8
COM Outlook . Spring 2014
COM
munications
The Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program, in
concert with the Office of the Dean, organized and hosted
the
2014 Weekend Seminar on Vulnerable Popula-
tions
. The seminar, which was held in late January, is part
of the Health Policy Fellowship Program—a collaboration
between New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and
Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Eleven fellows from throughout the country who are
part of this year’s fellowship program benefited from the
seminar, which included a series of presentations focus-
ing on immigrants, refugees, and migrant farmworkers as
well as special-needs populations such as the elderly, the
homeless, and the mentally ill.
Individuals who actively contributed to the success of
the weekend program included Dr. Steven Zucker, Dr.
Rosebud Foster, Gustavo Saldias, Dr. James T. Howell,
Dr. Elliot M. Sklar, Dr. Deborah A. Mulligan, and Dr.
Dennis Penzell.
Content experts who also participated in the semi-
nar included faculty members from the NSU Center for
Psychological Studies and the schools of medicine at the
University of Miami, Florida International University, and
the University of Nebraska. According to Nancy Cooper,
fellowship coordinator, “We enjoy having the opportunity
to visit Florida to meet so many creative people and to hear
about many innovative programs. I hope that future fellows
will have the opportunity to benefit from the expertise of
NSU faculty and staff members and to enjoy the hospitality
of NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.”
Pictured (back row) are Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni, Dr.
Robin Richardson, Dr. David C. Levine, Dr. Brian Mar-
shall, Dr. Cynthia Kelley, Dr. Jeanne Rupert, Dr. Monte
Mitchell, Dr. Steven Zucker, Nancy Cooper, and Gustavo
Saldias. Pictured (front row) are Dr. Lauren Donatelli-
Seyler, Dr. Oneka B. Marriott, Dr. Donna M. Emanuele,
Dr. Maria Maratta Plummer, and Dr. Pamela Grimaldi.
AHEC Program Hosts Osteopathic
Health Policy Fellowship Seminar
Three NSU-COM Biomedi-
cal Informatics Program stu-
dents and alumni are among
the first group of physicians in
the nation to become board
certified in clinical informat-
ics. The inaugural clinical
informatics subspecialty board
exams administered by the
American Board of Preventive
Medicine were held in October 2013.
Jacques Orces, D.O.
(’96,
top left
), who passed the
clinical informatics board exam in December, is cur-
rently a student in the Biomedical Informatics Program
and serves as the chief medical informatics officer and a
pediatrician at Miami Children’s Hospital.
Danielle Oryn,
D.O., M.P.H.
(’02,
middle
photo
), chief medical informat-
ics officer at Petaluma Health
Center in California, received a
graduate certificate in medical
informatics.
James Seltzer,
D.O., M.S.B.I.
, clinical assis-
tant professor of obstetrics and
gynecology (
bottom photo
), is
a 2011 M.S.B.I. graduate.
Of the 432 physicians who passed the board exam, only
12 were osteopathic physicians. The newly established
subspecialty in medicine has been in the works since
2005, when the American Medical Informatics Association
recognized the growing demand for physicians with formal
training in this rapidly advancing field.
Physicians who practice
clinical informatics use their
knowledge of patient care com-
bined with their understand-
ing of informatics concepts,
methods, and tools in order
to analyze, design, implement,
and evaluate information and
communication systems that
promote safer, more efficient,
increasingly effective, patient-centered, and equitable care.
Biomedical Informatics’ Students,
Alumni Among First to Attain
National Board Certification
