University of New England

December COMmunicator - Page 2

(For page one of the COMmunicator, click here, or click on the link at the bottom of the page.)

Faculty

Dr. Neal Cross poses with UNECOM students at the annual Chili Bowl between MSIs and MSIIs. Photo by Josh Mularella, MSII.

The Next Great Challenge - Neal Cross, Ph.D.

He climbs the stairs of Alfond a bit gingerly, now, 29 years after he first began to teach at the tucked-away medical school in Maine. It is late November, and streaks of rain splatter like invisible ink over a day as pale as parchment. But as he warms to his topic, the chair of the Anatomy department speaks with an undiminished vigor that grows stronger as the topic engages his passions. By the end of the interview, he has trekked across the better part of sixty years – leaving a younger man struggling to catch up.

Dr. Neal Cross is ready to go; he is ready for the next great challenge.

An Inauspicious Start

For a man who would double-major in college and graduate school, Dr. Cross had an inauspicious start in academics. “I was ejected from high school twice,” he says, “Once I earned it; once I didn’t.” He smiles unrepentantly and explains: “I was a scrapper, I admit it, but the second time I came to the defense of a disabled student who was being picked on. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” It is likely that the young toughs who tormented the polio-stricken student still feel the smart of their thrashing.

Cross grew up near Tucson, Arizona, then lived in the mountains of Prescott. He was a great pitcher who melded the art and the science of the game. Pitching involves so many components that it can never be perfected – there is always room to learn more, and this kept Cross engaged. In other areas, he became easily bored, and his idle fingers definitely became the Devil’s workshop. Still, he did his best to keep his youthful shenanigans beneath the radar of his parents: “My parents knew some of what I was into,” he says, “but not much.”   

His was a blue-collar family, not unlike the red-blooded folk of most American towns, and neither parent had attended college. For Dr. Cross, academics were a natural gift. He took the ACT and outscored 99% of entering students at Harvard. Math was always a walk in the park – so easy it was boring – and he almost accepted a scholarship to dabble in nuclear physics at the University of Arizona. He would have, too, if it were not for the intervention of his family. And here’s where it gets interesting.

A Fortunate Exile

“There was this girl,” Dr. Cross grins, “and both sets of parents wanted us apart. I think it could have worked out, but my parents wouldn’t hear of it and ordered me as far away as possible. That’s why I came to the University of Maine at Orono, in the fall of 1966.” Admissions officers at UMaine may not feel flattered by the comparison, but for Dr. Cross, it was exile. “The first semester was horrible,” he grimaces, “I was freezing in November, but for some reason I stayed.”

Semesters came and went, and Neal Cross found something he never expected at UMaine – an incredible challenge. “I double-majored in Anthropology and Zoology,” he recalls, “which I took after encountering them as electives. I discovered that I was fascinated by human anatomy; in fact, I loved it.” The staggering complexity of the human body ensured that one person could never become bored with its study, and the challenge was like a T-bone steak to the rottweiler roving in Cross’s mind.

“I have an innate curiosity,” he says, “and I still find Anthropology and Zoology interesting, even after all these years.” Still, he was often more interested in gambling and pursuing co-eds at UMaine than the rigors of applied study, and it wasn’t until he had a memorable chat with his academic advisor that Dr. Cross buckled down to work. “I remember that conversation like it was yesterday,” he says. “My advisor, Dr. Dick Emerick, asked me what I wanted to do. I said, ‘Go to grad school.’ He took the list of mediocre grades from my first two years, crumpled it up in front of me, and threw it at my head. It hit me right in the forehead, and Dick said, ‘No you’re not. Not unless you apply yourself.’” Dr. Cross guffaws and says, “That caught my attention.”

With the gauntlet thrown by Dr. Emerick, Cross rose to the challenge and whipped his flaccid study habits into shape. He noted Emerick’s example as a straight shooting, fact-facing, and yet compassionate teacher, and modeled himself after him. “He was my academic father,” Cross says. He also wielded a mean baseball bat. The turbulent ‘60s were not an easy time to live on a college campus, and when Emerick heard rumors that hippies planned to vandalize the Anthropology Museum as an anti-war protest (the connection between the UMO Anthropology Museum and the Vietnam War still eludes Cross), both Emerick and Cross sat up all night to guard the museum. “We had baseball bats,” says Dr. Cross, “and we certainly planned to use them, but no one came.”

“A Place I’d Never Been”

When he graduated from UMaine, Dr. Cross taught at Greenville High School (north of Bangor) for three years. “It was great,” he says, “but cold.” He thought about becoming a physician, but a cardiologist friend of Dr. Emerick’s counseled against it. “He enjoyed ethnography himself, and he said that if he could re-do his education, he would study anthropology or anatomy and travel,” Cross says reflectively, “So that influenced me. If I could do it again, I think I might have become a physician – there is more mobility and still opportunity to teach.” It remains something of a toss-up as to which vocation is more interesting.

