October 2004 Table of Contents
On the chart Patient models Race for the Cure Be a buddy Round of Applause Scholarships Benefactors, students honored Research Day New employees

Tell me how you really feel!

MS-III Ty Martindale talks with patient model Eleanore Bodenhamer

A nervous third-year OSU Medicine student knocks on the door of a teaching examination room before entering. Inside, an actor prepares to throw an Oscar-worthy hissy fit in a scripted reaction to a diagnosis.

It’s all part of OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine curriculum to teach interviewing skills to future physicians. The patient models learn a script before seeing the student doctor, who gets a report on the “patient” shortly before stepping into the exam room. Nancy Van Winkle, Ph.D., professor of behavior sciences, coordinates the training. She says what happens in these sessions helps prepare future doctors for real-life situations that are sure to come.

To help the students’ learning process, a camera records the encounters. The students say that they become so engrossed that the camera is often forgotten. The eight models take their jobs seriously and when a student doesn’t touch on what needs to be emphasized, they say that it’s hard to resist coaching him or her. Each model has an assigned emotional reaction and the student doctor must try to give an appropriate response. Models immerse themselves so completely in their roles they sometimes startle the students, and even the seasoned faculty observers.

All are women, and they play their roles with deftness. Student Rick Gigante gives them high marks. “They are very realistic,” he says. “They can cry on cue, it’s unbelievable.”

Valerie Ritter agrees. “I didn’t have to pretend. It felt like a real patient interaction.” The women say they draw upon their own life experiences to get into their characters, with convincing results. “You can really forget they’re acting,” says Courtney Carter.

The Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences department staff recently honored the patient models for their outstanding work and dedication to helping educate student doctors. Honored were Eleanore Bodenhamer, Shirley Elkin, Ramona Mason, Mattie Athan, Jan Eskridge, Lynn Shirley, Katie Zimmerman and Carolyn Walden. Patient model coordinator Elizabeth Williams recruits patient models, using her network of community contacts. “I try to find people who don’t have a day job,” she jokes at a recent lunch with four patient models. The women seem amused and they laugh. Or maybe they’re just acting.

 

Race for the Cure

OSU-CHS Race for the Cure participants included Sandy Cooper, Karen Wicker, Richard Wansley, Leigh Goodson, John Fernandes and Steve Phillips.

Not shown: Nancy Van Winkle, Elizabeth Nokes and Cathy Ramsey

OSU-CHS and OSU-Tulsa’s team finished fourth in the school team category.

Other OSU-CHS participants included Shelly Johnson, Shannon Goswick-Soltow, Marilyn Mitchell and Tammy Lawson.

 

Be a buddy at Eugene Field

Eugene Field elementary school is OSU-CHS’s Partner in Education. As the new school year gears up, OSU employees are invited to volunteer for two hours a month of community service at the school, helping with activities including:

• Book buddy - reading to a child or group of children
• Classroom volunteer - help a teacher and spend your time with an entire class
• Mentor - adopt a child for the year and serve as a friend and mentor
• Lunch buddy - spend your lunch hour eating with a child who needs a little extra attention
• Playground monitor - help monitor the children while they are at recess

Forms to become a volunteer are available from Elizabeth Nokes, coordinator, room A-130.

 

Round of Applause!

Teri Bycroft, R.N., M.S.N., took second place at the Green Country Quilters Guild recently for her quilt interpretation of a painting, “Yellow Blanket Moon,” by Jeanne Rorex Bridges.

David Wallace, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and physiology, will receive the American Osteopathic Association’s Irvin M. Korr Award at the AOA annual convention. The AOA Council of Research began the award in 1999 for exemplary commitment to basic science research in an osteopathic institution. This award honors PhD/basic scientists and reflects excellence in research, and communication of scientific knowledge through publication, teaching and postdoctoral training. The award will be given Nov. 9.

 

Scholarships presented

Twelve OSU Medicine students are recipients of $1,000 grants from the Tulsa County Medical Society Scholarship Fund. They are:

John Paulson, Jerry L. Puls, M.D. Memorial Award
Rebecca Everhart, M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation Award
Garrett Decker and Joshua Everhart, Anna Luvern Hays, M.D. Memorial Award
Chelsey Griffin and Stephanie Griffith, Dr. William R.R. and Ruth G. Loney Memorial Award
Joel Hopper, Wilma Jean Bowden Memorial Award
Kristin Martin, Dr. W.A. Showman and Emma Showman Memorial Award
Brian Ranson and Katherine Cook, O.C. Armstrong, M.D. Memorial Award
Audrey Stanton and Kristy Wingerter, Dr. Frank L. and Jessie O. Flack Memorial Award

The awards will be presented at a society reception on Oct. 20.

