The NYCOM Pulse

November 2009

Volume 3 Issue 1

New York College of

Osteopathic Medicine

of New York Institute of

Technology

Inside this edition

A few months have passed since our trip to Ghana and I think that now is a good time to reflect after the sadness of leaving has passed but before any true nostalgia creeps in I reca l l s i t t ing in our conference room during breaks between our pre-trip coursework wondering how Ghana would look feel and smell While flying over parts of the continent during our 30-hour trip to Oworobong I wondered if wersquod actually ever get to step foot in the country But after actually experiencing Ghana my new fear is that all my memories of this great country and its wonderful people will fade with time That will of course take place to some extent but I think that some lessons will remain

Medical technology available in the United States is among some of the most advanced in the known world As future physicians we will be trained in such a setting But Ghanaians unfortunately do not have such access to technology though their health professionals are still able to provide care In fact much of the rest of the world operates without the machin-ery and lab equipment on which my classmates and I will be trained It was invalu-able then to witness the rea-soning Drs Cho Lardner and Passafaro used to under-stand our patientsrsquo ailments in the absence of technologies they may have used here in this country In the future I

myself hope to do develop-ment work abroad and ap-preciated having this experi-ence so early in my ca-reer In my clinical training to come I think Irsquoll be able to appreciate that Irsquoll have the training to deal with ad-vanced medical technology but the scientific back-ground of disease to not have to rely on them

Even though I was convinced that it wouldnrsquot be an issue for me I experienced some culture shock I recall getting onto our plane to Accra from Frankfurt and noticing that the returning Ghanaians didnrsquot form a line to board as we might at JFK but basically mobbed the gates I kind of arrogantly l a b e l e d t h i s a s a characteristic of travel to and

from the developing world as Irsquod experienced it before on trips to India But actually I my s e l f b y p a s s e d t h e rudimentary line that had formed to board the plane from Frankfurt back to New York I like to think that Irsquod b e c o m e s o m e w h a t accustomed to life in Ghana at least as much as can be possible after a month of residence but I found that I did this largely through comparisons to Indian culture most probably because that is the other essentially foreign culture to which Irsquove been exposed while traveling This was probably some kind of coping mechanism and it probably helped me to get through our first week or so However it was also a bit unnecessary and maybe slightly unhelpful as Ghana has its own set of circumstances its own related problems and its own rich history

Summer Adventure in Ghana

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 1

IMPORTANT DATES

Oct 31st - Habitat for Humanity

in New Orleans

Nov 1st - AOA conference

in New Orleans

Nov 5th - Kaplan COMLEX

Informational session

Nov 9th - 2nd yearsrsquo Exam 3

CardioResp Sys

Nov 13th - Classes of 2012 and

2013 meet with Dean

Nov 13th - Community Plunge

With BoysGirls Club

Nov 14th - Tour of the East End

Nov 16th - 2nd SGA General

Body Meeting

Nov 16th - 1st yearsrsquo Exam 2

Musculoskeletal Sys

Nov 23rd - 2nd yearsrsquo Exam 1

Endocrine Sys

Nov 25th - Nov 28th -

Thanksgiving Break

- Summer Adventure in

Ghana

- History of NYCOM

- Habitat for Humanity

- A Few Words From

An Alumnus

Photo Courtesy of Eddie Papa OMS II

1

2

2

3

ldquoGhana has its own set of circumstances its own

related problems and its own rich historyrdquo

Continued on Page 4

Student Government Association

Northern Blvd

Room LL1-04

Old Westbury NY 11568-8000

New York College of

Osteopathic Medicine

Phone 516-686-3788

Email omsganyitedu

ldquoPride

and

Professionalismrdquo

A Brief History of NYCOM

The degrees we are conferred and the education we attain would be naught were it not for the contributions of Nelson Rockefeller and Dr W Kenneth Riland Their collaboration was pivotal in the establishment of the osteopathic college

Known as the only accredited medical school in Nassau County NYCOM was founded in 1977 through the combined efforts of Nelson Rocke-feller and W Kenneth Riland Rockefeller served as the Governor of New York from 1959-1973 and later became the 41st Vice President of the United States under the leadership of President Gerald Ford Dr Riland a graduate of PCOM Class of 1936 was the personal physician for

Nelson Rockefeller Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger among others From their physi-cianpatient interaction Riland and Rockefeller developed a friendship that burgeoned into the foundation of the college