Dr. Cross went to the University of Oregon, primarily because he wanted to go out West again. “The University of Arizona didn’t have the program I wanted,” he recalls, “so I decided to go to Oregon since it was a place I’d never been.” At Oregon, Cross designed his own fiendishly difficult course of study. He has a knack for creating challenges where there are none. “I received my Master’s and Ph.D. in five years while studying Physical Anthropology and Anatomy,” he says. He was one of only two students in twenty years to complete the course in less than 6 and ½ years. It was grueling. “I deliberately composed my advising committee so that it was brutal,” he says, “I knew that if I survived them, I would make it through.” Make it through he did, and at the perfect time to get in on the ground floor of the greatest challenge of his life. 

“It Was Insanity”

Dr. Cross was one of the first six Basic Science faculty members at the brand-new College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine. Founded in 1978, the college put out feelers for any available faculty. The brilliant Cross, familiar with the area and fresh out of grad school, seemed like a good candidate. He is still incredulous: “I had zero experience,” he says, “but it was exciting, challenging, and I learned as I went. We all did – faculty and students together. I learned how to teach in those first five years.”

The first anatomy class was a combination of saw-yard and stable. “The tables hadn’t come in yet,” Cross snickers, “so we had stainless steel sheets laid over saw-horses. It was unbelievable. No one knew what to do – me included – and yet it was such a great time. I’ll never forget that.” To help get the program off the ground – quite literally – was tremendously rewarding.

“When the Alfond building was still in blue-prints, I had the opportunity to design the Anatomy Lab to my precise specifications,” Dr. Cross says. In a very real sense, Cross has done the same with every student who has come through the doors of UNECOM. He has instilled in every entering class the seriousness of medicine and the complexity of the human body. Each year, he has given “the Talk” to students on the first day of Gross Anatomy. Asked about the content of the legendary speech, Dr. Cross says, “I essentially tell them that they will fail my course unless they devote themselves to it entirely. Then I give them an almost impossible assignment over the first weekend.”

Medical students tend to be critical and over-sure of themselves at first, says Cross, so a healthy dose of the fear of God is just what the doctor ordered. “It’s not cruel,” he says, “More than anything, I want my students to succeed. It is a way to get everyone up to speed at once.”  He chuckles and says, “One year, several students said I was too ‘mean’ to them, and I was brought before the administration. The next year I was Cap’n Nice and 40% of the students failed the first test. I said, ‘Yup, I knew it,’ and gave them my normal speech. They were fine after that.”

It is the curious students he loves. “My approach is confrontational and realistic,” he says, “I want students to ask questions and probe for answers.”  He takes student feedback with a grain of salt – “they’re still reeling” - but takes alumni feedback very seriously, and often tweaks his curriculum accordingly. “The students always keep me on my toes,” he says.

The Next Great Challenge

For 29 years, Dr. Cross has taught Gross Anatomy to UNECOM medical students. He has served as chair of the Anatomy department, directed the Student Affairs committee, and was asked to join the New England Osteopathic Heritage Association. He was the head softball coach at UNE for a number of years, until he could no longer juggle the demands of professor and coach. “It wasn’t fair to the players or the students,” he says. Dr. Cross knows his limits.

But now, as November fades weakly into December and he surveys his legacy at UNECOM, Dr. Neal Cross is ready for the next challenge. At the turn of the year, Dr. Cross will head to Harrogate, Tennessee, to join the faculty of the brand-new COM at Lincoln Memorial University. It is not a decision made lightly. “I never thought I’d leave this place,” he says, glancing around at the quiet fields and drooping trees which have embraced the Alfond building and his department for the last ten years. “I’m going to miss it.”

He travels to Tennessee to get another COM off the ground: to lend his expertise and input into the formation of a whole new cohort of student physicians, and to develop programs that will rival or exceed those of any other school. In a way, he is taking all the best things he has learned at UNECOM and transplanting them into new – slightly warmer – soil. His goals are still the same: to develop the best osteopathic students in the world, and to help them succeed as physicians and as people for the long haul. He also would like to travel a bit: to Arizona, where it is warm and beautiful, and, just maybe, to a little tucked-away medical school in Maine called UNECOM.

After all, staying away would be too great a challenge.

-Steve Smith, RSAS

Bates, Sibley Highlighted in PBS Special

MPBN's new series "Maine Experience," on Channel 10, included a segment entitled "The Doctors of Osteopathy," which was aired November 16, and repeated Saturday, November 18. The segment captured the challenges the profession and its professionals faced in its formative years. The programming included interviews with Dr. Gretchen Sibley, UNECOM '93, and Dr. Bruce Bates, chair of the Department of Family Medicine.

