of the nursing home patients could not properly communicate with the healthcare personnel to receive the care that they needed. It was painful to see them suffer over this language barrier while not being able to do anything about it.”

DEAN NAMED TO PRESTIGIOUS VIDOCQ SOCIETY Gregory McDonald, DO ’89, dean, school of health sciences, and chair, forensic medicine program, PCOM, has been named to the internationally renowned Vidocq Society. The Vidocq Society brings together forensic experts from all over the world to assist law enforcement agencies with cases that have gone unsolved.

Dr. McDonald, who serves as the chief-deputy coroner for Montgomery County, has completed more than 8,000 autopsies. Of his experience, he noted, “We all have cold cases, cases that we could never quite solve.

These cases are like an itch you can’t scratch, but if I can help someone else solve their cold case and scratch that itch, I will. I may look at something and based on my life experience see something that a previous investigator may not have noticed.”

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Mr. Garcia pledged to himself that when he got on his feet he would work to solve this problem for his future patients. Today—with a committee of fellow students—he is upholding his commitment and making strides to bridge the linguistic gap at PCOM Georgia.

Sponsored by the Medical Spanish Initiative Committee with the support of the Council on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, a Medical Spanish Lecture Series has launched to teach such topics as greetings and salutations, patient history, review of systems and patient commands. It is offered to students, faculty and staff. Other courses will be added over time.

ACGME ADDS VEIT TO BOARD LEADERSHIP The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) appointed Kenneth J. Veit, DO ’76, MBA, provost, senior vice president of academic affairs and dean, PCOM, to its board of directors, effective September 30, 2020.

Dr. Veit will serve a threeyear term with the ability for reinstatement for a second three-year term beginning in September 2023. The ACGME Board of Directors is made up of 42 members representing a diverse group of specialties and subspecialties.

“It is an honor to serve on the ACGME Board of Directors,” said Dr. Veit. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to offer recommendations to help ensure our graduate medical education institutions continue to be the best in the world.”

COLLEGE RECEIVES 2020 HEED AWARD PCOM was a recipient of the 2020 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. The annual Health Professions HEED Award is a national honor recognizing US colleges and universities that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. This is the sixth year PCOM has been named as a Health Professions HEED Award recipient.

“At PCOM, we are continuously focused on expanding our diversity and inclusion efforts,” said Marcine Pickron-Davis, PhD, chief diversity and community relations officer. “If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that we must be intentional about working towards racial equality. The PCOM community remains committed to making these positive changes, and we are honored to be recognized for our ongoing efforts.”

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UPDATES

HINDSIGHT IS 2020 This fall, Kaitlyn O’Neill (PsyD ’25) debuted her art exhibit, “Hindsight: My Vision, My Work and What I’ve Learned in 2020” at the NomadWorks gallery space in Manhattan. She has previously exhibited in Philadelphia, Queens and Miami.

“Throughout the pandemic, I found myself struggling with things I’d previously celebrated. ‘Hindsight’ was guided by the idea that progress isn’t linear. Going back doesn’t mean that you’ve invalidated your progress,” shared Ms. O’Neill.

With themes stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and imposter syndrome, Ms. O’Neill’s artwork is aimed at showcasing human emotions and allowing others who struggle to know that they are heard. She hopes that her art will allow her to connect with future patients. “With the clinical focus, I’m learning more about how to reach people and help people work through their issues. Art has an element of self-disclosure which allows me to connect with more people.

“There is an element of anonymity to my pieces. I use my first initial and last name on all my pieces. My hope is people will see the art’s message and connect it to what they are going through. I hope my work helps to break down the stigma of seeking help.”

FROM THE HEART(S): FLU SHOTS FOR THE UNINSURED DURING PANDEMIC A team of dedicated students from PCOM Georgia worked with local organizations this fall to offer free flu shots to uninsured adults. The PCOM Georgia HEARTS Club, formed in 2019 by Andrew Morrissey (DO ’23), aims to offer healthcare services to those who need them most.

With the help of Walgreens, the flu shot clinics took place at two cooperative ministries in Gwinnett County.

Mr. Morrissey said, “As medical students we feel that it is our calling to help those in need during these difficult times, and we have tried our best to do so in the safest way we can.” He added, “I honestly cannot imagine a better opportunity to show our community, through leadership and service, that we are committed to their well-being.”

Following months of research, planning and coordination, HEARTS Club members developed a questionnaire and surveyed customers of the cooperative ministries in Lawrenceville and Norcross to determine their willingness to get free flu shots. In addition, they

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PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

provided educational pamphlets about flu vaccines to ministry clients. With survey results in hand, HEARTS Club members met with Walgreens officials, who agreed to provide the flu shots at no cost to the recipients.

Image: “don’t forget about me” by K. O’Neill, © K. O’Neill 2020

ADAPTING TO THE WORLD AND THE COURT While learning about adaptive sports, third-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students recently experienced playing basketball and performing drills in wheelchairs on the campus of PCOM Georgia.

“Adaptive sports experiences give you a new perspective into the challenges, equipment and competitive drive of para-athletes. It’s incredible to be able to learn and gain knowledge as a future healthcare provider to promote adaptive sports,” said Robert Kane (DPT ’21).

According to Shelley DiCecco, PT, PhD, CLT-LANA, CI-CS, assistant professor, physical therapy, physical therapists often play a vital role in adaptive sports, which began as a way to rehabilitate veterans. Aside from encouraging patients to participate in sports, she said, physical therapists assist in wheelchair fittings, select and fit prostheses, help athletes increase strength, endurance and motion, and rehab injuries of athletes who wish to return to the sport.

“From this experience, the students obtained a greater appreciation for how much more difficult it is to dribble, pass, throw and retrieve a ball while in a wheelchair,” said Alaina Bell, PT, DPT, instructor, physical therapy. “They learned how the muscles are used differently and where one would need to focus on strength training or stretching to be able to complete the necessary skills.”

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UPDATES

BETTER HEALTH, ONE MEAL AT A TIME MEDICAL HUMANITIES COURSE DEVELOPS EMPATHY

In an effort to reduce health disparities in underserved communities, PCOM has partnered with Bebashi – Transition to Hope, a full-service HIV/AIDS nonprofit organization, to open food pantries at two PCOM Healthcare Center locations in Philadelphia.

The food pantries, which provide boxed and canned foods as well as fresh meats, fruits and vegetables, serve patients and their families visiting the Cambria Division Healthcare Center and the Lancaster Avenue Healthcare Center as well as the surrounding communities.

“As a key social determinant of health, food insecurity continues to be a major issue affecting patient outcomes,” said Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer. “Our partnership with Bebashi addresses a critical need in Philadelphia, while also supporting the basic healthcare needs of our patients.”

Amanda Finnell, Bebashi’s director of development, commended the partnership, stating, “Bebashi’s mission has always been focused on empowering persons to enhance the quality of their health and overall well-being. Partnering with PCOM on this pantry has allowed us to expand the reach of our hunger relief efforts and assist more communities that may be in need.”

First-year DO students at PCOM South Georgia are being challenged to use their creativity to learn skills applicable to the medical field. Through a newly developed medical humanities course, the students are taking part in pottery and music classes, art lessons, storytelling and small group narrative medicine sessions.

“The human form is one of the most beautiful pieces of art, and our profession is often aptly called the art of medicine because, like artists, what we do in our work is directly related to what we observe.

This course has taught me how to truly slow down to look and understand, not just assume knowledge from previous exposure,” said Evelyn Faith White (DO ’24).

Ruth Conboy, DNP, LPC, personal support counselor at PCOM, leads the small-group sessions and has a passion for encouraging students to reflect through non-judgmental exercises. “We need to equip our medical students with the tools to deal with the pain and stressors of the medical field just as much as we need to teach them the science of medicine,” she said.

SNMA STUDENTS CREATE MENTORSHIP PROGRAM WITH LOCAL CLUB Members of the PCOM South Georgia chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) are serving as virtual mentors to Moultrie, Georgia, youth. They are working with two programs at the Moultrie Boys and Girls Club: Passport to Manhood and Smart Girls. Each program is meant to build character and leadership skills in high school students. The mentors facilitate discussions on topics like peer pressure, friendships and finances. They also answer questions about careers in health care.

Chizoba Akunwanne (DO ’23), SNMA community service liaison, who was inspired to create the mentor program, said: “We want youth and teens to see people who look like them thriving, which in turn boosts their confidence. Someday the participants may join us—as culturally competent and socially conscious physicians.”