In 1981 with Dr Philip F Fleisher serving as the first dean NYCOM graduated its first class com-posed of 26 men and 8 women A prominent fi-nancial supporter of NYCOM Henry Kissinger spoke at the first convocation Beginning in 1979 classes were held in the Nelson A Rockefeller Academic Center (NYCOM I) and the W Ken-neth Riland Academic Health Care Center (NYCOM II) opened in 1984

By Katie Kwaschyn OMS III

Habitat for Humanity New Orleans LA

Second year students from the New York College of Osteo-pathic Medicine recently participated in a Habitat for Hu-manity volunteer project in New Orleans during the AOA Conference this year This wonderful community service event excited the student body and has thrilled the faculty and staff Malanie Mathur OMS II said ldquoIt really is an in-credible opportunity that NYCOM is providing us After Hurricane Katrina Irsquove always wanted to help out down there in some way and finally Irsquom gettingthe chance Al-though things have gotten better since Hurricane Katrina parts of New Orleans are still feeling its effects - Irsquom excited to volunteerrdquo Fifty-four students from NYCOM traveled to New Orleans Many more students faculty and staff are a part of this wonderful project as well Donations have been pouring in from those who are not traveling to New Orleans Students also donated money for a raffle that was held at our annual Osteoblast party where over $475 was made for Habitat for Humanity Additionally a mock ldquobrick houserdquo was set up on a wall near the lecture halls in Serota Building NYCOM III where paper bricks windows doors shingles etc were sold to the NYCOM community and attached to the wall In fact $3000 in donations were collected and donated to the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity Along with the donation NYCOM students literally ham-mered nails layedbricks painted walls and so much

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 2

more to help out in any way they could NYCOM students have always been kind and helpful individuals and this project only reaffirmed our strong values and traditions Thank you to all who volunteered in New Orleans and much thanks to all who donated to Habitat for Humanity More pic-tures video and wonderful stories to come

By Vishal A Mehta OMS II

Photo courtesy of B Patrick Murray OMS III

Photo courtesy of Nicholas Beatty OMS II

A Few Words From Dr Olasin bdquo82

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 3

Practicing osteopathic medicine for the past 27 years has been a privilege As medical practice has changed logarithmically the basic patientphysician relation-ship remains the same A generation of practice has seen death from the AIDS epidemic transition to pri-mary care management of a chronic disease (HIV) the development of life-extending cardiovascular interven-tions while a new epidemic of pediatric obesity in-creases primary cardiovascular risk children with de-velopmental disabilities are living into their second decade at the same time we are experiencing an in-crease in the prevalence of autism

Treatment of the patient as a person and the treatment of the entire person attracted me to osteopathic medi-cine and influenced my career choice of residency training in primary care (internal medicine pediatrics) Throughout my subsequent training a holistic pa-tient-as-person-first approach never met with peer or professional opposition in the conventional medical industrial complex Many good people in medicine and health care navigate difficult systems to deliver compassionate care to patients every day The osteo-pathic practice principle of a medical home for all pa-tients has become the focus of a new approach to gen-eral medical practice in both Pediatrics and Internal Medicine

Recollection of epiphany moments from medical school days bring to mind how day-to-day practice observations can lead to insightful observations I viv-idly recall two lecturers during my second year at NY-COM (1979-1980) who presented data from their practice information which was confusing to them at that time A proctologist giving a lecture on the im-portance of colorectal screening noted how he was diagnosing Kaposi sarcoma in young men He com-mented on how he had only seen this condition in one or two 60-plus year old gentleman of Italian descent in his entire career and felt this was something signifi-

cant Another lecturer from the New York City De-partment of Health noted epidemic rates of syphilis in the East Village bathhouses and described subsequent public health investigations to identify the etiology of the problem The next 10 years revealed the explo-sion of the AIDSHIV epidemic

After practicing primary care medicine in a rural com-munity for 15 years my practice is now a medical home for the special needs population Practicing Developmental Medicine is professionally satisfying and challenging The increased lifespan of individuals with disabilities speaks to the improvement in medi-cine during the past 20 years

What did I think I would do upon graduation from NYCOM

Change the world of course

Would I offer advice to new physicians

No Fine minds good hearts and caring hands will continue to make the practice of Osteopathic medi-cine a privilege People do not change the improved scientific tools of our profession give us the opportu-nity to be better practitioners of the art Cherish the opportunity to practice medicine

