The first line - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Summer/Fall 2009
Vol. 27, Issue 2
college of osteopathic medicine
The first line
Rewards and challenges
of family practice
Plus
OhioHealth partnership
promotes physician
diversity
OU-COM alumni lead
national COMLEX scores
Renovation! $2.3 million
for clinical training labs,
free clinic

Each spring, the Athens Bike Rodeo, founded eight years ago by Jay H. Shubrook
Jr., D.O. (’96), FACOFP, FAAFP, provides bike safety training to children.
At the event, co-sponsored by OU-COM, medical student volunteers help set up a
bike-safety obstacle course and assist with helmet fittings, bike inspections and
lessons on hand signals and navigation. The Bike Rodeo gave out 150 helmets
this year, bringing the total number of helmets given to children to more than 1,500
since 2001. Each year, one lucky raffle participant wins a free mountain bike.
“Many Bike Rodeo volunteers have suffered a broken helmet,” says Shubrook,
associate professor of family medicine. “We think it’s important to protect the
minds of the new millennium.”
Lisa Martorano, OMS II, keeps Bike Rodeo participants on track, while
Stephanie Zaugg, OMS II, straps on a child’s helmet.

o h i o u n i v e r s i t y
Summer/Fall 2009
Vol. 27, Issue 2
A publication of the College of Osteopathic Medicine
On the cover
For Carlos Solorzano, D.O. (’02),
family practice embodies the osteopathic
philosophy. “I love working in a field where
you can really listen to what patients have to
say, and treat the body as a whole,” he says.
Photo provided by Dr. Solorzano
OUM
Learn more about Dr. Solorzano
and others in web-exclusive profiles
for “The First Line” (pg. 9) at
www.oucom.ohiou/oum
02
03
04
05
08
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19
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28
From the Dean
Primary care: Heading up or heading out?
College Check-up
Q&A: Charlie Brown, D.O.
A prescription for hugs, humor & hip hop
Noteworthy
Safer, simpler hysterectomies
Features
Follow-up
Clinical labs, Free Clinic granted a new home
New! Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Center
for Clinical Training and Free Clinic
Class Notes
It’s not all in your head
Eric Baron, D.O.
Features
09 13 16
The first line
Greater than the Making cancer
OU-COM students and alumni physicians sum of our parts survivors of the
on the rewards and challenges of
family practice
Three CORE hospital presidents, community uninsured
leaders and Phillips Medal of Public Service
awardees on the benefits of collaboration Community Health Programs provide free
breast & cervical cancer screenings and
treatment for Southeastern Ohio
OUM
Visit Ohio University Medicine online for web-exclusive and multimedia content. www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum

From the Dean
ohio university
Ohio University Medicine Summer/Fall 2009, Vol. 27, Issue 2
Ohio University Medicine is published twice a year by the Office of Communication
of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Editorial Board:
John Brose, D.O.
Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Pat Burnett, Ph.D.
Director, Student Affairs
George Dunigan II
Director, Governmental Affairs
Judith Edinger, M.Ed.
Director, Predoctoral Education
Andrea Gibson
Director, Research Communications
Ohio University
Jill Harman, M.Ed.
Director of Alumni Affairs
Christine Knisely, M.A.
Executive Director of Research and
Grants
Editor
Karoline Lane
Managing Editor
Anita Martin
Copy Editor
Shelby Mullins
Design
Jeff Brown
Administration:
Roderick McDavis, Ph.D.
President, Ohio University
John Brose, D.O.
Dean, College of Osteopathic Medicine
Karoline Lane
Director, Office of Communication
Chad Keller, OMS III
Student Government President
(AY 08-09)
Edwin Rowland, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Biomedical
Sciences
John Schriner, Ph.D.
Director of Admissions
Kathy Trace
Director of the Area Health Education
Center, Community Health Programs
Patricia Westfall
Professor of Magazine Journalism
E.W. Scripps School of Journalism
Sharon Zimmerman, M.P.A.
Director of Medical Development,
Executive Director of Alumni Affairs
Photography:
John Sattler
Contributing Photographers:
Josh Armstrong
Larry Hamel-Lambert
Writers:
Richard Heck
Colleen Kiphart
Anita Martin
Tom Riggs
Marie Graham
Associate Director, Communication Design Services
Anita Martin
Assistant Director, Editorial
Opinions expressed in Ohio University Medicine are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect viewpoints of the editors or official policy of the Ohio University
College of Osteopathic Medicine.
© ‘09 Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Editorial offices: Room 330, Grosvenor Hall, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701.
Address updates for Ohio University Medicine should be referred to
Sheila Bycofski, OU-COM
332 Grosvenor Hall
Athens, OH 45701
phone: (740) 593-2346
e-mail: bycofski@ohio.edu
Primary care: Heading up or heading out?
Lately public policy debate has focused on the shortage of primary care physicians in the United States.
As an osteopathic medical school committed to primary care education, OU-COM is pleased to see this as
a topic of national focus.
This issue of Ohio University Medicine highlights some outstanding alumni physicians and students
dedicated to family practice, one of the most rewarding fields in medicine. As the national rate of recent
medical school graduates entering primary care continues to fall, it is important to tell these stories.
Even though many primary care physicians are enthusiastic about their career choice, student interest in
primary care has been decreasing at an alarming rate. Osteopathic medicine, despite its long emphasis on
primary care, has not been immune to this decline.
This isn’t a surprise considering that osteopathic medical students often finish medical school with more
than $150,000 in educational debt. With such a burden, they are faced with choosing between primary
care and fields such as anesthesiology, orthopedics, and radiology—fields that, according to the Medical
Group Management Association, offer average starting salaries more than twice as high as those in primary
care. On rotations, our students see the reality of encroaching non-physician providers, long work hours,
and problems with Medicaid/Medicare and third party-payers. Finally, some students feel intimidated by
the idea that family practice requires a broader knowledge base than other fields.
So what can be done to reverse this trend?
I agree with the recommendations put forth in a recent article* in the New England Journal of Medicine. The
article focused on three areas of reform: primary care payment, investment in primary care infrastructure and
organization, and attracting more medical students into primary care through support of residency programs.
Our college can most directly address the third area. Our CORE hospitals regularly assess primary care and
other specialty needs through hospital market analysis. And last March, CORE brought together more than 100
of our hospital COOs, CFOs, and finance and medical education professionals for a day-long conference with
national experts on how to maximize reimbursement for graduate medical education programs.
Of course, we can only do so much. Ultimately, job satisfaction must increase among primary care
physicians. This will require changes in the Medicare payment system, debt reduction programs for
primary care physicians, and innovations such as the patient-centered medical home. Finally, primary care
residency programs must be more robustly supported by Medicare, Title VII, and other funding agencies.
And all of us can work to create a more accurate perception about the training required for primary care
medicine. While it is true that primary care requires broad expertise, in the end, the size of the knowledge
base required in all specialties has been demonstrated to be similar.
I would like to hear from you about this issue. If you are a primary care physician, what do you consider
to be the main rewards and challenges of your career? If you are a specialist, how do you talk to your
students about primary care and the role it plays in your profession? What are your ideas about how OU-
COM can continue to fulfill our mission of emphasizing primary care medicine?
You can leave your ideas at our online magazine at www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum. We look forward to
hearing from you.
Jack Brose, D.O.
Dean, Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
*Bodenheimer T, Grumbach K, Berenson RA: A lifeline for primary care. N Engl J Med. 2009; 360:2693-2696.

College Check-up
College News
04
05
Q&A: Charles A. Brown, D.O.
New alum explores humanistic side of medicine
Alumni lead national COMLEX scores
Classes of 2007 & 2008 rank top in the
nation on post-grad exam
Leadership program for
residency directors
CORE program directors participate in new
fellowship certificate offering
06
Frank Schwartz, M.D., appointed to
diabetes research chair
James O. Watson, D.O., Endowed Diabetes
Research Chair changes hands
07
08
Children’s mental health pros unite
Integrating Professionals for Appalachian
Children leverages local resources
Safer, simpler hysterectomies
Associate Professor Michael Clark, D.O.,
develops new devise, technique
MINORITY MENTORSHIP
OU-COM and OhioHealth
promote physician diversity
A new partnership between OhioHealth
and OU-COM provides minority medical
students early and sustained exposure
to professional practices within the
OhioHealth system.
The Physician Diversity Scholars
Program matches Hispanic and African-
American students with OhioHealth
minority physicians in a series of mentoring
activities intended to serve as a gateway to
careers with OhioHealth.
The four-year program offers students
opportunities for shadowing and community
service. It also provides them a $500 stipend
to cover expenses each academic year, and
after graduation, student loan repayments of
$10,000 for each year that program alumni
participate in an OhioHealth residency.
“The loan repayment is a major benefit, but
more important to me are the opportunities
to gain real-world experience and build a longterm
relationship with Dr. Urse,” says Kristin
Peoples, OMS II.
With her mentor, Geraldine Urse, D.O.
(’93), FACOFP, Peoples has attended
professional conferences, and she is assisting
this summer with patient histories and
physical exams at Doctors Hospital Family
Practice Center in Grove City.
“I’ve never seen a program like this, and
students jumped at the chance to participate,”
says Colette McLemore, assistant director of
multicultural programs. “These mentors can
introduce them to Columbus, give them a feel
for what it’s like to be a physician and show
them how they can best serve their patients
and the community.”
Summer/Fall 2009
3