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PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

Photo by Katt Wilkins

HOWARD A. HASSMAN, DO ’83, ON HIS TRANSFORMATIVE GIFT Howard A. Hassman, DO ’83, chief scientific officer at Apex Innovative Sciences, has announced a $5 million gift to PCOM, the largest in the College’s history. The gift will be received as part of a charitable remainder trust with proceeds added to the Hassman Family Endowed Scholarship.

The Hassman Family Endowed Scholarship was established in 1986 in honor of the Hassman family: Joseph M. Hassman, DO ‘65; Howard A. Hassman, DO ‘83; Elissa F. Hassman, DO ‘86; David R. Hassman, DO ‘91; and Michael A. Hassman, DO ‘94.

The scholarship is awarded each year to a DO student who has demonstrated financial need and shows the greatest interest in pursuing a career in family medicine.

Digest Magazine had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Hassman, and recently posed the following questions to him:

Q A

: What was most memorable about your time at PCOM and/ or what did you find was most influential to your success?

: “Attending PCOM was one of the most important experiences of my adult life. My father is a PCOM alumnus, and my siblings and I all received our medical degrees at PCOM. PCOM is more than a school to us; it is a family tradition of which we are immensely proud.

The education I received at PCOM prepared me for the realities of what a career in health care entails. I had excellent professors and mentors as well as diverse clinical rotations that provided in-depth experiences in various branches of the medical field.

I discovered my professional passion while participating in a primary care rotation in 1981. During that rotation I met Karl Rickells, MD, who was the chair of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Rickells introduced me to pharmaceutical clinical trial research that recruited participants from primary care offices, offering the patients the chance to participate in innovative and beneficial clinical research while still being under the continued care of their own PCPs. This experience sparked my lifelong interest in psychiatric clinical research that I have extended to all types of clinical research, including, most recently, COVID19 vaccine research. Through the years, I have helped shift the clinical research field from an academic model to a business-based model to keep up with the pharmaceutical industry’s demands and diverse clinical populations.”

Q A

: What do you value most about your osteopathic medical degree from PCOM?

: “The holistic approach—at the heart of osteopathic medicine—is also at the heart of clinical research. Clinical research requires digging into the disease being studied and looks not just at how the disease is manifesting in the patient, but also how other factors can affect the patient’s condition. This philosophy of whole-person health care is why I appreciate working in the clinical trial industry where we strive to eliminate and alleviate diseases plaguing our society.”

Q A

: What inspired your gift and your family’s long-standing scholarship?

: “My father originally started our family scholarship; I have simply continued his legacy. My family and I want to extend the opportunity to attend PCOM to students in need of financial support—to give them the same opportunity that we had to follow our dreams and fulfill our career goals. My family also desires to see PCOM—and the osteopathic profession—continue to grow and to thrive.”

Q A

: What is the best part of giving?

: “The best part of giving is knowing that you are truly making a difference in the life of someone else, and in this case, positively affecting their future career and subsequently impacting the lives of patients in need. I am always so touched to receive phone calls, letters and visits from scholarship recipients and to learn how their lives have been transformed by our family gift. Recipients often tell my family that they want to ‘pay it forward.’ With grateful hearts, they plan to give back to the greater good of their patients and communities. I firmly believe that those who do good receive many blessings in return.”

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INSTITUTIONAL HERITAGE

FOUNDERS’ DAY 2021 Carol L. Henwood, DO ’83, RES ’85, FACOFP dist dist..

O. J. Snyder Memorial Medal Recipient

by David McKay Wilson

Carol L. Henwood, DO ’83, RES ’85, FACOFP dist., a board-certified family practice physician who has worked in the Philadelphia suburbs for more than three decades, has forged such long-lasting relationships with her patients that she’s cared for five generations of some families.

Her current caseload includes a 2-month-old infant and a centenarian who turned 103.

Dr. Henwood, the recipient of PCOM’s 2021 O. J. Snyder Memorial Medal, has had three employers over those years, at practices within a 10-mile radius. She now works for Main Line Health Family Medicine in Royersford, providing a wide variety of health services—from chronic care to well visits and women’s health.

“It’s an honor and joy to take care of all these families,” she says. “You build relationships with people, they trust what you 10

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

have to say, they trust you with their lives. I feel like I make a difference.”

Daily, Dr. Henwood holds true to the philosophy of Andrew Taylor Still, DO, the founder of osteopathic medicine.

“Physicians need to know the latest science, the latest guidelines and novel treatments,” she says. “But they need to pair that methodical knowledge with responsive empathy for patients who suffer over a clinical diagnosis or loss. And then there’s osteopathic manual manipulation; physicians can be profoundly empowered with healing hands.”

During this time of global pandemic, Dr. Henwood acknowledges that many patients have become afraid, isolated and depressed. “I strive to give them solace and hope,” she affirms. “You can say your cup is half-empty or half-full. I feel blessed that I have a cup. I urge my patients, too, to find their cup.”

A stalwart of the osteopathic profession, Dr. Henwood is a distinguished fellow and past president of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and past president and an advisor for the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Family Physicians Society. She also served as the first female president of the PCOM Alumni Association; Dr. Henwood and her family have been longtime philanthropists and volunteers on behalf of the College. She holds membership positions within the American Osteopathic Association and the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association. Dr. Henwood is a recognized expert on the patient-centered medical home concept, and in 2012 was invited to address the White House on the Affordable Care Act and patient engagement. And she is an avid contributor to the medical literature.

Dr. Henwood’s leadership in the field was inspired by the late Michael F. Avallone, Sr., DO ’59, a prominent primary care physician and a role model for the osteopathic

Justin Paul Canakis (DO ’21) Mason W. Pressly Memorial Medal (PCOM)

Akila Raja, MS (DO ’21) Mason W. Pressly Memorial Medal (PCOM Georgia)

profession, who urged her to make a difference on the local and national stage as well as with medical students and residents whom she teaches and mentors.

“We have some of the best and brightest in the profession, but if the profession is not changing to meet the challenges of new ideas, it’s not going to succeed,” she says. “I think it’s important to give back.”

The consequences from the merger of allopathic and osteopathic residency programs have engaged Dr. Henwood in recent years as she helps address the financial hurdles confronting newly minted DOs seeking board certification in family practice.

Some hospital systems will only pay for one board test, and some have determined that they will only pay for their residents to take the American Board of Medical Specialists exam. That decision leaves osteopathic family medicine residency graduates with an added financial burden if they want to seek osteopathic board certification.

“We see this as a barrier and a threat to our profession,” Dr. Henwood explains.

Enter the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, where Dr. Henwood has chaired a $2 million campaign through its foundation to provide grants to residents who want to take the osteopathic family medicine certification boards. The foundation, which has raised $1.2 million so far, gave out 101 grants in 2020 to support these residents.

The grants, of up to $1,500, cover the practical and written portions of the test, as well as travel to the test site.

“It’s a way to preserve our profession,” says Dr. Henwood.

“It’s one thing we can do to have a direct impact on the future. The American public deserves to have DOs as their family doctors—among other specialists.”

Melissa Neumann Schwartz, DO ’91, RES ’96, FAOCOO, FAAOA PCOM Alumni Association Certificate of Honor

Read more about the honorees and view the College’s 122nd Founders’ Day Ceremony at youtube.com/ pcomeducation

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FEATURE

META L.CHRISTY, DO THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN

by Carol Benenson Perloff

O

n July 4, 1912, a boxing match between Jack Johnson and Jim Flynn attracted trains full of spectators to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Making that journey was a young Black man from Kokomo, Indiana, who became enthralled with Las Vegas and relocated there. The city, which predated the Nevada resort of the same name by 70 years, had a small African American community, but no physician to care for them. LaRoy Oran Christy eventually convinced his sister to leave Indiana and set up a medical practice in New Mexico. Meta L. Christy, DO, a 1921 graduate of Philadelphia College of Infirmary and Osteopathy (PCIO), later Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, would dedicate nearly four decades to serving this community and advancing the osteopathic profession in the Southwest.

Born in 1895, the future osteopathic physician was the daughter of a schoolteacher and a dressmaker, descendants of free African Americans who settled in Salem, Indiana, from Newberry, South Carolina, in the 1820s. Dr. Christy was one of John and Arminda Christy’s six children, three of whom died by 1900. At age 7, she lost her 18-year-old brother Harley, who died of epilepsy at the Indiana School for Feeble-Minded Youth, and, at age 10, her father. Dr. Christy herself suffered from 12

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extended periods of illness in her early 20s. Perhaps all the sickness and loss she experienced inspired her to become a doctor.

