SOMA brings governor, state treasurer to CHS

Gov. Brad Henry (right) and State Treasurer Scott Meacham were met with a standing ovation when the Student Osteopathic Medical Association hosted them in Dunlap Auditorium Sept. 6. The officials presented their views on healthcare in Oklahoma and the role of OSU Center for Health Sciences in improving the health of Oklahomans.

Chad Chamberlain, class president of MS I and MS II, welcomed students, faculty and staff in Dunlap Auditorium.

Kipp Slicker, SOMA president, welcomed guests and introduced a video tour of the campus produced by Jay Roop and Michael McLaughlin. 

Gov. Henry, saying he was honored and almost speechless, commended the students, calling them the best of the best.

“I ask you to sincerely consider staying in Oklahoma; to contribute to a community in Oklahoma,” Gov. Henry said.  

In his remarks to the audience, Meacham said, “I see the importance of this school to our state.” He noted the strong sense of family here, and remarked on the access to health care provided by telemedicine services, and the school’s impact on the economic growth of rural Oklahoma.

Dr. John Fernandes and Dr. Gary Slick assisted in presenting medical white coats to Meacham and Gov. Henry.  Slicker then presented each guest with a doctor’s bag filled with OSU memorabilia and scarves hand-knitted by Lee Stidham. He then declared the duo honorary student doctors.  SOMA hosted a reception in Founders Hall after the presentation.

Highlights	A close-knit family
John Fernandes, president and dean, greets Gov. Brad Henry	Gov. Brad Henry smiles after receiving a doctor’s bag, a white coat and a hand-knitted scarf made by Lee Stidham, CHS receptionist. CHS receptionist Lee Stidham has a knack for knitting and crocheting, and her talents were called into service for the governor’s visit. Kipp Slicker asked Stidham to create the hand-knitted scarves that were tucked inside the doctor’s bags given to Gov. Henry and Treasurer Meacham. “They were hot off the needle,” Stidham says. She finished the last stitch about an hour before the guests were due to arrive.   She says that knitting and crocheting is a way for her to relax.  She creates baby blankets for students or their spouses who are expecting.  Stidham estimates she made approximately a dozen blankets last year.
Kipp Slicker, SOMA president, presents Gov. Henry with a doctor’s bag
Dr. Fernandes cloaks Scott Meacham with an honorary white coat

Aikido: Timing is everything

Michael Pollak (right) demonstrates an Aikido technique to Chris Guzik.

Remember the old Laurel and Hardy comedy sketch where Hardy crashes through a stuck door just as Laurel opens it?  Hardy, of course, goes sailing through the door and out an open window. 

That is the concept behind Aikido.  Laurel and Hardy make it look like a laugh but it is a very difficult art to learn, says Michael Pollak, Ph.D., OSU-CHS professor of behavioral sciences, who has taught the martial art to adults for more than 25 years.

Timing is everything, he says. Aikido uses timing rather than strength or speed to throw an aggressor off balance and it can be a tricky task.  “Aikido is not about competition or defeating an opponent,” Pollak says. 

Aikido responds to aggression by neutralizing it and avoiding injury to the aggressor. “It gives back or re-bounds energy,” Pollak says.  It is the art of stepping aside to let the aggressor’s momentum take them down.  It is this control that makes Aikido work. Pollak says.  “If you go with a force instead of resisting it, the force cannot hurt you.”
 
Pollak says Aikido is non-competitive, attracting those who want to improve their physical skill, self-defense and self-confidence. “You can be uncoordinated, and still not get hurt.” 

He says because Aikido is win-win, it helps build character and good citizenship.  Sounds easy enough, but because it is actually difficult to master it holds his interest.

“I have studied it for more than 30 years,” Pollak says. “I still go to seminars and classes to learn more. My teacher is 70 years old now, and I still can’t touch him.”

Pollak says video clips of various aikido shihan (master teachers) demonstrating aikido techniques can be viewed at http://www.aikiweb.com/multimedia/videos.html

Day of Caring

Debbie Martin, Tulsa Area United Way Day of Caring’s campus chair, organized activities for nearly 60 OSU-CHS volunteers.  Guests from Reaching Hands came to campus for a lunch, manicures and bingo, a visit from Akdar Shrine clowns, and pet therapy with Sherril Stone, Ph.D.  CHS volunteers cleaned the grounds at the Magic Empire of Girl Scouts Troop House.

OSU impact on rural health examined

Val Schott, M.P.H., director of the State Office of Rural Health, speaks at a recent rural health seminar hosted by OSU Center for Rural Health.

OSU Center for Rural Health hosted community leaders, health care providers and legislators from across the state recently for a first-hand look at OSU’s current and future impact on rural health care in Oklahoma. More than 50 people attended the event, which was the first official meeting of the Rural Health Advisory Council, created to involve and solicit feedback from stakeholders in rural Oklahoma. The center plans to issue a “State of the State’s Rural Health Care” report in January.

International visitors

Health care professionals from Russia here to learn more about privatized healthcare visit CHS. Jenny Alexopulos, D.O., associate dean for graduate medical education, Jim Hess, Ed.D, vice president for health care administration and COO, and William Pettit, D.O., assistant dean for rural health, presented information to the delegation. The event was hosted by Tulsa’s Sunrise Rotary Club. Rotary member Stan Grogg, D.O., helped organize the campus visit and helped host the delegation. The visitors also went to OSU Medical Center (formerly TRMC) and other health institutions. The educational series is part of the Productivity Enhancement Program, sponsored by the United States Information Agency

All-school picnic

Welcoming the new academic year at the all-school picnic are Reneé Motte-Williams, Eric Scholl, Pistol Pete, Betty Jo Westerfield and Dr. Kirby Jarolim.  The event was sponsored by the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumni Association.

Representatives on campus

District 96 Rep. Lance Cargill, Harrah, tours campus with Kevin Pargeter and Sarah Luthey. In the background is Representative-elect Weldon Wilson of Tulsa.

SAC blood drive

Debra Knight from clinical financial services donates blood at the Just a Poke blood drive sponsored by Staff Advisory Council.

Round of Applause

Accepted for publication, JAOA, “International Adoptions” reviewed and was published in AOA’s “Health for the Whole Family;” “Children on Medications” for AOA website; ACOP “Pulse” pictured and quoted at ACOP Spring CME, Stanley E. Grogg, D.O.

Other
Invited presentation, Pediatric Grand Rounds, United Regional Health Center, Wichita Falls, Texas, on “Asthma in Pediatrics,” Stanley E. Grogg, D.O.