-Gay Marks, Archivist
New England Osteopathic Heritage Center
Jack S. Ketchum Library
University of New England

Sue Stableford, M.P.H., M.S.B., director of UNE's AHEC Health Literacy Center in COM's Division of Community Programs, was selected as one of 10 recipients nationally for the Pfizer-sponsored Health Literacy Visiting Professorship. Stableford conducted her professorship November 6-8, 2006 including a two-day plain language skills workshop and a third day presenting to medical school faculty, students, and community preceptors at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

Rev. Reuben P. Bell, D.O., M.Div., UNECOM associate professor of Family Medicine and Director of Medical Humanities, was invited to speak on Business Ethics at the York County Business Conference, one of the Governor's Regional Conferences on Small Business and Entrepreneurship on Friday, November 17, 2006. The title of his presentation was "Ethics is a Verb," and the lecture was followed by a workshop on process in ethical decision-making. The conference was held at the York County Community College.

Emily Rines, MPH, CHES, director of the Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition, Division of Community Programs, UNECOM, presented a session on "Strategies in Obesity Prevention for Children" at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Boston, MA on November 6, 2006. Emily presented on the Starting Young Obesity Project, which is a collaborative project with Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition, the Maine Harvard Prevention Research Center and York County Head Start.

India Broyles, Ed.D., College of Osteopathic Medicine, and her colleagues from Maine Medical Center Department of Family Practice - Julie Schirmer LCSW, Cynthia Cartwright RN M.S.Ed., Ann Skelton M.D., Christina Holt M.D., and Rebecca Hitchcock NP-C - presented a seminar session “A Family Residency Book Group:  Developing Reflective Practice and Building Community” at the annual meeting of the North East Society for Teaching in Family Medicine in Danvers, Mass., Oct. 27, 2006

Emily Rines, MPH, CHES, director of the Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition located in the Division of Community Programs at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, recently received the American Cancer Society Cancer Control Life Saver Award. Emily was given the award at the annual volunteer recognition dinner on October 24. Emily has been an American Cancer Society volunteer both in Maine and South Carolina for close to ten years. This award is presented to outstanding volunteers in Advocacy, Cancer Control, Prevention and Detection.

Emily was selected last spring to be a State of Maine American Cancer Society (ACS) Ambassador and as a result of this role received this award. As a State of Maine Ambassador, Emily worked along side ten other ACS Ambassadors to build relationships with Maine's congressional delegation to advocate on behalf of cancer prevention, treatment and control issues. In September, ACS brought the ambassadors to Washington DC for the “Celebration on the Hill” event, where in a single day, every congressional district across the country was visited by an ACS Ambassador. Emily, and the team of other ACS volunteers, met with the four members of the Maine delegation and were successful in getting them to sign onto the Congressional Cancer Promise and garnered support for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Program Reauthorization Act.

This is Emily's second time as an American Cancer Society State of Maine Ambassador. She was selected through a competitive application process and has agreed to serve an 18-month commitment with the Cancer Society in the capacity of a grassroots advocate working on local, state and national policy agendas.

Scholarships/Fellowships

Snow Castle. Photo by Steve Smith, RSAS

Heart to Heart International

On the heels of International Health week, I know that many of us are thinking about medical mission trips overseas or simply supporting a classmate or local doctor who is going overseas.

At the AOA Convention, our UNECOM booth was situated immediately across from an impressive mobile command center owned and operated by Heart to Heart International. Heart to Heart makes it possible for physicians and other medical staff to volunteer in clinics in the Gulf Coast or by assisting local physicians overseas following a natural disaster. These opportunities are available to medical students as well.

One of Heart to Heart’s more unique abilities is to ship ready-made kits of medicines and supplies to U.S. doctors who are traveling overseas. In this capacity, Heart to Heart has pledged to help UNECOM’s Dr. Cynthia Robertson as she travels to Guatemala in January of 2007 to run rural clinics and train nurses from Maine.

This support is in the form of the “Ready Relief Box,” a sturdy container of packaged medicines and diagnostic supplies. Heart to Heart guarantees delivery of the box within forty-eight hours of order. According to Jon North, Heart to Heart’s CEO, “It is one of the most cost effective ways to get medical aid in a hurry.”

You can learn more about Heart to Heart in a new book written by founder Dr. Gary Morsch, entitled “The Power of Serving Others: You Can Start Where You Are.”

-Dan Sheps, MSII

Fogarty International Center / Ellison Medical Foundation

Overseas Fellowships in Global Health and Clinical Research
Would you like a unique chance to experience clinical research training in a developing country? Would you like to work with a strong team of mentors and colleagues on important problems that advance people's health?