In 1917, Dr. Christy began her medical education at the Massachusetts College of Osteopathy (MCO) in Boston, where she spent at least two years before transferring to PCIO. At the time, MCO was still reeling from a scandal that had made national news—a “triangle tragedy” of murder and suicide among the faculty. MCO was also running into accreditation issues with the American Osteopathic Association, being the only college to refuse the AOA’s right to inspect and classify the colleges.

(The AOA placed MCO on probation in 1920 and ultimately rescinded its accreditation in 1926.) Jennifer Weber, exhibits manager at the Museum of Osteopathic Medicine, hypothesizes, “Dr. Christy would have realized that her credentials would be questioned and if MCO had a poor reputation and was in poor standing with the AOA it might put her reputation at risk having a degree from the institution.”

The Kokomo Tribune mentioned Dr. Christy attending MCO and spending vacation with her mother, Arminda, in the summer of 1919, so it is unclear whether she transferred to PCIO in the fall of 1919 for her third year, or in 1920 in time for her fourth year. Regardless, she arrived

at PCIO’s Spring Garden Street location, where a new three-story hospital had recently opened. Between the 50-bed hospital, which included a radiology department, and the clinics, Dr. Christy had ample resources to hone the skills that would take her into a lifetime of general practice.

for future residence in Las Vegas, New Mexico.” With less to tie her to Indiana, she answered her brother’s appeal to move to New Mexico to provide medical care to the African American community. In 1929, she passed the osteopathic boards that admitted her to practice in the state.

Twenty-two years after PCIO’s founding, Dr. Christy would graduate as the College’s first African American student and the first African American doctor of osteopathic medicine in the nation as recognized by the American Osteopathic Association.

Dr. Christy boarded in a house on Sulzbacher Street, a duplex of sorts. Owners Joseph and Maggie Marable lived in one part and she and another Kokomo transplant, a fireman whom she presumably knew from home, rented rooms elsewhere on the premises. For $20 monthly rent, Dr. Christy also established her medical practice (clinic) and a lifetime of community service at that house, which was located in a predominately poor, white, working-class neighborhood. According

After graduation, Dr. Christy returned to Kokomo, Indiana, living with her mother and setting up private practice in their home. She was one of three osteopaths in a city with 46 “physicians and surgeons.”

Dr. Christy experienced profound loss in 1924. Arminda Christy died from acute suppurative appendicitis and localized peritonitis. The young osteopathic physician couldn’t save her mother and, the following year, she too had an attack of appendicitis. It seems to have run in the family, as brother Oran was also operated on for it at some point.

In March 1926, the local newspaper reported, “Dr. Meta L. Christy accompanied brother Oran Christy to his home

Celebrating Dr. Christy Year-long programming by PCOM’s Office of Diversity and Community Relations and Office of Institutional Advancement celebrates the legacy of Dr. Christy. All are invited to participate. Find more at: pcom.edu/diversity.

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FEATURE

to historian Joseph Lordi, “Dr. Christy’s medical practice catered to African Americans who, because of discrimination at that time, were denied service at the local hospital. There were about 100 African Americans and no one to treat them. She also treated white patients.”

By 1933, the landlords were living in Albuquerque. Joseph Marable, who worked as a railroad porter, returned to the Las Vegas house by 1940, without Maggie, who died in 1941. At some point before Joseph passed away in 1943, Dr. Meta L. Christy became Mrs. Meta L. Christy Marable, which dispels reports that she never married.

In her adopted community, Dr. Christy joined the First United Presbyterian Church and was baptized there in 1950. She got involved in church life, helping to host church dinners.

In the 1940s, Dr. Christy served on the board of directors of the New Mexico Osteopathic Medical Association, which in 1955 awarded her a certificate of merit and, in 1956, its Distinguished Service Award. She was also active with the Southwestern Osteopathic Association, attending its 1965 annual convention in Las Vegas.

At the time of her death in 1968, Dr. Christy, a “widely known osteopathic physician” according to her obituary, was serving on the Health Fact-finding Committee to which New Mexico Governor David F. Cargo had appointed her. Four DOs were among those who honored her as pallbearers. In 1995, PCOM’s Student National Medical Association paid tribute to the world’s first African American osteopath by establishing the Meta L. Christy Award, their top honor, in recognition of exemplary practice of osteopathic medicine, service to the community, and inspiration to future doctors of osteopathic medicine. In 2010, nearly a century after a boxing match sowed the seeds of Dr. Christy’s life of medicine in the Southwest, the state unveiled a historic marker—located outside the Las Vegas courthouse and museum—to honor her as part of the New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative.

Meta Christy House: An Embodiment of a Rich and Inclusive Community The PCOM Board of Trustees has approved the renaming of Overmont House. Meta Christy House, a 12-story property, is scheduled to open in 2021, and has recently been converted into 224 student housing units. A ribbon-cutting ceremony/special remarks will be held prior to occupancy. A portrait of Dr. Christy and a commemorative plaque, commissioned by the College, will be dedicated and showcased in the building’s lobby. Copies of the portrait will be hung in public spaces on each of the three College campus locations.

“It is my hope that Meta Christy House will serve as an embodiment of the increasingly rich and inclusive community our College is. In all ways, all who study, work and live at PCOM are welcome, at home here,” says Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer. “Renaming our building is one of many initiatives we are taking to tell PCOM’s heritage and history more fully and to diversify our campus space.”

“ Twenty-two years after PCIO’s founding, Dr. Christy would graduate as the College’s first African American student and the first African American doctor of osteopathic medicine in the nation.”

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Top: PCIO Class of 1921, Dr. Christy first row, second from left.

Above Left: Dr. Christy while at PCIO. Above Right: Dr. Christy’s home and practice at 1215 Sulzbacher Street, Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Joseph Lordi.

Right: Dr. Christy (pictured right) and friend in New Mexico, c. 1930. Photo courtesy of Joseph Lordi.

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FEATURE

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STANDING

ON HER

SHOULDERS CELEBRATING META L. CHRISTY, DO, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN ALUMNAE TRAILBLAZERS Vignettes as told to Janice Fisher

There is at once great wisdom and humility in acknowledging that we all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.

In the vignettes that follow, seven African American alumnae share their experiences—personal and professional. They are courageous, determined and empowered women. And they are among those who proudly stand on Dr. Meta Christy’s shoulders . . .

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FEATURE

LISA M. HARRIS, DO ’07, FAAFP

Medical Student Site Director, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital; Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland

“I was over twenty years old before I saw my first Black female physician. I often call myself a statistical anomaly. . . . When I think of my parents—where they came from, what was offered to them—I could not have predicted my presence as a faculty member at a medical school, teaching residents, doing family medicine. I certainly believe in divine intervention and that medicine and teaching is my calling, but it’s grounded with grit, hard work, dedication, and allyship. . . . In Army JROTC, my instructor was a retired colonel. I had decided I wanted to be an EMT—the job would pay the bills.

But he pushed me. He said, ‘That’s not enough. You need to strive higher. You have more potential.’ And that conversation and the time he spent with me, that changed my trajectory. . . . I decided to attend Florida A&M University, an HBCU, and was awarded an Army ROTC Scholarship. This was the only time in my life I was a majority. HBCUs’ existence is pivotal to the development of Black professionals. . . . At PCOM, a mentor to most of us was Leonard Johnson [DO ’64], also a graduate of Florida A&M. He held our feet to the fire; he expected greatness. . . . You’re taught as a Black person that the system is the system. You’re always going to have to work twice as hard to get half the credit—doesn’t matter whether you’re tired, whether your intrinsic worth or value feels

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P H I L A D E L P H I A C O L L E G E O F O S T E O P A T H I C M E D II C C II N N EE

diminished. I experienced a fair amount of burnout when it came to leadership in clinical roles. . . . Microaggressions and macroaggressions are stress mediators. When you get stressed, the cortisol level rises, and can affect your behaviors and performance. Underrepresented minorities [URM] experience chronic micro- and macroaggressions; they may never return to baseline. I agree with the thesis that this allostatic load leads to physician burnout for URM. The increased allostatic load can look like empathy fatigue, diminished educational or professional performance, etc. . . . Race can be the elephant in the room. ‘I don’t see race’ to me means you don’t see me. And we can’t have a conversation about it. . . . Most recently my work has addressed underrepresentation in medicine, through crosscultural mentorship. How do you mentor someone? How do you have conversations that feel uncomfortable? It’s really evaluating yourself and saying, ‘What are the things in my life that shaped my opinions, my beliefs, my behaviors?’

