Earlybird Rate Extended Through Eclipse Day!

Enjoy the total solar eclipse on Monday and then, if you haven’t already, register for the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium. You can get the discounted registration rate through Monday, April 8. Plus, OOA members enjoy an even bigger savings!

Choose to attend in-person or virtually. Either way, recordings of all lectures will be provided about one week after the Symposium. All registrants will receive an email with a link, which will be available for 60 days—making it easy and convenient to view any sessions you miss before completing the attestation and evaluation forms. These forms and the speaker handouts will be provided online.

The OOS offers 29 hours of AOA Category 1-A credits. The daily breakdown is:

Thursday, April 18
1:00 pm - 8:30 pm (7.25 credits)

Friday, April 19
8:00 am - 5:30 pm (9.5 credits)

Saturday, April 20
8:00 am - 5:00 pm (8.25 credits)

Sunday, April 21
8:00 am - 12:00 pm (4 credits)

You can see the total solar eclipse (with proper eye protection of course) in Ohio beginning at 3:08 pm with the final exit of the Moon’s shadow from the state at 3:19 pm.

We look forward to seeing you April 18-21 at the Columbus Hilton or in the Zoom chat.

Keynote Speaker Featured in PBS Series

Former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton, MD, widely acclaimed for her leadership and inspiring guidance, will be the keynote speaker at the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium. Her lecture, The Leader We Wish We All Had Is YOU, will focus on leadership and lessons learned in her role as ODH director and cabinet member and advisor to Gov. Mike DeWine during an unprecedented crisis.

Dr. Acton was seen in daily news conferences as COVID exploded in the spring of 2020. Nowadays, she can be seen in The Invisible Shield, a four-part documentary series that reveals how the field of public health has saved countless lives in the US, protecting people from the constant threat of disease and increasing lifespans.

The series includes a cast of doctors and experts who provide context for COVID and explain why public health efforts should be bolstered. They also explore the hidden public health infrastructure that makes modern life possible. The series, which premiered last week, is available for streaming on PBS.org.

At the Symposium, Dr. Acton will provide a behind the scenes look at what it was like to lead the COVID-19 response for 11.7 million patients and the leadership traits that are needed in the modern leadership toolbox. She will address the challenges of prevention and how we have faced not only the virus, but also a contagion of fear, loneliness, unmooring, and collective trauma.

The Keynote Address is Saturday, April 20, at 10:30 am.

Do Anti-Obesity Medications Really Work

Nakul J. Bhardwaj, DO, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins, will answer that question and others when he shares insights on the diverse range of medications at the OOS on Friday, April 19 at 2:00 pm.

Dr. Bhardwaj practices as an obesity medicine specialist in Baltimore and is passionate about addressing the condition and its complications in a multidisciplinary setting. In his practice, he researches models to personalize treatments for patients, creates a clinical care pathway for patients receiving endoscopic bariatric procedures, and teaches residents and students about the principles in managing obesity and its co-morbidities.

He is a 2018 HCOM graduate, served his Internal Medicine residency at Cleveland Clinic, and completed an obesity and bariatric fellowship at Johns Hopkins.

Obesity medicine is a rapidly growing field with significant advances in clinical treatment, research, and education. Effective treatment of patients with obesity is an increasingly important part of modern medical practice.

Everyone is on the Same OMM Page

The Symposium concludes Sunday morning, April 21, with a four-hour hands-on workshop and lecture led by Course Director Jean Rettos, DO, and HCOM OMM faculty Robert Knight DO, and Militza Esquivel DO, who will provide a practical approach for applying osteopathic principles and osteopathic techniques.

All physicians in practice will find value in the session as the objective is to build on osteopathic skills regardless of past training, current type of practice, and position. Physicians’ osteopathic knowledge base and application of osteopathic principles vary based on graduation year, institution of training, residency training, and specialty. This CME event will discuss basic principles of diagnosis and treatment for all physicians regardless of when and where they trained.

