The COMmunicator - Winter Edition

Message from the Dean

Research

Probably many of you are aware that research within the College of Osteopathic Medicine took yet another large step forward when Senator Angus King delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate which contained much praise for the research that is being done and particularly that in the area of chronic pain. Dr. Ed Bilsky and Dr. Ian Meng were mentioned by name several times during his talk; Dr. Bilsky was singled out for his many accomplishments and Dr. Meng for his leadership in the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) grant. This is a five-year grant which has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its aim is to further investigate the neurobiology of chronic pain. As outlined by Senator King, significant progress in this area has been made at the University of New England.

There is other research within the COM which also is headed in very positive directions.  For instance, Dr. Tamara King is making progress in the use of various agents in the treatment of patients with bone pain related to bone cancer. Dr. Meghan May, a microbiologist, is working in several areas, two of which are the clinical diagnosis of various microorganisms and also the evolutionary genesis of various pathogens.

Palliative and end-of-life care

Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci continues to move forward with several projects, the latest of which is aimed at allowing medical students to learn more about death and dying. It goes without saying that most medical students learn too little about this topic while in medical school.  Dr. Gugliucci has stated in a paper, that was recently published in the International Journal of Medicine, that the truth is, in our society, dying and death continues to be "Perceived as Negative." Anyone who has practiced medicine for a long time as did I, knows that generally physicians are poorly prepared to face dying and death.

Dr. Gugliucci has designed and implemented and educationa research  project wherein two medical students at a time are immersed in a local hospice home for 48 hour period of time. While in the hospice home, they interact with the hospice patients, families, physicians and nurses. The students' research is based on qualitative ethnographic and autobiological research designs. Recently, two of our second year students were part of this hospice immersion project, and in looking at the comments they have made, learned much about death and dying in a short period of time.

inter-professional education (ipe)

It is well known that UNE has participated in inter-professional education for at least the last ten years. Much progress has been made in this area under the guidance of Drs. Shelley Cohen Konrad and Dora Mills. One of the interesting parts of this project is that the College of Osteopathic Medicine has not been part of these efforts until the last two years. I feel this is a very positive move in that the future practice of health care in the U.S... will be as a team rather than dependent on many individuals.

A short time ago UNE and, in particular, the College of Osteopathic Medicine, submitted a grant application to the Josiah Macy Foundation in order to gain funding to support our future efforts in the area of IPE. If granted, one of the things we are attempting to accomplish is to move part of the IPE out of the university setting and into communities. We plan on accomplishing this by having health students working together in various sites, but particularly in Community Health Centers.

finally

A few things of note within the COM:

1. To date we have received 4800+ applications for admission to UNECOM.  I predict that in the end we will receive more than 5,000.
2. Recently the Maine Osteopathic Association held its Mid-Winter Conference in Portland, Maine. There was significant student participation in this event.
3. Will the snow ever stop?

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Spotlight Story: Students on a Mission

Editor's Note: December brought a month filled with celebrations complete with a variety of gift giving traditions, and to the delight of students, staff & faculty alike — school vacations. Prior to taking flight this holiday season, we  spoke with our students to share with us the many gifts their COM clubs & organizations have been giving back to the community. Their hard work, dedication and selflessness is one to be commended and admired. Although we wish that we could highlight each organization in detail, we cannot. Therefore, we have randomly selected a few to mention while, congratulating all others by listing the name of their club, fund raiser and/or charitable service.

Boots to 5K

by Lara Musser, OMS II

The 2nd Annual "Boots to the Ground" 5K that took place on Sunday, November 23, 2014. The race has been made an annual tradition, to honor a current student and friend who has inspired us and shown tremendous strength, courage and resilience. The funds will be donated to the Student Emergency Relief Fund, which was designed to to help students that have been faced with an emergency and need financial support. The event was sponsored by the UNECOM SGA Hands Together Committee and AMOPS, and was a wonderful display of the UNECOM community coming together. We had more than 50 participants and were able to raise $760. Thank you to all of the participants and volunteers, as well as the City of Kennebunk Police Department and Old Vines Wine Bar for their support. For additional Books to 5K photos visit our Facebook page.

