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RVUCOM Students Provide Much Needed Healthcare to Underserved

Families in NepalPage 1

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Inside

R&W StudentsExperience Avalanche Rescue TrainingPage 8

Learning with NOELLE - New Birthing SimulatorPage 9

Second Annual Hospital Day

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F O U N D E D 2 0 0 6

2012 Newsletter

Vol. 4 No. 3

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Eight RVUCOM students, along with Acting Dean Thomas Mohr, D.O.; Associ-ate Professor of Family Medicine Camille Bentley, D.O.; and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine Jill Pitcher, D.O., boarded a plane and traveled into the unknown as they embarked on the University’s first medical mission to Nepal. Their destina-tion: Kathmandu, the capital and largest metropolitan city in Nepal, and later, a rural camp in the valley. Their mission: to provide much needed medical care to un-derserved populations residing there.

The team traveled with A Broader View, a charitable organization that arranges medical missions and humanitarian trips

abroad. They also worked in conjunction

with MountainFund.org, an organization that addresses poverty-related issues in developing mountain cultures.

In their first week in Kathmandu, the RVU-COM team visited two schools - Orchid Garden and the Koseli School. At Koseli, they saw many cases of perforated ear drums due to untreated ositus, and other common ailments. At Orchid Garden, they provided medical care to over 300 children, performing pediatric physical exams and head-to-toe screenings. “One of our most significant contributions here was that we developed a physical exam form for the children so that all of the data we collected can be recorded,” says Dr. Bentley. “We were instrumental in estab-lishing a permanent health record for those children.”

During their second week, the RVUCOM team traveled five hours east of Kathman-du along dirt roads and rough terrain into the mountain valley to a rural camp called Kumari. This leg of the trip would prove to be more challenging than expected, with no amenities – just their tents and an emp-ty building, recently constructed to house a planned medical facility. “It wasn’t exactly

what we expected,” says Dr. Bentley. “We found ourselves really dependent on the eight sherpas that came with us to provide logistical care. They were amazing – they cooked three meals a day for us, from scratch over an open fire, brought drink-ing water, helped with our tents and aided us on our grueling three-hour hike upon leaving.” Though the team came well pre-pared, the most unexpected part of the trip was the monsoon that hit the mountain on their second day.

“The first day was beautiful – like nirvana on top of the mountain,” says Dr. Bentley. “The next day, the sky opened up and rain continued for 24-30 hours.” By the third day, the rain stopped, but the air was still very cloudy and foggy. “These people came for healthcare in the fog and the pouring rain. They were soaked through and barefoot. Two girls I saw were shaking from the cold – it makes you realize that this is their life... this is what happens every time it rains there, and this is what they’ll endure for healthcare. It makes you realize how lucky we are.”

Amidst the rain at Kumari, the RVUCOM team was able to see over 400 patients of all ages. They saw a large number of eye changes from undiagnosed and untreated diabetes. They also found several instances of heart murmurs, headache complaints, cystoceles and prolapsed uteri, and count-less hernias and hydroceles in men. “We also saw a lot of shoulder, upper back and neck issues,” explains Dr. Pitcher. “The stu-dents wanted to get hands-on – they setup a room with a cot and one student to do OMM therapy. This area was really stu-dent driven, and they did an excellent job.”

RVUCOM Students Provide Much Needed Healthcare to Underserved Families in Nepal

Kumari welcomes RVU and A Broader View

Camille Bentley, D.O. with children at Orchid Garden

Elizabeth Figa, OMS-III examines a child at Orchid Garden (Continued on page 5)

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“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”- Percy Bysshye Shelley

One of the classics. Here at Rocky Vista University, we have much to look forward to this Spring. It’s go-ing to be a great one. Full COCA ac-creditation is on the April horizon for the College of Osteopathic Medicine. A visit to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) this Spring will bring us one step closer to candidacy and regional ac-creditation. Graduation on May 19th marks a transition for the RVUCOM Class of 2012 as they end their career as medical stu-dents, and begin their careers as physicians in residency training. There’s much to be excited about and a lot of growth.

With spring coming, it’s also a time to think about planting ‘new seeds’ — the kind of seeds that bear fruit. A good garden requires great soil, careful planning and lots of nourishment. Our fac-ulty, staff, and student body have been doing just that. Students have been studying hard and providing important feedback to improve next year’s courses. Our curriculum committee and our professors are preparing improvements as well, that will give our students the latest and best in medical education. Our staff have been making great contributions to the strategic plan and work-ing hard to ensure that RVU continues to provide a positive and safe environment to work in as we train the next generation of physicians.

The University is truly preparing a wonderful garden. With all our collective work, we are shaping a University that will contin-ue to grow from a firm foundation. Like all of you, I am very ex-cited about the coming of Spring, and even more so as I watch the wonderful growth of Rocky Vista University and the magnificent ‘fruit’ all of our hard work will produce.

RVU is pleased to announce the recent addition of Elise Scanlon, Esq. as a new member to the Board of Trustees.

Ms. Scanlon is a principal in the Washington, D.C. based Elise Scan-lon Law Group, advising institutions of higher education on regulatory and operational matters and policy. Ms. Scanlon also counsels non-profit organizations, including accrediting agencies and associations, on mat-ters pertaining to higher education policy, governance, management and strategic planning.

Ms. Scanlon served as counsel on the Education Team in the Government and Regulatory Affairs Group of Drinker Biddle & Reath, LLP, in the nation’s capital. From 1999-2008, she served as Executive Director of the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges, formerly ACCSCT. As Chief Executive Of-ficer of that national non-profit accrediting organization, she was responsible for managing the accreditation process for 800 higher education institutions. She advised the Commission on strategy, standards and policies; and she managed a staff of 37 profession-als, a volunteer corps of over 300 evaluators, and a $6 million bud-get. She was responsible for maintaining ACCSCT’s recognition as a reliable authority on educational quality by the U.S. Secretary of Education. She was appointed by former Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to participate in Negotiated Rulemaking for Accreditation, Accreditation Forum and Test of Leadership Con-ference on Accountability in Higher Education.

While serving at the helm of ACCSCT, Ms. Scanlon worked close-ly with the Council of recognized National Accrediting Agencies.

RVU Board of TrusteesWelcomes New Member

A Message From thePresidentBy Bruce Dubin, D.O., JD, Acting President

Bruce Dubin, D.O., JD, RVU Acting President, presented a plaque as a thank you to the City Council of Colorado Springs, in recognition of their assistance in training Osteopathic Physicians at Memorial Hospital.

(Continued on page 5)

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This is an ex-traordinary time for Rocky Vista University. We

are fast approaching a sentinel event in the history of our school: the graduation of our inaugural class on May 19th, 2012 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in downtown Denver. Plans are well un-derway for a memorable week of festivities leading up to the graduation itself, which will also include the commissioning of 30 new military physicians.

There are other exciting developments to report. In February, the American Os-teopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation con-ducted their final site visit at RVU. After an extensive review over two days with eight inspectors, the inspection team announced that their report to the Commission would show two commendations and no re-quirements. Such an outstanding report is nearly unheard of in a new medical school, and all students, faculty and staff should be extremely proud of the hard work that has gone into the continued development of this institution. The site visit team’s re-port will be presented to the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) in April when a decision will be made to confer full accreditation to RVU-COM in advance of our first graduation.

