Students Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Donate Lifesaving Bone Marrow, Teach Bilingual CPR and More

Three Siblings Find Their Shared Calling at UNT Health - TCOM

Paging Dr. Daye ... and Dr. Daye ... and Dr. Daye ... and Dr. Daye. Four Dr. Dayes in one family? Sounds outlandish, right? But it isn’t. Alec and Audrey Daye are brother and sister; they are good friends; they were mischievous children growing up; they are study partners; and now they are together one more time as medical students at UNT Health – Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNT Health – TCOM), chasing their dream together. For Alec and Audrey, it doesn’t stop with just them. They have a third sibling in medical school, Sami, making this trifecta more than a family connection when you add that their father is a physician as well. It’s a family legacy.

Alec, a second-year student at UNT Health – TCOM, and Audrey, a first-year UNT Health – TCOM student, are following remarkably similar paths through medicine. Just two years apart, the siblings grew up watching their father, a general surgeon, care for patients throughout rural West Texas. Their older brother, Sami, is one year ahead of Alec in medical school at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso’s Foster School of Medicine.

Read more about the Daye siblings and their shared journey toward becoming physicians.

Medical Student Becomes Lifesaving Bone Marrow Donor

On the final day of her first year of medical school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Georgia (PCOM Georgia), Kiera Curry (DO '29) had just finished her last exam when she received an email that would change the course of her life.

The email said that Kiera was a match to donate lifesaving bone marrow to a young child.

At first, she thought the message might be spam, but then a representative from NMDP℠ contacted her and confirmed the information was real. “I obviously wanted to help if I could,” Kiera said.

Read more about Kiera’s experience becoming a lifesaving bone marrow donor.

Beyond the Diagnosis: How KCU-COM and Mercy Improve Patient Outcomes Through Student Health Advocates

When a patient misses a follow-up appointment, leaves a prescription unfilled or returns to the hospital shortly after discharge, healthcare providers often focus on what didn't happen.

At Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCU-COM), students are learning to ask a different question: Why?

That question sits at the heart of a partnership between KCU-COM's Joplin campus and Mercy Hospital Joplin. Through Student Health Advocates, KCU students serve patients living with chronic illnesses while gaining firsthand insight into the circumstances that can impact health outcomes long after a hospital stay ends.

Read more about how KCU-COM and Mercy Hospital Joplin are improving patient outcomes through Student Health Advocates.

VCOM-Louisiana Team Earns First Place at Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference

A team from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Louisiana Campus (VCOM-Louisiana)—Maysoon Makhlouf, PhD, research lab assistant; Berony Geneste, OMS IV; and Zack Abd Elmageed, PhD, principal investigator and discipline chair of pharmacology—earned first place in the Graduate Oral Division at the 42nd Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference.

The team was recognized for its presentation, “Small ubiquitin-like modifier protein (SUMO) pathway blockade for the treatment of aggressive phenotypes of prostate cancer.” This achievement reflects the power of collaboration and mentorship between student researchers and faculty/staff and VCOM-Louisiana's commitment to advancing research that can contribute to the future of medicine.

View more photos from VCOM-Louisiana's recognition at the Southern Biomedical Engineering Conference on VCOM-Louisiana's Facebook.

WVSOM Alumnus Helps Shape AI Use in Osteopathic Education, Patient Care

Movies from the 1980s, including The Terminator and WarGames, were initial catalysts that led Ravi Yarid, DO, to incorporate artificial intelligence into his life at a basic level. Now, he is posing questions about AI to the osteopathic medical community in hopes the profession can serve as a primary source for literacy in this new age of AI integration.

“I was always aware of AI, with AI-related futuristic movies, and about 15 years ago I worked on projects with a much narrower AI scope. I knew spellcheck was AI. Amazon has been using AI. But when AI dropped in a big, general format at the end of 2022, I knew I needed to be involved. This would be the direction of the next chapter of my life,” he said.

Read more about Dr. Yarid’s path to osteopathic medicine and his leadership in AI use.

VCOM-Virginia Names New Health Sciences Education Building

Photo: H. Pat and Nancy E. Artis

Longtime community philanthropists H. Pat and Nancy E. Artis have made a $5.1 million commitment to Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Virginia Campus (VCOM-Virginia) to support scholarships for medical students. In recognition of the couple’s extraordinary generosity, the campus will name its new Health Sciences Education Building in their honor.

Pat notes that there are a lot of good causes donors can support and feel like they have done something worthwhile. However, “I view donating to VCOM as acting on my own self-interest,” he says. “Investing in VCOM is investing in the future physicians who will allow us to live our lives more fully.”

Read more about the Artis family's commitment to supporting medical student scholarships and the naming of VCOM-Virginia's new Health Sciences Education Building.

PCOM South Georgia Shares Lifesaving Lessons Across Languages

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine South Georgia (PCOM South Georgia) osteopathic medical students are helping protect the people who power the region's agricultural industry through bilingual CPR and emergency response training.

For student doctor Mauricio Soto (DO '28), this project has personal roots. A native of Coffee County, Georgia, Mauricio spent his childhood summers picking blueberries and blackberries in the fields. This experience inspired his interest in serving agricultural workers and led to his initial meeting with Thomas J. Last, PhD, professor of biochemistry, cell biology and genetics, and Stacie Fairley, PhD, associate professor of microbiology and immunology at PCOM South Georgia.

“I saw firsthand how quickly medical emergencies can happen,” he said. “I witnessed a woman faint from heat exhaustion and dehydration, and a teenage coworker get bitten by a snake. Those experiences stayed with me and inspired our team to create a program that gives farmworkers practical skills so they can respond confidently in emergencies.”

Read more about how PCOM South Georgia students are providing bilingual CPR and emergency response training to agricultural workers.

VCOM-Carolinas HCMO Hosts Annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration

On October 7, 2026, the Hispanic Community Medical Outreach (HCMO) student organization at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Carolinas Campus (VCOM-Carolinas) held its annual Hispanic Heritage Month celebration. At the event, students, faculty and staff enjoyed food, dancing and a piñata on the back patio of VCOM-Carolinas' beautiful campus.

View more photos from the annual Hispanic Heritage Month celebration on VCOM-Carolinas' Facebook.