This is what’s called a cultural autobiography. When you have these conversations in a nonthreatening environment, all these things start to open up. . . . I’m a unicorn, but also I’m a beacon, so someone else doesn’t have to wait until they’re twenty to see a doctor who looks like them.”

PEAESHA LYNETTE HOUSTON, DO/MS ’14 (PCOM GEORGIA) Family Medicine/Urgent Care Specialist, Greater Atlanta, Georgia

“Frequently, I see at least one Black patient who says to me, ‘I don’t want to embarrass you, but I just feel really proud to see you.’ And that makes me feel happy. . . . I do have experience with microaggressions. My badge says ‘Dr.’ in big capital letters. But when someone wants to call me by my first name, I just address it: ‘I prefer to be called Dr. Houston, and I’ll address you as Mr. So and So.’ There’s no easy way to deal with it when someone calls you ‘girl.’ It’s something that you get used to—maybe desensitized to. . . . Things that I’ve gone through in my own life have given me a sense of being humble. I come from a small town in Louisiana that was one of the last strongholds against desegregation, with a clear divide between the haves and have-nots. I see patients dealing with similar financial circumstances and health issues that my own family members have been through. So I definitely have a sense of empathy and understanding for their situations. . . . Watching my grandfather struggle with illness, I became fascinated with all things medical. Why did people have to suffer and die from Alzheimer’s like my grandfather did, and how could they be treated and possibly cured? I dreamed of being the first in my family to leave our small town, the first to get a college degree. After college, I worked

with the National Institutes of Health as a microbiologist.

I decided to pursue an advanced degree in biology and ultimately completed a master’s degree. . . . I had pictured medical school as a storm, but it was more like a Category 4 hurricane. That first year was the most difficult of my life. But I began to excel, to persevere, and to thrive. . . . I’m interested in the education and mentoring of other medical residents and other future physicians.

I’ll tell them, ‘Be confident in yourself and your training and your past; let that be a positive; and don’t let any situation make you feel inferior.’ . . . You know, it’s easy to make a diagnosis, but it’s harder to change the mind of a patient, to have difficult discussions with a patient. . . . There just aren’t enough hours or years in medical school to teach you everything you need to know about interacting with patients. You just have to get out there and do it.”

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FEATURE

CHAVONE DANTRELL MOMON-NELSON, DO/MBA ’05

Obstetrician/Gynecologist, UPMC Pinnacle, Carlisle, Pennsylvania

“Twenty years ago, when I started medical school, it was very evident that the numbers of Black women in medicine were not reflective of our US population. But now, we are in a place where I feel proud to say I’m one of those two percent. Now we celebrate one another. . . . I grew up in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and I expected to go to one of the HBCUs in Virginia. And then I got a letter from Prairie View A&M University, a small school in Texas, addressed to ‘Dear Future Doctor Momon.’ I thought, who the heck sent this letter? The chair of Prairie View’s biology department handpicked his students for a pre-medical program. What sealed the deal for me was seeing pictures of graduating seniors—a whole bunch of people that looked like me— with their letters of acceptance into professional school or graduate schools. . . . That was four years of being in a kind of utopian society where everybody looks like you. I learned to be comfortable in my own skin. . . . My PCOM classmates used to say, ‘How are all these people from Prairie View ending up here?’ PCOM was the medical school of choice.

I knew somebody from Prairie View in the class before me. When people came to interview, you’d say, ‘Oh, you can stay with me.’ . . . The minority alumni always made themselves present, made us feel valued and supported.

Coming out of my utopian society, without that support,

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I would have struggled more. . . . At the end of my third year at PCOM I got my MBA. It was good for me, being a first-generation college student, to understand that there is business in medicine, and that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. If I had not had that experience, I might have thought, ‘I’m going to walk in there, in my starched white coat, and I’m going to heal the world.’ . . . I’m active on social media, on Instagram; I want to help put out credible information and also be a representation of that two percent and to depict the real life of a physician. . . .

Women often have men making decisions for us, and we have men making decisions for our patients. My patients like to see me on social media. They say, ‘Oh, wow, I’m glad that you talked about that today.’ . . . I’m currently the chair of the department here in Carlisle, and I hold other administrative positions, but I don’t want to leave my clinical duties. I still love patient care, and I want to do that as long as I can. My motto is, ‘It’s for my patients.’”

ASHLEY ROXANNE PETERSON, DO ’19 (PCOM GEORGIA)

Family Medicine Resident, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia

“When I walk into a room, especially if I’m not wearing makeup, most people think I’m about 15 years old. But I’ve dealt with that my whole life [Dr. Peterson started college at age 15 and medical school at age 19]. Even when I introduce myself as Dr. Peterson and they ask, ‘Where is the doctor?’ it has become natural to say, ‘It’s me, I’m the doctor.’ And then I tell them, ‘I get that a lot,’ because I want them to know their judgments are not uncommon, and I move the visit along. . . . Unfortunately, microaggressions are a common part of my career. A comment might be made because I’m a woman. I’m mistaken for a nurse at least once a week.

(I want to be very clear: There’s nothing wrong with being a nurse!) But my boyfriend is also a young physician, and he’s rarely if ever called a nurse. . . . And then, I’m a Black woman whose white coat says ‘osteopathic doctor,’ which I am proud of—but the osteopathic distinction is less common where I practice. . . . Thankfully, I have had 26 years to learn that other people’s comments are a reflection of them, not me. One day I hope young Black women DO doctors are so common, no one blinks when they enter a room. . . . When I’ve told colleagues about the racism or discrimination I’ve experienced, some wouldn’t otherwise have known, as I have come to believe a lot of Americans think racism is over. . . .

The Black Lives Matter movement has made people address

many issues—whether they agree or don’t. I’m pleased that we’re all having more uncomfortable discussions about our prejudices. . . . People always ask how they can be an ally.

Everything starts at home. You don’t have to lead a parade or feel like you need to be a superhero. The next time you’re having a conversation and a questionable comment is made, ask that person, ‘Why do you think that?’ Your friends and family trust you, and you may be the only person challenging them to think differently. I myself am learning more about different populations during this time, and I hope it makes me a better family medicine doctor. . . . To me, the beauty of family medicine is that you’re trained to see every age group.

So someone can tell their aunt, ‘When you have your baby, you can see my family doctor.’ That network of trust means everything in medicine, especially as more people seek information from unverified sources and place less trust in medical professionals. A strong patient–physician relationship, with shared decision making, can favorably influence many health outcomes. I think that’s a big theme for 2020/2021: working together for everyone’s best.”

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FEATURE

VANESSA A. RAGLAND, DO ’84

Family Physician, Family Medical Associates Inc., Haleyville, Alabama

“I’m a native of Birmingham, and I went to Spelman College, an all-female HBCU, in Atlanta. Moving from the Deep South to Philadelphia to attend PCOM was a culture shock. I loved having new experiences, meeting new people, eating new foods. . . . My elective rotations helped prepare me for my future as a physician. I interned at Saginaw Osteopathic Hospital in Michigan, and then spent the next four years in public health in Marianna, Arkansas. . . . I moved to Haleyville, a predominantly white community, in 1989. Less than one percent of the population is Afro-American. When the hospital hired a white male DO, I learned he was paid $38,000 more than me. . . . Early on, a white male patient refused to be seen when he realized I was Black physician. Another white male patient said, ‘I told my ol’ doc that if there was an ‘n’ doctor in town, I’d go see that ‘n’ instead of waiting for him. So he gave me your location.’ Trying to persuade the local schools to teach about National Black History Month or about Afro-American contributions to the making of America was futile. . . . In 1998, my older son died at the age of 13. Coincidentally, every year around the anniversary of his death, the school would call to inform me that my remaining son’s braided hair

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PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

was ‘too distracting.’ I decided to send him to a more diverse school in Georgia. . . . I am the original founder of our company. We now have two office locations with two DOs, two MDs, four NPs, and about 50 support staff.

Our patients are white, and few are Hispanic. . . . I always sit down to listen to what my patients have to say, and I don’t take notes while they are talking. I want them to know they have my full attention. . . . There have been so many more positives than negatives, like the elderly white gentleman who said, ‘I’ve watched you fight and claw your way up to the top. I respect you and I love you,’ or the toddler who licked my hand because he thought I was chocolate! There are a lot of ‘I love yous’ said in my office, and they’re genuine. My patients love me and I love them. . . . Thirty-one years ago, I was just passing through. After all these years, I guess I’m still just passing through. . . . More important than the color of the physician is the quality of care.”

