Page 20 - WesternU View - Fall/Winter 2014
P. 20
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
College of Osteopathic
Medicine of the Pacific
A few years ago, we could say there had been no substantial
changes in medical education since the Flexner Report in
1910. We cannot say that anymore. Medical education is
changing, and COMP is poised to lead those changes in
many areas, particularly in lifestyle medicine.
This year, we created the Healthy Living and Wellness
Initiative. Our vision is to train our future physicians to
prevent, treat and reverse chronic diseases through lifestyle
choices, as well as leading by example. Through this
initiative, we have created partnerships with community
leaders in California and Oregon, medical facilities, research
institutions, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
Within the College, we have created a Longitudinal Tracks
program, a curriculum elective focusing on lifestyle
medicine. These tracks allow our medical students to follow
Paula M. Crone, DO patients during all four years of study and to learn from the
patient’s perspective. By stressing healthy lifestyle choices in
the beginning, our goal is to reduce the overall occurrence of
lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes and high blood
pressure, to name a few.
To stress the importance of lifestyle choices among our
buildings, we also recently named Chief Wellness Officers at
our two campuses. In California, we’ve selected Marcel Fraix,
DO, and on the Lebanon campus, Robyn Dreibelbis, DO.
Our students will also continue taking part in the
Interprofessional Education program, teaching them to
practice team-based care, care delivery skills and
management. Coupled with leadership training, we will
prepare our students to be the leaders that our communities
expect them to be. We already are leaders in these areas, but
to be national leaders, we cannot teach our future physicians
with the curriculum from 1910. We are the leaders of
medical education reformation.
18 Western University of Health Sciences
College of Osteopathic
Medicine of the Pacific
A few years ago, we could say there had been no substantial
changes in medical education since the Flexner Report in
1910. We cannot say that anymore. Medical education is
changing, and COMP is poised to lead those changes in
many areas, particularly in lifestyle medicine.
This year, we created the Healthy Living and Wellness
Initiative. Our vision is to train our future physicians to
prevent, treat and reverse chronic diseases through lifestyle
choices, as well as leading by example. Through this
initiative, we have created partnerships with community
leaders in California and Oregon, medical facilities, research
institutions, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.
Within the College, we have created a Longitudinal Tracks
program, a curriculum elective focusing on lifestyle
medicine. These tracks allow our medical students to follow
Paula M. Crone, DO patients during all four years of study and to learn from the
patient’s perspective. By stressing healthy lifestyle choices in
the beginning, our goal is to reduce the overall occurrence of
lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes and high blood
pressure, to name a few.
To stress the importance of lifestyle choices among our
buildings, we also recently named Chief Wellness Officers at
our two campuses. In California, we’ve selected Marcel Fraix,
DO, and on the Lebanon campus, Robyn Dreibelbis, DO.
Our students will also continue taking part in the
Interprofessional Education program, teaching them to
practice team-based care, care delivery skills and
management. Coupled with leadership training, we will
prepare our students to be the leaders that our communities
expect them to be. We already are leaders in these areas, but
to be national leaders, we cannot teach our future physicians
with the curriculum from 1910. We are the leaders of
medical education reformation.
18 Western University of Health Sciences
