Staff Appreciation Day is Friday, June 13. Project manager Bria Taylor says lunch, games, prizes, awards, a vendor fair, a DJ and Karaoke and emcee William Meek, Ph.D., are among highlights at this annual thank-you to OSU-CHS staff members. 

Schedule:

You can support our troops with donations (see below) for Tulsa Blue Star Mothers

For a complete list: http://centernet.okstate.edu/staff_council/troops.cfm.

Office of Research open house

Don’t miss the open house at the OSU-CHS Office of Research.

Meet the staff and find out what’s new in research

2-5 p.m.           Tuesday, June 24      Houston Center.

OSU Bridge Program has first grads

If Michael Grandison, D.O., had not been able to study medicine things might have gone very differently recently for a woman having chest pains. The fourth-year medical student was on his way to a meeting at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine when he stopped to assist her. “I checked her and she went to the emergency room,” he said.

Just one week later he graduated from OSU Medicine with a degree in osteopathic medicine. He was one of 10 students who matriculated into OSU medical school in 2004 through a newly launched post-baccalaureate Bridge Program.  All 10 graduated as members of the Class of 2008.

The OSU Bridge Program (formerly the Health Career Opportunities Program) began in 2003. Its purpose is to make medical education available to high-potential but disadvantaged students (including economic, educational or underrepresented minority in medicine).

The bridge year offers a reduced course load focusing on basic sciences. Students enter the program in the summer and continue courses in the fall and spring semesters. They complete the first-year curriculum in two years instead of one. If they successfully meet grade requirements, they can be admitted to the medical school.

Grandison, a native of Jamaica, had a bachelor’s degree in biomedical chemistry from Oral Roberts University. He had been a viral technologist, taught chemistry and environmental science and was a pathology assistant at a hospital. He says medical school just seemed out of his reach, but when he learned about the bridge program, “It was like a door opened.”  He now is in a residency program in neurology at the University of Oklahoma.

Dontae Bowie, D.O., entered the program after earning a degree in zoology from the University of Oklahoma. He says the Bridge Program helped him focus on tough classes and transition into remaining coursework. “It is an excellent way to understand basic sciences and it helped clinical medicine make sense to me,” he says. “Even if you are a stellar applicant, I would recommend it.”

He says as third-years, the bridge students could consult each other about case work-ups. “We were going into different things like emergency medicine, family medicine, neurology, or anesthesiology, and it was nice to be able to ask each other, ‘how do you work this up?’” he says. 

Bowie, from Spencer, Okla., now is in a general surgery residency at Eisenhower Army Medical Center at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Ga. He says being part of the small bridge class was helpful throughout medical school. “It was an advantage.  There was nothing I did not like about it.  It extended school for one year, but I did not mind that.”

Weleetka native Kathryn Zackery Martin, D.O., earned a degree in psychology from the University of Oklahoma and was pursuing a master of public health degree and taking pre-med courses when she learned about the program. She says it gave her a smooth transition into medical school, and she established close relationships with her fellow bridge students.

“The best thing for me was connecting with others in the same situation.  I think we are a close group and have a special bond,” said Martin, who wants to return to Weleetka to practice family medicine. She is now in graduate medical education at OSU Medical Center’s family medicine residency program in Tulsa.

Anil Kaul, M.D., receives science achiever award

Anil K. Kaul, M.D., D.D.S., M.P.H., visiting associate professor of microbiology at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences, recently received the Science Achiever of the Year award at the South Asian Excellence Awards ceremony in New York City. This is the first time the excellence awards, conceived by Sony Entertainment Television to recognize the success of South Asians in multiple fields of expertise throughout the United States, have been given. The ceremony, hosted by Sony Entertainment Television Asia, was broadcast live in more than 100 countries.

Dr. Kaul’s research focuses on infectious diseases with special interest in women’s health related issues including premature births. He holds several patents including one for early detection of premature births.  His current research involves developing new diagnostic tools for early detection of cancer, and osteoporosis, as well as wireless monitoring of pregnancy. Read more

Pilot program offers comprehensive care to patients with diabetes

Front: Teri Bourdeau, Ph.D., Connie Mertz, D.O. and Vivian Stevens, Ph.D.
Back: Cathy Shaddox, R.M.A., Judy Wickham, R.N. and Maxine McHenry, L.P.N.