While COCA accreditation provides RVU with the ability to confer the degree of Osteopathic Medicine, we are also pursu-ing regional accreditation for the Univer-sity through the Higher Learning Com-mission (HLC). We were inspected last Fall by the HLC and received a very positive review from the team. The report will be reviewed by the Commission in April and we hope to receive Candidacy status at that time. Institutions must remain in can-didacy status for several years before the commission will approve full regional ac-creditation. HLC accreditation is a primary pathway to obtain Title IV funding which entitles our students to apply for federal student loans.

RVUCOM’s accomplishments are reflect-ed in the accomplishments of our students, and they continue to make us proud! We have a 97% pass rate on the COMLEX-I board exam which is one of the highest pass rates across all osteopathic medical schools. Our pass rate on the COMLEX-II PE board exam is over 98%, which again is at the top of the profession. Such a high pass rate is rarely, if ever, seen in a newly established medical school.

The objective of any medical school is to prepare students to enter a strong residen-cy or internship. In February and March, the inaugural class of RVUCOM partici-pated in the residency match, where each

student is matched to a post-graduate training program. Through the Military Match, the AOA Match and the ACGME Match for allopathic programs, our stu-dents performed extremely well. Students matched into all specialties with over 60% of students matching into primary care programs. Out of all the osteopathic medi-cal schools, RVUCOM had the second highest percentage of students participat-ing in the AOA Match, which is a credit to our profession.

RVUCOM has proven itself, in a remark-ably short time, to be an osteopathic medi-cal school of the highest caliber. After less than four years in operation, the faculty, staff, and students have distinguished this institution through local and international outreach, dedication to the service of our nation’s military, excellent board scores, and a solid showing in the residency matches. We are now approaching 4000 applications for our 150 first year seats and this will most likely continue to increase as we graduate our first class and word gets out to the rest of the world about the good things we are doing here.

Congratulations to everyone who has worked tirelessly in the development of our medical school and congratulations to our students who are working hard to make their own dreams come true.

A Message From the DeanBy Thomas Mohr, D.O., Acting Dean

RVUCOM has announced the acceptance of four fellows for the Harold Ives Magoun, Jr. D.O., FAAO, FCA Memorial Undergraduate Osteopathic Princi-ples & Practices Fellowship (the OPP Fellows).The third-year students chosen for the Fellowship are Alicia Elliott, Gregory Kuper, Jeffrey Summers and Jacob Ludwig. Congratulations!

RVUCOM OPP Fellows Jacob Ludwig, Jeffrey Summers, Alicia Elliott and Gregory Kuper

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RVUCOM was only the second group of healthcare providers to visit Kumari. The last group, also from Colorado, visited in 2008. The area is so rural and remote that amenities are nearly impossible to acquire there; they simply lack funding. The shell of a building that was constructed as a medi-cal facility was built through private funds, yet still has no running water or electricity. Dr. Bentley says she hopes that the building will be functional by the time a second trip is planned to the area.

Dr. Bentley says that this trip to Nepal was physically the hardest thing she has ever done. Kumari was her first foray into camping, and the ever-changing schedule of load-sharing electricity in Kathmandu

meant cold nights and difficulty with charging electronic necessities and equip-ment. Clean water was also hard to come by unless purchased in bottles in town.

It wasn’t all a struggle, however. During the trip everyone was given the opportunity to venture out, see the sights and take in the culture. Much of the group visited several of the historic sites, such as Bhaktapur and Bhouda and a monkey temple as well as Durbar Square and Patan. The highlight, however, came for a determined few (Dr. Bentley, Dr. Pitcher, Maria Tucker, OMS-III and Allie Kossoy, OMS-III) who, after sev-eral attempts, were able to take a plane ride over the Himalayas to see Mt. Everest.

Both Dr. Bentley and Dr. Pitcher agreed that they were most impressed by the RVUCOM students on this trip. “I would really compliment the students on being as a group, some of the best – they really acted like professionals,” says Dr. Pitcher. Dr. Bentley added, “It was the first trip I went on where not one student complained, no matter what they went through. The stu-dents were fantastic and improved their medical and diagnostic skills over those two weeks. We were thanked tremendous-ly by the people there.”

Dr. Bentley, who also heads the RVUCOM Global Medicine Track, is no stranger to medical missions, though this was her first venture to Nepal Several of the third and fourth year students on this trip had also previously traveled with Dr. Bentley on mission trips to Guatemala and Africa. This trip was part of a rotation credit for the students.

Additional medical missions trips for other destinations are being planned for the fu-ture as part of the RVUCOM Global Medi-cine Track. Dr. Bentley also hopes to plan a second trip to Nepal in the next two years.

RVUCOM Students in Nepal(continued)

Elizabeth Figa, OMS-III; Sarah Coulter, OMS-III; Stephanie Mathre, OMS-IV and Nancy Hsu, OMS-III

The RVUCOM group visits a temple in Kathmandu

Looking for that perfect gift for someone? Want to show off your RVU spirit? You can now order your “RVU-wear” online any-where, anytime. Whether you want to surprise a loved one with a RVU hoodie as a thank you for their support or need a hydration (water) bottle to quench your thirst during lectures, the online store offers a great selection of merchandise.

The Office of Admissions still has a supply of merchandise avail-able for purchase, but will not place another order after the cur-rent inventory has been depleted. Feel free to visit the admissions “store” if you are on campus. Otherwise, the online store can be accessed via the RVU website. Happy shopping!

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RVUCOM is pleased to announce that Sister Anne E. Brooks, SNJM, D.O. will de-liver the Commencement Address at the College’s Inaugural Graduation. The cer-emony will be held on Saturday, May 19, at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver.

Dr. Brooks graduated from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medi-cine in 1982 and began her medical prac-tice the following year at the Tutwiler Clin-ic in the northwest corner of Mississippi in the Mississippi Delta. Dr. Brooks serves a medically needy population in the area. Approximately 75% of the clinic patients are uninsured.

Dr. Brooks was selected the first female Chief of Staff at Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center several years ago and currently serves as Chief of Medicine. Dr. Brooks is also an Adjunct Clinical Pro-fessor at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine and provides meaningful experiences at the Tutwiler Clinic, nursing homes, through house vis-its and hospital care time for the Family

Practice clinical rotations of students from all around the country.

For her outstanding outreach to the medi-cally underserved, she was inducted as a Fellow into the American Academy of Osteopathic Family Physicians in 1992. Dr. Brooks has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Alumnus of the Year Award presented by Michigan State Uni-versity College of Osteopathic Medicine. She was featured on “60 Minutes” in 1990 and also on their 35th anniversary pro-gram in 2003. She was selected by the Car-ing Institute for the ‘Caring People Award’ in 1992. In March 2011 she appeared on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams “Making a Difference” and most recently in March 2012 CBS Evening News with Byron Pitts. She was honored as one of the Mississippi Delta’s top 75 women in busi-ness by the Delta Business Journal, Feb-ruary 2000. In 2004, the American Medi-cal Association Foundation honored Dr. Brooks, as well as three other physicians, with the Pride in the Profession Award.

Dr. Brooks’ wholistic practice is geared to empowering her patients for health, and she finds it both a continuous challenge and a simultaneously richly rewarding ex-perience. This is what she wishes to leave as her legacy to future generations of gen-erous, compassionate physicians so they too can experience the 1000% job satisfac-tion that she does.

RVUCOM Announces Commencement Speaker

Sister Anne E. Brooks, SNJM, D.O.Photo courtesy of Troy Catchings

Saturday, May 19 will be a historic day for Rocky Vista University – it is the day that our very first graduating class will walk across the stage, earning their D.O. degree! The Class of 2012 has had the honor – and challenge – of doing everything first, as they were the very first students at RVU and have been paving the way ever since. I, for one, will always appreciate the risk these students took in coming to a brand new school, and the hard work they put into creating the culture of the student body!