College Check-up
CAREER SUPPORT
Careers in Medicine program
guides students’ paths
To help students find the medical speciality that best
fits their goals and values, the Office of Student Affairs
has launched an osteopathic-focused mentoring and
self-assessment program, Careers in Medicine.
“Our students have an incredible number of options
when it comes to choosing a specialty,” says Holly
Jacobs, associate director of student affairs. “We
developed this program to help our students navigate
the decision-making process and make good, early
choices in selecting osteopathic programs.”
The four-phase program, which pairs students with
physician mentors who can offer career advice, also
provides a suite of online tools. The college is the
first to incorporate an osteopathic focus into the
American Association of Medical Colleges’ online
Careers in Medicine approach.
“We’re very pleased that our faculty members, many
of whom are OU-COM alumni, are supplying career
counseling as program mentors,” says Jacobs.
To view the online component of Careers in Medicine, go
to www.oucom.ohiou.edu/cim. To learn more, contact us at
careersinmedicine@oucom.ohiou.edu.
Q & A
Charlie Brown, D.O. (’09)
Meet one of our newest alumni, a
loquacious D.O. known for hugs, humor and
hip hop. He is the first OU-COM student to
complete the Humanism in Medicine rotation
at Patch Adams’ Gesundheit! Institute in West
Virginia. As a medical student, he thrived on
rhyme—turning anatomy and pharmacology
lessons into memory-aid raps. This summer he
began a psychiatry residency at Akron General
Medical Center.
OUM: When did you know you wanted to
be a doctor?
CB: My father had a stroke when I was in
eighth grade. One neurologist assisting in his
care was African-American, and I realized that
he was the first black doctor I had seen outside
of “The Cosby Show”. Seeing someone who
looked like me in that position—it opened a
door in my mind that I didn’t know was there.
You completed a Humanism in Medicine rotation
at Patch Adam’s Gesundheit! Institute. Did
that change how you think about and practice
medicine?
I came back from the rotation refreshed. In
medicine, we are in a profession that is based
on humanism, but different factors—like the
business side of practice and the hierarchy in
the system—can distract from the purpose
of medicine: to help all in need without
discrimination.
At OU-COM, you composed raps about topics like
anatomy and pharmacology to help you study.
How did you come up with the idea?
I’m an audiophile. I like to listen to, write
and perform hip hop. For me, when it comes
to retaining facts, making a rhyme works
almost every time. I sent mp3s (of the song)
to friends to give them a laugh and get them
through exams. During tests I would look at
an answer and be like, “no, that line isn’t right,
because it doesn’t rhyme with the question.”
What are you doing now?
I am planning to go into psychiatry because
I love talking and listening. It was one of many
interests, and it’s where I’m a best fit.
Interview by Colleen Kiphart
OUM
To read Brown’s and others’ graduation
profiles, hear a medical hip-hop recording by
Brown and view photo galleries of his
humanitarian clowning days at the
Gesundheit! Institute, go to
www.oucom.ohio.edu/oum
4
ohio university medicine

College Check-up
National Distinction
Noteworthy
OU-COM grads lead national
post-graduate exam scores
The OU-COM Classes of 2007 and 2008
collectively earned both the highest national
mean score and the second highest national
first-time passage rate in the most recent
Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing
Examination (COMLEX-USA) Level Three.
The 130 OU-COM graduates who took the Level
Three examination for the first time between
December 2007 and January 2009 achieved a
mean score of 562.1, ranking them the highest
among the nation’s 22 osteopathic medical
schools.
“Scoring first in the country on Level Three of
the COMLEX exam is an important milestone for
OU-COM,” says Dean Jack Brose, D.O. “This
examination gives a strong indication of the
clinical abilities of our graduates. I could not be
prouder of them.”
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
Academic & Research Center
nears completion
The Academic & Research Center (ARC),
designed to facilitate the development of
new diagnostics, therapeutics and treatment
paradigms, will deepen collaboration
with the Russ College of Engineering and
Technology and other campus units.
The university’s signature brickwork now
covers nearly the entire exterior, and inside
all primary utility systems are in place. The
ARC is on track for a completion date of
October 2009. The building will open for
official use in early 2010.
To see photos and track progress on the
ARC building, go to www.oucom.ohiou.edu/
researchbuilding/index.htm.
Honors & appointments
Grace Brannan, Ph.D.
CORE Research Director
Associate Member of the International Academy for Quality
Jay H. Shubrook Jr., D.O. (’96), FACOFP
Young Physician of the Year Award
American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians
Sharon Zimmerman
Director of Medical Development, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs
Osteopathic Spirit Award, Ohio Osteopathic Association
Office of Communication
AACOM Excellence in Communication Awards
Best marketing or public relations campaign: CORE
Best logo: CORE
Best specialty item: CORE fold-out map
Best special event: OU-COM Spring Fling
Best feature story or article: “Multilingual Medicine”
Grants
Fabian Benencia, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Immunology
“Recruitment of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells to tumors”
$177,000, NIH (1/2009-12/2010)
Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D.
Director of Multidisciplinary Mental Health Education
• Faculty for the Engaged Campus
$15,000 (2009-2010)
• “Building Capacity-Raising Resiliency”
$375,000 HRSA (5/1/2009-4/30/2012)
Ramiro Malgor, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Pathology
“Understanding WNT-5A and TLR-4 cross-signaling during atherosclerosis”
$221,250, NIH (4/1/2009-5/31/2011)
Tracy Marx, D.O.
Assistant Professor of Family Medicine
$30,000, Palliative Care Education Project
Olivia Ojano-Sheehan, Ph.D.
Assistant Director of Faculty Development,
Assistant Professor of Family Medicine
Residency Directors Residency Administration Program
$9,936, Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital Foundation (7/2009 – 6/2010)
ENHANCING MEDICAL EDUCATION
Leadership training for CORE residency directors
This summer, CORE residency directors came together for their first sessions of the new
Residency Directors Residency Administration Program (RD RAP), a yearlong fellowship
certificate program unique among osteopathic postgraduate training institutions.
“This unprecedented program trains program directors to strengthen their skills and become more
successful leaders,” says Olivia Sheehan, Ph.D., assistant director of CORE faculty development.
A grant by Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital Medical Education Foundation paid for all of
their own hospital’s program directors to attend sessions.
“We inherit the program from our predecessor, but we don’t always have the leadership and
administrative skills,” says Ronald Russ, D.O. (’98), FACOFP, CORE assistant dean at Cuyahoga Falls
General Hospital. “I felt strongly that we needed to do this to continue our residency programs here.”
Additional support is being provided by the CORE New Initiative Fund. It provides funding
for up to six program directors to attend from other CORE hospitals.
Applications now are being accepted for the next program, beginning in 2010.
Visit the CORE web site at www.ohiocore.org.
Summer/Fall 2009
Daniel Smith
Distance Learning Coordinator
Ohio Behavioral Telehealth Network
$2,880, ADAMHS Board for Montgomery
Kathleen Trace
Director of Community Health Programs
• “Medications for Free Clinic”
$9,100, Ohio Association of Free Clinics
• “Tuberculosis Contract”
$45,644, Athens County Tuberculosis Clinic Board
Retirements
Azeezah Abdullah
Administrative Assistant for Academic Affairs
John Brennan
Manager of Network and Data Services
Bobbi Conliffe
Coordinator of Curriculum Resources
George Dunigan, II
Director of Governmental Relations
Judith Edinger
Director of Predoctoral Education
Leonard Kohn, M.D.
J.O. Watson Endowed Diabetes Research Chair
Edwin Rowland, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology
Nancy Schell
AmeriCorps Program Coordinator
Lynn Smith
Coordinator of the Childhood Immunization Program
5

College Check-up
CLINICAL READINESS
MEDICAL HISTORY
Anesthetic birth in America
Practices in childbirth are driven less
by medical innovation and more by
socio-cultural forces—sometimes to the
detriment of mothers and their babies,
writes Jacqueline Wolf, Ph.D., associate
professor and chair of social medicine, in
Deliver Me from Pain: Anesthesia and Birth
in America. The book, published this spring
by The Johns Hopkins University Press,
examines the development of, and common
misconceptions surrounding, one obstetric
practice: anesthesia.
Curricular change provides
clinical head-start
This summer, OU-COM students arrived to their
clinical rotations earlier and better prepared, thanks
to an overhaul in the summer coursework following
their second year, according to Peter Dane, D.O.,
associate dean of predoctoral education. Dane led
the curriculum redesign and is instructor of record
for the summer course.
The new summer curriculum, called the Osteopathic
Clinical Rotation Orientation, lasts a month and
echoes the month-long Osteopathic Clinical
Anatomy Orientation incoming students receive
upon arriving to the Athens campus their first year.
As in the anatomy orientation, both of OU-COM’s
distinct curricular tracks come together for these
new summer courses.
“The main goal of the redesign is to prepare students
to hit third-year rotations with skills that let them
immediately contribute in the clinical setting: from
performing IVs, suturing, advanced cardiac life support
and sterile technique to proper documentation,
interpreting radiographic studies and giving better
case presentations,” says Nicole Wadsworth, D.O.
(’97), FACOFP, FACOEP, assistant dean of preclinical
education and assistant professor of family medicine,
who helped plan and instruct the new curriculum.
Because the new curriculum ends earlier in the
summer following their second year of medical
school, students now can move sooner–and with
more confidence–to the sites of their third- and
fourth-year clinical clerkships.
OUM
To see photos of OU-COM students participanting in
the new CPC second-year summer curriculum, go to
www.oucom.ohio.edu/oum.
ACCOLADES
Frank Schwartz, M.D., appointed
J.O. Watson, D.O., Endowed
Diabetes Research Chair
Frank L. Schwartz, M.D., F.A.C.E., professor
of endocrinology in the Department of Specialty
Medicine, has been appointed to the James O.
Watson, D.O., Endowed Diabetes Research Chair.
The chair, endowed by the Osteopathic Heritage
Foundation, was created at OU-COM to advance
research into rural health management of diabetes
and cardiovascular disease, both critical health
issues in Appalachian Ohio.
Since coming to OU-COM in 2003, Schwartz
has attracted more than $2.6 million in external
funding to the college and increased research efforts
in fields related to endocrinology. “Dr. Schwartz’
accomplishments have significantly enhanced the
reputation of the university and the College of
Osteopathic Medicine,” says Dean Jack Brose, D.O.
Among other projects, he works with
collaborators to study the treatment potential of
compound called C-10, developed by Leonard
Kohn, M.D., the former J.O. Watson Chair.
The compound is being tested to treat diabetes,
atherosclerosis and certain cancers. He also has
co-developed an “artificial intelligence” software
program to improve diabetes management for
patients on insulin pumps.
“The Foundation is pleased that Dr. Schwartz
has been appointed to the Watson Chair,” says
Rick Vincent, President of the Osteopathic
Heritage Foundation. “His diverse medical
experience, his scientific expertise and his desire
to train young physicians are exceptional.”
ohio university medicine
Schwartz also founded and directs the
Appalachian Rural Health Institute’s Diabetes/
Endocrine Diseases Biorepository, which collects
samples of plasma, RNA and DNA from
participating patients and preserves them for
future Ohio University research.
“Dr. Schwartz has created a true bench to
bedside research environment at Ohio University,”
Kohn says.
OUM
To read more about Schwartz’s OU-COM research
and view a photo gallery related to the J.O. Watson
Endowed Diabetes Research Chair, go to
www.oucom.ohio.edu/oum.