Movember

Forty-plus MoBro's from the first and second year COM classes grew out their facial hair for the month of November. This annual tradition, called "Movember" is an international effort to raise awareness and funds for men's health issues. The Student Osteopathic Surgical Association (SOSA) organized the event. Categories included: The Sleazy Stache, The Invisible Stache, The Masterpiece and The Best in Show. In addition to the growing of facial hair (as to not exclude the women), the Oncology Club hosted a Movember Scrub Sale. View additional Movember photos on our Facebook page.

World AIDS Day

by Katherine Peterson, OMS II

Each year, World AIDS Day is observed worldwide on December 1. The 2014 theme was, “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation.” An estimated 35 million people are currently living with HIV/AIDS, including about 1.2 million in the United States. Of these 1.2 million infected individuals, 1 in 7 are unaware of their positive status. These numbers and statistics can certainly be overwhelming, so the UNECOM Global Health Club and Health Equality Alliance (HEAl) teamed up to plan a variety of events during the week of December 1 to highlight different aspects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and what we need to know as future physicians.

On December 1, Dr. Caroline Teschke and several of her colleagues from the Portland Community Free Clinic came to campus to participate in a panel discussion. Dr. Teschke’s team has extensive experience treating patients with HIV/AIDS and provided valuable insight to us as future providers. Dr. Teschke is a strong advocate of doctors discussing topics such as sexual practices, STDs/STIs, etc. with patients. While uncomfortable for many, I believe open dialog is an important factor that will help lead us toward the goal of an AIDS-free generation. Hopefully other attendees feel more empowered to discuss sensitive topics with their future patients as well.

Events on Tuesday and Wednesday featured talks presented by several of our very own OMS IIs. David Warnock presented a lecture titled, “HIV in Clinical Practice: Information on HIV not Taught in Lecture,” and Kristen Nash and Irma Hashmi gave a presentation on the research they conducted this past summer in Malaysia, entitled, “The influence of Culture on the course of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. vs. Malaysia.” Both lectures led to interesting discussion points and were well attended. We wrapped up the week with HIV/AIDS trivia. It was a good way for those of us who attended to test our knowledge!

SSP Food Drive

SSP collected non-perishable food from students to donate to the Biddeford Good Shepherd Food Bank. It was a competition between OMS I and II to see which class could collect more, and OMS I won.

End to Ebola Project

by OMS II's John Daubert, Brian Holahan & Angela Wang

“Bir mat ko lo.” “Fight fire while it is far” was the rallying cry for the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA) to establish a national initiative in the fight against the Ebola virus while it was still in West Africa. That was about the time Thomas Eric Duncan traveled to the United States from Liberia, bringing the fire right to our front door.

As of December 15, there have been 6,841 deaths out of 18,464 confirmed cases largely localized to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Healthcare workers on the front lines of the outbreak are often vulnerable and CMDA has notable connections to both sides of the statistics — the infections and subsequent recoveries of CMDA member Dr. Kent Brantly and his colleague Nancy Writebol were cause for celebration, but we mourned the loss of Dr. Martin Salia, a graduate of CMDA’s PAACS residency program for surgeons in West Africa. Beyond CMDA, the WHO reports 346 deaths out of 622 cases among healthcare workers who are sacrificially serving in the region.

Even now the number of cases continues to rise, especially in Sierra Leone, and personal protective equipment (PPE) is the best defense against the virus for those who expect to encounter symptomatic individuals. The End Ebola Project was established for the sole purpose of purchasing gloves, gowns, masks and IV fluid for the clinics and hospitals in the region to help slow the spread of Ebola and ultimately to reduce the number of deaths.

The UNECOM CMDA chapter was anxious to participate in the End Ebola Project because of our desire to support the fight against the disease in partnership with an organization with a proven impact in the region. So far, the national project has collected nearly $50,000 for the cause. But we also hoped to raise awareness among the student body, especially at a time when media coverage had diminished. In the middle of November there was an acceleration in the reported number of cases per week and yet the coverage in major media outlets was minimal, presumably because the American cases had been resolved. We were pleased to see the Global Health club hosting a speaker on the subject and took the opportunity to promote the End Ebola Project. In the following two weeks, we provided pre-addressed envelopes for cash or check donations to purchase PPE or directed people to the website where they could donate directly.