Graduation week will be the first time the class has all been to-gether for the past year, and there will be plenty of opportunities for them to have fun together one more time. Wednesday will start with some important meetings on campus – Alumni As-sociation, meeting with the Deans, and Financial Aid. After the serious stuff, the students will head to downtown Denver for a day of play, sponsored by their class government…Roller Coast-ers at Elitch Gardens, and Baseball at Coors Field! Thursday will start with Brunch, then students will have portraits taken in their

regalia. The Graduation Dinner will be Thursday evening – a chance to celebrate accomplishments of the class, as well as in-dividual award winners. On Friday afternoon, we will hold our commencement rehearsal on campus, followed by the Gradua-tion Picnic, open to all graduating students and their families.

And of course Saturday is the big day! The RVUCOM Inaugural Commencement Ceremony will begin promptly at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 19, at Ellie Caulkins Opera House (a part of Den-ver Center for the Performing Arts). The venue is amazing, the speaker is highly anticipated (Sister Anne Brooks, D.O.), and of course the graduates will be the focus of the day. Plus, we’ll be commissioning the 30 graduating military students as a part of the ceremony.

All in all, this promises to be very memorable day!

By Zea Moullet, Director of Student Services

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Fourteen student doctors from the RVU-COM Rural and Wilderness Medicine Track ventured to the mountains at The Wolf Creek Ski Area in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. But they weren’t hitting the slopes for a day of skiing – instead, the stu-dent doctors were gathering for a day of intensive training in avalanche rescue.

Under the guidance and expertise of the Park County Search and Rescue Team, the Flight for Life crew from Mercy Medi-cal Center in Durango and the ski patrol and avalanche rescue dogs courtesy of the Wolf Creek Ski Area, the student doctors engaged in a variety of training exercises. These exercises were designed to test the system response for a mass avalanche

burial of victims, and to teach the proper procedures for rescue, treatment and evac-uation of victims.

A team of experts in avalanche rescue shared their knowledge with the group. Colin Sutton, a Wolf Creek avalanche tech-nician, reviewed the basics of avalanche physics and detailed types of snow, slides and terrain, as well as common mistakes backcountry travelers make that trig-ger avalanches. Ski patrol instructor Jon Reed explained the pathological processes that occur to claim the life of a victim, and demonstrated the use of the Avalung; a device that allows exhaled carbon diox-ide to be shunted away from the victim and not build up around the airway. Ski Patrol member Brian Pringles, an expert dog technician, provided an overview of rescue dogs and strategies the patrol uses to enhance the dogs’ ability to find buried victims.

Dr. Grant Hurley, Medical Director for the Wolf Creek Ski Patrol, also held a two-hour interactive session on his duties as Medi-cal Director and fielded questions about injuries specific to snow sports. The Flight

for Life crew landed their newest high alti-tude helicopter at the top of the mountain and talked to the student doctors about the crew’s duties, strengths and limitations.

The highlight of the day was when the Flight for Life helicopter and ski patrol, along with the student doctors and ski school instructors, participated in a drill to rescue five buried skiers. Dummies were buried and used to simulate victims while the dogs and avalanche probes were used for the rescues.

The combination of warm weather and high winds coupled with periodic heavy mountain snow has made for a very active avalanche season. The training received by the RVUCOM student doctors solidi-fied the idea that prevention is the key to surviving an avalanche and gave students further insight into practicing in rural and wilderness settings.

The RVUCOM Rural and Wilderness Medicine Track is one of the University’s specialized educational tracks, created for students to enhance the focus of their medical education. The track is designed to prepare students to serve the health care needs of patients in rural or wilderness en-vironments that may lack the availability of major medical support systems. The track is focused on providing students with the educational tools they need to perform in situations where physicians need to fulfill many community health care roles. As part of the Rural and Wilderness track, students participate in field training expe-riences in wilderness environments as well as clinical rotations that will prepare them for working in rural communities.

RVUCOM Rural & Wilderness Track Students Experience Avalanche Trainingin Pagosa Springs

RVUCOM Students assist Flight For Life crew members unloading rescue equipment

Search and Rescue members assist an avalanche victim during the rescue simulation

RVUCOM Students get ready to venture up the mountain for rescue training

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One of the greatest challenges facing many who live in rural and remote areas of the country is access to good obstetrical care. Many new physicians, fearing high liability costs, simply do not take OB patients, and instead, shift them over to specialists who may be miles away. Without physicians to provide obstetrical care, many rural critical care hospitals have been forced to close their delivery rooms, and the problem continues to grow. One of the measures of the quality of a healthcare system is birth and birthing mortality and morbidity. Lack of access to convenient, quality prenatal and intra-par-tum care is vital to achieving good results in that area.

The birthing process is universal to all hu-man beings, yet fear of litigation has im-pacted not only the obstetrical field, but the ability of medical schools to provide good birthing experiences for their students. Students must be given an opportunity to view, understand and participate in the birthing process. Whether on live patients or real life simulators, failure to teach funda-mental principles results in students never being comfortable handling deliveries. The more students understand prior to real life

patient care experiences, the more proficient and effective they will be. No matter where we are in the world, the basic principles of obstetrical care do not change. Developing the most fundamental tactile skills by all our students is vital to patient safety and good outcomes for the mother and infant.

The airline industry has proven that critical skills can be fostered in simulators where all manner of problems can be presented and solved in a controlled environment. Later, when presented with the real thing, students are more likely to remain calm and thoughtful to make the right life saving decisions. Actions and decisions can be bro-ken down, analyzed then modified during the exercise providing instant feedback to the participants on their skill levels.

NOELLE is an interactive birthing simula-tor that talks and interacts with the students. She possesses the amazing ability to deliver a baby every five minutes, and has the super-human quality to have those babies with all manner of fetal mal-positions and presen-tations. She can suffer a cardiac arrest and come back minutes later to deliver a breech baby. She can push when you want her to, and she can be uncooperative as well. She can yell at you in both English and Span-ish and then possibly bleed to death before your eyes. She can have her infant get stuck requiring an operative approach or she can deliver a healthy, viable infant. Students can

administer treatments and get instant feed-back on the choice.

Rocky Vista University will give all of our students experience on the simulator, but extra time will be given to the Rural and Wilderness Medicine, Military Medicine and Global Medicine Tracks since delivery experience is especially important for those who will serve in areas with little or no ob-stetrical care. In real life, a majority of the deliveries go fine - it’s the small percentage that don’t go well that need to be prepared for. Knowing what to look for and how to counteract the threat is the key to success. Those signs and scenarios remain whether on humans or simulators. The birthing sim-ulator will not replace time with the real pa-tient any more than the flight simulator will replace time in the cockpit, but it will allow students to make decisions without the fear of disastrous consequences.

NOELLE Birthing SimulatorPreparing Students for Clinical Experiences

By Thomas Told, D.O., FACOFP -dist., Chair, Rural & Wilderness Medicine

Students Dorothy Sizemore and Devon Warren listen to a fetal heartbeat on NOELLE

Thomas Told, D.O. discusses the newborn and issues with the placenta following a simulated birth

RVUCOM would like to congratulate Senior Fellow, Kay Kelts, OMS-III on her victory in the RVUCOM A. Hollis Wolf Case Competition. Kay represented RVUCOM at the American Academy of Osteopathy (AAO) Convocation in Louisville, KY in late March, where she swept the competition, winning first place for her presentation. Kay’s win marks the second year in a row that a student from RVUCOM has won this competition.