Photo Courtesy of Dr Olasin

ldquoRecollection of epiphany moments from medical school days bring to

mind how day-to-day practice observations can lead to insightful

observationsrdquo

By Dr Regina Olasin FAAP FACP

Ghanaian Adventure Cont‟d Nevertheless no matter what the method I found myself focusing less on the differences between myself and Ghanaians between Western culture and Ghanaian culture Mothers still scolded their children and children were still mischievous Some patients presented with a laundry list of complaints (arthritis diabetes hypertension cough fatigue etc) while others waited for years before seeking medical care (like a four-year old ulcer covered in maggots) Everyone wanted to improve their lives and futures Thatrsquos what I thank my Ghanaian patients for teaching me about themselves and about my future patients no matter what part of the world they may come from

I also learned a bit about respecting the traditions of others I studied Anthropology in college and thought myself somewhat prepared on this front but nothing really prepared me for when our translators slaughtered a goat for us As a vegetarian it was a bit hard for me to see the animal struggling on a leash and later to hear its bleating before it was killed Though my stomach didnrsquot agree with me when I smelled the meat cooking I realized that our translators enjoyed working with us and wanted to share a part of their culture with us I appreciated that and like to think that Josh ate enough of the meat for all of us Furthermore when I noticed that many of our patients were being diagnosed and incorrectly treated for malaria by local pharmacists I became quite upset In fact this seemed to be a typical system in the villages and I found myself making a kind of ldquohitlistrdquo of delinquent pharmacies to report to the Health Ministry But Dr Cho and Kofi (the national director of the Rohde Foundation) reminded me that even this pharmacy system had its benefits Before the existence of the Rohde Foundationrsquos clinic local villagers had little access to care These pharmacies at least provided some necessary medications and were a sign that villagers were at least seeking care To blindly admonish these pharmacists without considering the role they had in the communities would be a big mistake Thankfully I was able to learn that lesson

Health policy is one of the aspects of medicine that makes me love the field so much So much can be done for people if systems are in place and are allowed to work properly by helpful rules and regulations I found that many of our pre-trip coursework discussions in pol-icy as well as those that we had on the ground when coming across difficulties in the system in Ghana always turned to the importance of education How could Ghanaians improve their crops so that they could be exported to other countries Education How could we solve the issue of healthcare professional brain drain Education How could we make sure that chil-dren slept under bed nets to prevent malaria Educa-tion Essentially any development issue we broached could be improved by investing in education I was glad to have seen that first-hand

This issue is of course most pressing for Ghanaian children But I found myself considering them completely separated from the suffering and poverty and hopelessness I sometimes associated with adults Of course they werenrsquot sheltered from that at all But somehow I didnrsquot realize that a kid wearing a filthy shirt with holes in it eating a dirty piece of metal and playing with a stick attached to a round piece of plastic was actually ldquopoorrdquo as long as they were smiling and playing Frisbee with us I think that how I saw these children was somewhat different from how I saw the kids who came in as patients who I saw as pale dermatitis-covered suffering little people Their roles could have easily been reversed but it was still difficult for me to associate such suffering with the local non-patient children This was probably necessary on my part because to realize the reality these children lived would be a bit overwhelming

I was able to see why Ghana is one of the most promis-ing African nations The country has a functioning na-tional health insurance system and a meeting at the Uni-versity of Ghana showed me that studies are being done and improvements are constantly being made Forward-thinking chiefs in Nteso and Oworobong made our work possible our translators were promising young people who wanted to improve the country and adult Ghanaians were always hopeful It was an honor to be part of the first team and Irsquom glad I could make this experience part of the foundation of my future career in medicine Irsquod encourage anyone with a future in medi-c i ne to hav e an e xp er i e nc e ab road

By Angana Homchaudhuri OMS II

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 4

Photo Courtesy of Eddie Papa OMS II

A Few Words From Dr Olasin bdquo82

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 3

Practicing osteopathic medicine for the past 27 years has been a privilege As medical practice has changed logarithmically the basic patientphysician relation-ship remains the same A generation of practice has seen death from the AIDS epidemic transition to pri-mary care management of a chronic disease (HIV) the development of life-extending cardiovascular interven-tions while a new epidemic of pediatric obesity in-creases primary cardiovascular risk children with de-velopmental disabilities are living into their second decade at the same time we are experiencing an in-crease in the prevalence of autism

Treatment of the patient as a person and the treatment of the entire person attracted me to osteopathic medi-cine and influenced my career choice of residency training in primary care (internal medicine pediatrics) Throughout my subsequent training a holistic pa-tient-as-person-first approach never met with peer or professional opposition in the conventional medical industrial complex Many good people in medicine and health care navigate difficult systems to deliver compassionate care to patients every day The osteo-pathic practice principle of a medical home for all pa-tients has become the focus of a new approach to gen-eral medical practice in both Pediatrics and Internal Medicine