College Check-up
DISCOVERIES
Larry Hamel-Lambert
Women recover muscle
strength more slowly than men
Women’s muscles may require longer,
more intensive rehabilitation after bed rest and cast
immobilization, as reported last fall by OU-COM’s
Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuromusculoskeletal
Research (IINR) in Archives of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation.
SERVING THE REGION
Children’s mental health
professionals unite
Sometimes a parent, teacher or doctor senses
something is wrong and a child’s mental health
concern is promptly addressed. But too often
potential issues go undetected and families are
left to cope with lost years of treatment.
In the last five years, Integrating
Professionals for Appalachian Children
(IPAC), a non-profit network of 12 regional
children’s mental health agencies and five
Ohio University departments, has set out
to streamline mental health delivery for
children and their families.
“We have many different disciplines
working together, and they are all focused on
asking, ‘What does this family need?’” says
John Borchard, B.S.N., manager of IPAC
program development, who chairs IPAC
with Jane Hamel-Lambert, Ph.D., director
of interdisciplinary mental health education.
Though there are similar health networks
forming across the country, IPAC is among
the first to integrate medical, therapeutic
and other disciplines to improve early
childhood mental health. Among its
initiatives, IPAC expands early screening,
employs a professional family care navigator,
co-locates health care professionals and runs
an interdisciplinary assessment clinic to
determine comprehensive treatment plans.
To illustrate the progress they have
made in rural mental health care, IPAC
professionals often relate the story of “Joey,”
a child whose parents spent years shuttling
him to and from different Southeastern
and Central Ohio doctors, many offering
conflicting advice, but no definite diagnosis.
Now, with the family care navigator and
other efforts, IPAC aims to end that roundrobin
confusion.
“Even if we are unable to definitely
diagnose a child, or if there is some
disagreement among the panel, the family
is presented with a report that details
treatment options. They’re never left
wondering, ‘What’s next?’ Parents know what
is happening,” says Sue Meeks, R.N., a nurse
coordinator for OU-COM’s Community
Health Programs and IPAC’s first family
care navigator.
IPAC has received several grants since its
inception. Most recently, the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services awarded the
network $375,000 to help bring childhood
mental health consultations to public
preschool classrooms and to implement a
workforce development initiative.
OUM
Read the full story at
www.oucom.ohio.edu/oum.
“Our findings may have important implications for
how women are treated for fractures, including
more and/or different rehabilitation methods,” says
researcher Brian C. Clark, Ph.D., assistant professor
of neuromuscular biology and director of the IINR.
According to Clark, the discrepancy may relate to
how sex-specific hormones regulate the growth of
muscle mass. The study is the first to report sex
differences in muscle strength restoration following
immobilization of a limb.
Summer/Fall 2009
7

College Check-up
TREATMENT
TECHNOLOGIES
Safer, simpler hysterectomies
Darla Stanley had heard stories about what
to expect from her hysterectomy. “I was scared
to death,” she says. “I thought there’d be a lot
of pain.” As a patient of Michael Clark, D.O.,
though, Stanley was pleasantly surprised.
Clark performed her vaginal hysterectomy
with the 65-millimeter endocutter, an
innovative tool he developed in collaboration
with medical manufacturer Ethicon Endo-
Surgery, Inc. As the instrument cuts, it
instantly seals both sides of the incision with
simultaneous stapling. Compared to the
standard clamp-cut-suture technique, the
endocutter procedure greatly limits bleeding
and decreases complications.
“The average vaginal hysterectomy with this
device takes 25 to 30 minutes—even with a
resident doing the case—compared to two
hours for an abdominal procedure,” Clark says.
Hardly two hours passed since the
beginning of Stanley’s midday surgery when
she awoke, and by 5 p.m. she was home—a
vast improvement from typical abdominal
hysterectomies, which often keep women in
the hospital for three days.
The best part: there was no real pain to speak
of. “I highly recommend this procedure to any
woman who needs a hysterectomy,” Stanley says.
Clark, an OU-COM faculty member
who sees patients from across Ohio and
Kentucky, began developing the endocutter
for vaginal hysterectomies in the early 1990s.
However, he has only been using the latest
version of the tool, adapted from a similar
tool used for gastric surgery and pulmonary
surgeries, for a couple years.
Clark and his colleagues recently
conducted a study of the endocutter, using
250 cases, the preliminary data of which
show that the procedure is safe and decreases
complications of surgery.
Clark estimates that at least 75 percent of
the hysterectomies he performs are vaginal, as
opposed to the more common abdominal and
laparoscopically assisted vaginal procedures.
Typically, about 70 percent of hysterectomies
in the U.S. are abdominal, Clark says.
The ease of the endocutter allows for a
faster learning curve, according to Clark’s
resident Megan Porter, D.O. (’06).
Porter began assisting Clark with vaginal
hysterectomies during her first year of
residency. Now in her third year, she has
performed or assisted with more than 100
vaginal hysterectomies—at least half of
which she has completed on her own.
“The (endocutter) is truly better for the
patient,” Porter says. “It reduces recovery
time, decreases complications. If I were
having a hysterectomy, I would definitely
want this procedure”
Porter, who plans to stay in Ohio and
serve smaller communities, appreciates the
surgical advantage she has gained from her
residency. “Normally, you have to wait a few
years to do this kind of surgery, but this
(endocutter) innovation makes it a lot safer
and easier to learn.”
According to Clark, minimally invasive
techniques like this one are quickly catching
on. He now travels “coast-to-coast” and
conducts international teleconferences
from his operating room to demonstrate
his endocutter surgery technique. About
once a month, surgeons visit Clark’s office to
observe surgeries and receive training.
“This innovation was really driven by
patient needs,” Clark says. “It cuts down on
complications, (in-hospital) infections and,
most importantly, increases patient satisfaction.”
By Tom Riggs and Anita Martin
8 ohio university medicine

Last year, Dr. Konold won the Outstanding Family
Physician award for his work with students, interns
and residents at Doctors Hospital in Columbus.
For almost twenty years, Dr. Konold has taught OU-
COM students as a clinical associate professor at
Doctors Hospital, and in his practice, he currently
employs three fellow OU-COM graduates: Laura
Bowser, D.O. (’03) (pediatrics); Emily Roedersheimer,
D.O. (’01) (family medicine); and Stacy Scudder, D.O.
(’97) (pediatrics).
Feature
The first line
Alumni physicians discuss the rewards and
challenges of family practice
By Anita Martin
Photos by John Sattler
Figures from the OU-COM Class of 2009 confirm the continuation
of a college legacy: graduating osteopathic physicians committed
to primary care medicine. While less than 10 percent of medical
graduates nationwide intend to pursue primary care, almost half of
OU-COM’s newest graduating class began graduate medical programs
in primary care fields this summer.
This reflects our total alumni figures: 54 percent are primary care
providers–most in Ohio and many for underserved areas. OU-COM
emerges as a national leader in this regard. Last year the AMA reported
that the number of medical graduates entering family practice has dropped
50 percent in the last decade. The resulting shortage of family physicians
has brought primary care to center stage in federal health care reform
efforts (for more, see the “Message from the Dean,” by Jack Brose, D.O.).
Ohio University Medicine talked to a range of OU-COM alumni and
students passionate about family practice, the “bread and butter” of primary
care. Some things are changing, they said: higher medical education debt,
electronic records, medical homes. But the essential rewards of family
practice remain: its endless versatility and its genuine human connections.
Generations of care
Daniel Konold, D.O. (’88)
The son of an osteopathic family physician, Daniel Konold, D.O.
(’88), OU-COM clinical associate professor of family medicine,
explored alternative fields, but he returned to his roots. “During my
rotations, I fell in love with every specialty, but then found specialized
care monotonous,” he says. “I love the variety of family practice.”
Summer/Fall 2009
9

In April, Dr. Polite returned to Athens to speak
to first- and second-year OU-COM students
about the rewards and challenges of primary
care medicine for the college’s Career Medical
Specialties lecture series. (To learn how you can
participate in the Career Medical Specialties
program, please contact Jill Harman in the
Office of Alumni Affairs at 740.593.2151.)
Konold traces some of the national disinclination toward family
practice to the bottom line: specialties often have higher pay scales.
“But if you work efficiently, you can make an excellent living and enjoy
every minute of it,” he says, emphasizing the relationships he builds
with patients and colleagues alike.
“I had one student, on the first day of his rotation, he told me he
wanted to do anything but primary care,” Konold says. “A year later he
asked me to write him a letter of recommendation for a family practice
residency–said he changed his mind because he had so much fun
during his rotation with us.”
Over the years, Konold’s practice, Canal Winchester Family Health
& Pediatrics, has grown to include two pediatricians and four family
physicians, providing ongoing, accessible and comprehensive care
similar to a “medical home” model. More recently, they added “aesthetic
services” such as vein removals and laser face rejuvenations to better
serve the Baby Boomer population.
Still, he says, primary care has not changed much: it’s still about
caring for patients. “Families that started with my dad 40 years ago are
still seeing me. I am now treating grandchildren of patients my father
delivered! How great is that?”
Customized approach
Robert Polite, D.O. (’99)
Originally set on becoming a surgeon, Robert Polite, D.O. (’99),
changed course after his internship at St. Vincent Mercy Medical
Center in Toledo, when he discovered that the surgeon’s life was not
suited to his personality.
“I went into my family practice residency a bit tentative, but it really
grew on me,” Polite says. “I am a family physician at heart.”
Polite, who runs a private family practice in Columbus, enjoys the
flexibility of the field—particularly that it allows him to assist with
addiction care at two Columbus-area agencies, Maryhaven Drug and
Rehabilitation Center and the Recovery Center in Lancaster, Ohio.
“I help people get off drugs and out of jail, and I save lives. Addiction
is a secret that America has swept under the rug,” he says, noting that a
lot of his patients are affluent professionals who abuse legal medicines.
Polite’s private practice is “fee for service,” meaning he does not
accept private insurance. He instead offers a sliding scale flat fee for
services, and patients then seek reimbursement from their insurance
providers. This allows Polite to spend more time with his patients.
“I call it the Marcus Welby, M.D., approach, and people love it,”
Polite says, referring to the popular 1970s television series about an
affable family physician. “When you have the time to take care of
people right, they appreciate it. Word gets around fast.”
10 ohio university medicine

