Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH
President

Service in the Spirit of the Season

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you and yours a very happy holiday season and a healthy, peaceful New Year.

In the spirit of the season, I hope we all will recommit ourselves to the service orientation that is part of nearly every one of the osteopathic medical colleges’ mission statements, and that inspired us all to enter the osteopathic medical profession, whether as physicians, educators or students. In light of the current economic landscape, there has never been a more important time to give back. Physicians see the impact of unemployment, poor economic circumstances, lack of health insurance and disease in the lives of their patients, and the giving-back spirit of our profession is needed now as much as it has ever been in the past.

I have been impressed with and inspired by the great service work that the nation’s osteopathic medical schools and their students are undertaking on behalf of their local, state, national and global communities. In the Campus Roundup section of this issue alone (see left-hand column), we highlight TOUROCOM-NY’s work in teaching local students about healthy living, VCOM’s efforts to provide health-screening services to local Spanish-speaking residents, and TUCOM-CA’s recent 5K run, which benefited a local charitable organization. And there are stories like this each month (see past issues), from all 25 colleges of osteopathic medicine, about how our schools are engaged in supporting their communities.

It is encouraging that today’s students seem particularly dedicated to service work, and I applaud their ongoing efforts to improve the health and well-being of their communities and their world. As an example, AACOM’s Council of Student Government Presidents frequently engages in significant service projects. Last January, the group spent time working with Habitat for Humanity during its Winter Meeting.

AACOM also is doing its part. This year, we have scaled back our usual staff holiday celebration and are working together on a couple of service projects. AACOM will be making a donation to Snowball Express, an organization devoted to helping the children of those who have lost their lives in service to our country (see http://www.snowballexpress.org/). And, in lieu of our usual gift exchange, staff will be donating gifts to one of the many angel trees in our community. We intend to continue our service efforts beyond the holiday season, and have appointed a staff committee to oversee that work.

 I hope you all will join us in helping to ensure that those less fortunate than ourselves are able to enjoy this holiday season.