Kay describes her case, Chest Wall Pain in the ED: “While working in the ED with an MD attending, I was able to perform OMM on a patient who presented with left anterior chest wall pain, after ruling out all major medical issues. This demonstrates how osteopathic hand skills can be applied to all areas of medi-cine, whether it be medical diagnosis or osteopathic treatment.”

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On March 2, the RVUCOM department of Clinical Affairs hosted their second annual Hospital Day for second and third year student doctors.

Participation was impressive this year with 18 hospital-based residencies and hospi-tal systems attending from as far away as New York, California and the Gulf Coast Region of Texas. All nine Colorado Fam-ily Practice residency programs were represented as well, bringing the total to 27 programs in attendance. While some programs attended for the first time, many came because they had matched RVU-COM students in the Osteopathic Match in February and hoped for quality ap-plicants from RVUCOM again next year. This was the case with the programs from Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada and California.

“We were also honored that large, well established programs from the East, such as New York and Michigan where there is an abundance of Osteopathic applicants, were impressed to come,” says Jo Brogus, Clinical Track Rotations Coordinator. “We also had good representation from our first Osteopathic Internal Medicine program in Colorado at Parkview Hospital in Pueblo. All the Colorado Family Medicine pro-grams were in attendance and all were very interested in taking students for rota-tions in the coming year.”

The purpose of Hospital Day is to give second and third year student doctors a chance to connect with residency pro-grams that would be a good fit for training them after graduation. It also gives post-graduate programs, impressed with RVU-COM students, an opportunity to visit second and third year students on campus and firm up rotations and auditions for the coming academic year.

Focus groups were organized for second and third year students in the afternoon to ask specific questions about residency programs in medicine, surgery, pediatrics and family medicine. Selected RVUCOM clinical faculty, joined by some of the ex-hibitors, led the small group discussions. Students were given a brief introduction to the application process and the unique qualities of each specialty. The discussion group was then open to any questions or concerns they may have about the special-ty or the process. The groups rotated on the half hour so all students attending had a chance to participate in each group.

RVUCOM wishes to thank all those who pitched in to make Hospital Day a great success: Duane Brandau, D.O., Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs; Thomas Told, D.O., Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs

and Chair, Rural & Wilderness Medicine; Jo Brogus; Justine Holck, Predoctoral Training Coordinator; Michael Tieman, M.D., FACS, Assistant Professor of Spe-cialty Medicine; Deidre McGee, Adminis-trative Assistant; Melissa Blomquist, Legal & Compliance Division Coordinator, and Clinical Rotations Coordinators Chris Gray, Jesse Lyon and Abe Bustos. Plans are already underway to make next year’s Hospital Day an even bigger event.

The programs in attendance were: Bay Area Corpus Christi Medical Center

Valley Hospital Medical CenterBay Regional Medical Center

Park View Medical CenterOPT-West Educational Consortium

St. Mary Corwin Family Practice Residency

INTEGRIS Southwest Medical CenterINTEGRIS Northwest Family Medicine

Residency ProgramMedical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma

Mountain State OPTIMSU COM Statewide Campus System

University of Wyoming Family Medicine Residency Program at Cheyenne

NYCOMECDriscoll Children’s Hospital Pediatric

Residency

Participating Colorado Association of Family Medicine Residencies included: Exempla St. Joseph, Denver – Rose, Denver – St. Anthony North, Northwest Denver, – Swedish, Southwest Denver – University of Colorado Denver – Denver Health.

Programs Across Colorado to include: Ft. Collins Residency, North Colorado – Sun-rise Urban, St. Mary’s, Grand Junction and Southern Colorado – SCFM Residency, Pueblo – Sierra Vista Regional Health Center

RVUCOM Department of Clinical Affairs Hosts Hospital Day 2012

Kay Kelts, OMS-III, David Cook, OMS-IV & Christina Mainar, OMS-III

Nathan Shreiber, OMS-III talks with representatives from INTEGRIS

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On March 8th, nearly 1000 osteopathic medical students and physicians de-scended on Capital Hill in Washing-ton, D.C. to promote the profession and to lobby congressional leaders on several important issues. RVU-COM was represented by its Acting President, Bruce Dubin, D.O., J.D.; Vice president and General Counsel Andy Usera, Esq., and Acting Dean, Thomas Mohr, D.O. The following students were vital components of our Colorado delegation: Chad Mor-rison OMS-II; Christopher Mutter, OMS-II; Genevieve Muller, OMS-II; Julia Cameron, OMS-II; Jesse Abeler, OMS-II; Julia Skoczynski, OMS-II; Nikita Patel, OMS-I; John Lee, OMS-I; and Peter Gertonson, OMS-I.

The day began with a sea of white lab coats at the Hyatt Regency where John Crosby, the executive director of the American Osteopathic Associa-tion (AOA) and Martin Levine, D.O., the president of the AOA, welcomed everyone and noted the excitement in the room. The participants were briefed on the AOA’s stance on im-portant bills and how best to conduct sessions with the members of con-gress. Several representatives and senators appeared to address the group during the morning. They ex-

pressed their admiration and support for the osteopathic profession and described their opinions about how the fed-eral government should act to preserve graduate medical education and access to medi-cal care.

All participants had been scheduled to meet with their respective representatives and senators by the event orga-nizers, so once the morning session had concluded, hun-dreds of students fanned out across capital hill to attend their meetings in the various congressional office build-ings.

Members of the Colorado contingent met with Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO-2), Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO-5), Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO-3), Rep. Cory Gar-diner (R-CO-4), Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO-1), and Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO-6). The entire group met with staff members for Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Senator Mark Udall (D-CO).

Several items were discussed in these meetings. First, the group talked about RVUCOM to increase their awareness of our accomplishments and to invite each of them to our up-coming graduation. While they all knew about RVUCOM, we would never want to miss an opportunity to brag! On the lobbying front, the primary focus was on funding for graduate medical education and the looming shortage of residency pro-grams, especially in primary care

fields. We also discussed bills that would improve access for patients to medical care.

Our students did an outstanding job of representing the college and play-ing a role in the legislative process. When we asked Senator Bennet’s Di-rector of Health Legislation what our students can do to help in the pro-cess, she stated that understanding the issues and providing feedback to the members of congress, both in person and remotely, is the best way to get your voice heard. If we don’t speak out, then another organization with a louder voice will.

On this day, with nearly a thousand white coats roaming around Capital Hill, everyone knew that the doctors

D.O. Day on the Hill By Thomas Mohr, D.O., Acting Dean

Center: Genevieve Muller, OMS-II, Peter Gertonson, OMS-I with Pre-Soma students from CU-Boulder, Sarah Houseman(left) & Jasmine Mecheri (right)

Back: Andy Usera, Esq.; Thomas Mohr, D.O.; Peter Gertonson, OMS-I; Jesse Abeler, OMS-II; John Lee, OMS-I; Front: Katherine Bewersdorf, OMS-I(Touro University), Julia Skoczynski, OMS-II, Genevieve Muller,

OMS-II; Julia Cameron, OMS-II; and Chad Morrison, OMS-II

By Thomas Mohr, D.O., Acting Dean

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• GME is funded by an act of Congress through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Federal tax-payer dollars fund the initiative. Gener-ally, only hospitals are eligible to receive this funding and the hospitals decide which programs to obtain accredita-tion for and to operate. Each hospital sends data to CMS with the workload of employed residents and the hospital is then paid by CMS.