Hands-on family practice
Jean Rettos, D.O. (’04)
After working 13 years as a nurse, family medicine was the perfect
fit for Jean Rettos, D.O. (’04). “As a nurse, you get close to patients,
and family practice lets you do that.”
Rettos, who runs an Athens, Ohio-based practice, Athens Health
Solutions, was named Young Family Physician of the Year by the Ohio
chapter of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.
The honor wouldn’t surprise Rettos’ patients, considering her
dedication to family care. She started her private practice to keep the
overhead low so she could spend more time with patients than the
average 11-minute primary care visit.
“I give all my patients my cell phone and my beeper numbers,”
Rettos says. “They’re printed right on my card. Friends thought I was
nuts to do that, but people don’t abuse it.”
Rettos dedicates 60 percent of her practice to general care, and the
other 40 percent osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM), a form
of manual therapy using stretching, gentle pressure and resistance to
diagnose, treat and prevent illness or injury.
“Family practice really allows me to incorporate OMM,” Rettos says.
“A lot of people think OMM is just about lower back pain, but I do
it for asthma, sinus infections, post-surgical bowel problems, helping
infants better latch on during breast feeding. One older gentleman,
who used to get bronchitis every summer, told me, since I started
doing OMM, I don’t get sick anymore.’”
Rettos’ interest in OMM goes back to her nursing days in the OMM
office of Parks Hall. “I think a lot of medical students’ career decisions
are based on clinical rotations, which is why the early clinical contact
at OU-COM is so helpful. A lot of those first clinical experiences are
in primary care, and that helps instill the value of family medicine.”
Dr. Rettos was named 2007 Merck Outstanding
Resident of the Year by the American
Osteopathic Foundation. This honor recognizes
residents who stand out as patient advocates
and leaders in health care or research.
Summer/Fall 2009
11

At the March convention for the American
College of Osteopathic Family Physicians,
Laura Stachowicz, OMS III, won second
place in a student research competition for
“Cancer screening behaviors in HIV-infected
older adults.”
Quality of life
Jane Balbo, D.O. (’07)
In medical school, Jane Balbo, D.O. (’07), oscillated among family
practice, ob/gyn, pediatrics and emergency medicine.
“In ob/gyn, I thought, this is great, but I want to address their
cholesterol and hypertension, too. Then I loved pediatrics, but I
would really miss my adults. In the ER, I always wanted to know what
happened to my patients, and to help prevent them from coming back
to the ER,” Balbo says. “The only field where I could do all of these
things is family practice.”
Balbo, who completed a family practice fellowship at OU-COM in
2006-07, is now a resident with Doctors Hospital Family Practice.
“I love establishing relationships with patients,” she says. “It helps me
when I know the patient’s family, how the family interacts, what kinds
of issues they might have and how that factors into their care.”
Balbo believes that lifestyle steers some medical students into
specialty fields like dermatology or anesthesiology, where hours can
be more flexible and compensation generally higher. The advantage of
that, she says, is that those who choose primary care tend to be really
excited about the field and passionate about patient care.
“Besides, I’m making a great living,” she says. “I define success by
my quality of life. I don’t want millions. I just want to live in Athens,
pay my bills, ride my bike and give back to my community, doing
something I love to do.”
Open opportunities
Laura Stachowicz, OMS III
As president of the OU-COM Family Medicine Club, Laura
Stachowicz, OMS III, advocates for primary care among her peers. She
coordinates events like family practice residency dinners, where students
meet with residents and residency program directors to dine, discuss their
field and specific programs, and learn hands-on skills like suturing or casting.
“This is a great school for primary care training,” Stachowicz says.
“We have wonderful role models–like Jay Shubrook, D.O. (’96),
and David Stroh, D.O. (’83)–and case-based learning that looks at
primary care as the first line of medicine.”
According to Stachowicz, a combination of primary care’s relatively
lower pay and the rising cost of medical school deters many students
from entering the field. “We face such a burden of debt, and some
students feel like they’re sacrificing their 20s for their medical careers;
they think, why not make more money?”
But for Stachowicz, the variety and interpersonal warmth of
primary care makes up for the salary gap. “I have a lot of interests,”
Stachowicz says. “The variety of cases you see is the most exciting part
about family medicine–plus, I love the bond of trust between primary
care physicians and their patients.”
In October, the Family Medicine Club brought a group of family
physicians to OU-COM to share perspectives on the field with
osteopathic medical students.
“Some also do sports medicine. Some deliver babies. Some
incorporate dermatology,” Stachowicz says. “The basic message is that
you’re going to see a lot in primary care, not just coughs and flus.”
Upon completing her family practice
fellowship in 2007, Dr. Balbo was selected
by her peers as Outstanding Student D.O. of
the Year.
OUM
For perspectives from more family practice alumni, including Katherine “Toni”
Clark, D.O. (’88); George Ceremuga, D.O. (’93); Carlos Solorzano, D.O. (’02);
and Christina González, D.O. (’09), check out Ohio University Medicine online at
www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum
12 ohio university medicine

Feature
Greater than
the sum of
our parts
Three CORE hospital presidents, community
leaders and recipients of the Phillips Medal of
Public Service, OU-COM’s highest award, discuss
the benefits of collaboration in the nation’s finest
osteopathic medical education consortium
Interviews by Anita Martin
Roy Chew, Ph.D.
Fred DeGrandis, J.D.
Kathy Rice, M.B.A.
2004 Phillips Medal of Public Service
awardee, CORE Board member
and former chair, Ohio Osteopathic
Association trustee, American Heart
Association trustee, Grandview
Foundation trustee, Community Health
Centers of Greater Dayton trustee,
2003 Ohio Osteopathic Association
Meritorious Service Award honoree
2007 Phillips Medal of Public Service
awardee, CORE Board member and
former chair, Ohio Hospital Association
trustee, Center for Health Affairs Board
member, Grace Hospital Board member,
American Heart Association of Northeast
Ohio Board member, 2006 Pillar Award for
Community Service honoree
2005 Phillips Medal of Public Service
awardee, CORE Board member and
trustee, Ohio Osteopathic Association
trustee, American Osteopathic Bureau
of Hospitals member and former chair,
Area Agency on Aging Board member,
2004 Ohio Osteopathic Association
Meritorious Service Award honoree
Summer/Fall 2009
13

Fred DeGrandis, J.D.
President and CEO, Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals
“In medical education, I see purpose, wisdom and
compassion. I see higher calling. There is a perfect
marriage between health care and teaching.”
– Fred DeGrandis, J.D.
John Sattler
Why did you want your hospital to be involved with the CORE?
In medical education, I see purpose, wisdom and compassion. I see
higher calling. There is a perfect marriage between health care and
teaching. Medical education energizes us–some docs, who you might
say didn’t have a lot of spring in their step, really came alive and more
engaged by the teaching process.
Before the CORE, I think medical education in the state was much
more variable. The CORE added a level of quality and consistency
by coordinating resources and increasing peer interaction among
osteopathic teaching doctors and students from different regions.
Has CORE membership helped your physician and resident recruiting efforts?
There has been a noticeable loyalty among students and residents after
their time with us. They have a network to come back to. That said, our
first job is to prepare them for their first-choice professional opportunity,
whatever that may be.
Your hospital was an early supporter of the Academic & Research Center,
a new state-of-the-art research facility. Why is that project so valuable,
from your point of view?
Supporting the ARC just makes sense. Our focus is on healing,
supporting the patient, and research is natural extension of caring. All
advances in medicine come through that research. This will enhance
efforts at our clinic, particularly around diabetes, which greatly affects
the health status in our community. We’re happy to take on bench
research, make it come alive at our hospital.
Kathy Rice, M.B.A.
President and CEO, Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital
14 ohio university medicine
– Kathy Rice, M.B.A.
“Teachers are constantly questioning, and residents and
students challenge everyone to do our best and stay at the
highest level of care.”
John Sattler

Roy Chew, Ph.D.
President, Kettering Medical Center
“Whether we’re talking about osteopathic medical
education or research, we can accomplish together far more
than any of us can accomplish as a single institution.”
– Roy Chew
Lee Ann Yahle
Why do you choose to serve on the CORE board, given your
other time commitments?
The CORE is a community. We have common goals and values. It is
important that we act together and look out for the best interests of our
collective community. It is extremely fulfilling to participate in discussions
that have significant ramifications for our community: how graduate medical
education is delivered, valued and perceived by all important stakeholders.
What distinguishes OU-COM residents from other residents
or young physicians?
From what I can see, OU-COM students are extremely wellprepared
for and comfortable in a clinical setting. I also think they are
more focused on serving communities in Ohio, which we love.
You were on the steering committee that helped conceptualize
osteopathic postdoctoral training institutions (OPTIs) like the CORE.
How have OPTIs evolved?
OPTIs were really based on the CORE, on what was first started
here in Ohio with this collaboration of the Ohio University College of
Osteopathic Medicine and our state osteopathic teaching hospitals.
I think the CORE remains a national model for OPTIs because
we’ve really harnessed the benefits of good collaboration. Whether
we’re talking about osteopathic medical education or research, we can
accomplish together far more than any of us can accomplish as single
institution—whether hospital or university. By blending our talents
and strengths, we far surpass what we can do alone, and we gain far
more significance at state and national levels.
How does CORE membership affect quality of care?
Having worked in both teaching and non-teaching hospitals, I prefer
those with education programs, as both an administrator and a patient.
Teachers are constantly questioning, and residents and students
challenge everyone to do our best and stay at the highest level of care.
Has your involvement with the CORE benefited you as an administrator?
I think because of the CORE I understand better what’s needed in
a medical education program. In my role as president of the American
Osteopathic Bureau of Hospitals, I’m better able to advise and to
connect people.
Also, most of the physicians on our medical staff are osteopathic. My
role is to support those physicians and provide educational opportunities
for future osteopathic physicians. The CORE and OU-COM are
invaluable to those efforts. Before the CORE, (Ohio osteopathic)
hospitals worked in silos when it came to medical education. (The
CORE) gives us a consistent, coordinated program.
From your point of view, what are some areas in which OU-COM excels?
I’m not a physician, but if my directors of medical education are
happy, I’m happy. As an administrator, I’m pleased to see the fantastic
support that our DMEs and program directors receive from the CORE.
We are proud to be a part of such a nationally esteemed medical training
network, and I think that high level of support and consistency accounts
for much of the CORE’s success and its national attention.
Summer/Fall 2009
15