The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Fogarty International Center (FIC), in partnership with The Ellison Medical Foundation, the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse, is offering a one-year clinical research training experience for graduate-level U.S. students in the health professions. This is an opportunity for highly motivated individuals to experience mentored research training at top-ranked NIH-funded research centers in developing countries. Africa, Asia, and the Americas are regions of the world that, if accepted, you may find yourself experiencing.

This program is designed primarily for students meeting all of the following qualifications:

-A strong interest in, and potential for, a career in international health activities and/or clinical research.
-Advanced standing in a U.S. medical (M3) or osteopathic school; or enrollment in a doctoral-level program at a U.S. school of public health, nursing or dentistry. Applicants must have strong academic records and must be U.S. citizens or permanent U.S. residents. Medical and osteopathic students must have completed their basic science courses and one year of clinical clerkship; public health doctoral students must have completed their coursework and passed their qualifying exams prior to the beginning of the fellowship.
-Support of their home academic institution, including a committed mentor.
-Each Fellowship will be for a one year period. The term will begin with an intensive orientation program on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md., in July 2007. This will be followed by approximately 10+ months of intense research training at the foreign site.

Fellowship Sites: Bangladesh; Botswana; Brazil; Haiti; Chennai, India; China; Vellore, India; Kenya; Mali, West Africa; Lima, Peru - Univ. of WA; Lima, Peru - Johns Hopkins Univ.; Durban, South Africa; Russia; Tanzania; Thailand; Uganda; Zambia

Put Your Heart in Your Hand

If you are currently enrolled as a student at an accredited medical school, enter The Francis A. Velay Humanism in Medicine Essay Contest presented by The Arnold P. Gold Foundation

In 1,000 words or less, please explain the following quote using at least one life experience: "To cure sometimes, to relieve often, to comfort always." –attributed to Hippocrates

First prize: $1000
Second prize: $500
Third prize: $250

Past judges have included Jerome Groopman, Perri Klass, Sherwin Nuland, Abraham Verghese, among others. In addition, the AAMC’s Academic Medicine will continue its tradition of publishing the top three winning essays in their fall issues. 

To enter the essay contest, please:

Complete entry form (available at our website, http://www.humanism-in-medicine.org/ ; click on “Programs/Medical Students & Faculty/Essay Contest”) and essay E-mail both as attachments to essaycontest@gold-foundation.org with “2006 Essay Contest” in the subject line. Please note that no essay will be accepted without an accompanying entry form. Do not include your name on the essay; only include your name on the entry form.

If you prefer, you may instead send your entry form and essay via U.S. mail t
The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Essay Contest
619 Palisade Avenue
Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632

Entries should be sent no later than January 31, 2007.

Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship Program

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation (NREF) are pleased to announce the new AANS Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship (MSSRF) program, beginning summer 2007.

The fellowship will allow medical students who are in the early years of their medical school training to spend a summer working in a neurosurgical laboratory, mentored by a neurosurgical investigator who is a member of AANS.

For more information, please see the AANS website at www.aans.org/otheresearch

SOMA Research Fellowship Grants

The Student Osteopathic Medical Association, SOMA, will again be awarding SOMA Research Fellowship Awards. With the generous support of the Osteopathic Research Center and the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation, SOMA will be awarding up to five fellowships of $2,000 each year for students interested in completing original osteopathic-related research projects this summer or during an elective rotation.

All SOMA members are invited to submit research proposals for this award. Projects must be related to osteopathic manipulative medicine and may investigate mechanisms or efficacy of osteopathic manipulative treatment. Proposals will be reviewed by the National SOMA Research and Development Director and the Osteopathic Research Center.  Awards will be given based on creativity and importance of the research project,
availability of mentor support, and the academic standing of the student. The $2,000 award is intended to reward the student for their work, purchase necessary supplies that can not be provided by the mentor, and accommodate travel costs for student to present their findings at the Annual SOMA Research Symposium.

I encourage each and every student to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Attached is a "Brainstorming Criteria" document to help students develop a topic and other project details. In today's society, where evidence-based medicine is becoming ever more important, the need for objective studies examining osteopathic manipulative treatments is vital.

Please visit the SOMA website at www.studentdo.com/research.htm for more information. The application itself is attached, and the deadline for the application is January 5, 2007. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the National SOMA Research and Development Director, Alissa Cohen, at AlissaCo@pcom.edu.

William Osler Medal Essay Contest

The William Osler Medal is awarded annually for the best unpublished essay on a medical historical topic written by a student enrolled in a school of medicine or osteopathy in the United States or Canada. First awarded in 1942, the medal commemorates Sir William Osler, who stimulated an interest in the humanities among medical students and physicians. The writer of the winning essay will be invited to attend the 2007 American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) meeting, 3-6 May, in Montreal, Quebec, where the medal will be conferred. The essay (maximum 9,000 words, plus reasonable endnotes) must be entirely the work of one contestant.

