Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority’s (MOHELA) board, under the direction of President Ray Bayer, pledged $100,000 for a naming opportunity in ATSU’s St. Louis Dental Education and Oral Health clinic. This gift will be applied to the clinic’s uncompensated care fund, Missouri Smile Forward®.

Missouri Smile Forward is an uncompensated care fund created to provide oral healthcare services for patients with little or no dental insurance benefits and who demonstrate financial need. Allowing patients the option to keep their smile through funding assistance for dental restorative services is at the heart of the Smile Forward® program.

To see more information regarding Smile Forward and how you can help the St. Louis community, please visit www.atsu.edu/STLclinic.

In honor of Robert J. Theobald, Jr.’s, PhD, long service to A.T. Still University and its students, Richard Theriault, DO, ’73, created the Robert J. Theobald Jr. PhD, Pharmacology Department Operations Endowment at ATSU’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Contributions made to this endowment build an invested fund from where annual earnings will be directed in perpetuity to support the teaching faculty, department operations and special needs of the pharmacology department.

Dr. Theobald’s service to the University began in 1976. Twice he has been recognized with the A.T. Still Staff Award for Excellence in teaching. He was also the recipient of the 2011 Kirksville Osteopathic Alumni Association Living Tribute award.

For those interested in contributing to the endowment fund, please visit: www.atsu.edu/TheobaldFund.

Eleven ATSU-SOMA students participated in a recent biannual health fair coordinated by the Buddhist relief organization, the Tzu Chi Foundation. The community event, held in Chandler, Ariz., brought together healthcare practitioners, medical students, premedical students, and other volunteers in greater Phoenix to provide care for the uninsured, the underinsured, and those who lack access to healthcare. People throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area and Maricopa County came from many miles away to be seen by physicians, receive screening examinations, referrals to specialists, treatment, and to learn more about prevention and self-maintenance for chronic diseases and health in general.

The Health Disparities Interest Group (HDIG), an ATSU student organization in its third year and currently lead by Joshua Wy, OMS I, endeavors to build and maintain collaborations with local community organizations that are actively working to address and overcome health disparities. The Tzu Chi Foundation, whose paradigm of “compassionate relief” frames their outreach and activism work, has become an incredible ally for HDIG. “The manner in which the health fair was organized provided students an opportunity to shadow and assist clinicians from varying disciplines and to meaningfully interact with and learn from patients with different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds,” said Wy.

Starr Matsushita, OMS I recalled, “I hope we can all take a moment to recognize how meaningful the health fair was for many of the patients today.” “These are the moments that are going to define who we are as doctors.”

“One of the most meaningful experiences of the day to many of us was when one of our patients expressed that the care we provided and the compassion we demonstrated for her was greater than any she had experienced before while receiving medical care,” said Julian Hirschbaum, OMS II. “As members of HDIG, students of ATSU-SOMA, and future physicians, we will maintain our focus and active roles within the community and continue to work toward decreasing the burden of health disparities throughout the community, one health fair at a time.”

Joel Alter, DO, ’64, Santa Rosa, Calif., died Jan. 27, 2012.

Martha J. Andrews, DPT, ’11, Colorado Springs, Colo., died July 8, 2014. She was born Jan. 27, 1962, in Niles, Colo., to George W. and Shirley A. (Freiberg) Andrews Jr. (more…)

Across America each fall, hundreds of ATSU alumni spend their Friday nights voluntarily covering local high school football games. While it may not seem as glamorous as the NFL or NBA, it is just as, if not more, rewarding. Young athletes in all sports benefit from ATSU graduates—physicians, athletic trainers, physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, audiologists, and dentists—working together to diagnose, treat, rehabilitate, prevent, and better understand sports-related medical conditions, performance, and injuries. Alumni, in return, benefit from the satisfaction of helping athletes return to play, serving their communities, and sharing in the “thrill of victory and agony of defeat.”

ATSU is proud of the positive impact many graduates and faculty have made on the science and art of treating active patients. John Wood, DO; Del Maddox, DO; Keith Petersen, DO; Lee Rice, DO; Martin Levine, DO; Gunnar Brolinson, DO; Matt Maddox, DO; Rick Parker, DO; Jeff Bytomski, DO; Priscilla Tu, DO; Rebecca Rodriquez, DO; Eric Sauers, PhD; Tamara Valovich McLeod, ATC, PhD; and Jeffrey Vaughn, DO, are just a few members of ATSU’s sports medicine family who inspired me and continue to inspire others.

In this edition of Still Magazine, you will find many informative stories of the wonderful work being done by students, faculty, staff, and alumni to keep Americans healthy and active.

Thank you to all ATSU alumni who selflessly give back to their communities by volunteering with local schools, clubs, and other not-for-profit organizations.

Yours in service,

Craig M. Phelps, DO, ’84, president

Dirt flew on April 26 when ATSU broke ground on its dental education and oral health clinic in St. Louis, Mo. Approximately 200 guests and 42 dental students attended the ceremony to officially establish MOSDOH and the University in the Lafayette Square area of the city. (more…)

In an effort to prevent musculoskeletal injuries among Mesa firefighters, ATSU’s Physical Therapy program is uniquely collaborating with the Mesa Fire and Medical Department. (more…)

Many in SOMA’s inaugural graduating class have finished residencies. Here are the details of their latest milestone and what the class of 2011 had to say about it. (more…)

The 30th annual NEMO Triathlon brought 150 hardcore triathletes to Forest Lake in Kirksville on Sept. 7. KCOM students provided therapeutic osteopathic treatments at the finish line. (more…)

1960s

Edward M. Hobbs Jr., DO, ’62, Austintown, Ohio, is retired after more than 50 years in primary care.

Wayne C. Cole, DO, ’65, retired in October 2013 after more than 40 years of serving patients in Providence, Ky.  (more…)