We plan to continue our participation in the End Ebola Project until there is no longer a need. We also want to expand our efforts to organizing a fundraiser specifically for raising funds to donate. We hope others will join us as we strive to fight the fire of Ebola in West Africa.

UNECOM Clubs & Organizations  and all that they do:

• ACOFP - Blood Pressure Clinics
• ACOOG - Breast Cancer & Cervical Cancer Pin Sale
• Addiction Medicine - Alternative Pathways Classroom of Spurwink volunteering
• AGS - Winter Coat Drive, Maine Senior Games, Computers for Seniors, Elder Buddies at St. Andre's
• AMOPS - Boots to the Ground 5K & Veterans' Day American Flag Pin Sale
• CMDA - Habitat for Humanity & End Ebola Project
• Culinary Docs - Cooking lessons at Day One Hollis Center
• FIT - 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, Trail to Ale race
• Fitness Club - Maine Adaptive program volunteering
• General - Refugee & Immigration Services Mentoring Program, Biddeford Free Clinic volunteering & Medical Spanish classes taught to her peers by Katy Hanson, OMSII
• Global Health Club - Partners for World Health volunteering
• NPC - Volunteering at the St. Louis Child Development Center

• Oncology Club - Movember Scrubs Sale
• ORTHO - Chili Bowl
• PEDS - Barbara Bush Hospital volunteering, BIS Mentoring, Big Brother Big Sisters & Toys for Tots
• PM & R - T-shirt Sale
• SAAO - OMM Parkinson's Ride
• SGA - Noah's Walk, Caring Unlimited volunteering & Boots to the Ground 5K
• SNMA - Business Attire and Toiletries Drive
• SOSA - Movember Mustache Contest & Raffle
• SPSR - Caring Unlimited volunteering
• SSP - Thanksgiving Food Drive, Box Tops for Education, McArthur Home Game Nights, Spaghetti Dinner, & Christmas Party, Mechanics Park Clean-up
• Sympathetic Tones - McArthur Home events and holiday caroling at local nursing homes
• UNEedlers - Hat donations to Barbara Bush Hospital & Biddeford Middle School Tutoring

 

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News & Events

OMED 2014

This year Seattle welcomed an impressive representation of UNECOM Alumni, faculty & students at OMED 2014. Alumni presentations included, OMT for the Family Physician by Gregory A. Thompson, D.O. '87, All that Radiates is not the Disk by George J. Pasquarello, D.O. '93, OMT for Congestion and Sinusitis by Doris B. Newman, D.O., FAAO '98 and An Osteopathic Approach to Neck and Upper Extremity Pain by Laura Griffin, D.O., FAAO ' 96. Faculty included Stacey Pierce-Talsma, D.O. '11 presenting Yoga for the Repetitive Use Injury and Guy A. DeFeo, D.O. '88 presenting Use of Kinesiology Tape as an Adjunct to Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment.

Each year a few selected COM students from SGA  and SOMA also have the opportunity to attend the Council of Osteopathic Student Government President's meeting and National Fall SOMA Convention at OMED. The purpose of this meeting was to be able to communicate back to their fellow classmates' developments and changes in Osteopathic Medicine that are occurring. OMS II students Gavin Kuns, Himanshu Malhotra, Megan Emmich and Elizabeth Han took the time to coordinate a summary report based on their meetings. Some highlights included:

• Per Dr. Boyd Buser, AOA & AACOM are being ambitious working towards a single accreditation system.
• The AOA & AACOM have made their nominations to the ACGME.
• Reducing interest rates for medical student loan debts continues to be an ongoing advocacy.
• SOMA National Professional Development Director Allen Shepard presented his concept call "SOMA Legacy," SOMA's first nationwide quality assurance standardization system for transitioning leadership.
• SOMA Keynote speaker AOA Student Trustee Alice Chen discussed the importance of the role of SOMA in influencing AOA-decision making.

In conclusion, our students stated:

The COSGP meet at OMED was a great experience from our end and we had multiple fruitful discussions on issues impacting students on local and national levels.  If was an honor to service and represent the needs of the UNECOM student body.