Recollection of epiphany moments from medical school days bring to mind how day-to-day practice observations can lead to insightful observations I viv-idly recall two lecturers during my second year at NY-COM (1979-1980) who presented data from their practice information which was confusing to them at that time A proctologist giving a lecture on the im-portance of colorectal screening noted how he was diagnosing Kaposi sarcoma in young men He com-mented on how he had only seen this condition in one or two 60-plus year old gentleman of Italian descent in his entire career and felt this was something signifi-

cant Another lecturer from the New York City De-partment of Health noted epidemic rates of syphilis in the East Village bathhouses and described subsequent public health investigations to identify the etiology of the problem The next 10 years revealed the explo-sion of the AIDSHIV epidemic

After practicing primary care medicine in a rural com-munity for 15 years my practice is now a medical home for the special needs population Practicing Developmental Medicine is professionally satisfying and challenging The increased lifespan of individuals with disabilities speaks to the improvement in medi-cine during the past 20 years

What did I think I would do upon graduation from NYCOM

Change the world of course

Would I offer advice to new physicians

No Fine minds good hearts and caring hands will continue to make the practice of Osteopathic medi-cine a privilege People do not change the improved scientific tools of our profession give us the opportu-nity to be better practitioners of the art Cherish the opportunity to practice medicine

Photo Courtesy of Dr Olasin

ldquoRecollection of epiphany moments from medical school days bring to

mind how day-to-day practice observations can lead to insightful

observationsrdquo

By Dr Regina Olasin FAAP FACP

Ghanaian Adventure Cont‟d Nevertheless no matter what the method I found myself focusing less on the differences between myself and Ghanaians between Western culture and Ghanaian culture Mothers still scolded their children and children were still mischievous Some patients presented with a laundry list of complaints (arthritis diabetes hypertension cough fatigue etc) while others waited for years before seeking medical care (like a four-year old ulcer covered in maggots) Everyone wanted to improve their lives and futures Thatrsquos what I thank my Ghanaian patients for teaching me about themselves and about my future patients no matter what part of the world they may come from

I also learned a bit about respecting the traditions of others I studied Anthropology in college and thought myself somewhat prepared on this front but nothing really prepared me for when our translators slaughtered a goat for us As a vegetarian it was a bit hard for me to see the animal struggling on a leash and later to hear its bleating before it was killed Though my stomach didnrsquot agree with me when I smelled the meat cooking I realized that our translators enjoyed working with us and wanted to share a part of their culture with us I appreciated that and like to think that Josh ate enough of the meat for all of us Furthermore when I noticed that many of our patients were being diagnosed and incorrectly treated for malaria by local pharmacists I became quite upset In fact this seemed to be a typical system in the villages and I found myself making a kind of ldquohitlistrdquo of delinquent pharmacies to report to the Health Ministry But Dr Cho and Kofi (the national director of the Rohde Foundation) reminded me that even this pharmacy system had its benefits Before the existence of the Rohde Foundationrsquos clinic local villagers had little access to care These pharmacies at least provided some necessary medications and were a sign that villagers were at least seeking care To blindly admonish these pharmacists without considering the role they had in the communities would be a big mistake Thankfully I was able to learn that lesson

Health policy is one of the aspects of medicine that makes me love the field so much So much can be done for people if systems are in place and are allowed to work properly by helpful rules and regulations I found that many of our pre-trip coursework discussions in pol-icy as well as those that we had on the ground when coming across difficulties in the system in Ghana always turned to the importance of education How could Ghanaians improve their crops so that they could be exported to other countries Education How could we solve the issue of healthcare professional brain drain Education How could we make sure that chil-dren slept under bed nets to prevent malaria Educa-tion Essentially any development issue we broached could be improved by investing in education I was glad to have seen that first-hand

This issue is of course most pressing for Ghanaian children But I found myself considering them completely separated from the suffering and poverty and hopelessness I sometimes associated with adults Of course they werenrsquot sheltered from that at all But somehow I didnrsquot realize that a kid wearing a filthy shirt with holes in it eating a dirty piece of metal and playing with a stick attached to a round piece of plastic was actually ldquopoorrdquo as long as they were smiling and playing Frisbee with us I think that how I saw these children was somewhat different from how I saw the kids who came in as patients who I saw as pale dermatitis-covered suffering little people Their roles could have easily been reversed but it was still difficult for me to associate such suffering with the local non-patient children This was probably necessary on my part because to realize the reality these children lived would be a bit overwhelming

