Updates

At its April meeting, the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) granted PCOM the status of Accreditation with Exceptional Outcome, the highest level of accreditation granted by the COCA. This accreditation status will be effective for ten years. As a newly established location, PCOM South Georgia was also reviewed in separate action by the COCA, which determined that all standards of accreditation had been met. “We are honored to receive the exceptional outcome designation. We thank the numerous members of the College community who contributed to this tremendous effort. The successful outcome speaks volumes about our institution and the high-quality education we provide to our students,” said Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer.

NEW DEANS NAMED H. William Craver, III, DO ’87, FACOS, was recently named dean and chief academic officer of PCOM South Georgia. He previously served as dean and chief academic officer of PCOM Georgia for over nine years and was instrumental in the conception and development of PCOM South Georgia. Joseph M. Kaczmarczyk, DO, MPH, MBA, FACOOG (Dist.), assumed the role of interim dean at PCOM Georgia in March. In 2010, after a 23-year career in the US Public Health Service, he retired at the rank of captain and joined PCOM as vice chair and professor, residency program director, and clerkship director in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Subsequently, he was promoted to assistant dean of clinical education, associate dean of clinical education, and associate dean of undergraduate medical education, before accepting the interim dean role at PCOM Georgia.

RESIDENCIES RECEIVE ACGME ACCREDITATION

PCOM’s ophthalmology, transitional year and orthopedic surgery residencies have been granted initial accreditation status by the American Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). “With this news, we are proud to now have all 12 of our programs in the ACGME system and complete the rigorous process to accreditation,” said David Kuo, DO ’96, associate dean for graduate medical education. “This outcome speaks to the strength of our programs and sends the message that PCOM students are as talented and well-prepared as they come.”

NEW CHIEF ADMISSIONS OFFICER NAMED Adrianne Jones, MLS, was named the College’s chief admissions officer, effective April 27. In this role, she will manage the development and implementation of a comprehensive recruitment plan to meet the enrollment goals of the osteopathic medical program as well as all current and future graduate programs for all three College locations. Ms. Jones brings more than 25 years’ experience in higher education, specifically in the admissions and student counseling fields. Most recently, she served as director of admissions at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in St. Augustine, Florida. “Ms. Jones’s experience in the health education field and her proven ability to improve admissions processes to ensure the best possible candidates are admitted to PCOM make her the ideal fit to lead our Office of Admissions,” said Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer.

MEETING AT THE INTERSECTION OF ART AND SCIENCE Students from PCOM and St. Joseph’s University partnered this spring in a unique medical humanities pilot program blending art and science. Fourth-year PCOM students shared their expertise on the movements and manipulations of human anatomy, while St. Joe’s drawing students showed how to best represent those movements on paper. The program was introduced by Ruth Conboy, counselor, Student Affairs, PCOM; PCOM anatomy faculty; and Steven Cope, MFA, assistant professor, drawing and painting, St. Joseph’s University.

VIRTUAL MATCHES

On March 20, fourth-year students in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program celebrated the news of their Match. In the wake of COVID-19 and strict social distancing restrictions, students took their celebrations online, sharing news of their successes on social media via the hashtag #PCOMmatch. This year marked the first time osteopathic medicine students matched alongside their allopathic peers in the 2020 National Resident Matching Program Match. At the College, the DO Class of 2020 saw strong match rates: 99.5 percent for PCOM and 97.6 percent for PCOM Georgia (as of June 4). PCOM and PCOM Georgia students were among the 90.7 percent of DO students nationwide who matched into residency programs in 38 specialties, according to the American Osteopathic Association. Fifth-year students in the Doctor of Clinical Psychology and Doctor of School Psychology programs also participated in their Match. One-hundred percent of psychology student participants matched in the two-phase APPIC Internship Match. And ten Doctor of Pharmacy program students matched into residency programs during phase one of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists Match process.

A BOLD MOVE TO ONLINE LEARNING On March 16, the College made the move to online learning in order to help flatten the curve of COVID-19. Across three College locations—in conjunction with the Department of Professional Development and Online Learning—faculty and staff worked collaboratively to transfer doctoral and graduate program courses to online instruction. In a little under two weeks, 200 faculty from 25 distinct academic programs transitioned over 300 face-to-face spring courses online. The Department of Professional Development and Online Learning imparted their experiences with virtual learning in a 10-part CME webinar series, “Strategies to Bring Clinical Education to Online Environments.” The series urged educators and preceptors in clinical education to share creative solutions to problems they have solved during the COVID-19 pandemic.