The hands-on OMM portion will incorporate the principles of diagnosis and treatment into the general approach to providing OMM to individual patients and provide individualized assistance at the table.

The discussion will include a history of different osteopathic principles for scanning and the development of osteopathic techniques, including Stiles screen, Zink screen, Review segmental definition, muscle energy, counterstain, direct and indirect myofascial technique; and facilitated positional release (FPR).

Back by Popular Demand

Year after year, the Dermatology Roundtable at the OOS receives rave reviews. This year, the team of DO dermatologists will discuss Skin Concerns that Demand Attention for 3.25 credits. The session is Thursday, April 18, at 5:15 pm and includes a buffet dinner.

The two-hour Orthopedics Lightning Round, also highly rated each year, features a panel of DOs from OrthoNeuro, an 80-year-old Central Ohio practice. The session is set for Saturday, April 20, at 8:00 am.

A session dedicated to Emerging Osteopathic Research is held annually to focus on student and resident research. Several projects will be presented during the 45-minute session on Saturday, April 20, at 11:30 am. The Research and Scholarly Activity Competition also highlights student research and offers cash prizes in three categories: Biomedical/Clinical Research; Social/Behavioral Medicine/Medical Education; and Case Reports. What started in 2003 as a small statewide contest grew into a regional competition with entries from as many as 11 states and then transformed into a virtual event in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past two years, the poster contest has been a hybrid approach.

National Guests Confirmed to Attend

AOA President Ira P. Monka, DO, and ACOFP President Brian A. Kessler, DO, will be guest speakers at the Symposium.

Dr. Monka has served the AOA in many capacities including third vice president, member of the Bureau of State Government Affairs, and program chair for OMED 2012. He is past president of the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons and practices at the Medical Institute of New Jersey in Cedar Knolls.

He will provide an AOA Update during the luncheon on Saturday, April 20.

Dr. Kessler was installed as president of ACOFP during the organization’s annual meeting this week in New Orleans. He is the dean at Campbell University Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine. Previous positions include dean at Lincoln Memorial University and director of Medical Education at Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital. He was president of Ohio ACOFPin 2009-2010.

He will provide an ACOFP Update during the breakfast meeting Friday, April 19.

Celebrating & Networking

The OOA luncheon on Saturday, April 20, will be a celebration of the organization’s 125 years of dedicated service to promote and advance Ohio DOs and the osteopathic profession. The agenda includes the installation of Douglas W. Harley, DO, as the next OOA president. Dr. Harley has been a member of the OOA Board of Trustees since 2015 and was Ohio ACOFP president in 2012. He is the Family Medicine Residency Program director at Cleveland Clinic Akron General.

At the Friday lunch, April 19, HCOM Executive Dean Kenneth H. Johnson, DO, will provide an update of student and campus activities. Prior to that, we’re recognizing the Osteopathic Heritage Foundations, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The three-hour block features OHF speakers, including:

Brian Clark, PhD, the Harold Clybourne, DO, Endowed Research Chair at HCOM, will discuss his early phase clinical trials investigating new treatments for sarcopenia, a muscle disease prevalent in older adults and characterized by low muscle strength, poor muscle quality, and reduced muscle mass.

OHF Board Member Paige S. Gutheil, DO, will discuss direct primary care. It is a practice model that gives physicians an alternative to fee-for-service insurance billing.

Paul A. Martin, DO, will deliver the JO Watson, DO, Memorial Lecture. The award, established in 1972, honors Dr. Watson, who served on the OHF Board and was one of Ohio’s most distinguished osteopathic leaders. Dr. Martin was chosen for the honor because of his advocacy work at the state and national levels. He is a past president of the OOA, Ohio ACOFP, and ACOFP.

Other special events include a Networking Hour hosted by OOA business partner River Tree Wealth Management on Friday after lectures conclude, and the Cocktail Awards Reception on Saturday evening when we’ll celebrate Ohio DOs who have made exceptional contributions to the profession and have demonstrated outstanding leadership, compassion, and dedication to their patients and communities.