NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY COM Outlook College of Osteopathic Medicine Spring 2008 Volume 9, Number 2 Portugal Guatemala Saudi Arabia Ghana Jamaica INTERNATIONAL ESCAPADES! Students, Faculty Crisscross the Globe Dean’s Message I am proud to announce possibility of participating with Universidade Fernando Pessoa that NSU’s College of in Portugal to establish an AOA-accredited osteopathic program Osteopathic Medicine for Europeans that will allow them to be licensed as osteopathic continues to be a center physicians with full practice rights. for innovation and the This potential partnership with Portugal was an unexpected a d v a n c e m e n t o f t h e dividend that presented itself following our participation last osteopathic profession August in an international distance education consortium held in to continuously enhance Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a result, Dr. Anthony J. DeNapoli, who patient care. For example, serves as dean of international affairs at NSU’s Fischler School of we recently partnered with Education and Human Services, and I were invited by Universidade the Florida Department Fernando Pessoa to meet with the university’s administration in of Corrections to launch Porto, Portugal, this past February to discuss the possibility of the first-ever correctional establishing an osteopathic medical program along with other medicine fellowship in health professional and education programs. The meeting went the world. This program so well that the university’s director, Dr. Salvato Trigo, will be Anthony J. Silvagni, D.O., Pharm.D. will accept two physicians visiting the NSU campus this coming May to further discuss the annually into the two-year fellowship, which includes a master of development and implementation of these programs. public health degree. For admission into the fellowship, physicians In the previous issue of COM Outlook, we ran an article must have successfully completed a residency program. regarding the development of clinical rotations in collaboration Due to the growing population in prisons and the with a rural medical school located at the Instituto Universitario uniqueness of the population itself in regard to the higher de Ciencias de la Salud in La Rioja, Argentina. In the ensuing incidences of specific diseases such as alcoholism, heart problems, months, we have secured housing for our students and will begin HIV/AIDS, infectious ailments, and certain negative behavior these rotations in the very near future. These rotations will provide patterns, the need is clearly evident to help prepare physicians much-needed care to the medically underserved population in to better perform, direct, and serve these populations. that area while also providing the opportunity for international The establishment of this innovative correctional experience with AOA-accredited osteopathic medicine. Within this medicine fellowship resulted from the success of our predoctoral program, students from the Instituto Universitario de Ciencias rural and medically underserved rotations, which include a state de la Salud will be doing clinical rotations in the United States. prison system elective that is so popular with many of our students This new partnership will also allow us to provide enhanced that it actually became the number one elective rotation offered. educational experiences for our master of public health students, This experience showed us there was both a need and desire for who will be able to do their practicums in a region where there advanced training for physicians who choose correctional medicine are significant public health issues and needs. as a career path and truly wish to medically improve the quality Recently, yet another exciting innovation occurred at of these patients’ lives. the college in regard to our utilization of the mock operating The fellowship will provide the selected physicians with room unit housed on the HPD campus that allows us to train the necessary knowledge to deal with the patient population and and acquaint our students with the procedures and protocols help them better understand the prison system, the expectations, utilized in hospitals and ambulatory surgical units. This mock unit and the legal limitations that occur within the system’s confines. provides NSU-COM students with an orientation to the general Much of the credit for this innovative fellowship, which initially design of a surgical unit as well as the proper procedures needed will be accredited through an independent certifying board until to prepare themselves before entering a surgical operating field. such time as the AOA and ACGME recognize it as a specialty, This experience will be incorporated into our new procedures belongs to Dr. David Thomas, who serves as chair of the college’s course, along with many other innovative opportunities, to help Department of Surgery and the Division of Correctional Medicine. prepare our students for the clinical environment in the most The creation of this correctional medicine fellowship is the comprehensive manner possible. culmination of several years of dedicated effort by Dr. Thomas, These are just some examples of the exciting enhancements who conceived the idea and is responsible for developing the that occur routinely here at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine fellowship curriculum along with Dr. James Howell, chair of the as we prepare our students to face the medical challenges of Department of Rural Medicine, who is also responsible for the tomorrow and contend with the shrinking borders of the new world correctional medicine rotations. in which we all live. I extend my heartfelt thanks to our faculty, Another exciting area of innovation involves exploring staff, and students who work so hard to make these ideas a reality, the opportunity for establishing AOA-accredited osteopathic which results in a more universal and comprehensive education—and medical education in Europe. We are currently investigating the an improved quality of life for present and future patients. 2 COM Outlook . Spring 2008 Chancellor’s Communiqué Friday, April 25, 2008, research is not only the presentation of information relative will be a proud day for the to the synthesis of new drugs, but that it also applies to the Health Professions Division application of new drugs, that it involves dealing with public and will mark an important health systems, and encompasses understanding the economics milestone in our continuing of the health care system. evolution as a collaborative The establishment of HPD Research Day illustrates the amazing multidisciplinary and transformation that has occurred as we have matured as an clinical research venue. educational venue. Certainly, tremendous honor and recognition On this day, our inaugural should be bestowed upon Dr. Morton Terry and, particularly, HPD Research Day, which Dr. Arnold Melnick in their formulation of the health profession will feature both faculty and as a university—molding us from the clay, so to speak. When student participation from Southeastern College of Osteopathic Medicine and then a range of programs, will Southeastern University of the Health Sciences were created, Drs. take place at the Signature Terry and Melnick felt—and rightfully so at the time—that they Grand in Davie, Florida. Fred Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D. could only focus on one task, which was providing education Thanks to the proactive nature of Dr. Patrick Hardigan, who to the students. In their minds, research was a component that chairs the HPD Research Committee, the committee agreed belonged to the more established and traditional universities. it would be an excellent opportunity to create a showcase for However, as we expanded, research endeavors became a bigger student and faculty involvement in what NSU traditionally part of our overall mission, especially as we moved forward in calls scholarly activity, much of which is actually research. creating new programs and the curriculum and programmatic Interestingly, many people view research as working in a structures changed. A great deal of credit also needs to be given laboratory and using test tubes and specialty equipment when to Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni and his administrative and educational the fact is research extends far beyond that restrictive definition. support team for modifying the NSU-COM curriculum and For example, we do some of the finest statistical and clinical incorporating a great deal of scholarly activity opportunities for research that can be found in the state of Florida. However, it’s the students as well as the faculty. not done in a laboratory; it’s done using research methodology and statistical knowledge and analysis. I’m proud to say we’ve come a long way in a relatively short period of time. We now have multiple numbers of well-known and Before I continue, I would like to thank and acknowledge the HPD respected academic researchers in our institution that encompass Research Day Committee members who have been working so the health professions spectrum. When Southeastern University diligently to ensure the project’s success. They are: Jodie Berman, of the Health Sciences merged with Nova University in 1994, we Dr. Guy Nehrenz, Dr. Clark Galin, Dr. Sergio Kuttler, Dr. only had about $400,000 in externally funded research. Today, the Franklin Garcia-Godoy, Dr. Harold Laubach, Dr. Scott Gorman, Health Professions Division is near the $20 million mark, while Dr. Joseph Pizzimenti, David Gensure, Dr. Leonard Levy, Dr. the university is approaching $50 million. The exciting reality is Gabriel Suciu, Mislady Velez, and Dr. John Baldwin. that we’re headed toward a decade of unprecedented growth at The creation of Research Day will allow our talented students to the university. In fact, I anticipate that within five to eight years, be present at one place at the same time so they can participate the university will probably secure over $100 million worth of in and view various poster presentations as well as attend externally funded research, while the HPD will be at somewhere multiple discussion groups. This project has proven to be a in the neighborhood of $40 to $50 million.