NICOLE THOMPSON, MS/PSY ’10, EDS ’13 Founder of GOAT Educators, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Young people who have been affected by trauma need understanding, and then they need love. And love is without judgment—meeting them where they are. We hold them to certain standards and want them to behave in a specific way. But especially for Black and brown children who may not be used to acting that way, and who then come to school and are punished for it—they feel defeated and hopeless, and they’re being retraumatized in those schools, in essence. . . . Reverse the Adverse is traumainformed care training for educators and mental health professionals who work with urban students affected by adverse childhood experiences. The foundation of traumainformed work is for educators to reflect on their own biases, their own lived experiences and how those could be affecting management of the entire classroom. . . .

We all have bias; I take educators through that journey of self-discovery. Then I teach them about trauma and how certain behaviors manifest in the classroom. . . . Teachers often come up to me after training and tell me how impactful it was, because now they’ve taken the time to digest and understand things they may have known on a surface level. They appreciate the simple strategies for turning around different behaviors, so they can move on with the instruction. . . . One way to deescalate is a pattern

disrupt. You want to come to a student in a calm manner, no matter what—say the child is throwing chairs—and you never want to ask them what’s going on mid-incident. You give them time to calm down and let them know that once this is over, they can come to you. You’re letting them know you’re there when they need you. Now they have an adult that’s 100 percent attuned to what they’re talking about and what’s bothering them. . . . The problem is always that we want to fix things now. But this is a different way of teaching, a perspective change. Because if you lead with love and relationships and prioritize that from day one, a lot of the problems and issues we see will never occur, or won’t escalate as much. Research shows that compliance increases when you have good relationships. . . . Because of my own personal history with trauma, being able to help the students heals my younger self. I’m able to go back and understand—through their perspective, through their lens, their lives—why things happened to me.”

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FEATURE

EBONY D. WORTHAM, JD, EMPA CANDIDATE, MS/ODL ’11 Assistant District Attorney; Supervisor, Juvenile Unit, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“In Southwest Philadelphia, where I was born, we didn’t have a lot of structured activities. So we took a broomstick and played stickball. We would break windows, because we were playing in the middle of a residential street.

That’s criminal mischief, by the way. That’s in my crimes code book. We put a milk crate on a telephone pole to make a basketball hoop. So the ball is out in the middle of the street, bouncing on the hoods of cars. Now we’re congregating near the corner; that’s failure to disperse.

These crimes are all rooted in the conditions that exist naturally in disadvantaged communities. . . . When I was nine, my parents scraped together everything they had to move us 15 to 20 minutes away, to Mount Airy, and that entirely changed the trajectory of my life. That trajectory has also caused me to be a reformer, a change agent. . . . Mount Airy was more like a campus, sprawling with trees and grass and playgrounds. The expectations for kids were completely different. The conversations were around where we should be developmentally. And in the old neighborhood, the conversations were centered around survival. . . . There’s very little difference, if any, between the kids in these different neighborhoods—it’s just opportunity.

It’s structure, resources, having a community that’s able

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to absorb adolescent behavior. The outcomes of your behaviors are going to be reflective of what’s available to you in your environment. . . . I’m trying to reform our juvenile justice system so that only the kids who really need to come into our system end up here. Most of them can be diverted away from the justice system, diverted to age-appropriate and child-appropriate structured activities so that they can continue to develop the competencies they need to become productive and caring young adults. . . . I’ve been doing a lot of work on the history of the juvenile justice system in this nation. When it started in 1899 in Chicago, its purpose was to focus on the needs of children, not their deeds. Given everything we know about adolescent brain development, we understand that these are not adults, they are kids. When you’re 40, you wouldn’t recognize who you were at 16 or 17. . . . I can bring my whole self to this work. I’m striving to become the prosecutor that kids deserve. That’s the tagline on my email. And it’s designed to raise the question: Do kids deserve prosecutors?”

CLASS NOTES

1966

Jan M. Chrobok, DO, Gillette, NJ, is still using the holistic knowledge gained at PCOM in her psychiatry private practice.

Dr. Chrobok has spent six years as a general practitioner and 48 years in psychiatry.

Ralph E. Fishkin, DO, Bala Cynwyd, PA, celebrated his 80th birthday in August. He is still practicing psychoanalysis and psychiatry, as well as serving as co-president of the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. Additionally, Dr. Fishkin is currently serving as the North American representative to the board of the International Psychoanalytical Association.

David L. Lukens, DO, Tacoma, WA, has retired after 53 years of practice. Dr. Lukens now volunteers his time as an aviation medical examiner for the Federal Aviation Administration.

1976

R. Michael Gallagher, DO, Vero Beach, FL, gave the keynote address at the annual recognition dinner of the Fielden Lifelong Learning Institute of Indian River State College in Florida. Dr. Gallagher also authored a chapter on headaches for the medical textbook Conn’s Current Therapy (2020), published by Elsevier/Saunders.

1977

David M. Masiak, DO, North Wales, PA, retired from practice in July 2020.

Joseph M. Pascuzzo, DO, Clovis, CA, retired as Colonel and Flight Surgeon with the United States Air Force after 27 years of service.

1978

Mark Rosenberg, DO, Denville, NJ, was elected president of the American College of Emergency Physicians in October 2020.

1979

Gordon R. Eck, DO, Honey Brook, PA, was elected chairman of the Chester Country Republican Committee in July 2020. Dr. Eck previously served as county coroner and was elected unanimously by the committee.

1980

Mark S. Finkelstein, DO ’80, MSc ’85, Aston, PA, was granted professor emeritus status at Nemours A.I. duPont Hospital for Children after his retirement from practice.

1981

Joan M. Orloski, PhD, DO, Duryea, PA, was re-certified in emergency medicine by the American Board of Osteopathic Medicine.

Julia M. Pillsbury, DO, Dover, DE, was recognized by Continental Who’s Who as a Leading Prominent Pediatrician for her outstanding contributions in the field of medicine and acknowledgment of her role as pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist at Kids and Teens Pediatrics.

1982

Anna R. Baldino, DO, Cherry Hill, NJ, wrote an article for the Philly Voice titled “Here’s How Gardening Can Help Kids Grow Healthy Habits” (August 6, 2020).

1983

Jonathan P. Oline, DO, Langhorne, PA, was profiled by the Intelligencer in an article titled “Bucks Cardiologist Answers the Call” (July 4, 2020).

1984

David Coffey, DO, Philadelphia, PA, received the Fellow of the American Academy of Osteopathy Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented to FAAOs who have further distinguished themselves in contributions to osteopathic literature; development of osteopathic theory, method, or procedure; research; osteopathic education; service to the AAO on committees, boards, etc.; public relations; service to public health; and/or osteopathic medical economics and advocacy.

Stephen G. Fedec, DO, Beaufort, SC, joined the cardiology department at Beaufort Memorial Hospital.

Patrick J. Kerrigan, DO, Memphis, TN, celebrated the 34th anniversary of his practice, the Hart Medical Center, in July 2020.

1986

Ronald L. Burinsky, DO, Tulsa, OK, joined Marias Healthcare in Tulsa as a family medicine physician.

1987

Larry N. Finkelstein, DO, Lafayette Hill, PA, professor, Department of Family Medicine, PCOM, was interviewed for a 6ABC Philadelphia report titled “Some Families Gear Up for Return to In-Person Schooling as Early as Next Week” (September 23, 2020).

Joseph A. Giaimo, DO, Riviera Beach, FL, was voted president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association for 2020–2021. Triple board certified in pulmonary, sleep and internal medicine, Dr. Giaimo has been practicing in Palm Beach County for more than 25 years.

Deborah Lozito, DO, Hawthorne, NJ, was named an NJ Top Doc by Physician Family Media. Dr. Lozito was recognized for her internal medicine practice and her commitment to providing continuous, comprehensive, compassionate and personal care to each of her patients through every stage of life.

Stanley J. Savinese, DO, Ridley Park, PA, was recently named medical director of Penn Medicine Hospice. Dr. Savinese is also an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and a palliative medicine consultant at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

1988

Russell G. Clayton, Sr., DO, Fernandina Beach, FL, is serving as the chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Larimar Therapeutics.

Derek I. Grossman, DO, Traverse City, MI, joined Community Health Center in Saginaw as a physician.

Alexander P. Kovanko, DO, Peterborough, NH, joined Core Physicians Primary Care in Epping.