For more information, check out www.histmed.org/Awards 

American Heart Association Conference in February

The American Heart Association, Northeast Affiliate is pleased to announce the 57th Annual Scientific Session, The Metabolic Syndrome & Coronary Risk, scheduled for February 10-11, 2007 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine.

The program will feature Drake Award Recipient Robert H. Eckel, M.D., President of the American Heart Association. Dr. Eckel is also the Charles A. Boettcher Endowed Chair in Atherosclerosis, and Professor of Medicine, Physiology, and Biophysics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.

Dr. Eckel’s talk is entitled, “Cluster of Conditions that Increase Risk of CAD, CVA and DM2: Increased insulin levels, Hyperlipoproteinemia, Increased BMI with Truncal Obesity, and Hypertension.” For more information, please call Melissa Goodrich at 207-523-3002, email Melissa.Goodrich@heart.org or visit the website at http://www.americanheart.org/

American Medical Association (AMA) offers opportunities to medical students

National and Regional Student Research Forums

These annual forums offer young investigators the opportunity to present their research, receive meaningful feedback, and participate in scholarly discussions with peers and established scientists. Three regional forums are held prior to the national forum every year.

Midwest Student Biomedical Research Forum
Abstract deadline: Dec. 8, 2006
Forum date: Feb. 23-24, 2007, in Omaha, Neb.

Eastern-Atlantic Student Research Forum
Abstract deadline: January 2007
Forum date: Feb 21-24, 2007, in Miami

National Student Research Forum
Abstract deadline: January 2007
Forum date: April 26-27, 2007, in Galveston, Texas

Seed Grant Research Program

This program provides $2,500 grants to medical students, physician residents and fellows in a variety of research areas, such as cardiovascular/pulmonary diseases, HIV/AIDS, leukemia, neoplastic diseases, and secondhand smoke.

Application available: September 2006
Application deadline: December 1, 2006
Recipients announced: March 2007

The Minority Scholars Award

Ten awards, each in the amount of $10,000, are available to minority students from groups historically underrepresented in the medical profession. Award selection is based on a combination of financial need, academic excellence and commitment to improving minority health status. Nominees must be in their first or second year of medical school with the scholarship counting toward their second- or third-year medical school cost. The medical school dean or dean's designate may nominate two candidates for this scholarship. Interested students may submit a proposal to the RSAS office.

Application available: February 2007
Deadline for nominations: April 15, 2007
Recipients announced: June 2007

The Physicians of Tomorrow Scholarships

Ten thousand dollar scholarships are available to rising seniors, chosen for the award during their third year of medical school. Based on enrollment size of the third-year class, each school may submit up to three nominations. Award selection is based on academic excellence and/or financial need. Interested students may submit proposals to the RSAS office.

Application available: February 2007
Deadline for nominations: May 31, 2007
Recipients announced: August 2007

The Scholars Fund

The American Medical Association (AMA) Alliance - the largest volunteer arm of the AMA - raises money each year for medical schools to distribute to deserving students. Medical schools can offer one or more awards, based on the amount of funds raised for the institution. Scholarships must be a minimum of $1,000 and can be based on academic excellence and/or financial need.

The deadline to submit recipients is July 1, 2007

For more information regarding the three scholarship offers above, visit the AMA Foundation website at http://www.amafoundation.org/

International Fellowship Program Seeks Applicants

The FIC/Ellison Overseas Fellowship Program is an exciting clinical research training experience for graduate level U.S. students in the health professions, sponsored by the NIH's Fogarty International Center (FIC) in partnership with The Ellison Medical Foundation, the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse. The Association of American Medical Colleges and the Association of Schools of Public Health are managing the program, which is beginning its fourth year. The deadline for the program is December 8, 2006.

The program offers a one-year clinical research training experience to qualified students. This is an opportunity for highly motivated individuals to experience mentored research training at top-ranked NIH funded research centers in a diverse group of countries, including Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, China, Haiti, India, Kenya, Mali, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, and Zambia.

To learn more and to obtain an application, please visit http://www.aamc.org/students/medstudents/overseasfellowship/

-Steve Kelly, MSII co-President of IFMSA

AANS Medical Student Summer Fellowship Program

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) is offering ten $2,500 fellowships to medical students who have completed one or two years of medical school and wish to spend a summer working in a neurosurgical laboratory, mentored by a neurosurgical investigator who is a member of the AANS.

