Monday, April 1, 2019
Mon, 01 Apr 2019 | Asa Keimig | LUCOM Marketing
Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) hosted the 2019 Southeast Regional Student American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine (SAOASM) conference this past weekend at the Center for Medical and Health Sciences (CMHS) on the campus of Liberty University (LU).
LUCOM-SAOASM hosted the conference and provided four lectures during the morning. Registered attendees heard from Bradley Haupricht, MD, a sports medicine physician for Liberty University’s Athletic Department, who spoke on overuse conditions of the upper extremity; David A. Titcomb, PT, DPT, EP-C, director of the Undergraduate Exercise Science Program at Liberty University Department of Health Professions, who spoke on bridging the gap between physicians and physical therapists; and Del Bolin, MD, PhD, a professor of Family Medicine, OMM, and Sports Medicine at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), who spoke on Osteopathic considerations of common running problems.
“As a medical student interested in sports medicine, this conference was an opportunity to get more exposure in sports medicine on an interprofessional level,” said Graham Mann, Class of 2020. “Not only were Liberty University team doctors present today, but we got to hear from a doctor in physical therapy on how we can bridge the gap between injury and recovery; there was a joint injections lab and an OMT lab. Overall, this experience was just to invaluable to miss.”
During his first year of medical school in 2016, Mann was the OMS-I representative for this club in its first year of existence and then as an OMS-II he was elected president. It was during that time; the group applied for and was accepted by the AOASM as a national chapter. “This year I have watched this club expand to new heights under Megan Boyer’s leadership. Having the regional conference here at LUCOM demonstrates how far this club has come, and with no ceiling in sight we can only predict the unfathomable heights we will reach,” he said.
Mann plans to pursue a specialty in family medicine followed by a sports medicine fellowship. “The great thing about sports medicine is that it encompasses exactly what LUCOM has trained me to do in the last three years,” he added. “I have been taught and trained to encompass the mind, body, and spirit of a patient into my care. Being able to incorporate holistic healthcare as a doctor is important to me, and I feel like sports medicine is the best place I get to do that.”
After lunch, the conference afternoon sessions included lab activities. Attendees were able to participate in shoulder evaluation and basic injections (physical exam and ultrasound) led by Mark E. Rolfs, DO, PharmD, assistant professor of family medicine at LUCOM. They also learned practical hands-on osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) for athletes from Saunora Prom, DO, CAQSM, and Joseph Amalfitano, DO.
“Being a new osteopathic medical school can be tough when your name hasn’t been around long enough for many people to have heard of it,” said Megan Boyer, Class of 2021. “By hosting conferences for national organizations and opening our doors to other osteopathic students from across the region, we can show that though the school may not have been around long, we are staffed with an incredibly knowledgeable and caring faculty, equipped with cutting edge technology, and filled with students who are invested in lifelong learning.”
Boyer currently serves as the Southeast Regional representative for SAOASM which includes osteopathic medical schools such as LUCOM, VCOM, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine-Bradenton, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine-Georgia. When the national organization was looking for a school to host the conference, she offered LUCOM because she felt it would be a great opportunity for LUCOM-SAOASM to showcase sports medicine and the physicians at LU/LUCOM who work in the athletics department.
“My hope was that students were able to gain a greater appreciation of the impact that they can have on patients’ lives through their medical practice. I also hope that students who were able to participate in the hands-on labs we had in the afternoon take away a few new skills and confidence in their abilities to assess and treat patients using them,” Boyer said.
Participants in the 2019 Southeast Regional SAOASM Conference included LUCOM medical students, VCOM medical students, and graduate students from Liberty University.