I was able to see why Ghana is one of the most promis-ing African nations The country has a functioning na-tional health insurance system and a meeting at the Uni-versity of Ghana showed me that studies are being done and improvements are constantly being made Forward-thinking chiefs in Nteso and Oworobong made our work possible our translators were promising young people who wanted to improve the country and adult Ghanaians were always hopeful It was an honor to be part of the first team and Irsquom glad I could make this experience part of the foundation of my future career in medicine Irsquod encourage anyone with a future in medi-c i ne to hav e an e xp er i e nc e ab road

By Angana Homchaudhuri OMS II

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 4

Photo Courtesy of Eddie Papa OMS II

Ghanaian Adventure Cont‟d Nevertheless no matter what the method I found myself focusing less on the differences between myself and Ghanaians between Western culture and Ghanaian culture Mothers still scolded their children and children were still mischievous Some patients presented with a laundry list of complaints (arthritis diabetes hypertension cough fatigue etc) while others waited for years before seeking medical care (like a four-year old ulcer covered in maggots) Everyone wanted to improve their lives and futures Thatrsquos what I thank my Ghanaian patients for teaching me about themselves and about my future patients no matter what part of the world they may come from

I also learned a bit about respecting the traditions of others I studied Anthropology in college and thought myself somewhat prepared on this front but nothing really prepared me for when our translators slaughtered a goat for us As a vegetarian it was a bit hard for me to see the animal struggling on a leash and later to hear its bleating before it was killed Though my stomach didnrsquot agree with me when I smelled the meat cooking I realized that our translators enjoyed working with us and wanted to share a part of their culture with us I appreciated that and like to think that Josh ate enough of the meat for all of us Furthermore when I noticed that many of our patients were being diagnosed and incorrectly treated for malaria by local pharmacists I became quite upset In fact this seemed to be a typical system in the villages and I found myself making a kind of ldquohitlistrdquo of delinquent pharmacies to report to the Health Ministry But Dr Cho and Kofi (the national director of the Rohde Foundation) reminded me that even this pharmacy system had its benefits Before the existence of the Rohde Foundationrsquos clinic local villagers had little access to care These pharmacies at least provided some necessary medications and were a sign that villagers were at least seeking care To blindly admonish these pharmacists without considering the role they had in the communities would be a big mistake Thankfully I was able to learn that lesson

Health policy is one of the aspects of medicine that makes me love the field so much So much can be done for people if systems are in place and are allowed to work properly by helpful rules and regulations I found that many of our pre-trip coursework discussions in pol-icy as well as those that we had on the ground when coming across difficulties in the system in Ghana always turned to the importance of education How could Ghanaians improve their crops so that they could be exported to other countries Education How could we solve the issue of healthcare professional brain drain Education How could we make sure that chil-dren slept under bed nets to prevent malaria Educa-tion Essentially any development issue we broached could be improved by investing in education I was glad to have seen that first-hand

This issue is of course most pressing for Ghanaian children But I found myself considering them completely separated from the suffering and poverty and hopelessness I sometimes associated with adults Of course they werenrsquot sheltered from that at all But somehow I didnrsquot realize that a kid wearing a filthy shirt with holes in it eating a dirty piece of metal and playing with a stick attached to a round piece of plastic was actually ldquopoorrdquo as long as they were smiling and playing Frisbee with us I think that how I saw these children was somewhat different from how I saw the kids who came in as patients who I saw as pale dermatitis-covered suffering little people Their roles could have easily been reversed but it was still difficult for me to associate such suffering with the local non-patient children This was probably necessary on my part because to realize the reality these children lived would be a bit overwhelming

I was able to see why Ghana is one of the most promis-ing African nations The country has a functioning na-tional health insurance system and a meeting at the Uni-versity of Ghana showed me that studies are being done and improvements are constantly being made Forward-thinking chiefs in Nteso and Oworobong made our work possible our translators were promising young people who wanted to improve the country and adult Ghanaians were always hopeful It was an honor to be part of the first team and Irsquom glad I could make this experience part of the foundation of my future career in medicine Irsquod encourage anyone with a future in medi-c i ne to hav e an e xp er i e nc e ab road

By Angana Homchaudhuri OMS II

Volume 3 Issue 1 Page 4

Photo Courtesy of Eddie Papa OMS II