Katie Monigan OMS II traveled to OMED to participate in the student poster competition with her poster entitled "Diagnostic Sacroiliac Joint Block via L4-5 Dorsal Rami and S1-3 Lateral Sacral Nerves.” Her project was a collaboration with Dr. Terry Gray, UNECOM ‘00, an interventional pain anesthesiologist who did his residency and fellowship training at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. One of Dr. Gray’s most prolific patient populations is those suffering from sacroiliac pain. Katie enjoyed being able to work closely with this patient population this summer, observing office visits, fluoroscopy-guided injection procedures and follow-up appointments, witnessing some remarkable recoveries from decades’ worth of chronic pain. She presented her project alongside dozens of osteopathic medical students from schools across the country, and found it to be an incredibly educational and rewarding experience. Congratulations Katie!

UNECOM Chili Bowl 2014

Another year of braving the chilly air, first- and second-year medical students participated in the Annual Chili Bowl Flag Football Game on Saturday, November 8, at Rotary Park in Biddeford. Members of both classes brought a variety of homemade chili and snacks to keep the onlookers well-fed. While the Class of 2018 made a valiant effort, the game was won by the Class of 2017. Congrats to the second year class! Visit the COM Facebook page for additional Chili Bowl photos.

UNE Research Month

January 29, 2015 wrapped up an exciting month of research presentations each Tuesday and Thursday by COM faculty and students. The student presenters were inspiring, well-attended and encouraging for more COM students to be engaged in research in the near future. The poster sessions, Keynote speaker Dr. Bove and the awards ceremony on Thursday were a great success. Congratulation to all, and special thanks to Dr. Tamara King for her leadership role in making it all happen.

Best Oral Presentation in Preclinical Research

Ariel McKenna, and Derek Lee, OMS II - Titled: Analysis of Mechanisms Driving Cancer-Induced Breakthrough Bone Pain. This project was worked on in Dr. Tamara King's laboratory. Student Doctor McKenna had received a Peter Morgane Fellowship and Student Doctor Lee received the Betty Lea Stone Fellowship from the American Cancer Society.  

Best Oral Presentation in Clinical Research

David Drozda, OMS II - Titled: Learning by Living: Loss and Adaptation as and Older Adult Nursing Home Resident. Student Doctor Drozda worked with Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci on this project.

Best Poster Presentation in Preclinical Research

Shikah Goel, OMS II - Titled: Screening Novel TRPM8 Agonists to Find New Treatments for Dry Eye Syndrome. Student Doctor Goel worked on this project in Dr. John Streicher's laboratory in collaboration with Dr. Ian Meng. Student Doctor Goel received a Peter Morgane Fellowship. The project was funded by a seed grant from the Maine Technology Institute.

Best Poster Presentation in Clinical Research

Navpreet Rana, OMS II - Titled: Communication Between Physicians and Skilled Home Health-care Providers. The project was collaborated on with Dr. Cynthia Boyde at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. Student Doctor Rana received a Peter Morgane Fellowship and was mentored by Dr. Marilyn Gugliucci.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional photos from Research Day visit our COM Facebook page.

UNECOM well represented at 2015 Maine osteopathic association mid-winter conference 

The University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine Office of Recruitment, Student & Alumni Services hosted more than 50 guests for an area reception in downtown Portland, Maine, at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, held annually in conjunction with the Maine Osteopathic Association's Mid-Winter Conference. Following opening remarks from UNECOM Dean Douglas Wood, participants were able to hear from UNECOM faculty and students in a Q&A session that covered a variety of topics including research, the curriculum and campus life. The evening concluded with an opportunity for networking and socializing over light refreshments. Many thanks to those who participated in this evening event: Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., Vice President for Research and Scholarship; Professor of Pharmacology, Peter Dane, D.O., Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Guy DeFeo, D.O., Associate Dean for Clinical Education, David Manyan, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, Kathryn Thompson, Ph.D., Professor of Biochemistry/Nutrition; Director, COM Distance Education, Christopher Frothingham, D.O., Assistant Professor, Trent Ainsworth, OMSIV, Kendra Albert, OMSIV, Leanna Garbus, OMSIV, Patrick Benoit, OMSII, Travis Bouchard, OMSII, Shannon Wilton, OMSII, Kyle Cornell, OMSI and Matthew Macoul, OMSI. Thanks also to Eric Hall, Assistant Director of Recruitment and Alumni Services; Katie Vincent, Coordinator of Medical Student Support Services; Heather Thompson, Staff Assistant; Tracie Purcell, Administrative Assistant and Associate Dean Patricia Kelly for their participation and organization of the event.

