Students enjoy participating in the ATSU's annual 5K run/1 mile walk on October 17

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Faculty, staff, students, alumni, family, and friends joined in celebration of A.T. Still University’s (ATSU) annual Founder’s Day Celebration, held October 15-17.

Festivities included the inaugural Tinning Founder’s Day Osteopathy lecture presented by Edward G. Stiles, D.O. “I was overwhelmed when I was selected to give this lecture,” Dr. Stiles said. “I enjoy teaching and have had a ball in my career. I hope the same for these students.”

President Jack Magruder led the annual graveside ceremony honoring University founder A.T. Still, M.D., D.O. The first memorial ceremony took place December 2, 1919, and each year a wreath is placed on his grave. “(Still was) humble, intellectual, and spiritual in his thinking. He had an honest desire and the competence to treat people and alleviate pain and suffering,” Magruder said. “He gave all he had, all the time. And people loved him for it.”

ATSU Board of Trustees Chair Pete Detweiler and President Magruder kicked off the all-campus meeting by discussing the University’s financial stability and growth during the economic downturn.

Associate Vice President of Admissions and Alumni Services Lori Haxton, M.A., recognized alumni from the classes of 1984 and 1959, awarding gold medallions and pins for 50th anniversary honorees.

School of Health Management (SHM) Interim Dean Kimberly O’Reilly, D.H.Ed., M.S.W., discussed SHM’s past, talked about the present, and outlined the future. She hopes to further develop SHM’s partnership with the A.T. Still Research Institute, is looking forward to other joint initiatives within the university, and moving each program within SHM toward further accreditation.

Closing out the meeting, Dean Philip Slocum, D.O., recognized Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM) students and staff for their accomplishments, including the outstanding devotion KCOM students give towards community service. In the past year, students have given more than 1,000 volunteer hours to the City of Kirksville.

ATSU and the Still National Osteopathic Museum unveiled the Dr. Thomas Quinn, D.O., Reading Room, research center, and new artifact storage area. This marks the third museum move due to growth of the collection and helps to consolidate facilities for researchers and staff duties. Dr. Jamie Archer, Brit. Osteopath, of Ulna, England, signed over the first artifact to the museum’s new collection space— a hand built useable replica of Dr. Still’s treatment chair designed in the 1900s. Dr. Archer built two of the artifacts using Dr. Still’s notes, photographs, and references by significant D.O.s of the time. These are the only two devices known in existence. Dr. Archer later demonstrated the chairs use at the continuing medical education program on Saturday.

Friday night was filled with food and fun at Still-A-Bration 2009, where faculty, students, staff, family, and friends enjoyed games, food and dancing.

The annual 5K run/1 mile walk on Saturday capped the weekend’s festivities with more than 60 participants. Second-year KCOM student Tyler Hill took home the men’s 5K title with a time of 16:36. First-year student Cara Lucas led the women with a time of 23:48.

Founding college of osteopathic medicine celebrates its newest D.O.s

Missouri Governor, the Honorable Jeremiah W. “Jay” Nixon,

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (May 1, 2009) – Missouri’s governor, the Honorable Jeremiah W. “Jay” Nixon, will address the newest class of graduates at KCOM—A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, the founding osteopathic medical school—on Saturday, May 16.

KCOM is slated to hold its 117th annual commencement ceremony at Baldwin Hall Auditorium on the campus of Truman State University. As the school celebrates its new physicians, who number among more than 15,000 who have graduated since 1892, Governor Nixon will join them to deliver his keynote speech.

Governor Nixon took office on January 12, 2009, as Missouri’s 55th Governor. A native Missourian, he was born in De Soto, received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1978, and a juris doctorate from UMC in 1981. After six years of work as state senator, he became Missouri’s attorney general in 1992, serving four straight terms and becoming the only person in Missouri to ever do so.

As attorney general, Governor Nixon took a strong interest in healthcare issues, working to improve access and education for his constituents. He joined state attorneys general across the nation in litigation against major companies for marketing cigarettes to young people. This suit brought a settlement of more than $1.2 billion to Missouri. Working on a more local level, he helped establish the Missouri Foundation for Health and the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. ATSU President Jack Magruder said Nixon’s background made him a solid choice for graduating medical students.

“Almost every college in the state would love to have the sitting governor as their commencement speaker,” Magruder said, “and ATSU is very fortunate that he has agreed to speak to our students. Governor Nixon has done great work in providing healthcare to individuals in Missouri; his work with the Missouri Foundation for Health has led to better healthcare in the state and has also led to funding community health outreach, including at ATSU.”

This year 166 students are candidates for the degree of doctor of osteopathic medicine, eight will receive a master in biomedical sciences, and four will receive dual degrees. These new graduates represent nine different countries, including Kenya and Lithuania.