• The amount a hospital gets paid de-pends on a complex formula where the size of the hospital, the number of Medicare and Medicaid patients seen each year, and the number of residents working are taken into account. Every region in the country has a different multiplier in this formula, and for polit-ical reasons, some regions like the east and west coast, are awarded substan-tially more money per resident than programs in the Midwest and Western states. New York residency programs are paid 2-3 times what a program in Colorado would get paid.

• Payments by CMS to hospitals are separated into Direct Medical Expenses (DME) and Indirect Medical Expenses (IME). The DME pays for resident sala-ries, benefits, malpractice insurance and all the costs of running the program, like the program director’s salary, payments to the accrediting organization, a medi-cal education office and staff, and the medical library. The IME is much more difficult to account for and explain. The theory is that a teaching hospital has added costs that are not seen in non-teaching hospitals. Residents require

sterile gowns and gloves, they often or-der additional supplies or medications for patients, and their presence requires overhead like call rooms, lecture halls, IT support and the like.

• The CAP: In 1997 the Balanced Bud-get Reconciliation Act prohibited the expansion of CMS funded programs by enacting a funding cap on existing programs. This meant that any hos-pital that had residents could not add any additional funded positions in any program. This cap remains in place to-day and the only option at this time to establish a new residency is to locate it in a hospital that has NEVER employed a resident, in a Teaching Health Center, or in an institution that wishes to pay out of pocket for all costs without ap-plying for federal funding.

The issues:• The Cap has to go! There is a loom-ing shortage of residency positions in the United States and it is expected that within 2-4 years, there will not be enough residency slots for American medical school graduates (M.D. and D.O.) and certainly not for the countless international medical school graduates who receive these U.S. taxpayer sup-ported positions. The Cap must be lift-ed by congress to allow for the needed expansion.

• The funding for GME must be made equitable across the country. The re-gional modifier is unfair and cannot be explained rationally. The coastal states have a great deal of political clout and will strenuously resist a change in fund-

ing, but by equalizing funding across the country, there could be a budget neutral increase in slots available.

• The funding for GME must be sim-plified. No one in congress can really understand how GME funding is cal-culated and no hospital can accurately account for the nebulous Indirect Medi-cal Expenses. It’s time to establish a flat rate for payment of residents across the country and eliminate the DME/IME system.

• Should CMS continue to be the or-ganizing body for residency funding? When it was initiated, it was assumed that resident physicians would take care of a disproportionate share of pa-tients with Medicaid, Medicare, and the uninsured. This is often the case, but not always. CMS payments to hospitals wrap their patient care reimbursements in with the repayment for medical ed-ucation that makes it more difficult to separate the two. The congressional ‘Super Committee’ and likely other fu-ture commissions, have targeted CMS for substantial reductions in federal support. In the current system, a cut to CMS will mean a cut for GME fund-ing. A separate budgetary organization within the federal government needs to be created.

• CMS makes payments for GME to hospitals. Hospitals must decide which residency and fellowship programs are most useful to them. Hospitals often be-lieve that residencies in OB/Gyn,

Legislative UpdateFunding for Graduate Medical Education

The actions of Congress affect everyone, but the issue of funding for graduate medical education (GME) is near and dear to the heart of every medical student who strives to obtain the best residency in their chosen field. GME fund-ing is difficult to understand, but critical to the future of every medical student. Here is a brief overview of the issues involved:

(Continued on next page)

By Thomas Mohr, D.O., Acting Dean

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Surgery, ER, and Orthopedics, along with subspecialty fellowships, gener-ate more revenue for the hospital than primary care fields. This creates a dis-incentive to start primary care residen-cy programs. Nationwide workforce analysis reports point to a shortage of primary care physicians, but the pay-ment system encourages development of specialists instead. The federal gov-ernment needs to provide incentives to develop primary care programs. They did roll out a grant program for new family practice residencies at Teaching Health Centers, but this is a very limited program that has not generated widespread interest.

There is no easy solution to tackle these

problems. Raising the CAP and devel-oping new programs will cost money and members of Congress are reluc-tant to pass any legislation that would increase the federal deficit, which is at an all-time high. It is not likely that the public would support a reduction in the current CMS support for patient care. This would look as if we were robbing the poor, under-insured patients to give more money to rich doctors (the public doesn’t take into account student loan debt or the unpaid sacrifice of countless years of hard work to become a physi-cian – they just know that doctors gen-erally are in the highest tax bracket).

There is, however, some recent move-ment on this issue. Several Western leg-

islators, including Colorado’s Senator Udall and Senator Bennet have signed on to a letter encouraging the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to investigate gradu-ate medical education and suggest fea-sible options for change. It appears that the IOM has accepted the challenge and we look forward to their recommenda-tions in the coming year. Previous IOM reports have led to significant changes in the medical profession both through legislation and self-imposed ‘best prac-tices’. A solution must be found – the current system will likely collapse in the next decade if changes are not im-plemented soon. RVUCOM will con-tinue its legislative efforts to promote positive change.

Legislative Update (continued)

Rocky Vista University continues to support the development of new os-teopathic graduate medical education opportunities in the state and region through its support of Rocky Mountain OPTI (Osteopathic Postdoctoral Train-ing Institutions). RMOPTI worked very closely with the administration at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo to establish a newly accredited Osteo-pathic Internal Medicine Residency program and to secure federal grant funding to assist in the start-up costs. Parkview Medical Center was flooded with high quality applications and they have accepted 10 candidates through the match for their first year class next year. We are thrilled to report that 7 of these residents will be RVUCOM graduates. St. Mary Corwin Hospital in Pueblo has also accepted an RVUCOM student into its family medicine resi-dency program for next year.

RMOPTI and RVU are working dili-gently to identify potential new sites for osteopathic graduate medical edu-

cation. When a hospital expresses inter-est in creating a residency program, our staff meet repeatedly with the hospital administration and medical staff to en-sure financial and educational support. RMOPTI offers their expertise to create the curriculum and the accreditation document and to advise the hospital on the hiring of the program director and staff. In general, GME programs are owned and operated by the hospi-tal and federal funding at this time can only be paid to hospital organizations and not colleges. This means that even after substantial effort goes into obtain-ing AOA approval for a residency pro-gram, a hospital makes the final deci-sion on whether or not to proceed.

We have obtained AOA approval for an Internal Medicine residency at Sky Ridge Medical Center and for a Hos-pice and Palliative Care Fellowship at the Hospice of St. Johns in Lakewood. We are hoping that both programs will begin in July 2013, but at this point the decision is entirely in the hands of

those institutions. We have submitted an application to the AOA for a new osteopathic Dermatology residency in Colorado Springs, and we hope to re-ceive word in the next few months as to approval of accreditation for that pro-gram. There are several other programs in initial development, which we will announce once accreditation docu-ments have been submitted. The OPTI itself will undergo another accredita-tion site visit in June, as required by the AOA, and preparations for a new self study are currently underway.

RVUCOM recognizes that the creation of additional postgraduate training programs will improve the training for our clinical third and fourth year stu-dents and provide more opportunities for our graduates to remain in the area after medical school. We are making a significant investment in the develop-ment of new programs which will, in time, enhance our ability to serve Colo-rado and the Mountain West.

An Update From Rocky Mountain OPTI By Thomas Mohr, D.O., Acting Dean rocky mountainosteopathic postdoctoral training institution

opti

By Kathy Leary, Executive Director of Student Financial Services

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The amazing talents of RVUCOM students, faculty and staff were showcased in the 3rd Annual Art Show& Competition held on Monday, March 12th.