On Saturday, a pain management panel presentation moderated by Catherine Bixby, OMSII, featured  faculty member Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., alumni Richard Feeney, D.O. '09, social worker Caroline Bright of The Patrick Dempsey Center, UNECOM second-year student Ellesse Credaroli and two pediatric patients took place highlighting an osteopathic approach to pain management and inter-professional collaboration. Thanks to Student Doctors Bixby and Credaroli for organizing the entire pain panel.

During the MOA Conference, second-year UNECOM students had the opportunity to present their research posters. Winners of the poster contest included: 

• Catherine "Katie" Monigan, OSMI "Diagnostic Sacroiliac Joint Block via L4-5 Dorsal Rami and S1-3 Lateral Sacral Nerves" - First Place: Student Original Research Category
• Dayna Yorks, OMSII "The Effects of CXWORK^TM Group Fitness Classes and Exercise on Stress and the Quality of Life of a Medical Student at UNECOM" - Second Place: Student Original Research Category
• Catherine Bixby, OMSI & Ellesse Credaroli, OMSII "Pre-Operative Treatment for Disc Herniation: A Case Study of Chronic Pain" - First Place: Case Study Category.  
• Kendra Albert, OMSIV "Learning by Living: Living the Life of an Older Adult Nursing Home Resident" - First Place: Scholarship Category

Other second-year UNECOM students who participated in the MOA poster session included Navpreet Rana, Irma Hashimi, Kristen Nash, Craig Dix and Rakhee Lalla.

The remainder of the weekend events included workshops and lectures on a variety of topics from Pediatric Sleep Disorders to Finding Humor in Healthcare. UNECOM was proud to have a healthy representation of Alumni, including Valerie O'Hara, D.O. '96, Stephen Donnelly, D.O. '94, Karl Liebermann, D.O. '02, Toby Bates, D.O. '01, Thomas Reynolds, D.O. '06, William Foley, D.O. '01, Charles Landry, D.O. '01, Ralph Thieme, D.O. '95, Sheila Pinette, D.O. '00 and Jack Forbush, D.O. '01, MOA President.

Congratulations to everyone for all of your outstanding work and achievements and again, thanks to all who participated for making this a truly wonderful and informative event! 

Faculty, Staff & Students

Student Doctor of the Month Recognition

Osteopathic Medical Students (OMS) who serve as role models for their classmates and who stand out for making a difference in their campus community are nominated by the Student Government Association (SGA) to be a Student Doctor of the Month. We congratulate the following medical students:

Raymond Keller, OMS II, received a Medical Student Scholars research grant from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN). This award comes on the heels of a November 12 presentation to the American Society of Physiology's Epithelial Transport Group in Philadelphia, Penn. Keller is studying the effect of diuretics on sweat composition in the setting of renal failure and uremia. The changes in sweat composition are being evaluated to see if they benefit the excretion of uremic solutes in sweat. The ASN grant will provide  research funds and a stipend through May 2015. The work is being done under the mentorship of Ian Meng, Ph.D., UNECOM Professor in Biomedical Sciences, and Jeff Sands, M.D., Renal Division Director, Emory University.

Congratulations to Catherine Bixby, OMSI on being selected for the Anesthesia Education and Research Fellowship Program. Student Doctor Bixby's fellowship will take place at Yale-New Haven Medical Center from June - July 2015. During this fellowship, Bixby will participate in research and training activities, as well as clinical anesthesia activities. In addition, medical student summer fellows have the opportunity to make a scientific presentation at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting.

