7
COM Outlook . Winter 2015
Rural Medicine Retreat
Informs Attendees
On June 20-22
, the college’s Department of Rural and
Urban Underserved Medicine hosted its annual conference
and recognition weekend for physicians, physician assistants,
nurses, and administrators from its network of rural and
urban underserved training partners. These clinical centers
participate in the education of NSU-COM medical students
and afford them the opportunity to render service in medi-
cally underserved communities.
The Rural and Urban Underserved Medicine Retreat and
CME Weekend, held at the Lago Mar Resort Hotel and Club
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was coordinated and hosted by
James Howell, M.D., M.P.H., assistant dean of professional
relations and chair of the Department of Rural and Urban
Underserved Medicine, and Doris Newman, D.O., FAAO,
director of the Department of Rural and Urban Underserved
Medicine. During the dinner banquet, Donald Pyle II, D.O.,
was awarded the inaugural completion certificate as the first
graduating resident from the NSU-COM/Florida Department
of Corrections Psychiatry Residency Program.
The retreat, which attracted 190 attendees, is part of the
AHEC Program’s mission to extend academic resources to rural
and urban underserved safety net sites throughout the state.
News of Note
In June, the college’s
Master of Public Health Program
was
reaccredited by the Council on Education for Public Health for a
seven-year period extending to July 1, 2021.
Larkin Community Hospital
in South Miami, which is a member
of the college’s Consortium for Excellence in Medical Education,
received approval from the American Osteopathic Association’s
Program and Trainee Review Committee to establish two new
osteopathic medical residency training programs in orthopedic
surgery and pediatric dermatology. Larkin is one of Florida’s 12
designated statutory teaching hospitals and the largest teaching
hospital for osteopathic physicians in the United States, offering the
largest number of training programs in 32 different specialties.
The college’s
Area Health Education Centers (AHEC)
Program
, which entered its 30
th
year of operation on September
2, has received $4.5 million in funding for the 2014-15 project year,
making it the second-highest annual funding level in the program’s
history. Since its inception, the AHEC Program has received over
$84 million in state and federal funding.
On October 24, a number of NSU-COM students and affiliated
individuals were recognized at the
American Osteopathic
Foundation (AOF) Honors
ceremony in Seattle, Washington,
which recognizes excellence among osteopathic physicians,
educators, students, and other individuals. Listed are the recipients
as well as the scholarship amounts they received:
OMS-III Nhi-
Kieu T. Nguyen
($2,000 Welch Scholars Grant)
;
OMS-IV
Samantha Berr
($900 HumanTouch Student Leadership Project)
;
OMS-II Rajeswari Murugan
(
$900 HumanTouch Student
Leadership Project)
; and
Lance Rogers
, spouse of Francesca
Okolie, D.O.
(Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award)
.
On September 12,
OMS-I Daniel Bral
was featured on WSVN
(Fox 7) during its 10:00 p.m. newscast. Bral, who is originally from
California and earned his master’s degree at Georgetown, had non-
Hodgkin lymphoma as a pre-teen and has given back as a leader in
organizations that support teens and young adults facing cancer.
Drs. David Boesler and Edye Groseclose were also featured, as was
a short clip of Bral talking to Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni.
On August 10, the class of 2018 was officially welcomed into
the osteopathic profession at the
34
th
Annual White Coat
Ceremony
, which was held at NSU’s Don Taft University Center
Arena. For the 230-plus students comprising the class of 2018, the
White Coat Ceremony served as an auspicious experience that
officially marked their entry into the medical profession.
Pictured (from left) are Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni, Donald Pyle II, D.O.,
Paul “Chip” Roberts III, D.O., program director for the NSU-COM Florida
Department of Corrections Psychiatry Residency Program, and Joseph
De Gaetano, D.O., M.S.Ed, FAAFP, FACOFP, associate dean for clinical
curriculum and graduate medical education.
COMmunications
