Scott Swanson
Western University of Health Sciences’ College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest celebrated a landmark event Friday, June 5, at the college’s campus in Lebanon – its inaugural commencement ceremony.
The charter class of 100 medical students were awarded their doctor of osteopathic medicine diplomas at the ceremony. They now will move on to post-doctoral training as residents in hospitals and medical centers around the country.
President Philip Pumerantz presided over his first and last COMP-Northwest commencement ceremony. He founded the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, California in 1977, COMP-Northwest’s mother school, and plans to retire on Sept. 8.
Graduates were presented with diplomas and doctoral hoods, which their family members draped over their shoulders during the
ceremony – a tradition at WesternU, officials said.
COMP Dean Paula M. Crone and other speakers emphasized the family atmosphere at the school and encouraged graduates to pursue that approach to their patients as they move forward with their careers.
“We wanted students to be members of community, to learn to be leaders,” Crone said prior to the ceremony.
She said that community service, service learning programs and a relationship with the community has been a big emphasis from the beginning.
It was a proud moment for Lebanon community leaders and others who worked to establish the medical school. Prior to the
ceremony big-screen testimonials featured some of those involved in the founding of the school – present and former city officials, chamber leaders, a local grade school teacher whose classes have developed close ties with medical students, and others – congratulating the students who comprised the first class in July 2011. Some made a point of urging graduates to consider relocating in the area when their medical training is finished.
Their efforts were repeatedly acknowledged by school officials during the event.
“Many in this audience worked for decades towards this day, dedicating their careers to medical education,” said Crone, herself a 1992 graduate of Western University of Health Sciences. “Many more in this audience embraced COMP-Northwest and what we stand for, turning out repeatedly and at unexpected times to push us forward and help ensure our students’ success.
“On behalf of WesternU, I want to thank our community of Lebanon for opening up your hearts and embracing COMP-Northwest and your medical students,” concluding, “Yes, Lebanon, you have a medical school and today you graduate your first 100 students.”
When COMP-Northwest officially opened in July of 2011, it was the first medical school to be built in Oregon in more than a century and one of just two medical colleges in the state. By last August, the campus had reached full student enrollment of more than 400, with more than 60 faculty and staff.
“It’s hard to believe it’s already been four years,” Crone told a reporter earlier. “It’s hard to believe these young men and women who showed up at our doors four years ago, how much they’ve grown, matured.”
Crone and Dr. Richard Bond, chairman of Western’s Board of Trustees, told the crowd of 600-plus at the graduation exercises that this class came from a wide range of backgrounds and was selected specifically to form the inaugural group.
Bond noted that the average age of the graduates is 30 and they include people who came to medicine from careers as varied as carpentry, law and the Peace Corps.
Commencement speaker Dr. Jeff Heatherington, founder, president and CEO of FamilyCare Health Plans, Oregon’s oldest Medicaid managed care plan helped bring together WesternU and Samaritan Health Services to build COMP-Northwest.
Heatherington counseled graduates to listen to their patients carefully, to “love them” and to “learn something new every day.”
“Even though today is all about you, the good news and the bad news is tomorrow is all about you as well,” he said. He urged the graduates to look past their prejudices in dealing with patients who may have made bad choices and to restrain themselves from sharing their knowledge too quickly in the consulting room.
He cited studies that have found the average physician usually interrupts a patient within 18 seconds of walking through the door.
“One of the things to keep in mind about your patients is you rarely know very much about them, and you won’t know anything about them unless you listen very carefully,” Heatherington said.
“The silence that’s in the room is not for you to fill, it’s for them to finally open up and talk about what they’re afraid of.
“Patients don’t really care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Heatherington told the graduates that they have received a tremendous gift – an osteopathic education – but he suggested it comes with responsibilities to the public.
“As a physician, you will be looked on by society as a person who has more privileges than others,” he said. “Be generous in your spirit, be generous in your caring for your patients and be generous with whatever material things you have. The profession needs you be viewed as not only a good doctor but as a generous spirit.”
The other commencement speaker, Dr. Larry Mullins, president and CEO of Samaritan Health Services Inc., reflected on the hard work and sacrifice of those who came before, including the original pioneers who settled the area in 1847. After them came laborers, farmers, educators, loggers and many others who made their mark on this area.
“There are many others who helped bring us here today at COMP-Northwest, and much sacrifice has been made by many to create the opportunity you now have to serve others,” Mullins said. “Many have given much to make today possible, not only for you and your families but for the generations of families who you will have the privilege to care for. We know you will honor that as you continue your training in your careers.”
Students said they detected the family atmosphere soon after arriving.
“When I walked in the doors and was welcomed by Dean Crone and Dr. (Paul) Aversano (Crone’s husband), it just felt like family,” said graduate Jennifer Foti, who will enter an emergency medicine residency at Naval Medical Center San Diego. “It felt like coming home. It’s a feeling that never left.
“The Lebanon community opened their arms and took us in with a full embrace,” she said. “They have always been here to support us. I know that bond between the community and students will forever be there. That’s what makes this place special.”
Though she wasn’t graduating, Ginger Cupit, a second-year student who is student body president, echoed some of those feelings.
“I love being here,” she said. “The faculty treat me like family. They push me to be better, but I just love it. I came from New Mexico and I didn’t know anybody. I could have gone to several different schools. The opportunities here far exceed what I could have done elsewhere.”
WesternU filled this first class with special, hand-picked young men and women, Crone said. They were impressive to start with and have only continued to impress.
“You were selected to be pioneers, to be trailblazers, and you never failed in that spirit,” she said after graduates took the Osteopathic Oath.
“You have taken an oath. In exchange, you are accorded a very special place in society. Use it to be healers. Use it to be leaders in your communities and champions of your patients.
“Know that you will always hold a very special place in Paul’s and my heart and the hearts of all your COMP-Northwest and
WesternU family. You are our ‘firstborn.’ Congratulations, graduates. Congratulations, doctors.”
– Michelle Steinhebel of West-ernU contributed to this story.