 

Fellowship, Scholarship & Abstract Opportunities

1. The American Osteopathic Association (AOF) is now accepting applications for 2015!
2. UNECOM Alumni Association Scholarship 
3. Tom Babson, DO, Civil Military Award 
4. Carmen Pettapiece, DO Student Research Fund Scholarship 
5. Peter Morgane Research Fellowship 
6. Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research
7. 2015 Howard G. Lapsley Memorial Scholarship 
8. Integrated Medicine for the Underserved Poster Submission 
9. AOA Research Conference Abstract being Accepted 
10. Sherry R. Arnstein Minority Student Scholarship 
11. Maine Osteopathic Association (MOA) Scholarship 
12. Maine Medical Educational Foundation Loan Program 

View the attached PDF for scholarship details and websites.

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Alumni Notes

SMHC Pediatrician Maggie Bordeau, D.O. '04 was interviewed by Channel 8 about Measles Prevention. Dr. Bordeau explains how Maine is preparing for a possible outbreak of the measles as cases spread nationwide and how parents can protect their children. "All of these illnesses are only a plan ride away."  Watch the interview. 

Congratulations to Eric Uhrik, DO '89 for being named as one of the "Top Docs" in Neurology in New Jersey by New Jersey Monthly in 2013 & 2014.  Dr. Uhrik is Chairman in Neuro at RWJ-Rahway Hospital, and Medical Director of the Stroke Center at Raritan Bay. Dr. Uhrik specializes in neurologic emergency care and neurocritical care. His dedication has brought relief to patients who suffer from stoke or life-altering diseases, such as Multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, epilepsy and Parkinson's.

 

Yet Another Life-Changing Connection In My Life Attributed To Our Alma Mater. 
Thank You—Again—UNECOM! 

by Robert Leonard, DO '86

Up until last year, there were two extraordinarily major connections in my life attributed to our alma mater. The first — and most important — was falling in love and marrying my classmate, Kathy (Gagne) Leonard, D.O. This 30-plus-year union has blessed our lives with three fabulous children. The second connection was my introduction by UNE to my mentor, the late C. P. Chambers, DO, who operated the second largest hair transplant surgical practice in the United States in the mid-1980’s.  This was the beginning of a tremendous medical career for Kathy and me.

Fast-forward 21 years, when I had the pleasure of hosting a fourth year COM medical student who spent a month-long externship with me in our practice, Leonard Hair Transplant Associates. He was intelligent, personable, and caring — traits I greatly admire in a person, especially in a physician.

 

As is often the case, history repeats itself. When I was finally ready to bring on another physician into the practice to train, Matthew Lopresti, D.O. ’07, was the only person I had in mind to approach. To both of our pleasures, we had been waiting for years for this re-connection to happen.

 

After training directly with me for the last year and a half, Dr. Lopresti has become my associate working hand-in-hand with me in treating men and women who are concerned about their hair loss.  

 

To further see how our life paths are similar, Matt married Mary (Anderson) Lopresti, D.O. from the class of 2008.  Dr. Mary is an oncologist sub-specializing in the treatment of breast cancer at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. They have a beautiful little boy who now has a new “Uncle Bob and Auntie Kathy”!

 

In all of the years that I have been involved with teaching COM students, serving on the University’s Board of Trustees, and helping to support our alma mater through goodwill and financial means, I never, ever forgot or took for granted that I would not be the person or doctor I am today and would not have the relationships and medical practice I also have, without the significant influence of the University of New England. Frankly, I sincerely believe that any D.O. alumnus or alumna reading this probably has similar feelings since we all began our medical careers from the education provided to us from UNECOM.

 

Are you a soma alumni?

The Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) is looking for SOMA alumni to create a database. If you served on the National SOMA Board, please communicate this to the RSAS office. National Positions include National President, VP, Resolutions Director, Treasurer, Region 1 Trustee or a position on the National Board of Directors (e.g.. National Convention Director, National Community Outreach Director, etc).

 

Seeking Great Osteopathic physicians to volunteer for medical mission trip

a letter from Dylan Bellavance, OMSI

Dear Alumni,  My name is Dylan Bellavance and I am a first-year medical student here at UNECOM. I am reaching out to you to ask for your assistance and to provide you with an opportunity to volunteer abroad on a medical mission trip this summer. Twelve UNECOM students and I are currently working very hard to organize, plan and fundraise for a medial mission trip to Peru starting on June 25, 2015. We are seeking great Osteopathic Physicians, like you, to join us and provide the care while we work closely with the attending physicians, obtain hands-on clinical experience, help an underserved community and practice our medical Spanish. We hope to make this an annual trip; therfore, if you might want to participate next year please contact me!

