Medical Educator, Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODME, Named Next AACOM President and CEO

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Robert A. Cain, DO, FACOI, FAODME, has been chosen as the next President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM). Dr. Cain will start in early summer.

Currently serving as the Associate Dean for Clinical Education at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM), Dr. Cain was selected after an extensive, six-month nationwide search.

“Dr. Cain lives and breathes osteopathic medicine,” said Lori A. Kemper, DO, Dean of the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine of Midwestern University (AZCOM) and Chair of the AACOM Board of Deans. “With extensive credentials in undergraduate medical education and graduate medical education, the board knew that the right person who could shape the next chapter of AACOM’s history was Dr. Cain. We look forward to working with him as he transitions to one of the most important positions in medical education.”

In addition to his role at Ohio University, Dr. Cain functions as the Chief Academic Officer for the Ohio Centers for Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE), a statewide medical education consortium. Prior to this university appointment, he served as the Director of Medical Education (DME) from 2006 to 2014, and as the Director of the Internal Medicine residency program from 1999 to 2007 at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, OH.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Cain has served on a number of local, state, and national committees, task forces, and boards in a variety of roles, including the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Council on Postdoctoral Training Institutions (COPTI), the AOA Council on Postdoctoral Training (COPT), the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI) Board of Directors, the ACOI Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, the AOA and AACOM Blue Ribbon Commission on Osteopathic Medical Education, and the First Chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Osteopathic Principles Committee. He also served as President of the Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators (AODME, now known as the AOGME).

Dr. Cain has worked closely with AACOM over the years, specifically with the Assembly of Osteopathic Graduate Medical Educators (AOGME) and the AACOM UME-GME Continuum Initiative as a member of the steering committee, where he authored The Osteopathic Learning Environment, featuring the work of AACOM's Models for Clinical Education Collaborations of the Future Working Group.

Dr. Cain was inducted into the AOGME Collegium of Fellows in 2018 and has received many other awards for his contributions to osteopathic medical education, including the Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators Leadership Award in 2014, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Master Clinical Faculty in 2011, Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine Standard of Excellence Award in 2009, and the ACOI Teacher of the Year in 2004.

As a specialist in pulmonary medicine, Dr. Cain graduated from OU-HCOM in 1988 and operated a private practice in Ohio for more than 20 years. Originally board certified in both internal medicine and pulmonary medicine, he was recertified by the American Osteopathic Board of Internal Medicine (AOBIM) in pulmonary medicine in 2018. Dr. Cain enjoys reading, creative writing, competing as a master Olympic weightlifter, and kayaking with his wife, Gina, a dental hygienist.

Dr. Cain will succeed Stephen C. Shannon, DO, MPH, who has served as AACOM’s President and CEO for the last 13 years. Dr. Shannon announced his retirement last July.

The Search Process
The Chair of the AACOM Board of Deans, Dr. Kemper, formed a seven-person search committee chaired by Thomas A. Cavalieri, DO, Dean, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, with members, including Margaret A. Wilson, DO, Dean, A.T. Still University—Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine; Robyn Phillips-Madson, DO, MPH, Founding Dean and Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine; Lisa R. Nash, DO, MS-HPEd, FAAFP, Sr. Associate Dean – GME, UNTHSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine; Clinton Adams, DO, MPA, President and CEO, Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine; Darrin D'Agostino, DO, MPH, MBA, Executive Dean and VP for Health Affairs, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine; and Kenneth Veit, DO, MBA, Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The executive search firm, Lochlin Partners, assisted the committee.