Campus News

The Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine formally welcomed the Class of 2025 during a traditional White Coat Ceremony on September 11.

White coat ceremonies are rites of passage for beginning medical students, welcoming them to the profession and reinforcing the value of humanism as a foundation to medicine. The ceremony encourages a psychological contract for professionalism and empathy in the practice of medicine. Medical students are bound by the same professional commitments that bind all physicians.

“You were selected to enter this profession, our osteopathic profession, because you have demonstrated the abilities and the character necessary to succeed,” said Dean of KYCOM Joe Kingery, D.O., KYCOM ’06, MBA ’18, FACOFP, FAAFP. “I congratulate you on your achievements thus far, and I look forward to all those accomplishments which you will achieve in the years ahead.”

This year’s keynote address was delivered by Boyd R. Buser, D.O., FACOFP dist., former vice president for health affairs and dean of KYCOM (2007-2018), and former president of the American Osteopathic Association (2016-2017). Buser’s message focused on the future of healthcare and the challenges facing physicians today. He praised KYCOM for its continued mission of graduating competent osteopathic physicians to provide quality, community-based care.

“You have committed yourselves to make the world a healthier place for others,” said Buser. “And never forget, a degree in osteopathic medicine is much more than the accumulation of years of hard work or a fancy piece of parchment; it’s a covenant, a pledge to respond deeply to not only the medical needs of your patients, but to their entirety as human beings.”

Opening Convocation

On September 2, UPIKE officially proclaimed the start of its 132 nd academic year with the 2021 Opening Convocation Ceremony. Pike County Public Health Director, 1992 alum and keynote speaker Tammy Riley spoke from her experience as a first-generation college student. She challenged students to dream big and follow three guiding principles in life to achieve their goals – passion, planning and persistence.

“Find something you are passionate about. Plan for success, and most of all, be persistent. Don’t be afraid to reach beyond your comfort zone when setting your goals,” Riley advised. “You can push yourself further than you ever imagined possible, but you first must be willing to experience discomfort and overcome the anxiety that always comes with the unknown. It is through our willingness to experience discomfort that we achieve goals we never imagined for ourselves.”

UPIKE President Burton J. Webb, Ph.D., presented Riley with the Baird Family Service Award, which was instituted in 2018 to honor those who have devoted their lives to the service of others.

“Mrs. Tammy Riley continues to make a remarkable impact on the lives of others through her steadfast service, both to the university, to the region and all of humanity,” said Webb. “I thank her for all she has done for this institution.”

Riley is a Pike County native and is married to UPIKE Professor of English James Riley, Ph.D. She has spent her professional life committed to the betterment of the region. In addition to Riley’s service on numerous boards and committees, she has devoted the previous two years of her career to the health and safety of the community in the wake of the pandemic plaguing the nation.

UPIKE senior and baseball player Austin Wetherington spent his summer interning with U.S. Rep. James Comer, who currently serves as the Republican Leader of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, where he advocates for reducing waste, fraud and abuse in government.

Wetherington is a political science/history major. He says his passion for politics started when he attended the Washington Center Seminar experience in D.C. through the university and found himself in the Republican National Committee building.

After interning on a campaign with Sen. McConnell’s regional field directors from 2019 to 2020, he was invited by the Kentucky state director to go to Georgia and work as a field organizer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee in the Northwestern region.

With the contacts he made working two elections, Wetherington decided he wanted to see the legislative side of things. He applied for the internship through the congressman’s website and began working in the district office in May.

The day-to-day tasks differed. Wetherington visited 12 counties and met with local governments, agencies and businesses. He learned about grants and issues facing Western Kentucky.

“Through this internship, I’ve learned about what a field representative does and how to be the eyes and ears for the Congressman. I’ve learned about communities in Western Kentucky and I have gotten to meet the local officials who help run the counties,” said Wetherington. “Having the opportunity to intern for Congressman Comer has been a pleasure and one I will remember forever.”

UPIKE’s Master of Social Work (MSW) program has been awarded a Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant in the amount of $1.2 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The focus of this grant is to educate social work students as behavioral health professionals with emphasized training in telehealth and youth services.

With more than $2 million in grants awarded by HRSA to the program in recent years, Coordinator of MSW Field Education Buford Edwards, M.S., M.Div., believes this helps UPIKE’s MSW program stand out from others in the region.

“This grant helps us to set our students up with all the tools needed to be successful, and by doing so, we are helping to populate the Appalachian region with qualified, master-level social workers,” said Edwards.

The bulk of the money will be distributed as stipends, with 20 students per year over the next four years receiving $10,000. The remaining funds are being utilized for curriculum enhancement, professional development for faculty and students, and to purchase laptops and headsets for students to use in telehealth training.

“Financial hardships are a real issue when it comes to advanced degrees,” said Chair of Social Work and MSW Program Director Genesia Kilgore-Bowling, Ph.D. “These grants help to make graduate education accessible to more students, which is a priority of the MSW program.”

The 2021 World Archery Youth Championships invited top youth talent from around the globe and hosted many competitions on the individual and team level, with just three athletes from each age and division qualifying. Two members of the UPIKE Archery Team, sophomore Anna Scarbrough and freshman Matthew Russell, represented Team USA in the compound category on the world stage in Wroclaw, Poland.

This was the second World Archery Youth Championships in which Scarbrough and Russell were able to compete, the first being two years ago in Madrid, Spain. This year, Scarbrough won two bronze medals in the mixed team and the women’s team, while Russell brought home a bronze medal for the men’s team.

Scarbrough says there is nothing better than making longlasting friendships with people all around the world and is grateful for the opportunity to compete again.

Russell credits the coaches for helping him gain the confidence needed to compete. He says the archery team truly is a family and he would not trade it for anything else.

UPIKE Head Archery Coach Ellie Yocum says both athletes put in countless hours of practice and hard work to be prepared for the championship.

“I am extremely proud of Anna and Matthew. They knew what they had to do and followed the plan,” said Yocum. “I expect great things for UPIKE archery this season. It should be our most winning season in university history.”