Feature
Making cancer
survivors of the
uninsured
Community Health Programs provide free breast
and cervical cancer screenings and treatment
for Southeastern Ohio
By Colleen Kiphart
Illustration by Danette Pratt
When Anne* found the lump, she thought little of it. She had
found benign cysts in the past—and paid out of pocket to have them
removed. If this were a movie, a foreshadowing refrain may have
swelled in the background as she did her self-exam, fading to a tenuous
tune as she dismissed it. But there is no soundtrack to life, no warning
sign to tell us “this time is different.”
Anne was diabetic, and as she needed it more, health insurance
became harder to afford and, ultimately, impossible to obtain.
“She was waiting to get a mammogram until she turned 65, when
Medicare would have kicked in,” says Kathy Trace, M.H.A., director
of OU-COM’s Community Health Programs (CHP) and friend of
Anne’s. “She died two days before her 65th birthday.”
According to the American Medical Association, 46 million
Americans are uninsured, which often leads to cycles of self-diagnosis
and self-denial that can be fatal.
A few weeks before Anne succumbed to breast cancer, she implored
Trace to tell her story. According to Trace, Anne’s tragedy is a common
one, but in Southeastern Ohio at least, she says, “it doesn’t have to be.”
16 ohio university medicine

The Community Health Programs’
Free Clinic includes a Mobile Health
Van, which provides free screenings
for breast and cervical cancer to
uninsured and underinsured women
in 21 counties of Southeastern Ohio.
John Sattler
Trace and her colleagues at OU-COM offer free and reduced-cost
mammograms, ultrasounds, biopsies and other diagnostic tests for
both breast and cervical cancer to uninsured and underinsured women
at high risk, including women over the age of 50 and those with
previous breast abnormalities and/or a family history of cancer.
The breast and cervical cancer screenings are provided through
CHP’s Healthy Adult Program and funded by both the Columbus
affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Ohio Breast and
Cervical Cancer Project (BCCP). This year Komen awarded BCCP
$57,614, for a total of $543,096 since 2001.
“When an uninsured patient is diagnosed with cancer, the BCCP
refers them to a primary care physician in the state,” Trace explains. “If
the women are members of the BCCP before they are diagnosed, (the
BCCP) also covers the full cost of treatment.”
The program screened 49,558 women for breast and cervical cancer
between March 1994 and March 2006, and 427 women in 2008.
“Many return each year, using the mobile unit as their primary ob/
gyn,” says Cindy Greenlee, M.S.N., a nurse practitioner with Student
Health Services and CHP, who works with the mobile screening unit.
Despite these promising figures, stories like Anne’s persist,
underscoring the need to increase awareness of CHP and other services.
Unaware of Anne’s breast lump, Trace, who had known her for years,
referred Anne to a local physician when she complained of back and bone
pain. Unfortunately that physician, who diagnosed her cancer, was not
affiliated with the BCCP. With the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer
from a non-BCCP physician, it was too late to qualify for free treatment.
“She would have been a perfect candidate for this service, had we
known earlier,” Trace says.
Before she died, Anne expressed her desire to spread the word about
OU-COM’s free services and the importance of early detection.
Trace describes Anne as a generous person, fondly remembered and
sorely missed by her family and wide circle of friends. “She was always
one to help others. This is one way for that to continue, her way of
being a friend to those she never met.”
OU-COM’s Community Health Programs regularly cover a
21-county area through both its mobile health van and its Free Clinic
on the second floor of Parks Hall in Athens. OU-COM students and
faculty alike regularly volunteer at the Free Clinic, including Dean Jack
Brose, D.O., who founded it in 2005.
When Trace arrived in 2000, OU-COM staff nurses told her that
they considered the Healthy Adult Program breast cancer screenings
to be among the most critical in terms of community impact, but the
screenings have seen many stops and starts due to inconsistent funding.
Trace aggressively sought grants to revive the program. In recent years,
Komen has been one of the program’s greatest supporters. OU-COM breast
cancer screenings also are among programs affiliated with the Appalachian
Health Care Access Project, which received a substantial grant from the
Ohio Department of Health and Human Services in both 2008 and 2009.
The two biggest risk factors for developing breast cancer—growing
older and being a woman—are unavoidable, Trace says. But regular selfexaminations
and yearly mammograms, in conjunction with a healthy
lifestyle, provide the greatest advantage in fighting cancer: finding it early.
Summer/Fall 2009
17

Josh Armstrong
Acromegaly drug shown to stop cancer growth
A drug developed by an OU-COM faculty member has the potential to treat cancer of
the breast, prostate and colon, as well as some brain cancers.
In 1989, a team of researchers led by John Kopchick, Ph.D., Goll-Ohio Eminent
Scholar and professor of molecular and cellular biology, found a compound that inhibits
growth hormone (GH) action. They discovered that it could treat acromegaly, a chronic
disease that causes swelling of facial features and/or internal organs, and they also
suspected its potential to stop, prevent or even reverse the growth of tumors.
The substance, a “growth hormone receptor antagonist” called Pegvisomant, hit
pharmacies in 2003, after its FDA approval, in the form of the prescription drug
Somavert ® , still the most used treatment for acromegaly. But Kopchick and research
partners from around the world have continued to study the effects of Pegvisomant
on cancer–and the years of work show great promise.
“Several studies have shown that this GH receptor antagonist reduces the
progression of breast cancer in mice models–as well as prostate, colorectal
and some brain cancers,” Kopchick says. “In some cases, the data show that
(Pegvisomant) even reverses the cancer.”
The cancer-related data sparked by his discovery comes from many different
disciplines and around the world. The research can be divided into three approaches:
Trying to induce breast cancer in mice that lack growth hormone.
According to Kopchick, the cancer won’t grow without growth hormone.
Giving Pegvisomant to mice with breast and other types of cancers.
The growth hormone antagonist stops–and in some cases, reverses –
the growth of the tumors.
Giving Pegvisomant to mice hosting human cancer tissues.
Again, the antagonist halts the growth of breast and certain brain cancers.
Before Kopchick’s GH antagonist can be applied to cancer treatment, the effects will have to
be studied in clinical trials with human patients. According to Kopchick, the overwhelming
success of the mouse studies indicates that the study is ripe for that next phase of testing.
Early detection has meant everything to Appalachian Ohio native
Joyce*. In 2008, Joyce felt a stinging in her chest. “And I thank God
that he put that stinging there because I never would have felt that
lump otherwise.” She had gone four years without a mammogram.
Despite her lack of insurance, she immediately saw her primary care
physician. “I’ve worked my whole life, but, it’s like my doctor said, I’m
just one of those people who fell through the cracks.” She may have fallen
through the cracks when it comes to health insurance, but fortunately
her physician was familiar with programs to assist the uninsured.
“He set me up with CHP and the American Cancer Society and
they got the biopsy, diagnosed the cancer and took care of the surgery,”
Joyce says, referring to her mastectomy.
“My family has been so supportive. My granddaughter Brittney
refused to leave my side,” says Joyce, who adds that Janice Smith, nurse
coordinator for CHP, and herself a breast cancer survivor, regularly
follows up on her progress. “Everyone has been so helpful and loving
and caring. The Ohio BCCP even sent a home nurse to help us those
first few days after my surgery.”
Five months after her diagnosis, in March, Joyce chatters brightly
into the phone, her voice brimming with gratitude and steely strength.
She has completed her chemotherapy and now is finishing radiation
treatment. Joyce’s body seems to be responding to the treatments, and
the cancer present in her blood has been steadily declining.
According to Greenlee, fear deters some women from investigating
breast lumps. “They think, ‘What will I do if you find a lump?’ I want
them to know that we give them hope.”
She believes the national emphasis on early detection through
organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the increased
availability of resources, such as CHP screenings, are encouraging
women to seek care.
When asked if she has any advice for uninsured women, Joyce offers
this: “Your health is your life. Get the help you need, and don’t let your
mammograms go. I want to tell women not to be afraid. There are
people to help you; you just need to look.”
OUM
To read more about Dr. Kopchick, go to
www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum.
*Names have been changed to protect individual privacy.
ohio university medicine

Follow-up
Development & Alumni News and Features
18
20
22
23
24
Clinical labs, Free Clinic
granted a new home
Osteopathic Heritage Foundation gift secondlargest
in college history
Class notes
Timothy Barreiro, D.O., elected to
National Academy of Osteopathic
Medical Educators
Calendar of events
It’s not all in your head
Eric Baron, D.O.
Dr. Baron takes the headache out of spinal taps
Then and Now
OU-COM Commencement
Top left: As a medical student at OU-COM,
Jay H. Shubrook Jr., D.O. (’96), FACOFP,
FAAFP, served as class president and
student council president. He received the
Student D.O. of the Year Award in 1996.
Right: On June 6, Shubrook became the
first Commencement keynote speaker
selected by members of the graduating
class. He also was recently selected to
be the 2009 Young Physician of the Year
by the American College of Osteopathic
Family Physicians. Shubrook, associate
professor of family medicine, now directs
both the college’s Diabetes Fellowship
and its Clinical Research Programs, and
he serves as associate director of the
Family Practice Residency Program at
O’Bleness Memorial Hospital.
19