About seven years ago Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) developed a “DOCARE” trip to Peru, and it has been growing by leaps and bounds ever since. MSUCOM would like to provide better continuity of care to the community they serve, so they have been working with a number of other medical schools to help them develop similar trips. That is where UNECOM comes in. We will be using MSUCOM’s model and already well-established connections and facilities to provide the medical care in Peru. We have been working closely with MSUCOM and they have been very supportive in getting this off the ground here at UNECOM. If this experience sounds appealing to you, I highly encourage you to give this volunteer opportunity diligent consideration. We ask that everyone supply his or her own flights/living expenses, however all of the fundraising will be the students’ responsibility. Executing this project would be a HUGE success for the UNECOM community. My team is fully committed to making this trip successful and financially feasible for all participants, but of course, we will not be able to do it without help from willing physicians!

Please take the time to consider this wonderful opportunity and email me at your earliest convenience if interested. I will be more than happy to send along a copy of our medical mission brochure and financial breakdown. I very much appreciate your time and look forward to hearing from you soon – Thank you! Dylan can be reached at dbellavance@une.edu.

P.S. All fundraising for this experience goes towards medication, vitamins and medical supplies to care for the underserved of Peru. Please consider donating to our medical mission even if you cannot join us as a volunteer! To make this trip a success we have set a fundraising goal of $10,000; thus, any and all donations are greatly appreciated.  (Any funding not used in 2015 will go towards supplies needed for the medical mission trip in 2016.) If this experience resonates with you and you would like to donate we will appreciatively accept checks made out to: UNECOM (note: Peru Medical Mission). Checks can be mailed to UNECOM RSAS, 11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, ME 04005. Thank you!

Alumni Reunion Update - Looking for possible speakers

If you are a member of the reunion classes ending in 5s & 0s (or others) and would like to be considered as a presenter at the 2015 UNECOM/CME Reunion Weekend, contact the Office of Recruitment, Student & Alumni Services at comsa@une.edu or by calling (207) 602-2329 and speaking with Teresa Campbell.

Winning

Congratulations to Dr. Peter Bell '84 for being the first to correctly identify all UNECOM Alumni in our photo contest seen in the September/October edition of the COMmunicator. Dr. Bell was the lucky recipient of some UNECOM goodies!  

In Memoriam

John Goulding, D.O., passed away on February 16, 2015 at the age of 91. Dr. Goulding received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1953. After settling in Melrose, Mass., Dr. Goulding embarked on a long, distinguished career in medicine. His affable nature, caring manner and fearless intellect earned him the trust and respect of his patients during his 50 year career. John's son Richard, an internist, joined him in practice for 25 years before Dr. Goulding retired in 2005. He truly practiced family medicine with a strong knowledge across many medical disciplines including obstetrics, surgery and pediatrics. Dr. Goulding served as the President of the Massachusetts Osteopathic Society, was a founder of the New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford and the proud recipient of  the Pioneer of Osteopathic Medicine Award from our school. Read the full obituary.

Keith McCoy, D.O. ’10, passed away Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, after a brief stay at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. At the time of death, he was a family practice doctor at Andrews AFB Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca; son, Caleb; and daughter, Libby. He is the son of Bob and Joanne McCoy and son-in-law of Patty Giannattasio. He also leaves his brother and sister-in-law, Todd and Jen McCoy; sister and brother-in-law, Gwynne and Dan Widlicka; sister-in-law, Molly Giannattasio; and six nieces and nephews.

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Save the Date

March 27:  Brain Fair, 4 - 7 p.m., Alfond Forum

April 11: UNECOM Talent Show, First Parish Church, Saco

April 17: UNECOM Relay for life

April 18:  UNECOM OsteoBlast!

April 21:  ShaDO Week

April 25:  COM Prom, Italian Heritage Center, Portland

October 9-11: CME/Reunion Weekend - Recognizing classes ending in 5 & 0