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OPTI-West Research Conference

by Rodney Tanaka

September 28, 2010

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OPTI-West and the Office of Graduate Medical Education recently held their 4th Annual Resident & Faculty Development Conference at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center (ARMC) in Colton, Calif.

The conference, held on Aug. 24, 2010, prepares resident doctors and faculty within the program to conceive a project, develop a protocol, analyze data, learn how to break in to a publication, and present and convey the results to a professional audience.

“”This year was very successful,”” said William J. Cairney, PhD, Executive Director of OPTI-West. “”Last year we had a groundswell of responses, which help us create and better the annual conference that teaches how to do a research project from start to finish.””

About 85 people attended the annual conference.

OPTI-West is affiliated with Western University of Health Sciences. It offers more than 24 OGME training opportunities, 90 approved internships and 154 approved residency slots in Southern California, Southern Colorado and Western Oregon.

An OPTI (Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institute) is a consortium of an osteopathic medical school and one or more teaching hospitals, the purpose of which is to establish a stronger and higher quality of postdoctoral training than can be realized by the individual institutions.

According to its mission statement, OPTI-West promotes excellence in Osteopathic Graduate Medical Education (OGME) through accredited post-doctoral programs and success for residents, defined as personal and professional growth and achievement of American Osteopathic Association core competencies with partner programs.

Cairney moderated the event. College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Dean Clinton Adams, DO; ARMC Chief Executive Officer Patrick Petre; and ARMC Medical Director Dev Gnanadev, MD, took part in welcoming participants.

Robert Hasty, DO, of Nova Southeastern University was the keynote speaker, and during an afternoon session headed a group: “”Learn by Doing: Brainstorming a Group Project; Asking an Answerable Question.”” The group created a project, “”The Effect of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on Post-operative Ileus.””

The project will address osteopathic manipulative treatment protocols and will be headquartered in the Family Practice Residency Program at Downey Regional Medical Center, Cairney said.

COMP second-year student Ruchita Saha also was on hand, and presented “”The Role of Cadherins in Metastasis of Breast Cancer.”” She was the only student among the many doctors who presented a session.

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