Follow-up
Development Highlight
Clinical labs,
Free Clinic
granted a
new home
Osteopathic Heritage Foundation gift is
second largest in college history
A generous $2.3 million grant from the Osteopathic Heritage
Foundation will create state-of the-art clinical skills training labs
for OU-COM students. The renovated facility also will provide a
permanent, contemporary home for the college’s Free Clinic, which
serves the uninsured and underinsured in Southeastern Ohio.
The grant marks the second largest gift in college history. It supports the
construction of the namesake Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Center
for Clinical Training and Assessment and Free Community Health Clinic.
“This new facility fits well within the foundation’s mission,” says Rick
Vincent, president and CEO of the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation.
“The medical education provided in this facility will help students
hone their diagnostic skills and their ability to connect with patients,
which is a distinguishing characteristic of osteopathic physicians. The
space will also give the Free Clinic a permanent facility, which will
improve medical access for those in the community who don’t have
other means for health care.”
Dean Jack Brose, D.O., says that this renovation follows OU-
COM’s tradition of innovation. “Our college was one of the first
medical schools in the country to offer clinical labs with standardized
patients,” he says. “We were fortunate to be ahead of the curve. This
facility will help OU-COM keep that edge into the future.”
Planning is underway for the new facility, to be housed in Grosvenor
Hall and Grosvenor Hall West on the Athens Campus. Project
completion is scheduled for early 2011.
Clinical training and assessment
The new clinical training center will continue to utilize standardized
patients. These community volunteers portray a specific illness or
injury—from Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and diabetes to
psychiatric disorders—to test and refine students’ clinical skills. The
larger space—nearly twice the size of the current Irvine Hall Clinical
Training and Assessment Center—will accommodate the growing
classes at OU-COM.
According to Nicole Wadsworth, D.O. (’97), FACOFP, FACOEP,
assistant dean for preclinical education, OU-COM students begin
training in the center in August of their first year, and log more than 80
hours in the training lab during their first two years of medical school.
“It is remarkable to watch the students in just one year’s time as
they begin to put skills and knowledge together in the clinical training
center,” says Wadsworth, who is the instructor of record for first- and
second-year clinical skills courses. “Their comfort level with patient
interaction dramatically improves, as well as their understanding of
how to obtain a history, perform an exam and put together medical
knowledge with cases.”
The new space also creates opportunities for cross-disciplinary
training for local providers through professional development sessions
and for other health care providers-in-training, such as nursing and
physical therapy students attending Ohio University.
“Collaborative partnerships in the health care arena today are
absolutely essential,” Vincent says. “Health care is significantly more
than just physician care. It involves nurses, therapists, social workers
and other allied health professionals. The fact that in this facility they
can train to work together as a team is exciting.”
Free, quality community health care
The OU-COM Free Clinic, which will also expand in the move,
provides free and low-cost medical care to underserved populations
in Southeastern Ohio through both its permanent clinic and its
Mobile Health Van.
20
ohio university medicine

Follow-up
Sharon Zimmerman, M.P.A.
Director of Medical Development
Executive Director of Alumni Affairs
“While 12 percent of the national population is uninsured, the
figure in Appalachian Ohio is above 15 percent,” says Community
Health Programs Director Kathy Trace. “Our Free Clinic’s move from
Parks Hall will let us expand our hours of operation, which is vitally
important for this underserved region.”
Dean Brose, who began the Free Clinic program in 2005, often
volunteers his time there, along with many other faculty members
and students. In 2008, more than 576 physician volunteer hours were
logged at the Free Clinic. That number is expected to double with
this new development, which will add up to about $106,000 worth of
physician time donated to the people of Appalachian Ohio.
“It’s a responsibility of physicians and other providers in
Southeastern Ohio to provide a level of quality care to those who
cannot afford it on their own,” Vincent says. “Free clinics need highly
qualified health professionals. This facility provides the perfect
opportunity to give back to the community and to train future
physicians and other health care providers.”
Highlights of the upcoming facility
• 16 examination rooms
• Two larger examination teaching rooms
• Patient reception area and administrative suite
• Video teleconferencing and telemedic resources
• Simulated emergency/simulated surgical suite
• Life-sized computerized patients with preprogrammed illnesses
• Skills lab
• Conference rooms
• 72-seat classroom/regional training center
• observation corridor with one-way mirrors and
audio equipment
Dear Alumni and Friends:
The Osteopathic Heritage Foundation also provided the largest gift in
college history, $10 million for the Academic & Research Center. In addition
to the Foundation’s support, we have received gifts from hundreds of
generous alumni and friends over the past two years. Each one is critical to
the ongoing success of OU-COM.
Together we build on the tradition of excellence established 34 years ago
with the founding of our college. Your gifts invigorate our teaching and
research programs and help us provide health care to members of our
communities who cannot otherwise afford it.
Particularly in this time of economic challenges and decreased state
support, your generosity ensures that we continue to provide the best
possible osteopathic medical education and research opportunities for
our students and faculty. Whether supporting or establishing a student
scholarship, contributing to the college’s Annual Fund to help us meet
unforeseen challenges, supporting biomedical research in our upcoming
Academic & Research Center, or funding a project or department that
reflects your passions; know that your gift makes a difference.
We, in turn, pledge to be a vibrant institution, to grow and build on that
strong foundation established over three decades ago. We will continue to
make you proud.
In this issue Ohio University Medicine, we wanted to recognize the full
range of support we receive, to emphasize our gratitude to every donor and
the importance of every gift. To do so, we have enclosed an “Honor Roll of
Donors” from 2007 to 2009.
We heartily thank all of our supporters for your ongoing commitment to
your College of Osteopathic Medicine!
Summer/Fall 2009
21

Follow-up
Class Notes
We want to hear from you!
Please send your career and
personal updates for our next issue.
Fax: 740.593.0761
E-mail: harmanj@ohio.edu
Online form: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/Alumni/
StayingConnected.htm
Alumni Affairs, 203 Grosvenor Hall, Athens, Ohio, 45701
1980
Ronald C. Moomaw, D.O., serves on the Board
of Directors of the National Commission on
Correctional Health Care. He has served on
several committees for the organization, including
education and policies and standards.
1981
Mary Schaefer Badger, D.O., published “Tick
talk: Unusually severe case of tick-borne relapsing
fever with acute respiratory distress syndrome,” in
Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, volume
19, issue 4, pgs. 280-286.
Douglas Jones, D.O., family practitioner with
Jenkins Memorial Health Clinic in Wellston,
Ohio, received the 2008 Ohio Critical Access
Hospital Program’s Rural Health Provider Award
for his outstanding patient care, dedication and
leadership. He is a former National Health
Service Corps scholar.
1982
Craig A. Maxwell, D.O., was honored with a
2009 Patient’s Choice Award. For these awards,
more than 40,000 patients provide online feedback
on factors such as expertise, bedside manner,
degree of follow-up, courtesy of office staff.
Robert P. Myers, D.O., served a term as chair of the
professional staff of Dayton Children’s Hospital.
Jeffrey A. Stanley, D.O., has been appointed
to the Ohio University Foundation Board. He
will soon finish his second term as chief of staff
at South Point Hospital in Cleveland. He is
currently president of the OU-COM Society of
Alumni and Friends Board of Directors.
1983
Grant Hope, D.O., and his wife, Patricia, celebrated
their 25th wedding anniversary June 25,
2008. He is a Fellow of the American College
of Osteopathic Internists and serves as clinical
faculty for The Ohio State University College of
Medicine. He is deputy coroner for Crawford
County and was elected to the Bucyrus City
School Board in November 2007. He has been a
clinical faculty member for OU-COM since 1991.
Jill Ann Neff, D.O., was appointed to the
University of Rio Grande Board of Trustees by
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland in May.
1987
Mark Maire, D.O., is a Global Health Fellow
after completing a program as a senior technical
advisor in Zambia for the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
1988
William Burke, D.O., FACOFP, will receive
the Ohio University Alumni Association
Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes
people who have given extraordinary service to
university colleges, alumni chapters, clubs and
the Ohio University Alumni Association. Burke
serves as an associate professor of family medicine
for OU-COM and as program director of the
family practice residency at Doctors Hospital in
Columbus.
Daniel Konold, D.O., clinical associate
professor of family medicine, received the 2008
Outstanding Family Physician award for his work
with students, interns and residents at Doctors
Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Edward S. Umlauf, D.O., was named assistant
director of hospital medicine for TeamHealth
Midwest in Athens, Ohio, last May, when he became
the first hospitalist at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital.
1989
Jerome Dixon, D.O., and wife, Janet, welcomed
Juliana Molina to the family in August 2008.
Stevan Walkowski, D.O., assistant professor
of family practice at OU-COM, was appointed
chair of the CORE Osteopathic Principles and
Practices Committee.
1990
Greggory Volk, D.O., is program director of
internal medicine at Grandview Hospital.
1992
Blaine Powell, D.O., earned his M.P.H. last June
and is completing a fellowship in aerospace medicine.
He moved to Pensacola, Fla., in July 2008.
1994
Raquel Bolado, D.O., has joined the University
of Texas Health Science Center as an assistant
clinical professor.
Richard Schuster, D.O., accepted a position at
Des Moines University College of Osteopathic
Medicine, as assistant professor of osteopathic
manipulative medicine.
Esther H. Tompkins, D.O., has been promoted
to associate professor of pediatrics at the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,
College of Medicine.
22 ohio university medicine