Gregory G. Papadeas, DO, Greenwood Village, CO, was interviewed by Channel 7 News in Denver for a report titled “CO Dermatologists Seeing

More Sunburns Following Pandemic” (June 12, 2020) and

by Fox31 Denver for a report titled “Is ‘Maskne’ Real? We Asked a Local Dermatologist” (July 20, 2020).

Paul S. Zeitz, DO, Bethesda, MD, was interviewed for an article on the website Thrive Global titled “Five Things We Must Do to Inspire the Next Generation About Sustainability and the Environment” (February 17, 2020).

1989

John G. Kemberling, DO, Selinsgrove, PA, joined the Geisinger 65 Forward Health Center team in Shamokin Dam. Gregory McDonald, DO, dean, School of Health Sciences, PCOM, Philadelphia, PA, was interviewed for an article in the New Jersey Sunday Star-Ledger titled “N.J.’s Death Toll from Virus Likely Undercounted” (May 17, 2020).

George J. Papanicolaou, DO, Byfield, MA, made two guest appearances on the podcast The Doctor’s Farmacy with Mark Hyman, MD. Dr. Papanicolaou discussed prolozone and nutritional therapy for osteoarthritis (June 5, 2020) and male menopause, low libido and testosterone replacement (July 27, 2020).

Christine Blobe Redmann, DO, Two Harbors, MN, is pleased to announce that her daughter, Erica Rose Redmann, has joined PCOM Class of 2024.

1990

Joseph M. Garbely, DO, Royersford, PA, was recognized

by Continental Who’s Who as a Pinnacle Lifetime Achiever in the field of addiction medicine. Dr. Garbely serves as a psychiatrist, chief medical officer and executive VP of medical services at Caron Treatment Center in Wernersville.

1991

Richard T. Arriviello, DO, Mooresville, NC, wrote an article for the Milwaukee Community Journal titled “The ‘Musts’ to Make Meetings Safer in the Age of COVID-19” (August 11, 2020).

1992

Gene M. Battistella, DO, Moon Township, PA, was installed

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CLASS NOTES

JOSEPH J. CALABRO, DO ’81 Bringing Joy to Local Community through Drive-In Theater Business

by Meghan McCall

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Joseph J. Calabro, DO ’81, Fair Haven, New Jersey, has been balancing two careers. He serves as founder and CEO of Physicians’ Practice Enhancement in Red Bank, New Jersey. And this year, Dr. Calabro became the new owner of the Circle Drive-In, located just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Calabro has worked at the Circle Drive-In, owned by his aunt and uncle, since he was ten years old. When his father passed away just as Dr. Calabro was beginning school at PCOM, and his mother shortly after, his aunt and uncle stepped in as his surrogate parents. As they grew older, Dr. Calabro became more involved Michelle V. Agins/ with the business side of the Circle, leading renovations and findThe New York Times/Redux ing opportunities for growth.

“The Circle became a labor of love,” explains Dr. Calabro. “My uncle made me promise that I would continue to run it after he passed.”

Dr. Calabro’s uncle passed away in late February 2020 at the age of 98. A week later, COVID-19 hit the United States.

While the Circle closed for a few months at the beginning of the pandemic, Dr. Calabro and the drive-in’s manager worked behind the scenes on a reopening plan that abided by safety guidelines. At the same time, Dr. Calabro was on frequent calls with recruiters, staffers and hospitals, as Physicians’ Practice Enhancement deployed hundreds of emergency physicians, intensivists and hospitalists to some of the hardest hit areas of New Jersey and New York.

“One minute I was on the phone with a hospital trying to get emergency privileges for our physicians, and the next I was discussing how we could serve popcorn safely at the drive-in,” recalls Dr. Calabro.

The hard work paid off. In May, the Circle opened for its summer season. With patrons in their cars, the drive-in was easily able to abide by social distancing and safety guidelines. But the Circle soon faced another challenge. Studios were not releasing new movies. The drive-in was sustaining business by showing reruns of classic movies, but they wanted to do more. After contracting with a company on the West Coast to livestream a Garth Brooks concert at the Circle, Dr. Calabro had an idea.

The Circle became the venue for about 20 live performances. It also hosted local graduations and talent shows. These events piqued the interest of a New York Times photojournalist, who convinced her editors to pick up her coverage of the Circle for a national piece. The Circle also garnered attention from other national media.

“My uncle was the quintessential showman,” says Dr. Calabro. “I’ve been thinking how he’s been smiling down about how we took his iconic drive-in, turned it on its head and got all of this positive attention.”

as the 109th president of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association in April 2020.

Donald M. Brislin, DO, Perkasie, PA, joined the team at St. Luke’s Dublin Internal Medicine.

Paul C. Neuman, DO, Edenton, NC, joined Vidant Chowan Hospital at their Edenton multispecialty clinic as an orthopedic surgeon.

John A. Pellegrino, DO, Williamsport, PA, has joined the staff at UPMC Primary Care in Williamsport.

Albert J. Tuono, DO, Artesia, NM, joined Mimbres Valley Medical Group as a general surgeon in Deming.

1993

Joseph W. Stauffer, DO, Princeton, NJ, was appointed 26

chief medical officer of Antibe Therapeutics Inc.

1994

Gerald A. Colvin, DO, Providence, RI, joined CharterCARE Medical Associates in Providence.

1996

John R. Pickett, MBA/DO, Rocky Mount, NC, recently published his book of poetry titled Deeply Simple: Poems Straight from His Heart.

1997

Michael F. Stretanski, DO, Sunbury, OH, joined the Orthopedic Institute of Ohio in Lima.

Daniel R. Taylor, DO, Philadelphia, PA, wrote an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

titled “Like Sean Conley, I’m a Proud Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Philly. Here’s Why” (October 7, 2020).

1998

Karen Agersborg, DO, Cape May Court House, NJ, joined Cape Regional Physicians Associates’ endocrinology practice located in Cape May Court House.

Brent E. Angott, DO, Washington, PA, was featured by Observer Reporter in a “Behind the Mask” profile (September 8, 2020). Dr. Angott discussed his journey to becoming a DO and how COVID-19 affects his practice today.

1999

Vietnhan H. Nguyen, DO, Fayetteville, NC, retired from

the US Army after 21 years of service. Dr. Nguyen retired at the rank of Colonel and was awarded the Legion of Merit for his service as a gastroenterologist and Deputy Commander of medical services at Womack Army Medical Center in Fort Bragg. Since retiring from the Army, Dr. Nguyen has joined WakeMed Health as a gastroenterologist in Raleigh.

Paul E. Shields, DO, Buffalo, NY, joined Absolut Care’s team of caregivers in East Aurora.

2000

John Gould, III, DO, Columbia, SC, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the South Carolina Osteopathic Medical Society.

2002

Nicole Heath Bixler, MBA/ DO, Land o’ Lakes, FL, was inaugurated as the president of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) on October 15, 2020.

Dr. Bixler is only the fourth female president in the 70-year history of the ACOFP.

2004

Valerie A. Lemmon, PsyD, Mechanicsburg, PA, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. Dr. Lemmon will serve as the board’s program and education chair.

2005

Jocelyn R. Idema, DO, Pittsburgh, PA, recently founded Steel City Spine and Orthopedic Center in Pittsburgh.

Bradley M. Rosenfield, PsyD, Wynnewood, PA, was featured by Being Patient in an article titled “Easing Symptoms of Dementia with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy” (July 8, 2020).

Joseph M. Zawisza, DO, Orwigsburg, PA, was chosen as president-elect of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association in April 2020.

2006

Kyle J. Hubler, DO, Williamsport, PA, joined UPMC’s Musculoskeletal Services team in the Susquehanna Region as an orthopedic surgeon specializing in total hip and knee replacements.

CLASS NOTES

James A. Thiel, DO, Ada, MI, joined Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital as an orthopedic physician and surgeon.

Christopher D. Wenger, DO, Lititz, PA, joined WellSpan Health as medical director of preventive cardiology in York.

2007

Andrea S. Synowiec, DO, Pittsburgh, PA, was appointed vice chair of neurology for Allegheny Health Network.

Stephen G. Tiley, DO, Vidalia, GA, joined the medical staff at Beaufort Memorial New River Cancer Center.

2008

Jay D. Bhatt, DO, MPH, Chicago, IL, was named Fierce Healthcare’s 2020 Most Influential Minority Executive in Healthcare. Serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer with the American Hospital Association, Dr. Bhatt leads the largest CMS Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network in the nation.

