Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California Celebrates 50 years
Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California (OPSC) celebrates its milestone 50th anniversary in 2011, and Western University of Health Sciences continues to play a key leadership and support role in the organization.
OPSC’s 50th Annual Convention & Exposition will take place Feb. 9-13 in San Diego. Among the highlights of this golden anniversary celebration is the President’s Banquet on Feb. 12. Susan Mackintosh, DO, WesternU Interprofessional Education Program Director and College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) alumna, will become immediate past president and COMP alumnus William Henning, DO, will become president-elect.
The ties between OPSC and WesternU are strong, said Kathleen S. Creason, MBA, Executive Director of Osteopathic Physicians & Surgeons of California. Support for OPSC starts at the top, with WesternU President Philip Pumerantz, PhD, Provost and COO Benjamin Cohen, DO, and COMP Dean Clinton Adams, DO, and includes many COMP faculty members and COMP’s sponsorship of the event.
“Many WesternU individuals are tremendously supportive of OPSC. It’s so very much appreciated, and it strengthens OPSC and the profession as a whole,” she said.
The celebration will also highlight “The Resurgence,” a new book by Michael Seffinger, DO, COMP Chair & Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Dept of NMM/OMM, that chronicles the history of osteopathic medicine.
One theme of the anniversary celebration is looking at the past, present and future, how the past shapes the present and how today’s planning will create a better future, Dr. Mackintosh said. One key step in ensuring a bright future is found within COMP’s student body.
“We know that this is where the future of the profession is going to come from,” Dr. Mackintosh said. “WesternU has a reputation for producing osteopathic physicians who emerge as leaders. We’re not just training future physicians, we’re training leaders in how to become part of a health care team. In time they will step up and take over and continue to build the profession into greatness.”
Creason said she is impressed with the perspective shown by WesternU students.
“It’s heartwarming to see their greater vision for the profession,” she said. “They are more globally focused on how they can be involved politically. It’s very important to see that from WesternU.”
The mission of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California (OPSC) is to advance the practice of osteopathic medicine as an independent, scientific and complete system of medicine for the restoration and preservation of good health, and to present programs of education and information that contribute to the effective, professional practice of osteopathic health care for the benefit of all members of the profession.
OPSC, a chartered divisional society of the American Osteopathic Association, is structured to help the individual DO better serve the interests of osteopathic medicine, provide quality health care for patients, and to assist the public to better understand osteopathic medicine and its contribution to total health care.
