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This Week@WesternU, May 14-18, 2018

by Rodney Tanaka

May 14, 2018

Read 5 mins

WesternU to celebrate achievements of 1,100 graduates

About 1,100 Western University of Health Sciences graduates will take the stage at Commencement ceremonies in Pasadena, California and Lebanon, Oregon to celebrate a milestone in their careers.

In addressing these newest health care leaders, WesternU President Daniel R. Wilson, MD, PhD, urged them to take the skills they have learned at WesternU into the world to ease suffering and build healthier communities.

“Just as WesternU has changed you, so too will you be an agent of change, improvement and growth in modern health care,” Wilson said. “As you were supported and guided, so too shall you guide and support your patients, your colleagues, and – one day – new generations of health professionals. Be the type of friend, mentor and healer that you have experienced at WesternU. Give freely and kindly of your skills. Listen. Learn. Lead.”

WesternU will award diplomas to nearly 1,000 graduates during five Commencement ceremonies for its nine colleges May 23-25, 2018 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. About 100 COMP-Northwest graduates will celebrate Commencement June 1, 2018 on WesternU’s Lebanon campus. COMP Vice Dean and alumnus David Connett, DO ’84, FACOFP dist., will serve as the COMP-Northwest keynote speaker. At the end of these festivities, WesternU will have more than 15,000 alumni.

Click here to read the full story.

Click here for more information about Commencement ceremonies in Pasadena, California:
https://commencement.westernu.edu/pomona/

Click here for information about the COMP-Northwest Commencement ceremony in Lebanon, Oregon: https://commencement.westernu.edu/lebanon/

 

WesternU Commencement on social media

For everyone participating in and attending Commencement ceremonies: Help us make the 2018 Commencement ceremonies memorable. You can help us make a virtual scrapbook on social media by tagging and mentioning us on Twitter and Instagram (@westernunews), and finding us on Facebook (@westernuniversityofhealthsciences).

Please use the hashtag #WesternU2018 for ceremonies in Pasadena that take place May 23-25 and for the ceremony in Lebanon on Friday, June 1.

 

 

WesternU’s 8th Annual Towne & Gown Golf Classic set for June 11

Western University of Health Sciences invites the public to an exciting day of golf to benefit student scholarships. The 8th Annual Towne & Gown Golf Classic will be played Monday, June 11, 2018 at Glendora Country Club, 2400 Country Club Drive, Glendora, Calif. 91741. Registration and lunch starts at 11 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at noon. A dinner and awards ceremony will follow.

Click here to view a brochure.

Click here to visit the Towne & Gown Golf Classic website.

 

Helicopter Drop

Everyone is invited to participate in the Towne & Gown Golf Classic Helicopter Drop. Whether you’re at the golf course or not, you will be able to participate in this fun activity. The helicopter team will dump numbered golf balls over a designated hole, and the owner of the ball that lands in the hole (or closest to the pin) will win the 50-50 prize. The pricing to participate is as follows: $10 for one ball, $25 for three balls, and $75 for 10 balls. This is another exciting way to benefit the Towne & Gown Endowed Scholarship Fund. Contact Nathaniel Lastrapes at 909-469-5436 or nlastrapes@westernu.edu for more information.

Click here to view a flier.

 

 

From the College of Podiatric Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments
The American Association for Women Podiatrists (AAWP) Student Chapter held an information booth at the Prototype Women’s Shelter Health Fair in Pomona on Saturday, May 5. They shared with women and their children how to take care/monitor their feet.

“The interest expressed in lower extremity health was amazing and many women left with a WesternU packet with the intent to make an appointment for themselves and their children to get evaluated for various lower extremity concerns,” said College of Podiatric Medicine student Emily Shibata, DPM ’20. “It was truly inspiring to see what an impact WesternU has made in the Pomona community and the endless ways a club can give back!”

Click here to view photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westernucpm/posts/1997660913640805

 

 

From the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences:

Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Christina Goode, Marcos Villa, the GCBS Director of Student Affairs, and several of the MSMS students presented at the 12th annual Mount San Antonio College pre-health conference. This conference is the largest of its kind in California and was attended by more than 1,000 students with a keynote address by Dr. Richard Carmona, the 17th Surgeon General of the United States. Additional MSMS students held a suture clinic.

 

 

From the College of Dental Medicine:

Kudos on accomplishments
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Clara Kim, DMD, MS, for her published manuscript, “Presentation of Localized Aggressive Periodontitis in Monozygous Twins:  Case Report.” Dr. Kim was the co-author along with Dr. Phamduong. It has been reviewed and accepted by Clinical Advances in Periodontics, a quarterly journal of the American Academy of Periodontology. Within limitations of this report, it is demonstrated that different microbial patterns exist on aggressive periodontitis even in genetically identical individuals with same environmental exposure. 

 

 

From the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific:

New diabetes study
Click here to read about a new diabetes study. Contact Albert Medina, Research Coordinator, at 909-469-8626 or Airani Sathananthan, MD, at 909-706-3818 if interested.

 

Kudos on accomplishments
Dr. Robert N. Pechnick, Department of Basic Medical Sciences at COMP, joined a team of physicians and administrators from Columbia University, Harbor/UCLA and Charles R. Drew University to travel to Havana, Cuba, to teach American Medical Students at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). ELAM is one of the largest medical schools in the world with students from 110 countries.  All those enrolled are international students from outside Cuba and mainly come from Latin America and the Caribbean as well as from the United States, Africa and Asia. ELAM students come from the poorest communities with the intent of returning to practice in those areas in their countries. It is fully accredited by the Medical Board of California and qualified U.S. graduates are eligible to apply for residency placements in any state of the U.S. The team delivered board review workshops, residency application counseling and practice residency interviews.

Congratulations to COMP-Northwest student Nathan Kessler, named Outstanding Volunteer Member of the Year at the annual banquet for Lebanon Fire District (LFD) – Lebanon, Oregon. Click here to view a photo on Facebook. Kessler has been instrumental in creating and leading the LFD Community Service Learning Program for OMS1 students.

On Saturday, May 12, medical students participated in the Lebanon Fire District’s Community Appreciation Day, providing blood pressure and glucose checks, as well as fall prevention information to senior citizens at the event. More than 30 senior citizens participated in the check-ups. Ed Goering, DO, assistant professor of NMM/OMM, was the clinician on-site for the event. In addition to the clinical information, students with the Lebanon Health Career Ladder program provided information to families about the free Saturday academies geared toward middle school students. Photos of the event may be viewed on the WesternU COMP-Northwest Facebook page.

 

Medical Anatomy Center news
Brion Benninger, MD, MSc, Professor and Executive Director of the Medical Anatomy Center, provided community outreach and service with Lebanon/Albany/Corvallis communities by setting up a health care technology booth as part of a local science fair K-8th grade at Timber Ridge School on May 8. This provided opportunities for approximately 200-300 students and parents to interact with health care technologies from the MAC (finger probe & handheld ultrasound, airway anatomy with videolarygoscopy, hi fidelity & wearable Simulation, Google Glass, etc) and help them understand their gaming, mobile phone and computer skills can transfer into medical education and patient care. He wanted to thank COMP-Northwest OMS1 Ciaran Smythe and Albany Fire paramedic and educator Jon Mang for collaborating in the experience.

On May 4, Dr. Benninger volunteered and supported a jogathon in Portland to raise money for local schools and also volunteered on weekends during the month of April to support kids to accomplish their personal bests during track meets held in the Portland area.

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