Peter F. Bidey, DO, MSEd, FACOFP, Haddonfield, NJ, vice-chair, Department of Family Medicine, PCOM, was featured in a Parade Magazine article titled “Waking Up Covered in Sweat Every Night? Here Are 10 Possible Reasons Why” (June 29, 2020). Dr. Bidey was also interviewed by KYW Newsradio for a segment titled “What Will Flu Season Look Like as We Take Steps to Limit Spread of Coronavirus?” (August 15, 2020).

Nicole M. Geissen, DO, Chicago, IL, joined the Silver Cross Medical Staff in Chicago.

2009

Bernard C. Ciongoli, DO, Mount Laurel, NJ, created a developmental pediatric program at St. Luke’s University Health Network that is now in its third successful year.

Monique A. Gary, MS/Biomed ’05, DO ’09, Wyncote, PA, was featured by Shape Magazine in an article titled “Why the U.S. Desperately Needs More Black Female Doctors” (August 27, 2020).

Kiley E. Kolb, DO, Doylestown, PA, is practicing as a gastroenterologist with Doylestown Health.

Dr. Kolb now lives in Doylestown

ANTHONY ORSINI, DO ’90: Training Doctors to Build Patient Relationships through Effective Communication

by Meghan McCall

When Anthony Orsini, DO ’90, Orlando, Florida, began his neonatology fellowship, he witnessed his supervisor struggle with delivering tragic news to a father awaiting an update on his son.

“He was one of the smartest and most compassionate physicians I’ve ever met; yet, when he had to deliver this news, it completely blindsided the patient’s father,” recalls Dr. Orsini.

As Dr. Orsini progressed in his training, he encountered similar scenarios with other doctors who were otherwise considered accomplished and talented.

Over the next ten years, Dr. Orsini conducted extensive research.

He interviewed patients and families who had been the recipients of bad news from healthcare providers and employed trial and error until he was able to effectively communicate bad news with patients. With a tested roadmap for navigating difficult conversations, Dr. Orsini began to share his approach with others through the Breaking Bad News Program, the first training program developed under The Orsini Way in 2011.

Through the use of professional actors and improv role playing, the Breaking Bad News Program gives physicians hands-on experience in compassionate and effective communication with patients.

Doctors’ interactions with actors are videotaped and reviewed by Dr. Orsini and a team of instructors who can speak from the physician and patient points of view.

Since its launch, The Orsini Way has grown. Realizing that the same principles physicians must employ to effectively deliver bad news can also apply to other aspects of health care, Dr. Orsini developed the “It’s All in the Delivery Program.” Dr. Orsini has written a book, It’s All in the Delivery: Improving Healthcare Starting with a Single Conversation, and he produces a podcast, Difficult Conversations: Lessons I Learned as an ICU Physician. with her husband, Erik, and two boys, Maddox and Kolby.

James MacNutt, DO, RES, Bangor, ME, joined Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor as a spine surgeon.

Matthew H. Montgomery, MBA, DO, Jersey City, NJ, joined the advanced heart failure treatment and transplant team at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.

2010

Casey Elizabeth Lafferty, DO, Melbourne, FL, serves as the medical director for Health First Now urgent care clinics, associate medical director for Kindred Hospice and physician speaker for Genentech.

Jennifer Anne Lorine, DO, North Wales, PA, was installed as the president of the Montgomery County Medical Society in June 2020.

Lee Jacob Neubert, DO, Melbourne, FL, joined Physician Partners of America’s practice in Melbourne, where he specializes in anesthesiology and pain management.

Laura Morton Newhouser, DO, and Shane Daniel Newhouser, DO, Port Matilda, PA, were fea-

tured in the Centre Daily Times in an article titled “Coronavirus Heroes: Married Doctors Traded Centre County Practices for Geisinger COVID Unit” (July 12, 2020).

Amanda L. Sellers, MS/CCHP, Allentown, PA, was recognized by the Pennsylvania Psychological Association with the 2020 Psychology in the Media Award for her work promoting mental healthcare to the general public.

She is a regular guest expert on WFMZ/69 News in the Lehigh Valley, which reaches an audience of 50,000 viewers. She was also a recipient of the 2020 Forty under 40 Award from Lehigh Valley Business for her outstanding contributions to the Lehigh Valley as a young business owner. She opened her private practice, Amanda Sellers PsyD, LLC, in 2017.

Christopher Lynn Tresnicky, DO, Windber, PA, joined the Chan Soon-Shiong Medical Center as an anesthesiologist in Windber.

2011

James Aston, DO, Fort Worth, TX, recently completed a performing arts medicine fellowship.

He is one of the first physicians

in the world to be fellowship-trained in this specialty.

Kwabena Boakye, MS/ODL, Jeffersonville, PA, was featured in the Chestnut Hill Local in an article titled “From West Africa, Bringing Scrumptious Food to Ambler” (September 24, 2020).

Messalina C. Jordan, DO, Boaz, AL, was appointed president of the Boaz Rotary Club on July 1, 2020. Dr. Jordan will serve as the Boaz Rotary Club’s first African American president.

Alexis M. Peplinski, DO, Vidor, TX, joined Heart of Texas Family Medicine as a family medicine physician in Vidor.

Annu Sharma, DO, Wilmington, DE, is currently working as a physiatrist at Encompass Health in Middletown.

2012

Sheranda C. Gunn, DO, Danville, VA, was appointed Chief Medical Officer of Sovah Health in Danville.

2013

Brian T. Burgess, DO, Pinehurst, NC, joined the FirstHealth cancer care team as a gynecological oncologist in Pinehurst.

DIGEST 2021

27

CLASS NOTES

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

Philip J. Bell, DO ’65, Dunwoody, GA, and his wife, Harriet, celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary on June 7, 2020.

Tara B. Churilla, DO ’15, Roaring Brook Twp, PA, welcomed a baby boy, Edward Michael, on May 12, 2020.

Denise Gilman, DO ‘04, Aliquippa, PA, married Grant Everett in a small backyard ceremony on June 6, 2020.

Maria Ann Kern, MS/Biomed ’11, MS/PA ’13, Scranton, PA, Churilla baby Gilman wedding Kern baby and her husband, Christopher, welcomed their son, Owen Charles, on February 14, 2020.

Owen joins his sister Anna and twin brothers Ethan and Evan.

Tyler A. Mineo, DO ’18, Princeton, WV, married Laura in August 2020. After COVID-19 caused them to postpone their celebration with family and friends to 2021, the couple chose to move forward with getting legally married. Both Dr. Mineo and his wife work in health care and were married in their scrubs.

Jerome E. Seeraty, DO ’76, Mineo wedding Sharma wedding Waggy family Indio, CA, is happy to announce the birth of granddaughter Camille Ava Seeraty, born on September 22, 2020. Camille joins grandsons Samuel, Elijah and Josiah.

Annu Sharma, DO ’11, Wilmington, DE, married Doug, her partner of seven years, on September 27, 2020, in a small outdoor ceremony at the Drexelbrook in Drexel Hill, PA. David J. Shingles, DO ’75, Allentown, PA, is very proud of his three children, an osteopath, a lawyer and a musician, as well as his three grandchildren. He celebrates his family’s success and well-being, and thanks his PCOM classmates who helped him along the way.

Catherine M. Waggy, DO ’14, Charlotte, NC, and her husband, Michael Morris, celebrated their seven-year wedding anniversary in 2020. The couple also welcomed their second child, Max, who joins older brother CJ. Scott D. Glassman, PsyD, Cherry Hill, NJ, was interviewed

by NOLA.com for an article titled “Rearranging the Furniture Can Help Chase Away the Pandemic Blues” (August 13, 2020).

Jacqueline M. O’Kane, DO, Valdosta, GA, joined South Georgia Medical Center as the leader of SGMC Family Medicine Nashville primary care practice.

Jillian A. Ploof, DO, Baton Rouge, LA, joined Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Health as a pediatric neurosurgeon in Baton Rouge.

Julie A. Radico, MS/Psy ’08, PsyD ’13, Croydon, PA, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. Dr. Radico will serve as the board’s public interest chair.

28

2014

Rudner H. DeVera, MS/CCHP ’14, PsyD, Downingtown, PA, successfully defended his dissertation/independent research titled “Emotional Intelligence of Doctoral Psychology Students” in June 2020 and graduated with a PsyD in clinical psychology from Immaculata University in August 2020. Dr. DeVera is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Beck Institute for Recovery Oriented Cognitive Therapy.

Thea Gallagher, PsyD, Langhorne, PA, was featured in an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer titled “Psychologist Explains Why We Formed Bad Habits during Quarantine, and Tips for How to Break Them” (June 24, 2020).

PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

Garrett L. Kirkpatrick, DO, North Ridgeville, OH, began a new position with the Cleveland Clinic at Beachcliff Family Medicine as a family physician.

Michael P. Pence, DO, Evans, GA, and Thomas A. O’Hara, DO ‘18, cared for the same COVID19 patient in the operating room at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center in July 2020. Dr. Pence is an anesthesiologist and Dr. O’Hara is a general surgery resident.

Kamina Richardson, MS/ODL, Elkins Park, PA, was awarded the Outstanding Pre-Law Faculty plaque in February 2020 by the Black Law Students Association, Pre-Law Division, at Temple University. Ms. Richardson recently completed her certifica-

tion in American Sign Language at Temple University. She is a SafeZone certified advisor for the LGBTQIA community. She was also certified in psychological first aid training in March 2020 and was voted to serve as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council Member for the Fox School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Temple University.

Dane R. Scantling, DO, Philadelphia, PA, was named the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Everyday Hero in July 2020. The PAMED Society published an article about Dr. Scantling titled “Philadelphia Surgeon and PAMED Everyday Hero Is Driven by a Sense of Service” (July 14, 2020).

Saquib A. Siddiqi, MS/Biomed ’10, DO ’14, Danville, PA, joined Evangelical Community Hospital as part of the cardiology team at the Heart and Vascular Center in Lewisburg.

Catherine M. Waggy, DO, Charlotte, NC, became a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2020.

2015

Jessica R. Barton, MS/Biomed ’11, DO ’15, Huntingdon Valley, PA, joined St. Mary Surgical Associates in Langhorne.

Edie G. Gibson, MS/Biomed, Detroit, MI, is a member of the class of 2024 at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. Ms. Gibson is thankful for the knowledge, mentorship, friendships and alliances formed at PCOM Georgia for helping her reach this level of her career.

Georgia P. Hill, DO, Lawrenceville, GA, joined General Surgeons of Gwinnett, a Northside Network Provider, in Lawrenceville.

Saundra Y. Holseth, DO, Dania, FL, joined St. Francis–Emory Healthcare as a physician.

Scotty R. Newcomer, DO, Louisville, KY, was interviewed by Norton Healthcare for an article titled “The Rigors of Military Training Put Similar Strains on the Body as Athletics. Sports Medicine Specialists Like Scotty Newcomer,

DO, Have Training and Experience to Treat These Unique Conditions” (August 4, 2020).

Khoa H. Ngo, DO, Albany, NY, joined Albany Medical Center as a member of the rheumatology department.

William J. Torelli, III, DO, Upper Gwynedd, PA, joined the rheumatology specialist practice at Capitol Health Medical Group in Pennington, New Jersey.

Suchita Varhade, DO, Hot Springs, AR, joined National Park Medical Center in Hot Springs as an OB/GYN.

2016

LaChanda L. Dunlap-Wright, DO, Valparaiso, IN, joined Community Healthcare System as a Community Care Network, Inc. physician in Valparaiso.

Laurel M. Garber, DO, Langhorne, PA, joined Capital Health OB/GYN in Langhorne.

Chelsea R. Ryan, DO, Knoxville, TN, joined CHI Memorial Medical Group’s Integrative Medicine Associates – Signal Mountain as a family physician.

2017

Benedict T. Awo, DO, Dublin, OH, was commissioned as an Army Officer on May 20, 2020.

Dr. Awo was one of 26 healthcare professionals recruited in the Southeast by the 2nd Medical Recruiting Battalion and

was featured in an article in the Redstone Rocket titled “Medical Professionals Answer Army’s Call to Service” (May 27, 2020).

Larryl L. Damon, Jr., DO, Bethlehem, PA, joined the team at Sterling Pediatric Center in Lake Ariel.

Patricia A. Donovan, DO, Palmerton, PA, joined the team at St. Luke’s Palmerton Primary Care.

Eliza S. Reed, DO, Shamokin, PA, joined the emergency medicine team at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.

Shazia Sohrawardy, DO, Brooklyn, NY, was one of several physicians to be featured in “Beyond the Front Lines,” a documentary focusing on female physicians of color and the impact that working on the front lines of COVID-19 has had on their professional and personal lives. The documentary is expected to be released in spring 2021.

2018

Thomas A. O’Hara, DO, Oreland, PA, and Michael P. Pence, DO ’14, cared for the same COVID-19 patient in the operating room at Dwight David Eisenhower Army Medical Center in July 2020. Dr. Pence is an anesthesiologist and Dr. O’Hara is a general surgery resident.

2019

Matthew H. Beck, DO, Norristown, PA, co-authored an article in Orthopaedic Surgery titled “Union Rate, Complication Rate, and Opioid Usage after Vancouver B Periprosthetic Femur Fractures: A Comparison of Fracture Types” (April 2020).

Rebecca D. Chase, DO, RES, Wellington, FL, joined the orthopedic trauma surgery staff at Essentia Health–Duluth Clinic.

Ethan S. McBrayer, DO, Ashburn, GA, was the subject of the Moultrie Observer’s “Resident Spotlight” (August 3, 2020).

Stephen M. Yarbrough, DO, Fitzgerald, GA, was the subject of the Moultrie Observer’s “Resident Spotlight” (May 7, 2020).

2020

Daniel R. Eichorn, DO, Philadelphia, PA, was featured

by Becker’s ASC Review in articles titled “What Keeps Otolaryngologists Up at Night” (October 19, 2020) and “Looking Ahead at Otolaryngology” (October 19, 2020).

Natalie A. Gonzalez, MS/FM ’14, DO ’20, Philadelphia, PA, was interviewed for a Philadelphia Magazine article titled “Philly’s Black Community Has Been Disproportionately Affected by COVID-19. Why Is the City Just Now Doing Something About It?” (June 11, 2020).

IN MEMORIAM James G. Berlin, DO ’86, Wilmington, DE, March 19, 2019 William M. Bernard, DO ’62, Grand Blanc, MI, June 8, 2020 Charles L. Carr, Sr., DO ’55, Largo, FL, October 29, 2020 Gerald J. Corr, DO ’67, Somers Point, NJ, December 1, 2020 James D’Amore, Jr., DO ’63, Jupiter, FL, May 25, 2020 Norman A. Dean, DO ’74, Norfolk, VA, October 27, 2020 Ronald J. D’Orazio, DO ’62, The Villages, FL, September 4, 2020

Vincent Q. Fanton, DO ’52, Holmes Beach, FL, October 6, 2020 Samuel M. Feinstein, DO ’67, Scottsdale, AZ, June 24, 2020 Joseph P. Fresolone, DO ’53, Northridge, CA, July 15, 2019 Mitchell Horenstein, DO ’61, Philadelphia, PA, November 4, 2019 Donald G. Hunter, DO ’61, Fairview, PA, May 27, 2020 Robert K. Kramer, DO ’66, Indianapolis, IN, October 11, 2020 Howard S. Lubin, DO ’55, Devon, PA, June 9, 2020

Craig A. Manifold, DO ’93, Helotes, TX, September 20, 2020 Ayana S. C. Moncrief, MS/ ODL ’10, Oreland, PA, August 24, 2020 C. Arthur Myers, DO ’58, San Diego, CA, June 9, 2020 George E. Nixon, DO ’62, Estero, FL, October 8, 2020 Joseph M. Novi, DO ’90, Swarthmore, PA, July 12, 2020 David A. Patriquin, DO ’56, West Dummerston, VT, October 16, 2020 Alexander E. Rodi, Sr., DO ’58, Fort Myers, FL, August 20, 2020

John J. Santoro, DO ’78, Egg Harbor Twp, NJ, October 14, 2020 Clarence A. Scott, Jr., DO ’81, Fort Myers, FL, November 10, 2020 F. Kenneth Shockley, DO ’64, Somers Point, NJ, November 12, 2020 Martin L. Spangler, DO ’58, Reading, PA, November 6, 2020 Jennifer L. Thompson, MS/ FM ’05, Landisville, PA, September 9, 2020 Charles L. White, Jr., DO ’83, CIeveland, GA, October 26, 2020 Stuart Zuckerman, DO ’58, Linwood, NJ, July 14, 2020

DIGEST 2021

29

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage P A I D Upper Darby, PA Permit No. 167

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine 4170 City Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19131

MOMENT OF UNITY: On January 19, the College joined a nationwide memorial illuminating its campus obelisks in amber light. The moment of unity honored the more than 400,000 American lives lost to COVID-19, including PCOM alumni in service on the front lines of the pandemic.

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