Interested students should submit applications by February 1, 2007, to AANS Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship, c/o AANS, 5550 Meadowbrook Drive, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3852, or e-mail application and all supporting documents to nref@aans.org. An application may be downloaded at http://www.aans.org/otheresearch/application-final_081606.doc 

For more information, call AANS at (toll free (888) 566-2267) or visit their website at http://www.aans.org/otheresearch/med_student_research.asp

Marvin H. and Kathleen G. Teget Leadership Scholarship
$500 for students pursuing specialty medicine
Deadline – March 31, 2007
http://www.studentdo.com/

International Medical Relief/ Medical Missions Scholarship
$250 for essential expenses
Deadline – Rolling
http://www.studentdo.com/

American Osteopathic Foundation
$2000 research scholarships, with grants for travel. 
http://www.aof-foundation.org/ or see SGA rep

Alumni

Nice try. Photo by Steve Smith, RSAS

Bograkos Informs Students About “Life After UNECOM”

On Friday, December 1, UNECOM alum Col. William Bograkos, D.O., FACOEP, visited campus for the sole purpose of meeting with students and providing information. He has served both the Army and the Air Force as a military Flight Surgeon, Family Practice physician, and Emergency Medicine physician. He has also served in Naval Hospitals as an Independent Emergency Medicine contractor. He currently is on active duty with the United States Army serving as Assistant Chief of Staff for Medical Hold-Over for the North Atlantic Region Medical Command.   
 
Dr. Bograkos is a member of both the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physician’s EMS Committee and the American College of Osteopathic Family Practitioner’s Preventive Medicine and Medical Preparedness Committee. In 2006, he was awarded the “Dr. Robert Aranosian Award for Excellence in EMS” and was elected to the Board of Directors for the ACOEP. 
 
Dr. Bograkos currently serves as a Reviewer for the Continuing Education Coordinating Board for the Emergency Medical Services http://www.cecbems.org/ and as an International Reviewer for the 15th World Congress on Emergency & Disaster Medicine 2007 http://www.wcdem2007.org/ 
 
-Josh Morrison, MSII, President of the UNECOM Emergency Medicine Club

IFMSA Needs UNECOM Alumni Help

UNECOM's International Health Club (IFMSA) is compiling a database of global medical opportunities for students to take part in during breaks and elective rotations. We are especially interested in programs with which UNECOM graduates have been involved, in order to facilitate the search for current students. If you have any experience with a particular international program and/or general international health experience, please contact Steve Kelly, MSII, at skelly1@mail.une.edu Your help is greatly appreciated!

-Steve Kelly, MSII, co-President IFMSA

Clubs and Organizations

L-R MSIs Andrea Dionne, Kim Salaycik, Kelly Salerno, and Alicia Pointer at the Post Gross Toast in October. Photo courtesy Kim Salaycik.

IFMSA’s Annual Medical Student Art Auction A Grand Success

The UNECOM chapter of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) held their annual silent art auction during International Health Week, November 11-15. Organizers Steve Kelly, MSII, Katie Lewis, MSI, and Tim Manzo, MSII, set up tables to display artwork in the third floor lobby of the Alfond Center of Health Sciences.

Donated work included photographs, paintings, greeting cards, cloth bookmarks, embroidered items, and many other forms of art. Students, staff, faculty, and visitors had the opportunity to wander past the displays, view art, and write down bids on slips of paper.

By the end of the week, most items were sold and the IFMSA grossed over $1,000, making the auction a grand success.

Events/Theme Weeks/Fundraisers

The following events are scheduled for the month of December:

December 1 – UNECOM alum Col. William Bograkos, D.O., will speak in ACHS 113 from 12-1pm, to inform students about “Life after UNECOM.” Sponsored by the Sports Medicine Club. Please direct questions to Josh Morrison, MSII.

December 2 – Family Practice Club blood pressure screening at Biddeford Wal-Mart, 9am-1pm. Contact Ann Magner, MSII, with any questions.

December 4 – “Plan B” talk by Cheryl Daggartt. Lunch is provided in ACHS 106, from 12-1pm. Sponsored by the OB/GYN club. Contact Kristina McElhinney, MSII, with questions.

December 4 – Phlebotomy workshop, 6-8pm in the OMM lab. Sponsored by SOSA. Contact Nick Tedesco, MSII, with any questions.

December 4-8 – AIDS Awareness Week, sponsored by the American Medical Students’ Association (AMSA). Lectures are from 12-1pm in ACHS 106, except on Monday, when the lecture will be from 5-6pm, and a 6pm screening of “A Closer Walk” on Tuesday. Contact Katie Lewis, MSI, with any questions.

December 5 – Maine National Guard Presentation, 12-1pm in ACHS 106. Sponsored by AMOPS. Contact Bob Brown, MSI, with any questions.

