Web site?
As a physician who cares
about humanity and where we are
heading as a society, I felt the world
needed a change. If you could get to
know someone before you really got
to know someone, it would allow you
to make better decisions about the
people you meet and allow you to find
others you can trust. Pegged provides
a platform to provide constructive
feedback to others anonymously.
Humanity can peer-review itself in the
hope of identifying individuals that
could do better in life and become more
self-aware of their behavior. If people
knew they were being evaluated at any
time based upon their performance as a
human being, wouldn’t it force them to
be on their best behavior? If you knew
in time how you treated other people
could affect your humanity score (Peg
score) and how people interacted with
you, then could we evoke a change in
human behavior.
These goals and others motivated me
to create
Pegged.com
. Essentially, it
is a peer-review site that produces a
humanity score, which is used to assess
how well you are doing as a human.
education provided by an outstanding
core of physicians and professors.
The holistic approach to medicine
directed my decision to becoming an
osteopathic physician.
Please describe what you are doing
professionally at the moment and
why you enjoy it.
Currently, I am one
of the leading cosmetic surgeons in the
country. I have a very large practice in
West Bloomfield, Michigan, and built a
10,000-square-foot outpatient surgical
facility that supports a staff of 25.
What has been the most fulfilling
aspect of being a physician?
Unlike
other fields of medicine, surgery allows
me to actually fix rather than palliate
problems. When patients trust you
with their lives, it is impossible to not
be humbled by this. Following surgery,
seeing the happiness you have created
is warming to the soul.
You recently launched a social
media platform called
Pegged.
com
that allows users to research
and anonymously review, or
peg
,
the people they meet. How did you
become interested in creating the
sive care, physical medicine,
outpatient diagnostic services,
and cancer care.
Tiffany Size-
more-Ruiz,
D.O.
(’09) was
appointed to
the American
Heart Asso-
ciation (AHA)
and American Stroke Associa-
tion’s (ASA) Board of Directors
for the South Florida region. She
will serve in a leadership posi-
tion as a medical consultant as
well as help drive the organiza-
tions’ missions through events
and community outreach.
31
COM Outlook . Winter 2014
Alumni Corner -
Activities, Accomplishments, and Awards
Pennsylvania, was granted
medical staff privileges by
Grand View Hospital in near-
by Sellersville, Pennsylvania.
Stephen J. Niles D.O.
(’88)
recently retired from the U.S.
Air Force after 28 ½ years of
service. His last assignment
was as materiel command
surgeon general, where he had
responsibility for two teaching
hospitals, six outpatient clinics,
and an aerospace medicine
research and development
organization. He subsequently
accepted a position as the chief
medical officer for Wuesthoff
Health System—a two-hospi-
tal, 419-bed integrated network
providing a full spectrum of
care to the residents of Brevard
County, Florida.
Jeffry G. Pirofsky D.O.
(’89) was
elected to serve as vice president
of the American Osteopathic
College of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation Executive
Council. He previously served
for three years as a trustee on
the council.
Michael X. Rohan, Jr.
(’01)
is currently working as an
orthopedic spine surgeon at
the Northwest Florida Surgery
Center in Panama City, Florida.
Maryanne Samuel, D.O.
(’10),
who recently completed a
residency in internal medicine
at Palmetto General Hospi-
tal, where she served as chief
resident, has joined the medical
staff of Baptist Health Medical
Group in South Florida.
Meredith Schweitzer,
D.O.
(’98) has joined TriStar
StoneCrest Medical Center in
Smyrna, Tennessee, as a family
practice physician. The medi-
cal center is a 109-bed facility
offering a full array of acute-
care services, including emer-
gency care, general surgery,
cardiology, obstetrics, inten-
FIVE QUESTIONS WITH…Dr. Michael Gray
Please summarize how you became
interested in medicine and decided
to become a physician.
Becoming a
physician and
u l t i m a t e l y
a s u r g e o n
h a s b e e n a
longstanding
goal of mine
since I had my
first memory.
There is not
any one single
event inmy life
that spurred my interest in medicine.
My ability in art and science, combined
with my strong personality and need
to help humanity, directed my choices
in life and in my profession. As a
cosmetic surgeon, my ability in art and
science is expressed in my work, which
is very rewarding.
Why did you decide to attend SECOM,
and how did you come to learn about
osteopathic medicine?
I was the
third class to graduate from SECOM in
1988. I was accepted to many medical
schools, but I accepted the position
at SECOM because I was impressed
with the intensity and quality of the