1995
Joseph Looby, D.O., completed a craniofacial
plastic surgery fellowship at Stanford University
Medical Center.
Elizabeth Lottes, D.O., became medical director
of the Berger Hospital diabetes program. She
was nominated as a Columbus Health Hero for
her humanitarian work and has served as a board
member for Access Health for four years.
1996
Julianna Batizy-Morley, D.O., has raced for the
International Triathlon Union World Cup as a
professional athlete for the last several years and
was eligible last year for Olympic triathlon trials.
Robert McCleary, D.O., joined the Logan
Regional Medical Center in West Virginia as an
orthopedic surgeon.
Save the date
CME & All Class Reunion
Hilton Columbus at Easton
September 25-26, 2009
Mark your calendar for our next weekend of
medical education, where you can earn up to
20.5 hours of catagory 1-A CME credit in the
company of old and new friends. We welcome
you to mingle with former classmates and
meet new college faculty, staff and students at
our all-class reunion and awards presentation.
Melita Marcial-Schuster, D.O., accepted a
position at Des Moines University College of
Osteopathic Medicine as assistant professor of
family medicine.
1997
Clay Seiple, D.O., began his second term as
chair of the Department of Family Medicine
at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital. He is
also a regional speaker for Pfizer and Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals.
1998
Beth Schulz-Butulis, D.O., gave a pediatric
dermatology presentation at Pediatric Grand
Rounds at Rex Hospital in Raleigh, N.C.
Lee A. Dudley, D.O., has accepted a position at
the University of Tennessee, Memphis Regional
Medical Center. He is attending law school at the
University of Memphis.
Please make your room reservation before
September 3 to receive a special rate of
$160 per night. Call 614.414.5000 and
mention Ohio University or go online at www.
hiltoncolumbus.com and enter code OHI to
receive the conference rate.
To register for the conference, go to
www.oucom.ohiou.edu/DevAlum/2009CME.
For additional information, please call
740.593.4232 or 740.593.2151, or e-mail
harmanj@ohio.edu.
This event is sponsored by the OU-COM
Society of Alumni & Friends and OU-COM
Area Health Education Center
Timothy J. Barreiro, D.O. (’97), clinical assistant
professor of internal medicine
Dr. Barreiro elected to new
national academy
Timothy J. Barreiro, D.O. (’97), FCCP, FACOI,
clinical assistant professor of internal medicine
at St. Joseph Health Center (Warren, Ohio), was
inducted into the inaugural class of the National
Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators
(NAOME) at the April 17 annual meeting awards
banquet of the American Association of Colleges of
Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM).
According to Wendy Bresler, AACOM vice president
for communications and marketing, NAOME was
created to set and promote the high standards of
educational scholarship and to provide leadership
and mentorship through NAOME fellows.
“Dr. Barreiro was selected for his excellent record of
scholarship in teaching and evaluation,” Bresler says.
NAOME fellows must meet rigorous standards of
academic scholarship. Their applications were judged
by a large review panel consisting of representatives
from every American college of osteopathic medicine,
at least one member of the Society of Osteopathic
Educators (SOME) steering committee and at least
one AACOM staff medical doctor.
“NAOME is a foundation for a higher standard
of principles, which hopefully can unite all
postgraduate osteopathic centers and hospitals,”
Barreiro says. “My hope is to contribute, encourage
and promote the next group of future osteopathic
leaders.”
By Colleen Kiphart
23

Follow-up
2009 Alumni Calendar of Events
September/October (Date TBD)
Society of Alumni & Friends Board of Directors Fall
Meeting
Athens, OH
September 25-26
OU-COM CME & All Class Reunion
Hilton Columbus at Easton
October 14-18
American College of Osteopathic Internists
J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa
Tucson, AZ
October 16 & 17
Ohio University Homecoming
October 16
Ohio University Homecoming Awards Gala
William J. Burke, DO, (’88), FACOFP, to be honored
with OU Distinguished Service Award
October 31-November 3
Annual Clinical Assembly of Osteopathic Surgeons
Chicago Marriott, Magnificent Mile
Chicago, IL
November 1-5
114th Annual American Osteopathic Association
Convention and Scientific Seminar
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, LA
OU-COM Alumni Luncheon and Reception
November 2
OU-COM Alumni Luncheon and Reception
at AOA Convention
Jon R. Jacobson, D.O., received an Army
Meritorious Service Medal and has accepted an
U.S. Air Force appointment.
William L. McDonald, D.O., has accepted a
staff position at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center in Boston, Mass. He also serves as clinical
instructor for both Harvard Medical School and
Tufts University School of Medicine.
Janis Anthony-Wade, D.O., joined MedCare
Staffing, Inc., in Flowery Branch, Ga.
Jason T. Weihl, D.O., accepted a position at
Darby Creek Family Health in Grove City, Ohio.
1999
Andrea (Longo) Archer, D.O., accepted a
position as co-director of patient satisfaction at
Emergency Medical Associates in Rockville, Md.
Jay S. Grider, D.O., received the Abraham Flexner
Master Educator designation for curriculum
development at the University of Kentucky College
of Medicine. He also presented “Perioperative
Management of Intrathecal Drug Delivery Systems”
at the American Society of Anesthesiologists
meeting in Orlando. Fla., in October 2008. He is
an assistant professor and director of pain services at
the University of Kentucky Hospital, Department of
Anesthesiology.
Erich C. Maul, D.O., was selected by house staff
to receive the 2008 Warren Wheeler Teaching
Award at Kentucky Children’s Hospital. He is an
assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of
Kentucky College of Medicine and is the associate
director of their pediatrics residency program.
Joseph A. Rodrigo, D.O., director of regional
anesthesia at Roper Hospital, Charleston, S.C.,
founded The American School for Ultrasoundguided
Regional Anesthesia.
Christie (Murphy) Mazurk, D.O., became
associate director for the internal medicine
program at Canton Medical Education
Foundation in January 2009.
2000
Steven Becker, D.O., is director of the internal
medicine program at Pacific Hospital of Long
Beach in California.
R. Paul Boesch, D.O., is an assistant professor
of pulmonary medicine, and director of the
Transitional Care Center at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center.
Diana (Seigfried) Brewster, D.O., and husband,
Phil, had a son, Zane, in August 2008.
Travis Hodgdon, D.O., is an attending critical
care physician at Bassett Health Care in
Cooperstown, N.Y.
24 ohio university medicine

Follow-up
Kristin Woodard, D.O., and husband, Todd,
welcomed Taylor Addison in September 2008.
2001
John Bollins, D.O., accepted a position at St. Mary’s
Medical Center/Duluth Clinic in Minnesota.
Christopher Coulson, D.O., family practitioner
with Arrowhead Clinic in Newcomerstown,
Ohio, has twice deployed to Iraq with the Army
National Guard.
Tony G. Lababidi, D.O., married Christine
(Hanz) Lababidi. He is the director of
anesthesiology and director of perioperative
services at Wadsworth-Rittman Hospital. Dr.
Lababidi completed an anesthesiology residency
at the Cleveland Clinic in July 2005 and remained
to complete a pain management fellowship in July
2006. He has opened his own comprehensive
pain management practice with offices in
Wadsworth, Kent, Green and Fairlawn, Ohio.
Michael Todd, D.O., is on the faculty of the
William Beaumont Medical Center, Ft. Bliss,
Texas, in the Department of Orthopaedics. He
is the first D.O. ever to be chosen for the John A.
Feagin Jr. sports medicine fellowship at West Point.
2002
Maria C. Demosthenous, D.O., is an adjunct
professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Troy Diehl, D.O., completed a fellowship in
sports medicine at Wellington Orthopedics in
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Denise Haynik, D.O., completed a fellowship
in cytology and breast/gynecologic pathology at
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. She
is currently practicing with Scottsdale Pathology
Consultants.
Brock Herring, D.O., has completed a fellowship
in foot and ankle surgery at St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital in Pontiac, Mich. He and his wife,
Dawn, were married May 26, 2007.
Joseph Lowry, D.O., is pursuing a fellowship in
orthopedic trauma at Baylor University Medical
Center in Dallas, Texas.
Anthony Karam, D.O., has been promoted
to assistant medical director at Mercy Medical
Center in Redding, Calif.
Jamesetta (Holloway) Lewis, D.O., accepted a
position in anesthesia and pain management at
Dunlap Memorial Hospital in Orville, Ohio.
Christopher Marazon, D.O., and his wife,
Stephanie, welcomed baby McClellan in March
2007. He accepted a position in family practice at
Holzer Medical Center in Gallipolis, Ohio.
Daniel R. Maurer, D.O., completed a fellowship
in shoulder and elbow surgery at the California
Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, Calif.
He is now in private practice in Frisco, Texas, at
Centennial Medical Center.
Rachel Polinski, D.O. (‘09), receives her ceremonial hood
from her father and mentor, William Polinski, D.O. (’82).
2009 Commencement
honors mentors
This year, for the first time, graduates could
receive their ceremonial hoods from their mentors,
physicians whose guidance helped the students
advance their careers, enhance their education
and build their professional networks. Of the 104
graduates, 73 chose to receive their ceremonial
hoods from their mentors—23 of whom were OU-
COM alumni.
The Class of 2009 brings the number of OU-COM
alumni to 2,565. Seventy percent of the new
physicians have entered Ohio residency programs.
OUM
To find about some of our most recent
alumni, read our graduate profiles at
www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum.
Summer/Fall 2009
25