The artwork was impressive, and presented in a variety of mediums, including paintings, photography and even bonzai trees.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: First Place - Rob Lenhart, OMS-II; Second Place - Austin Merrill, OMS-I; and Third Place - Boris Bayerman, OMS-II.

Kathy Leary, RVUCOM Executive Di-rector of Student Financial Services, was invited to speak on a panel at the AAMC Professional Development Conference for Health Professions Fi-nancial Aid Administrators in January. Ms. Leary, along with student financial services directors from Stanford and Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine, presented a workshop for new health professions financial aid officers.

The annual AAMC PDC conference is considered one of the best profes-sional training opportunities for stu-dent financial services administrators. Regulatory guidance, discussions of best practices, and extensive network-ing opportunities are provided for educators from osteopathic, allopathic,

dental, pharmacy, and other healthcare colleges and uni-versities.

“It was great opportunity to share my experiences as someone who had worked in financial aid for many years but was new to the medical school environment when I started at RVU four years ago,” Ms. Leary said. “In hindsight, I wish I had known more about the medical education process which is really quite different from your average university academic pro-gram. I was excited to be invited to participate and have an opportunity to serve as a mentor for those who are new to a health professions school.”

RVUCOM Representation atAAMC Professional Development Conference By Kathy Leary, Executive Director of Student Financial Services

Speakers at the AAMC conference in Charleston, SC included Martha Trujillo from the Stanford University School of Medicine, Kathy Leary of RVU-COM, and Terra Jones from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Anna Hosig, OMS-I Jessica Smith, OMS-I

Rob Lenhart, OMS-II

Austin Merrill, OMS-I

Boris Bayerman, OMS-II

Janelle Heirendt

David Kanze, D.O.

Walter Buck, Ph.D.

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On Mach 16th, RVUCOM students and faculty visited the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) National Student Workshop at the Gaylord Hotel in Kissimmee, FL. Thomas Told, D.O., FACOFP -dist., Chair, Rural & Wil-derness Medicine, led a student lecture on Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) and Vaginal Delivery. “The students really enjoyed the presentations,” says Dr. Told. “It was really interactive — using the models, we were even able to show what it was like to break the water using oranges inserted into water-filled rubber gloves placed in the model. It was a lot of fun.”

ACOFP National Student Workshop

Dr. Thomas Told with fetal models used in his presentation

Dr. Thomas Told during his presentation on IUD and Vaginal Delivery

RVUCOM students (front right) Corinne Ryser, OMS-II and Megan Young, OMS-II, enjoy the presentation with the rest of the student group

RVUCOM PublishedStudent Publications from 2011[CARLSON] Markwald, R. R., B. S. Kirby, A. R. Crecelius, R. E. Carlson, W. F. Voyles, and F. A. Dinenno. “Combined Inhi-bition of Nitric Oxide and Vasodilating Prostaglandins Abol-ishes Forearm Vasodilatation to Systemic Hypoxia in Healthy Humans.” J Physiol 589, no. Pt 8 (2011): 1979-90.

[KULIKOWSKI] Spratlin, J. L., T. M. Pitts, G. N. Ku-likowski, M. P. Morelli, J. J. Tentler, N. J. Serkova, and S. G. Eckhardt. “Synergistic Activity of Histone Deacetylase and Proteasome Inhibition against Pancreatic and Hepato-cellular Cancer Cell Lines.” Anticancer Res 31, no. 4 (2011): 1093-103.

[KULIKOWSKI] Morelli, M. P., J. J. Tentler, G. N. Ku-likowski, A. C. Tan, E. L. Bradshaw-Pierce, T. M. Pitts, A. M. Brown, S. Nallapareddy, J. J. Arcaroli, N. J. Serkova, M. Hi-dalgo, F. Ciardiello, and S. G. Eckhardt. “Preclinical Activ-ity of the Rational Combination of Selumetinib (Azd6244) inCombination with Vorinostat in Kras Mutant Colorectal Cancer Models.” Clin Cancer Res (2011).

[KULIKOWSKI] Diamond, J. R., B. R. Bastos, R. J. Hansen, D. L. Gustafson, S. G. Eckhardt, E. L. Kwak, S. S. Pandya, G. C. Fletcher, T. M. Pitts, G. N. Kulikowski, M. Morrow, J. Ar-nott, M. R. Bray, C. Sidor, W. Messersmith, and G. I. Shapiro. “Phase I Safety, Pharmacokinetic, and Pharmacodynamic Study of Enmd-2076, a Novel Angiogenic and Aurora Ki-

nase Inhibitor, in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors.” Clin Cancer Res 17, no. 4 (2011): 849-60.

[NIKNAFS] Summers, S., M. Habicht, J. C. Fox, and N. Niknafs. “Adult Colo-Colonic Intussusception Incidentally Detected by Emergency Bedside Gallbladder Sonography.” J Emerg Med 41, no. 6 (2011): 668-71.

[PORTERFIELD] Schonfeld, T., H. S. Porterfield, E. L. Dahlke, and J. M. Longo. “Pre-Test/Post-Test Results from an Online Ethics Course: Qualitative Assessment of Student Learning.” Teaching Philosophy 34, no. 3 (2011): n.p.

[SLACK] O’Neila, B., W. O. Branta, S. D. Slack, J. D. Twardb, and J. B. Myersa. “Penile Cancer: Contemporary Consider-ations in Management of Local Disease.” Curr Urol 5 (2011): 62–71.

[WERMERS], J. D., E. N. McNamee, M. A. Wurbel, P. Jedlic-ka, and J. Rivera-Nieves. “The Chemokine Receptor Ccr9 Is Required for the T-Cell-Mediated Regulation of Chronic Ile-itis in Mice.” Gastroenterology 140, no. 5 (2011): 1526-35 e3.

[ZAHRA] Saljooque, F., A. Ho, B. Wu, A. Zahra, and H. S. U. “Induction of Pancreatic Phenotypes in Central Nervous System Derived Pluripotential Progenitor Cells.” Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 119, no. 2 (2011): 101-110.

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I’ve lost nearly 40 pounds since starting my diet and exercise program in June 2011, and it’s been both easier and more difficult than I could ever have imagined. I feel like this journey has only just begun and will last the rest of my life. Weight loss has not just changed me physically, but spiritually and emotionally as well —probably more so. Plain and simple, I’m kicking my addiction. I say “kicking” rather than “kicked”, because it’s true what they say about recovery: it’s never over. I’ve learned that with weight loss, it’s a journey, and I will never reach my des-tination. Which is not to say that I won’t reach my goal weight—I have every rea-son (and intention) to believe I will. But I will always be “recovering”.

The approach to dieting in our culture has always been flawed, in my opinion. The common view seems to be that you stop eating certain things and maybe start working out, and you do this for a month or six months, and when you’ve lost enough weight you go back to your old life. That approach is less about what you eat than what you deprive your-self of, and less about what you do and how you live than about how you look. That’s why dieting is a zillion-dollar in-dustry in America: everybody’s looking for a quick fix, something easy they can do to just wake up thin one morning and never have to think about their weight again. Take this pill or these vitamins, do this radical cleanse, eat only this for this amount of time and all your problems will be solved. How many of these plans, diets, programs, secret strategies and mir-acle drugs and supplements do you see advertised on a daily basis, accompanied by photos of people with ridiculously “perfect” bodies and claims that you can look like them? No wonder people so of-ten fail in their weight loss goals.

So would you like to hear my 100% safe

and effective, never fail, radical new diet-ing secret, GUARANTEED to make you thin and beautiful? I didn’t think it would work, but I was WRONG! I’ve lost 39 pounds and I feel GREAT! It’s shocking! It’s new! No, it’s an ancient secret that I can now exclusively reveal to you! It’s both! Are you sure you’re ready? Here it is! Eat less and exercise more.

