December 2004 Table of Contents
OMM department stresses osteopathic medicine Round of Applause Cassani Lecture Medical publications for Iraq National award honors OSU Medicine professor OSU Clinic promotes reading, participates in AAP study New employees

 

OMM department stresses osteopathic medicine

JoAnn Ryan, D.O., (right) and Miriam Mills, M.D., discuss the new OMM department

JoAnn Ryan, D.O., chair of the
newly-created osteopathic manipulative medicine department (OMM), wants to put
a special tool into the hands of every
future osteopathic medicine physician:
their own two hands.

The goal of the OMM department is to
train osteopathic physicians who integrate
osteopathic philosophy and manipulative
medicine into primary care and specialties,
and to add osteopathic learning throughout
the four years of a student’s medical
education.

Most OMM training takes place in the first
two years of study, but new rotations
have been created for third and fourth
year students. “An OMM residency will
allow doctors with a special interest in
OMM to be eligible for board certification,”
Ryan says. In addition, OMM research at
the College will be emphasized. The focus
on OMM comes as basic science is emerging supporting clinical evidence that osteopathic manipulation can produce changes in the autonomic nervous system. A recent student learning project at the College produced scientific data showing these changes.

A new Center for Structural Medicine is open at the OSU Health Care Center to treat patients. The Center for Structural Medicine will accept referrals and provide care for acute and chronic somatic (body) dysfunction. It will offer postural balancing, and referral for orthotics, orthodontics and stress management. Full-time department members include Ken Graham, D.O., Larry Ellis, D.O., and Ryan. Part-time faculty members include Harriet Shaw, D.O., Robin Dyer, D.O., and Miriam Mills, M.D.

 

Round of Applause! ¤ Music CD players for Eugene Field Staff Advisory Council (SAC) members Sandra Hale and Debbie Martin get a helping hand from David Duncan (left) and Debbie Schumaker (right) at Eugene Field elementary school, where they delivered 16 CD players for classrooms. The players were provided by OSU-CHS Staff Advisory Council. Hale coordinated the efforts. Cindi Hemm, principal of the school, wrote in her thank you letter, “All of you at OSU have been so generous to us and we are very thankful for our partnership.” Photo courtesy of Jan Barber, SAC president. ¤ Ray Stowers, D.O., was named a Distinguished Fellow in the American College of Family Physicians (ACOFP) at the AOA annual convention recently. This new honorary designation is awarded to candidates who have contributed outstanding lifetime service through national and local teaching, authorship, research, or professional leadership. It also acknowledges contributions for outstanding service in professional career and family practice duties in their community, and civic activities. ¤ Richard Wansley, Ph.D., has been elected to a three year term on the board of directors of the Tulsa Mental Health Association. He begins his term in January 2005.

 

Cassani Lecture Starla Cassani (pictured below) discusses the importance of organ transplants at the annual Colby Cassani Foundation endowed lectureship. Alan Langnas, D.O., professor of surgery and chief of transplantation surgery for the Nebraska Organ Transplant Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was the featured speaker. John and Starla Cassani established the endowed lectureship to educate students and professionals about organ donation and transplantation after the death of their young son, Colby, whose organs were donated to three different recipients. John Cassani is a 1980 graduate of the College.

Medical publications for Iraq Students, faculty and staff responded to a recent plea from the Student Osteopathic Medical Association for medical journals to be sent to hospitals and clinics in Iraq. The OSU-CHS library donated about three boxes of gift journals from faculty and alumni that were not needed to complete the library journal holdings. The titles included issues of Primary Care, Journals of Gerontology and some annual reviews of various medical subjects. Jan Hughes, library technical assistant, gathered and organized the library materials for shipping. Beth Ann Freeman, library director, said additional surplus materials also may be sent after approval is received from Stillwater.

Student Osteopathic Medical Society (SOMA) members collected medical books and journals in conjunction with a project at the University of Tulsa. SOMA members prepared the materials for shipment to physicians and hospitals in Iraq. Working on the project are Tim Nokes, Ryan Oden, Charla Geist, Holly Patton, Kris Martin, Grant Evans and Kristen Battles.

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National award honors OSU Medicine professor

I was this close to being a history teacher,” says David Wallace, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and forensic science at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine as he holds thumb and finger so they almost touch.

Then he took a biomedical science independent study course. “I was put into a lab and told to ‘do something.’” He discovered he liked research, and teaching history became, well, history. Wallace
decided to combine teaching with biomedical
research. “I liked the atmosphere in the faculty
offices, with the papers piled high. It just appealed
to me,” Wallace said.

Now, Wallace has his own paper-filled faculty office
where a half-dozen of the gargoyles he collects
keep a watchful eye from atop a file cabinet. He teaches medical pharmacology to second year
medical students, and also instructs graduate
students in biomedical and forensic sciences.

His research looks at how compounds damage brain cells. It includes studying neuronal damage in
cocaine using HIV-positive individuals, possibly
causing early dementia; the effects of low levels
of heavy metals on neuronal function; the effect
of indigenous plants on the central nervous system,
and how estrogen-like compounds like soy and
flaxseed may protect the brain. Wallace says the
diverse research areas all relate to AIDS-related
brain damage in some way and might eventually
lead to finding ways to protect brain cells from
this damage.

In November, Wallace received the American
Osteopathic Association (AOA) Irvin M. Korr Award . It honors a PhD/basic scientist who is a full time member of the faculty at a college of osteopathic medicine. The national award acknowledges excellence in research, and communication of research and scientific knowledge through publication, teaching and postdoctoral training.

Awards and accolades are meaningful, but Wallace has his own yardstick. "How well my students do after leaving the lab, that’s the measure of my success."

 

OSU Clinic promotes reading, participates in AAP study OSU Physicians at Houston Parke is providing donated books to pediatric patients and promoting reading as part of a pediatrics safety study. Kris Martin, MS II, said OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine students contacted Volunteers of America (VOA) to secure donated books. “The books are given to the pediatrics department and to patients ages 0 to 12 and their families,” she said, adding that the clinic conducts about 400 well child checkups a month. Each young patient gets his or her very own book. Maggie Jewell, director of development for VOA, said children who get well-child checkups get a brand-new book with a name plate inside for that child’s name. Jewell said a name plate in a book gives the child more interest in reading it. “We are excited to partner with OSU,” she said. More than 700 books have been donated so far and Martin anticipates a total of more than 4,000 books will be donated by the end of the project. Some of the books are used as part of a new safety study at the clinic sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), according to Stanley Grogg, D.O., professor of pediatrics and study leader. Assisting in the study are Lisa Crawford, D.O., Rhonda Casey, D.O., Kayse Shrum, D.O. Each doctor will study 30 children. Grogg said the study began Dec. l and promotes health maintenance through education about various topics, including reading to children. The physicians are recommending that parents of children ages 2 through 5 read to them. Each child in the study receives a donated book. The AAP follows up at six months and one year to assess results and to try to measure the benefits of reading to behavior and learning. “I am looking forward to the outcome showing the benefits of reading to children early in life,” Grogg said.