Follow-up
Eric Schenk, D.O., received three blue ribbons
from the Maine Health Management Coalition’s
Pathways to Excellence – Primary Care Initiative
for his work in diabetes and heart disease and
for his use of clinical office systems to track
information and manage patient care.
Carlos M. Solorzano Jr., D.O., was ranked in
the top ten percent of physicians in the Family
Medicine Department of the Kaiser Permanente
San Diego system. The ranking was based on
patients’ responses to a survey regarding their
satisfaction with their patient-doctor interactions.
Lori Stuart-Hubber, D.O., started her own
neurology practice, the Houma Neurology
Institute, in Houma, La.
David L. Tolentino, D.O., accepted the CORE
assistant dean position at St. John West Shore
Hospital in Ohio. He received the Jack Brill, D.O.,
Attending Physician of the Year award from St.
John West Shore Hospital.
Kimberly Wilcox-White, D.O., was appointed
chief resident at MidOhio Emergency Services
in Dayton, Ohio, where she also was named ER
Resident of the Year. She joined Grant/Riverside
Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, as an
emergency medicine physician.
2003
Joseph M. Austerman, D.O., won the Louis
and Roxanne Michner Award for Outstanding
Leadership at the Cleveland Clinic, where
Austerman was appointed associate director of
the child and adolescent psychiatry program.
Laleh Bedocs, D.O., completed a pediatric
dermatology fellowship at Stanford University
in July 2008 and is currently in a dermatology
residency program at the Cleveland Clinic. This
is in addition to her first residency in pediatrics,
also at the Cleveland Clinic. In 2008, she and
co-author Anna Bruckner, M.D., from Stanford
University, published an article, “Adolescent hair
loss,” in Current Opinions in Pediatrics.
Paul M. Bedocs, D.O., was appointed clinical
assistant professor in the Department of Internal
Medicine, Division of Dermatology, at Michigan
State University. He published two articles:
“‘Invisible tattoo granuloma,” in the March 2008
issue of Cutis, volume 81, pgs. 262-264; and
“Pemphigoid gestationis: A rare case and review,”
in the Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics, online
in May 2008, and in print February 2009, volume
279, issue 2, pgs. 235-238.
Benjamin Graef, D.O., is a sleep medicine specialist
with Summa Health Systems in Akron, Ohio.
Michael J. James, D.O., is a clinical instructor at
Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md.
Kristin Johnson, D.O., completed a fellowship
in neuromuscular disease at University Hospital
of Cleveland.
Matt Koepplinger, D.O., completed a fellowship
in orthopedic hand and upper extremity surgery
through Baylor University at the Texas Medical
Center in Houston this summer.
Edward S. Kosik, D.O., won first prize in the
2008 C. Ronald Stephen Resident Essay Contest,
sponsored by the Anesthesia History Association,
for his entry “Four decades of suspending
disbelief: Anesthesia simulation milestones.” He
also presented “Airway Management in Trauma”
at the 14th Annual Trauma and Critical Care
Symposium at Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center. Dr. Kosik was a faculty and
resident delegate at the World Congress of
Anesthesiologists in Cape Town, South Africa,
in 2008. There, he lectured on simulation
in anesthesia education and patient safety,
and helped organize a high fidelity, full scale
simulation workshop. He has also created a
DVD documentary about the history of
anesthesia simulation.
Damon Kralovic, D.O., is medical director of
adult critical care transport at the Cleveland
Clinic.
Erik Reaves, D.O., MTM&H, earned his
master’s degree in tropical medicine and hygiene
in February 2008 as part of a residency training
program in general preventive medicine and
public health, from the Uniformed Services
University of the Health Sciences, and the
National Capital Consortium in Bethesda, Md.
He currently serves as a preventive medicine
officer in the U.S. Navy in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
and holds the rank of lieutenant commander.
26 ohio university medicine

Follow-up
Daniel Ruggles, D.O., is completing a pediatric
orthopedic surgery fellowship at the University
of Southern California—Los Angeles Children’s
Hospital. He went on mission trips to the
Dominican Republic in February 2007 and to
Haiti in April 2008.
2004
Ryan M. Carlson, D.O., received the James
Bernard Award for having the highest score in the
nation of all second-year dermatology residents
taking the in-service exam.
Andrew Guglielmi, D.O., lectured Northeastern
Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and
Pharmacy medical students on genitourinary
radiology. He will begin an MRI fellowship
program at Michigan State University in July 2009.
Jeremy D. Heitmeyer, D.O., and Deborah
McCormick were married in 2007 and welcomed
their first child, Caden Alexander, in July 2008.
Karuna S. Kem, D.O., accepted a position as
chief resident of the third-year residents at Mercy
Medical Center in Merced, Calif. She married
Channary Long in 2005.
Anthony Lattavo, D.O., is practicing sports
medicine and orthopedics at the Centers for
Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine in
Chillicothe, Ohio.
John Parente, D.O., accepted a position as an
emergency medicine physician at the Fisher Titus
Medical Center in Norwalk, Ohio.
2005
Danielle (Herrman) Williams, D.O., joined
Central Ohio Primary Care at Riverside Hospital
in Columbus, Ohio, as a hospitalist.
Jody Gerome, D.O., and her husband, Andy
Zuchowski, welcomed son, Luke Andrew, in
June 2008.
Shane Matheny, D.O., and wife, Karen,
welcomed Mallory Emma in June 2008.
Kevin M. Nasky, D.O., received the Southern
Psychiatric Association 2008 Resident Award and
the Admiral B. W. Hogan Award for Academic
and Clinical Excellence in Navy Psychiatry. He
served as chief resident for the department of
psychiatry, Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth,
Va., for 2008-2009. Dr. Nasky also presented
“The USS Cole bombing: Analysis of preexisting
factors as predictors of development of posttraumatic
stress,” at the Braceland Seminar in
Washington, D.C., May 3, 2008. Also in 2008, he
published a case report, “Psychosis associated with
anti-NMDAR antibodies,” in CNS Spectrums,
volume 13, issue 8, pgs. 699-702.
2006
Chad Bigony, D.O., and wife, Stacey, welcomed
daughter Audrey Elizabeth in May 2008.
Kent Brandeberry, D.O., welcomed son Nicholas
Kent in March 2008.
Kevin Pantalone, D.O., and Tanya Marie
Schrader were married in June 2008.
Eric Rader, D.O., and his wife, Andrea, welcomed
baby Quinn Matthew in February 2008.
2007
Alison Himes, D.O., was named 2008 Intern of
the Year at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Draion Burch, D.O., was appointed 2008-2009
Region III (South) Trustee on the American
Osteopathic Association Council of Interns and
Residents Executive Board.
Elizabeth Patterson, D.O., and husband, Eric,
welcomed Eric Ray to the family in May 2008.
Eric Tomich, D.O., received the Army
Achievement Medal for scoring above the 95th
percentile on the American Board of Emergency
Medicine in-service exam. Tomich is the resident
representative on the Board of Directors for the
Uniformed Services Chapter of the American
Academy of Emergency Medicine.
Michael Zacharias, D.O., accepted the chief
resident position in the Department of Internal
Medicine at the University of Massachusetts for
the 2010-2011 term.
Summer/Fall 2009
27

Follow-up
Alumni Profile
It’s not all in
your head
Alumnus Eric Baron, D.O.: researcher,
inventor and all-around good guy
By Colleen Kiphart
Photos by John Sattler
Eric Baron, D.O. (’04), knows that headaches can be a pain in the
neck. In fact, he has followed the sources of headaches all the way
down the spine. As last year’s chief neurology resident at the Cleveland
Clinic, when Baron wasn’t studying headaches originating in the neck,
he perfected his namesake Baron Rapid Lumbar Puncture Needle for
speedier, less traumatic spinal taps.
“I’ve always been interested in the mind and brain,” Baron says. “I
went into neurology because, through imaging, we can trace and locate
precise problems in the nervous system.”
Baron’s methodical approach to systems led him to invent the new
puncture needle, which earned him the Cleveland Clinic’s “Innovator
Award” for 2007-2008.
To minimize post-spinal tap headaches, Baron’s needle combines two
tips: the cutting tip and the atraumatic tip. On its own, a cutting needle
tip works quickly, but severs the dural membrane around the spine,
causing days of headaches. An atraumatic tip works slowly, parting the
membrane like a curtain, so there is less to heal. Baron’s needle does both.
Baron, who admits that he has “always wanted to invent something,”
developed this new equipment with the “Innovations Team” at the
Cleveland Clinic. “The added efficiency (of this needle) will reduce
delays and increase patient care,” he says.
28 ohio university medicine

His concern for both clinical efficiency and patient satisfaction
has made Baron popular at work. In addition to being elected chief
resident by his colleagues, he also received the Cleveland Clinic 2007-
08 Humanitarian Award. The awardee is selected by members of
the neurology department, based on candidates’ interactions with
colleagues and patients.
Baron has presented his headache research at an American Academy
of Neurology conference in Chicago, at the American Society of
Neuroimaging in Orlando and twice at the Cleveland Clinic’s research
conference.
This July, following his residency, Baron begins the Cleveland Clinic’s
yearlong Fellowship in Headaches, during which he will explore the full
range of headache diagnoses and treatments and, he says, incorporate
osteopathic manipulative treatment into his clinical care.
“(OMT) is based on optimizing structure,” Baron explains. “A lot of
people have chronic neck problems, and when that happens it sets you
up for a headache. If you focus on what’s out of alignment, in this case the
neck, and you get that back into alignment, your symptoms will improve.”
Jill L. Harman, M.Ed.
Director of Alumni Affairs
What’s your passion?
Follow-up
What do Robert S. Biscup, D.O. (’80), FACOS, and James D. Joye,
D.O. (’88), FACC, FSCAI, have in common with Abraham Lincoln? All
three are thoughtful inventors who hold patents to their creations. In
2008, the United States Patent and Trademark Office logged 456,321
Utility Patent (invention) Applications, and among them was Dr. Eric
Baron’s recent application for his Baron Rapid Lumbar Puncture Needle.
To say that our alumni are bright, enterprising and creative hardly
scratches the surface. During my two years as director of alumni affairs,
I’ve met hundreds of graduates at conventions and alumni receptions
across the country. Although each graduate has his/her own personality,
I’ve noticed a common denominator among them all: passion. Whether it’s
passion for patient care, research, health care policy, mentoring, medical
education or supporting OU-COM (or all of the above!), our graduates put
everything into what they do, and our college continues to grow because
of that passion.
We’d love to hear what you are passionate about. Staying connected is
easy; just call me at 740.593.2151 or visit www.oucom.ohiou.edu/alumni/
stayingconnected. There you can upload your latest CV and photos,
update your contact information and tell us your latest news. Looking for
other ways to connect? Check out the OU-COM Society of Alumni and
Friends group on Facebook. I look forward to “seeing” you in cyberspace
and at alumni functions throughout the year!
Visit us on our new website, www.oucom.ohiou.edu/DevAlum.
What else does the future hold for Baron? More research, he hopes.
“I think it is important to just be on the cutting edge in order to
be a good doctor,” he says. “Doing research in certain areas keeps
you in the top notes of information. When that happens, you can
give patients the best treatments, the best diagnosis and a better
quality of life.”
Summer/Fall 2009 29

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Seeing red
Stained eye arteries of the Ross Sea icefish
The blood of the Chionodraco hamatusis lacks oxygenbinding
proteins, making its blood transparent. With the
densest retinal vasculature of all vertebrates on Earth,
any blood opacity would render this icefish blind, says
Joe Eastman, Ph.D., professor of anatomy.
OUM
Dr. Eastman, who studies the evolution of
Antarctic fish, has discovered six new fish
species. To learn more about his research, go to
www.oucom.ohiou.edu/oum.