Forgive my mockery; I couldn’t resist. Is there more to it? Sure, but the “more” is mental work, some of which people just don’t want to do. It’s certainly the hard-est part for me, but I have found it to be eminently worth the effort. I believe that nearly all of the time when diets fail, it’s due to the dieter’s failure to look beneath the surface and find a higher motivation for making a change. Success lies in fig-uring out how to get yourself to actually do what you already know you should be doing. If I have a secret, it’s that de-spite everything, I keep doing it, looking at it as a permanent change rather than a short-term goal. I’ve had plateaus, been frustrated, thought about giving up, but in the end, all that really matters is not giving up. When you’re going through weight-loss hell, keep going.

I’ve been overweight for most of my adult life and have tried many times, over the years, to do something about it. I always failed. Sometimes I lost a little weight, but always gained it back before long. I had to do a lot of soul-searching and psychologi-cal work to make it stick this time, and I discovered one key factor to my success, besides what I’ve already mentioned: I had to give up those fantasies of waking up thin.

I was addicted to wishing, which is dif-ferent from hoping and especially from planning. As I started working seriously on weight loss, my fantasies changed. In-stead of imagining being instantly perfect,

I started imagining myself working out and not hating it, turning down tempting foods that my body doesn’t need—think-ing about the steps along the way rather than the destination. Instead of imagin-ing that fairy-tale-perfect, beautiful per-son’s life, I imagined simpler things, like people noticing as I made progress. And once I had been visualizing these things for awhile, they started happening. Near-ly every day now, someone comes up to me and says something kind about my new body. Sometimes it’s people I didn’t think even knew who I was. It’s as gratify-ing and encouraging as I always hoped.

The RVU W.E.L.L. program has been in-strumental to my success. As with any endeavor, support and encouragement is a tremendous asset. The Group Fitness classes, taught by our own certified per-sonal trainer, Leah Heath, have been a revelation. I can do so many things I never believed I could do, and Leah’s instruction and encouragement have helped more than I can say. She pushes us to succeed without being a drill sergeant, putting a positive spin on everything in a way that makes me want to exercise—something I never thought I would feel. I have more energy, strength and flexibility than I have ever had—more even than when I was in a daily dance class in high school—and I feel happier and more positive in my dai-ly life than I ever thought possible. There is nothing so gratifying as finding out what your body is truly capable of, even after years of neglect.

What exercise has taught me, in combi-nation with the support and encourage-ment of other Wellness Warriors at RVU and elsewhere, is that it’s never too late. We are designed to be healthy; if we lose track of that along the way, we can always find our way back.

From the RVU Wellness Warriors: Finding the Way to FitnessBy Patty Kellison, Administrative Assistant to the Testing Center

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Student Government Association (SGA)- President – Ryan Greene (‘15)- Vice President of Operations – Becky Glasgow (‘15)- Vice President of Student Welfare (Second Year position) – Miranda Allen (‘15)- Curriculum Representative – Kristin Gaines (‘15)- Secretary – Danelle Wilson (‘15)- Treasurer – Peter Gertonson (‘15)

Class of 2014 Officers (will hold position for 3rd & 4th years)- President (also serves as voting member of SGA) – Regan Stiegmann- Vice President – Slava Makler- Secretary – Vanessa Campbell- Treasurer – Genevieve Mueller- Curriculum Rep. – Austin Henry- Historian – Melissa Fujan

Class of 2015 Officers- President (also serves as voting member of SGA) – Courtney Cage- Vice President – Katie Gardner- Secretary – Julie Black- Treasurer – Drew Rose- Curriculum Rep. – Daniel Hansen- Historian – Patrick Fagan

Honor Code Committee- President (also serves as voting member of SGA) – Jie Casey- Clinical Years Representatives (Three positions total, combined 2013 & 2014) Lizzy Jelinek (‘14), Susan Jevert (‘13), and Chad Morrison (‘14)- Class of 2015 Representatives (3 positions) – Kristin Gaines, Peter Gertonson and Sam Lindemeier

SGA & Honor Committee Election Results

Class of 2012 The Match Results Are In

Congratulations to the Class of 2012 for their success in the Match! Students were matched into some wonderful residency programs in great locations across the Country.

Class of 2012 Match Results:Anesthesiology 1 1Emergency Medicine 15Family Medicine 28FM/EM 1Internal Medicine 25IM/EM 1Neurology 1OB/GYN 6

Ortho Surgery 2 Oto Facial & Plastic Surgery 1Pathology 1Pediatrics 1 1Psychiatry 4Radiology 2Surgery 4Traditional 1 2

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The site of RVUCOM’s Inaugural Graduation is the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

The Opera House is part of the Newton Auditorium inside the

Denver Performing Arts Complex.

This beautiful facility opened in September of 2005 and can seat nearly 2,225 visitors.

The Ellie Caulkins Opera House is located at1101 13th Street in downtown Denver.

Rocky Vista UniversityCollege of Osteopathic Medicine

Inaugural GraduationClass of 2012

Saturday, May Nineteenth,Two-Thousand Twelve

at Ten o’Clock in the Morningat the Ellie Caulkins Opera House,

Denver, Colorado

Rocky Vista UniversityCollege of Osteopathic Medicine

Inaugural GraduationClass of 2012

Saturday, May Nineteenth,Two-Thousand Twelve

at Ten o’Clock in the Morningat the Ellie Caulkins Opera House,

Denver, Colorado

Rocky Vista UniversityCollege of Osteopathic Medicine

Inaugural GraduationClass of 2012

Saturday, May Nineteenth,Two-Thousand Twelve

at Ten o’Clock in the Morningat the Ellie Caulkins Opera House,

Denver, Colorado

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Sarah ChavezLoan Counselor, Student Financial ServicesSarah is from Denver and joins the Stu-dent Financial Services team with al-most 8 years of experience as a Finan-cial Aid Counselor. She earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies at Metropolitan State College of Denver.

Sarah says she’s excited to be a part of the RVU family. “RVU gives students a chance to reach their goals. It is so much fun to watch students grow throughout their program.” She also says she hopes to build a useful and fun financial wellness program for the University’s students.

Sarah is a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Mon-roe. In her spare time, she enjoys riding ATVs, painting and spending time with her husband and their five daughters.Welcome, Sarah!

Promotions& New Appointments

Adrian Clark - Executive Director, Institutional Planning and AssessmentAdrian Clark has been promoted to the new position of Executive Director of Institutional Planning and Assessment. Adri-an has been with RVUCOM since 2009. Since being named Director of Planning, Adrian has been instrumental in much of the University’s Strategic Planning and Assessment to date, and will continue those efforts in his new position. Congratula-tions, Adrian! Janelle Heirendt - Admissions CoordinatorJanelle Heirendt has been appointed to the new position of Admissions Coordinator. Janelle has been with RVUCOM for three years and has provided administrative support to both Admissions and Marketing. As Admissions Coordinator, Janelle works closely with prospective students in every stage of the application process through matriculation. Congratu-lations, Janelle!

Lynn Holly - Administrative Assistant, Admissions and MarketingLynn Holly has been appointed to the position of Administrative Assistant for Admissions and Marketing. Lynn joined RVUCOM in October 2011, where she assisted Administration and Finance with their administrative needs, as well as an-swered phones and greeted visitors. In her new position, Lynn will assist the Admissions Department with all student files and records and will assist the Marketing Department with marketing and PR. Congratulations, Lynn!