TAKING A STAND: WHITE COATS FOR BLACK LIVES On June 5, PCOM students—and thousands of other healthcare professionals and medical students across the country—stood together in solidarity with the African American community and all who have been affected by racism and injustice. They paused for eight minutes and 46 seconds in remembrance of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others whose senseless deaths have left our communities reeling and enraged. And they recognized that racism is a critical public health concern. #WhiteCoats4BlackLives

Photo courtesy of Jesse Uduma (DO ’23)

FIRST ONLINE COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES

On May 19 and May 21, PCOM and PCOM Georgia graduated 251 and 128 DOs, respectively, in the College’s 129th Commencement. The ceremonies were held for the first time as online events, simulcast on the College’s YouTube and Facebook pages, in the midst of a historic public health crisis. “The job will require flexibility, adaptability, and creativity—meaningful new ideas, approaches, and discoveries,” said Jay S. Feldstein, DO ’81, president and chief executive officer, in his address to the graduates. “It will be your forward-thinking leadership that will restore our nation to health. Your dedicated labor will carry us through our time of crisis. And your dream to heal will ensure that our healthcare system, post-pandemic, delivers on the unmet health and wellness needs of our society as a whole.”

IN RESPONSE: WEBINARS AND VIRTUAL DISCUSSIONS PROVIDE GUIDANCE DURING COVID-19 EMERGENCY GRANT FUNDING FOR STUDENTS

PCOM has recently awarded emergency grant funding to those students who have incurred expenses related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding was provided through the PCOM Student Emergency Fund, established by generous donations from the PCOM Alumni Association, alumni, faculty, staff and other friends. In addition, the federal government has provided significant funding through the CARES Act.

LENDING A HAND: COLLEGE DONATES PPE In March, when College leadership and staff learned of the dire need for personal protective equipment in their communities as a result of COVID-19, they gathered surgical gowns, gloves, shoe covers, N95 masks, eye protection, face shields, surgical caps, hand sanitizer, wipes, sterile tubes and pipettes, and viral transport medium. These items were donated to hospitals and healthcare workers in the greater Philadelphia, Atlanta and Moultrie regions. In addition, a Class II biosafety cabinet with the capability of safely decontaminating bacteria and viruses using UV waves was loaned from PCOM Georgia’s research laboratories to a local hospital for help in cleaning N95 respirators between patient uses. “Since students were temporarily unable to don PPE in preparation for hands-on learning, we felt it was vitally important to get these resources to the people who would need them most, the health systems in our communities that are facing this pandemic head-on,” said Patrick Wolf, MBA, chief occupational and environmental safety officer.

STUDENTS RAISE FUNDS, MAKE MASKS, DELIVER GROCERIES, THANK HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Students pursuing degrees in the health professions often feel a calling to care for others. Many of the College’s students are pursuing this passion by spending multiple hours volunteering their services during this season of COVID-19. Below is a sam- pling of efforts. Medical Students for Masks was founded and organized at PCOM by Gabrielle Yankelvich (DO ’21) and Judy Lubas (DO ’21) to respond to the growing need for personal protective equipment for healthcare professionals. In collaboration with many volunteers, they have raised almost $70,000 since mid-March and secured more than 25,515 masks and other PPE for distribution to local healthcare systems, first responders and home health agencies. 1 Under the leadership of Kathleen Bridges (DO ’21), Medical Students for Masks – Atlanta, composed of more than 50 PCOM Georgia students, has raised $15,000 to purchase masks, PPE and other supplies for local healthcare workers. 2 --- Hiral Patel (DO ’22), Amy Tran (DO ’22) and Manali Desai (DO ’22), students at PCOM Georgia, established COVID Captains, a team of students who grocery shop for the elderly or those with weakened immune systems. Once someone requests assistance, teams of students either pick up online orders or shop for those not able to do so. COVID Captains provides services for those living within a 30-minute radius of campus. 3 --- Fellowship recipient Varun Yarabarla (DO ’21), PCOM Georgia, joined with 11 other engineers, physicians and innovators from across the country to develop a low-cost, novel ventilator for use during the pandemic and beyond. The team members, who orga- nized the nonprofit organization known as VentLife, plan to offer this technology to help save lives, especially in settings with limited resources like developing nations, and for military field and national stockpile use during medical emergencies. While they continue to work to secure funding, a functional prototype has been devel- oped, and manufacturing partners have been secured. 4 --- Macy Biddulph (PharmD ’21), PCOM Georgia, started a project to create 3D printed masks, each one taking about seven hours to complete. The masks are composed of three different 3D-printed pieces that are assembled with a filter, elastic and plastic coverings. She’s been donating them to her local neigh- bors, mail carriers and food industry workers. 5 --- In an effort to encourage and thank healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the PCOM South Georgia Local Community Outreach Club, under the leadership of club pres- ident Sadie Daugereaux (DO ’23), wrote thank you notes and sent snacks to frontline employees at Colquitt Regional Medical Center. 6