DO - Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine

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OU-COM’s Newest Scholarship
–One More Molea Legacy
A
sk any nurse. Any colleague. Any student. Any patient.
Ask anyone who knew John S. Molea, D.O., and in
one way or another, they’ll say he was extraordinary.
“He was one of the warmest people I ever met. He
treated every individual as someone important,”
Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine
Dean Jack Brose, D.O., says. “He was impossible not
to like.”
Molea, former associate dean for academic and clinical
education at OU-COM, also was a pioneer, bringing
about sea changes in the college’s third- and fourthyear
rotation system. Working with assistant deans
at the hospitals, he
helped develop goals
and objectives to standardize
and improve
clinical education at all
sites. That created a
foundation for the work
he, Brose, former Dean
Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O.,
Chistopher T. Meyer, D.O.
and Cheryl Riley, R.N.,
M.S. did to establish in
1995 a statewide medical
education consortium,
now known as the Centers
for Osteopathic Research
and Education (CORE).
(See Winter 2006 Today’s
D.O. for more on the
CORE’s history.)
CORE restructured the
regional system and is
nationally recognized as
a standard for clinical
teaching systems. “Now all hospitals work together
as partners, not individual entities,” says Riley, assistant
dean for CORE and Academic Affairs operations,
stressing the importance of Molea’s contribution.
”He had built strong relationships with and understood
the teaching climate of the hospitals at the time.
His knowledge and understanding of the continuum
curriculum concept that was being fostered also lent
credibility to the plan,” Riley says, with the same respect
you hear in everyone’s voice who speaks of Molea.
An associate professor of surgery, Molea had the
same deep relationship with students as he did with
colleagues. “When students saw him, they greeted
him like he was their father. They just loved him,”
Brose says. It wasn’t just his good nature they
appreciated, but also the encouragement to excel.
Molea established the John S. Molea, D.O., Endowed
Fund for Outstanding Case-Based Report Award for
third- and fourth-year students. To motivate scholarship
in case reports and literature reviews, he dangled a
carrot: “The student authors of the top three papers
each year receive a check and a plaque, with the best
paper getting published in the OU-COM’s Ohio Research
and Clinical Review journal,” Riley says
In 1992, the National Osteopathic Foundation
recognized Molea’s gift for teaching, selecting him
as Educator of the Year. It was the first time the
prestigious award had been conferred upon an OU-COM
faculty member. The award is given annually to the
educator who exemplifies and encourages osteopathic
principles in his or her students.
To continue and expand his support of students as he
wished, his wife, Nellie, endowed the new Molea
Scholarship Fund after his death last October. It will
help third-year student recipients who have participated
in community service to offset education costs. The
Case-Based Report Award will continue receiving funding
through 2007.
Molea came to OU-COM in 1976 and retired in 1994
but continued to teach until 1997. He is remembered
as an extraordinary surgeon, mentor, leader and man.
He also will be remembered for leaving OU-COM a
better place, according to Brose, who says Molea is
one of an elite few to make such a lasting impression
on the college.
“The college could not have attained the academic
reputation it has today without him,” he says.
–Sally Linder
If you wish to contribute, send your donation marked
Molea Scholarship Fund to Susan Lash Blanchard,
assistant dean for development, Ohio University
College of Osteopathic Medicine, 205 Grosvenor Hall,
Athens, OH 45701. For information, contact Blanchard
at blanchas@ohio.edu or (740) 593-2151.
John Molea, D.O., stood out at OU-COM for being an exceptional surgeon, mentor and leader .
6 www.oucom.ohio.edu