Holly Kaspar - Assistant Director of MarketingHolly Kaspar has been promoted to Assistant Director of Marketing. Holly has been with RVUCOM since 2009. As Assistant Director of Marketing, Holly works closely with the Executive Director of Admissions and Marketing to coordinate RVU’s marketing initiatives and activities as well as producing the Vista View. Congratulations, Holly!

RVU Security ReportUpdates & Changes

The RVU Security department would like to assist the RVU community in any way they can. For this reason, they have imple-mented the following changes:

RVU Security will now handle the issuance of all keys that are related to RVU. Key request forms can be accessed on the RVU shared drive. Print and fill out the form, then have a supervisor sign it and submit it to Security.

RVU Security has also recently purchased three Automated Ex-ternal Defibrillators (AEDs). They have been placed on the north side of the wall adjacent from the main stairs on each floor. Dr. Rebecca Bowden will be setting up training for the AEDs within the next month.

If you need any assistance, please visit the RVU Security Office or call 720.875.2892.

Getting to Know YouWelcome to our New Employees

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Getting to Know YouWelcome to our New Employees

Getting to Know YouWelcome to our New Employees

Lucienne LaceyParalegal, Legal & ComplianceLucienne joins RVUCOM from Hous-ton, Texas. She earned her BA in Inter-national Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston and gradu-ated with honors from the Center for Advanced Legal Studies where she was inducted into the Lamba Epsilon Chi (LEX) Honor Society for Parale-

gals. She also earned the Advanced Certified Paralegal cer-tificate from the National Association of Legal Assistants and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Le-gal Administration from the University of Denver.

Lucienne has worked in the legal field nearly 15 years, starting as a file clerk and later as an Investigative Parale-gal in insurance defense. Her most recent position was as a Legal Assistant for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in their Legal Services Department.

Lucienne says she came to Colorado to experience all four seasons and to escape hurricanes and Texas wildfires. “I’ve only been here seven months,” says Lucienne, “but I think it’s one of the best places to live.” She also says she was drawn to RVUCOM because of the great academic offer-ings and diversity in her position.

Lucienne says she loves exploring Colorado with her son and her husband. “I really like having the great outdoors literally in my backyard.” Welcome, Lucienne!

Eric Hansen RVU Security OfficerEric is from Highlands Ranch. After serving in the Military, Eric earned a degree in Automotive Technology and Mechanics at Pine Technical In-stitute in East Central Minnesota. He is also a graduate of the FLETC - a Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA. He has also graduated from various Military and

Department of Justice training courses.

Eric was honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps after 4 years of service. He also held a position with the U.S. Postal Department as a Substitute Rural Route Mail Carrier and previously owned and operated a Dairy Farm in Minnesota. Most recently, Eric worked for 24 years with

the U.S. Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Eric and his wife have been married for over 25 years and have four children together. His oldest son is on active duty with the U.S. Air Force; his daughter is currently attending college in Denver, and his two youngest sons are in high school in Highlands Ranch. In his spare time, Eric enjoys hunting, shooting, snowmobiling, racing cars and going back to Minnesota to ‘play’ on the farm. Welcome, Eric!

Adam Delatorre RVU Security OfficerAdam joins RVU from Riverside, California. He is a Certified Pro-tection Specialist and is currently working towards his Bachelor’s de-gree in Organizational Security and Management.

Before coming to RVU, Adam spent eight years in the Military, law en-

forcement and security. His most recent position was as a Security Advisor in Iraq.

Adam says he came to RVU because of the working envi-ronment. “Everybody works together,” he says. “ I am also excited to be at RVU because of the growing potential of the school.”

In his spare time, Adam enjoys hiking, international secu-rity events and MMA training. Welcome, Adam!

Ezekiel England RVU Security OfficerEzekiel hails from Wallace, Idaho. He attended the University of Ida-ho, North Idaho College and Utah Valley University, earning an Asso-ciates degree in Business Adminis-tration. He also earned a Private He-licopter Pilot’s License from Rotors of the Rockies Flight School.

Before coming to RVU, Ezekiel served five years in the U.S. Air Force, one year in private airport security and two years as a Military contractor in the Middle East.

Ezekiel says he looks forward to learning all aspects of the job and to do them at the best of his ability. “It’s exciting to be in on kind of the ground floor of a place that looks like

(Continued on next page)

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it has so much potential for growth and success,” he says.In his spare time, Ezekiel enjoys good food and drink (cooked by either himself or someone else), reading ‘geeky’ science fiction, skiing in the winter and camping and rid-ing motorcycles in the summer. Welcome, Ezekiel!

Christopher Lippolis RVU Security OfficerChristopher joins RVU from Tucson, Arizona. He attended Heritage High School (‘86) and then worked in the RF Communications field for 25 years. Christopher says he is looking for a ca-reer in Law Enforcement and was excit-ed to take a part time opportunity in the security field, working for RVU.

Christopher is married. “My wife has a son and I have three daughters, all of them are children from previous marriag-es,” says Christopher. “We enjoy boating, riding motorcy-cles, hunting and camping.” Welcome, Christopher!

Gary PippinAdministrative Assistant, Front DeskGary is a Colorado native and has lived in the Parker/Castle Rock area all of his life.

Most recently, he worked with his fam-ily, managing and selling commercial and residential properties. “I also help

run an 11,000 acre working cattle ranch in Elbert County,” Gary says. “We also raised Paint horses for show.”

Previously, Gary worked for Standard and Poor’s Compu-stat Services, a division of McGraw-Hill Publishing, for 14 years. There he helped establish an international financial database that covered over 20 countries and upwards of 15,000 publicly traded companies.

Gary says he was introduced to RVU by Peter Freytag, RVU CFO & Vice President of Administration and Finance. “I

was looking to get back into a more professional setting,” Gary explains. “After listening to Peter talk about RVU, I was excited to explore any opportunities available, and here I am. I am really enjoying being a part of this amazing institution. Everyone I’ve met is amazing and they have made me feel very welcome.”

Gary and his wife have eleven children and six grandchil-dren. “My children are the most enjoyable part of my life. Three of our children are married. One daughter is a mis-sionary sister in Slovakia and another daughter is a mis-sionary in Africa. The remaining six are still at home. Wel-come, Gary!

Jessica MessStaff AccountantJessica is a Colorado native from Au-rora. She attended CSU for Music Education and later, St. Petersburg College (FL) for Accounting and Fi-nance, a degree which she is still working toward completing.

Jessica has held various positions in Accounting and Finance for over

12 years in a lot of different industries. Most recently she worked in finance for a large-scale bakery.

“Education is a field I’ve never worked in,” says Jessica. “I am excited to learn the ‘ins and outs’ of this type of busi-ness. I hope to organize and track fixed assets, run timely and accurate payroll processing and assist the Controller in everyday accounting functions.”

Jessica grew up in the Denver area. She moved to Clearwa-ter, Florida with her husband in 2001, but returned to Colo-rado in 2004 to be closer to family. She’s been married for ten years to her husband Dennis and has a three-year-old daughter named Abby. They also have a big ‘mutt dog’ and two cats and a bird. Jessica says she loves music, camp-ing, hiking, reading and spending time with family and friends. Welcome, Jessica!

The Vista View is Published by the Rocky Vista University Marketing

Department.

8401 S. Chambers RoadParker, CO 80134

720.875.2800

Editor & Graphic DesignerHolly E. Kaspar

Assistant Director of Marketing

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Getting to Know YouWelcome to our New Employees