Murphy named BMS chair
Erin Murphy, Ph.D., has been appointed chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences. She has been with the Heritage College for 14 years. In that time she has served as an elected faculty chair and associate chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences.
"Her prominent research in the areas of bacterial pathogenesis and RNA biology has attracted significant external funding, and her exemplary student mentorship reflects her dedication to cultivating the next generation of top-caliber research scholars," Executive Dean Ken Johnson, D.O., said in the announcement to BMS faculty and staff.
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Families of body donors say altruism motivates gift
More than 500 people, including medical and physical therapy students, faculty and staff attended the memorial, held Sept. 16, at the Heritage Hall on the Athens campus. Families said a desire to help inspired their loved ones to donate their bodies to science. Students also provided their condolences and gratitude to the families during the Body Donor Memorial Service. Read more here.
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Heritage College hosts panel during Black Alumni Reunion
On Sept. 16, a panel session with physicians hosted by the Heritage College and part of Ohio University’s Black Alumni Reunion opened with a powerful statement delivered by Chynna Smith, D.O. (‘22), the moderator of the panel, “The bottom line is being Black in America is bad for your health.” This statement set the tone for a frank discussion about racism, discrimination and health disparities in medicine. Read more here.
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Immersion event connects incoming RUSP students with community
On August 8-10, 40 new students in the Rural and Urban Scholars Pathways program participated in RUSP Summer Immersion. They visited rural and urban underserved communities in Columbus and in Glouster; they not only learned about the social determinants of health but also learned about the assets that exist in these communities. Read more here.
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Students switch roles with deaf individuals at training event
Jenna Barrett, OMS II, was inspired to develop Healthcare for Deaf Individuals, a unique program to provide Heritage College medical students an opportunity to expand their cultural competency among populations with different language abilities. The program was recently offered to second-year medical students through the college’s Clinical Training and Assessment Center on the Athens campus. It included a role-reversal exercise using only ASL to communicate. Deaf volunteers posed as doctors while medical students pretended to be patients. Read more here.
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AACOM announces bill that opens residencies to DOs and COMLEX-USA
A bipartisan bill that ensures osteopathic medical students and the COMLEX are accepted in all Medicare-funded residency programs was recently introduced in Congress. H.R. 8850, the Fair Access in Residency Act, was one of the key advocacy efforts discussed with federal legislators during this year’s D.O. Day on the Hill. According to the American Association of Osteopathic Colleges, the FAIR Act will help strengthen the physician pipeline, support equitable treatment of osteopathic medical students and increase access to high-quality, patient-centered healthcare, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Learn more here.
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Reconnect: Researcher reflects on efforts to improve muscle health in space
In the most recent episode of Reconnect, Heritage College Executive Dean Ken Johnson chats with Heritage College researcher Nate Szewczyk, Ph.D., about his efforts to improve nerve and muscle health during space flight and beyond. Szewczyk is the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Endowed Professor in Molecular Medicine and principal investigator at the Ohio Musculoskeletal & Neurological Institute.
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Class of 2026 election results
Please join us in congratulating the winners of the class officer elections for the Class of 2026.
Athens: Matt Dugan (President), Louis Zheng (Vice President), Vanya Luna Keele (Secretary), Luke DiCicco (Treasurer) and Sean Diment (SGA Delegate).
Cleveland: Marisa Vislay (President), Nandini Patel (Vice President), Nina Patel (Secretary), Peter Spencer (Treasurer) and Jack Spero (SGA Delegate).
Dublin: Austin Gerwig (President), Olivia Kuns (Vice President), Akram Osman (Secretary & Treasurer) and Kyriaki Vassil (SGA Delegate).
The curriculum committee for the college has selected Gabrielle Lopez, of the Dublin Campus, to represent all first-year students.
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Interested in becoming an Osteopathic Primary Care Associate?
Attention second-year students: Whether you are interested in OMM, have been curious about exploring academic medicine, or are passionate about mentoring and/or tutoring students, the OPCA position is an opportunity to pursue those interests further and continue to grow personally and professionally as a future osteopathic physician. While the OPCA position occurs after you have completed your third year at HCOM, the application to the program and selection happens by the end of this semester. So, if you think you may be interested in applying for the position or learning more about it, please feel free to reach out to the OPCA rep on your respective campus. Visit the website for more information.
Current Primary Care Associates: CeCelia Hanline (Athens), Lauren Leesman (Athens), Madeleine Sorrick (Athens), Jude Fahoum (Cleveland), Christian Lowery (Cleveland), Elizabeth Rodhe (Cleveland), Andrew Fernandez (Dublin), Cara Palusak (Dublin) and Madison Rose-Malkamaki (Dublin).
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From the Farm to Pharm: Jaret Shook, OMS-I's Path to HCOM
Part time farmhand, part time pharmacist and now full time student, Jaret Shook, OMS-I has had an atypical route to continuing his education at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. Shook has already earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree through Ohio Northern University. Though it proved to be fulfilling for Shook, he felt like there was something missing. After some exploration, he found that missing piece: a holistic approach. Read more here.
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CTAC hosts open house during SIM week
Students, faculty and staff at all three campuses had the opportunity to get an up close look at the Clinical Training and Assessment Center during Healthcare Simulation Week. To celebrate the week, CTAC held an open house on all three campuses, giving visitors a chance to try out equipment like virtual reality goggles and learn more about CTAC.
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Match Day 2023 announced
The Heritage College’s 2023 Match Day Celebration is scheduled to take place from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on March 17 in Dublin. This will be the first time in the college’s history that students from all three campuses will celebrate this professional milestone together in-person during the invitation-only event.
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Administrative and Student Support Unit Review
Administrative units at the Heritage College completed the first step of the ASSUR process, which is an accreditation requirement of the Higher Learning Commission. The units shared initiatives they plan to take to support the college’s mission and strategic plan and advance ongoing quality improvements. Deliverables for the next step in the process are due December 1 and will include information about outcomes, means of assessment, criteria of success and summary of results for each initiative.
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ExCom Consent Agenda- Clinical education participated in year 1 orientation, connecting students to clinical resources earlier.
- CCE objectives were revised and scripts created to guide student communication with CCE preceptors.
- Upgrade to preceptor application and process was completed in Salesforce making it easier and more streamlined for preceptors and staff.
- 18 new affiliation agreements with new partners and 41 renewals were made in the past two months.
- 141 new adjunct clinical faculty/preceptor applications were processed.
- A meeting with Kettering Health system leadership was held to expand cohort size into additional KH sites and further develope KH as a regional clinical campus.
- In ongoing efforts to update our manikin fleet, purchases have been made to bring new manikins to each campus. Each campus will soon house CAE Juno and Ares models.
- Reminder: Please ensure that the HCOM website is up-to-date for your area. University reviewers will look at our website once our program review self-study has been submitted. The college and medical education policies and procedures pages, our organizational charts, and faculty profiles will be particularly important parts of the review process.
See the September 15 consent agenda for more details about these and other items.
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