December 8 – The SGA Snow Ball will be held at the Cascades in Saco, from 7pm-12am. Price is $20 for students, $22 for faculty and staff. Tickets are available for faculty/staff in the RSAS office. This year, donations will be taken for “Toys for Tots.” Please bring a small gift to donate to “Toys for Tots.” Contact Anne Newbold, MSII, with any questions.

December 13 – Joe Keen, MSII, will present a slideshow from 12-1pm in ACHS 304 on his ascent of Mt. McKinley (Denali). Sponsored by the Wilderness Medicine Club. Contact Josh Mularella, MSII with any questions.

December Fundraisers:

December 4-9 – AIDS Week Pin Sale. Sponsored by AMSA. Contact Andrew Ray, MSI, for more info.

December 15-16 – Yellow ribbon and pin sale. Sponsored by AMOPS. Contact Stephanie Ng, MSII, with any questions.

December Health Awareness Events

The “WhatHealth” website maintains a list of health awareness events for each month. You can check it out at www.whathealth.com/awareness/december.html  The following events are listed for the month of December:

National Aplastic Anemia Awareness Week, Dec. 1-7

World AIDS Day, Dec. 1
International Day of Disabled Persons, Dec. 3rd

SOMA/AOA news

Body Worlds Trip: SOMA and SOSA hosted a trip to the Body Worlds Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science on Saturday, November 11. This was a wonderful chance for UNECOM students and family to get away for the weekend and to experience Anatomy outside of the lab on the 2nd floor of Alfond. Fifty members of the UNECOM family viewed some amazing dissections, including a trisected diver, figure skating couple, and a dissected CAMEL! Some members stayed in Boston and rode an 8-person bicycle. Please send ideas for another trip to Lisa Wuerdeman, OMSII.

SOMA Unity Project: Five UNECOM students will be sacrificing days from our precious Winter Break to give back to those in need! From December 26-31, 2006, these generous individuals will be traveling to Kissimmee, Florida, to volunteer at the “Give Kids the World Village,” a 51-acre, non-profit resort for children between the ages of 3 and 18 years of age with life-threatening illnesses. The resort offers kids the chance to have fun with their families, as well as providing trips to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld, with accommodations, meals, park tickets, and transportation all provided for by the GKTW organization. We thank these students and applaud their compassion! The five students are: Michael Dominello, OMSI, Shannon Scully, OMSI, Cassidy Foley, OMSI, Shawn St. Marie, OMSII, and Daniel Sheps, OMSII.

D.O. Day at Home: Do you remember when you didn’t know what a D.O. was? Do you remember your first encounter with the profession? SOMA is working on an event titled “D.O. Day at Home,” where UNECOM students would have the chance to go back to their hometowns and present osteopathy to a younger generation.

This project is still in the planning stages. If you have any comments or suggestions, we would love to hear them. Stay tuned! Contact Juliann Minnon, OMSI, with any questions.

Medical Missions: SOMA, in collaboration with the Tropical Medicine Club and the International Health Club, is working on developing more study-abroad opportunities for UNECOM students. This committee is focusing their efforts on developing a program where interested students may be able to spend time abroad, either during rotations or during the summer, volunteering their services. Contact Patrick Hohl, OMSI, or Lauren Fleischer, OMSI, with questions, ideas, or comments.

Residency Information: Updated information regarding internships, clerkships, and the Match: http://www.studentdo.com/clinical_clerkships.htm 

COMLEX If you’re curious about COMLEX exams, check out http://www.nbome.org/

Interested in Research?

Research opportunities are being offered now by the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. AACOM has a lot of raw data and surveys regarding the academics of medicine, if you’re interested in participating and possibly getting published. Please email Tom Levitan, vice president for research and application services for AACOM at tlevitan@aacom.org or Jake Budny jbudny@mail.une.edu or if you have any interest. Feel Free to ask any questions at all.

Your SGA reps:

Anne Barlow, MSII	Shannon Scully, MSI
Chris Blomberg, MSI	Ryan Smith, MSI
Jake Budny, MSII	Shawn St. Marie, MSII
Steve Fosmire, MSI	Kerry Sternheim, MSII
Michael Jackson, MSII	Lauren Turkanis, MSII
Brian McElhinney, MSII	Maggie Vancura, MSII
Lacey McIntosh, MSI	Jordan Wagner, MSII
Ryan Murphy, MSI	Tara Wayt, MSI
Anne Newbold, MSII	Sarah White, MSI
Max Opoku-Agyemang, MSI	Liz Williams, MSII
Amanda Roth, MSII	Lisa Wuerdeman, MSII
Joanna Rulf, MSII	Ahmad Yassin, MSI
Kim Salaycik, MSI	Rima Zahr, MSI
Joe Scott, MSI