 

Benefactors and students honored

OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s benefactors, who gave a total of $78,280 in awards and grants to 36 medical students, were honored at a recent luncheon in Founders Hall. Dr. John Fernandes welcomed the group and certificates of scholarship were presented to students by their benefactors. Charles Henley, D.O., president of the alumni association, presented the certificates. 

The OSU Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship recipients are:

Kristin Martin, MS-II
Valerie Ritter, MS-III
Aleicia Mack, MS-IV

Other student recipients and benefactors for 2003-2004 include:

American Medical Association Foundation Scholarship Sarah Martin, MS-IV Daniel E. Overack, Ph.D., Endowed Scholarship Sara Powers, MS-I F.L. Reed Endowed Scholarship Alfred Husen, MS-III PSO-Martin E. Fate, Jr., Endowed Scholarship Rebecca Everhart, MS-IV John D. Sears, D.O., Award of Compassion, D.O./Ph.D. Melanie McKean, MS-III Lew Wentz Foundation Scholarship Fund D.O./Ph.D. Kimberly Urick, MS-III D.O./Ph.D. Bahareh Ebadifar, MS-II General Scholarship Fund Ben Kamp, MS-III Nancy Larson, MS-IV Alan Trumbly, MS-IV Tulsa Osteopathic Medical Society Scholarship (TOMS) Travis M. Brown, MS-II Travis D. Campbell, MS-II D.O./Ph.D. Bahareh Ebadifar, MS-II Amanda Marti, MS-II Kristin Martin, MS-II Auxiliary to TOMS Scholarship Garrett Decker, MS-III D.O./Ph.D Melanie McKean, MS-III Osteopathic Founders Foundation Tribute Scholarship Natasha Ahmed, MS-IV Rebecca Everhart, MS-IV Marta Greer, MS-IV Cara Hoffart, MS-IV Okla. Educational Foundation for Osteopathic Medicine Garrett Decker, MS-III Osteopathic Founders Foundation Endowed Scholarship Shonda Davis, MS-III

Bob E. Jones Endowed Scholarship Daniel Williams, MS-IV AOOA Student Research Fellowship D.O./Ph.D. Matt Hoffman, MS-I Whitney Allison, MS-II Charla Geist, MS-II Aunna Herbst, MS-II American Osteopathic Foundation Welch Scholars Grant Kristin Martin, MS-II Russell McCaughan Scholarship Fund Kristin Martin, MS-II Stillwater National Bank Scholarship D.O./M.B.A. Bradley Mons, MS-III Tulsa County Medical Society Award Recipients - Jerry L. Puls, M.D. Memorial Award John Paulson, MS-II M.R. & Evelyn Hudson Foundation Award Rebecca Everhart, MS-IV Anna Luvern Hays M.D. Memorial Award Garrett H. Decker, MS-III Joshua Everhart, MS-IV Dr. William R.R. & Ruth G. Loney Memorial Award Chelsey Griffin, MS-II Stephanie Griffith, MS-III Wilma Jean Bowden Memorial Award Joel J. Hopper, MS-III Dr. W.A. Showman & Emma Showman Memorial Award Kristin K. Martin, MS-II O.C. Armstrong, M.D. Memorial Award Brian Ranson, MS-III Katherine D. Cook, MS-II Dr. Frank L. and Jessie O. Flack Memorial Award Audrey Stanton, MS-III Kristy J. Wingerter, MS-III

 

Research Day

Dr. Charles Sanny and Dr. Kirby Jarolim look over a poster at the eighth annual Research Day.

Kristin Martin and Kelly Blake, both MS IIs, took top prizes. Presentations and posters highlighted activities.

Supporters include the:

• Auxiliary to the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association (AOOA)
  
  
• H.A. and Mary K. Chapman Charitable Trust
  
  
• Grace and Franklin Bernsen Foundation
  
  
• Merkel Family Foundation
  
  
• William K. Warren Foundation

Presenters Whitney Allison, Charla Geist and Aunna Herbst, all MS IIs, were acknowledged as recipients of an AOOA Student Research Fellowship for 2004.