At the ceremony, Governor Nixon will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters (D.Hu.L.)degree, as unanimously voted upon by KCOM professors and the ATSU Board of Trustees.

“By awarding Governor Nixon this degree, we will be recognizing his championship of higher education and of broad access to high-quality healthcare in Missouri,” President Magruder said.

“This year’s graduates,” said KCOM Dean Philip Slocum, D.O., “will go out as individuals representing the founding osteopathic medical institution, and they will together and individually make significant contributions to addressing the shortage of physicians in the United States and to whole-person healthcare in this country.”

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Mar. 12, 2009) – The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) announced that their selection of osteopathic medical educators as inaugural members of its recently launched National Academy of Osteopathic Medical Educators (NAOME) includes two faculty members of A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCOM).

Neal R. Chamberlain, Ph.D., associate professor, KCOM Department of Microbiology/Immunology; and Patricia S. Sexton, Ed.D., assistant professor, KCOM Department of Family Medicine, Community, and Preventive Health, will be inducted into NAOME with the ten other inaugural members at AACOM’s Awards Banquet on April 17, 2009, during the association’s annual meeting.

“KCOM is a proud leader in osteopathic medicine,” said KCOM Dean Philip Slocum, D.O. “Having two of our faculty recognized nationally for their ongoing contributions to osteopathic medical education is more evidence of our leadership.”

NAOME is a community of outstanding educators (termed fellows) who have met rigorous standards of academic excellence within the last five years. Membership is earned (and can be renewed) for five-year intervals during which fellows are asked to mentor and support academic excellence and scholarship in the osteopathic medical education profession. NAOME is the first national health professions education academy and is modeled after the Baylor College of Medicine’s Academy of Distinguished Educators.

AACOM was founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation’s osteopathic medical schools, and to serve as a unifying voice for osteopathic medical education. AACOM’s mission is to promote excellence in osteopathic medical education, in research and in service, and to foster innovation and quality among osteopathic colleges to improve the health of the American public.

For more information on NAOME, the selection process, and complete list of inaugural members, visit www.aacom.org.

Core Imaging Facility Open House

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Nov. 2, 2008 ) – New resources for Kirksville’s expanding scientific community now includes a confocal fluorescent microscope in the newly constructed core imaging facility located in the Timken-Burnett Research Building at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Faculty and student researchers from ATSU-KCOM and Truman State University are already taking advantage of the state-of-the-art microscope, which allows for two-dimensional views of a cell and cellular function and can reconstruct layers to create a three-dimensional image.

 High-resolution imaging allows researchers to look at movements of proteins and vesicles in cells which will lead to a better understanding of the regulation of cellular processes and signaling pathways. “This is the key advantage of confocal microscopy,” says facility committee chair Robert Theobald, Ph.D. “An image of a narrow slice can be captured, eliminating background fluorescence from above and below the slice. Images of a series of a slice can then be reconstructed to create a three-dimensional image.”

In celebration of the community’s expanding scientific resources, ATSU-KCOM is hosting an open house at the core imaging facility on Friday, November 7 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. ATSU President Jack Magruder and KCOM Dean Philip Slocum, D.O., will address the audience. Light refreshments will be served, and members of the local scientific community are invited to attend. Anyone associated with ATSU-KCOM or Truman State University may schedule to use the confocal microscope by emailing ATSU’s Core Imaging Technician David Ewing, at dewing@atsu.edu, or the Core Imaging Director David Middlemas, Ph.D., at dmiddkemas@atsu.edu.

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (Aug. 14, 2008 ) – The A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine class of 2012 will begin their new student orientation Friday, August 15, and will continue orientation activities through Thursday, August 21. Students will participate in a full schedule of activities, including a welcome message by KCOM Dean Philip Slocum, D.O., ’76, on August 15; the President’s Welcome Picnic at 1000 Hills State Park with ATSU President Jack Magruder on August 19; and the University’s annual “Mini” Taste of Kirksville featuring area restaurants and caterers August 21.

Perhaps the most important event for KCOM’s newest class of medical students is the Induction and White Coat Ceremony. The White Coat Ceremony was established in 1996, and impresses upon first-year students the significance and symbolism of wearing a white coat. Students receive their white doctor’s coat, a medical bag, a body-mind-spirit lapel pin, and the book “On Doctoring,” provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Held in conjunction with orientation, the ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, August 16, in Baldwin Hall Auditorium at Truman State University.

This year, more than 3,100 applicants vied for the 172 positions in KCOM’s Class of 2012. The class includes 101 men and 71 women representing 28 states as well as Canada, China, Nigeria, Columbia, and Cameroon. The class holds an average science GPA of 3.35 and 3.45 overall.