More Chili Bowl photos from Josh Mularella:

Meat and Potatoes

Stormy day, Atlantic near Wood Harbor. Photo by Steve Smith, RSAS

University Campus Information

Office of Recruitment, Student, and Alumni Services (RSAS) Lower level of Stella Maris Hall	Monday-Friday 8am – 4:30pm (open noontime)
Campus Center Hours	Monday-Wednesday Gym, Track, Fitness Center: 6am-11 pm Pool: 6:30am-9:30am, 11:30am-6pm, 8pm-10pm Thursday-Friday Gym, Track, Fitness Center: 6am-12am Pool: 6:30-9:30am, 11:30am-6pm (5pm Friday), 8pm-10pm (Thurs.) Saturday Gym, Track, Fitness Center: 8am-12am Pool: 12pm-6pm (Pool closed for swim meets Nov. 4th and 18th) Sunday Gym, Track, Fitness Center: 8am-10pm Pool: 12pm-6pm
Bookstore Hours	Monday-Thursday: 8:30am-5pm Friday: 8:30am-3:30pm
Library Hours
Jack S. Ketchum Library, University Campus	Monday-Thursday: 8am-12pm Friday: 8am-7pm Saturday: 10am-9pm Sunday: 10am-12pm
Josephine S. Abplanalp ’45 Library, Westbrook College Campus	Monday-Thursday: 8am-10pm Friday: 8am-5pm Saturday: 9am-5pm Sunday: 10am-10pm
Sanford Petts Health Center - University Campus Phone: 282-1516	Monday-Wednesday: 8:30am-8pm Thursday & Friday: 8:30am-5pm Student Walk-in Hours: 11am-12:45pm
Alfond Health Center (OMM treatment only) Phone: 284-1417	Monday: 8am-8pm Tuesday: 8am-4:30pm Wednesday: 8am-6pm Thursday: 8am-5:30pm Friday: 8am-5:30pm
Saco Health Center - Saco Phone: 602-1407	Monday-Friday: 8:30am-5pm
Learning Assistance Center	Monday-Thursday: 8am-9pm Friday: 8am-4:30pm
Career Services	For appointments, contact Judy Bellante at 602-0170, ext. 2817, or jbellante@une.edu
Counseling Services	For appointments, call 602-0171, ext. 2549
Disability Services	For appointments, contact 602-0171, ext. 2815.
Food Service Hours (check http://www.unedining.com/ for updates, menus, and pre-ordering meals to go) Effective in September:Decary Cafeteria	Monday-Friday: Breakfast: 7:15am-10:30am Lunch: 11am-1:15pm Dinner: 4:30pm-6:30pm (4:30pm-6pm on Friday) Saturday & Sunday:  Brunch: 11am-1pm  Dinner: 4:30pm-6pm
The Hang	Monday-Friday: 10:30am-10pm
Alfond Café	Monday-Friday: 7:30am-2:30pm

Study Locations:

There are a number of locations available on the University campus for students to study.

Alfond Center for Health Sciences: The entrance facing Stella Maris and the main entrance on the lower level will be unlocked until midnight. All other entrances are open until 8pm. The rooms and lecture halls available as 24-hour study space are 104, 113, 126, 127, 128, 138A/B, 139A/B, and 304. The lobbies are also available. The Alfond Building has wireless Internet access.

Decary Hall: The entrance facing the river remains unlocked until 8pm, and the front entrance is open until 10pm. The rooms available for 24-hour use are 202, 203, 205, 206, 208, 212, and Sutton Lounge. Wireless access is available in the first floor vending area.

Marcil Hall: The entrance on the lower level is open until midnight. Wireless access is available in the common areas.

Stella Maris: The rear entrance facing the residence halls is open until midnight, while the other entrances are open until 8pm. The rooms available for 24-hour use are 206, 215, 304/306, and 309/310.

Alfond Meadow:

The Alfond Meadow will be used for intramural sports during the 2006-07 academic year. Students can anticipate use of the lawn during football season and again during spring sports. Study plans should be made with the lawn use in mind.

Submissions to the COMmunicator:

The COMmunicator is published monthly, Agust-May. Your submissions are welcome. Submit stories, news events, or digital pictures to Steve Smith at ssmith12@une.edu by the 25th of each month (the earlier, the better!)

Parting Shot

Second year students share victory at the Chili Bowl. Photo by Josh Mularella, MSII

To return to page one of the COMmunicator, click here.

Copyright © UNECOM Office of Recruitment Student and Alumni Services. All rights reserved.

11 Hills Beach Road, Biddeford, ME 04005.  (207) 602-2329
Please send comments, suggestions, submissions, or warm chocolate chip cookies to Steve Smith at ssmith12@une.edu