ATSU-KCOM graduates class of 2006

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (June 2, 2006 ) – A total of 164 men and women graduated from A. T. Still University (ATSU) on June 3 during the commencement ceremony held in Baldwin Hall Auditorium.

Four years ago, these ATSU-Kirksville College Osteopathic Medical (KCOM) graduates stood shoulder-to-shoulder in their newly starched white lab coats and recited a pledge to give their best in learning medicine and applying it to their future patients. At Saturday’s graduation, they recited the Osteopathic Oath as 155 newly made physicians. The 170th graduating class from ATSU-KCOM included 99 men and 56 women from 34 states and two foreign countries. ATSU-KCOM also graduated four students with degrees in biomedical sciences representing three states and one foreign country.

For the ATSU-KCOM graduates, commencement marks the end of a major stage in their medical education, but not the end. They will now enter residency programs at medical facilities around the country and focus the next three to eight years of training on a particular specialty.

This graduation exercise witnessed ATSU’s School of Health Management (SHM) conferring 41 degrees. SHM graduates consisted of 20 males and 21 females representing 21 states. Three students received two SHM degrees each.

ATSU President James McGovern, Ph.D., urged graduates to keep the main objective — helping the patient — foremost in mind. “The drugs, procedures, and equipment are secondary; getting the patient or client to activate their inner drives, motivations, and healing mechanisms is primary,” Dr. McGovern said.

Richard A. Cooper, M.D., gave the commencement address. Dr. Cooper received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin and his M.D. from Washington University. He completed his postgraduate training at Harvard Medical Services at Boston City Hospital and at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. He is board certified in internal medicine, including hematology. Dr. Cooper is a professor of medicine and a Senior Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Cooper has received numerous awards and honors in his career, including the Research Career Development Award in 1961, a Distinguished Service Award in both 1996 and in 2000, The Casterline Award for Excellence in Writing in 2004, and the William D. Miller Award from the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine in 2005. He currently serves on four National Advisory Committees: The Council for the Advancement of Primary Care at the Columbia University School of Nursing, the Workforce Task Force for American Society of Clinical Oncology, Expert Work Group on Pediatric Subspecialty Capacity for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and as a consultant for the Commonwealth Medical Association Task Force on the African Brain Drain.

Honorary degrees were awarded to the following: D.O.Ed. for Marina Ch. Fuhrmann, D.Hu.L. for Philip L. Shettle, D.O., and D.O.Ed. for Richard “Buz” Cooper, M.D. Dr. Fuhrmann is the president of the national osteopathic association in Germany and Dr. Shettle is president of the American Osteopathic Association.

Grand Marshall for this year’s event was Lex Towns, Ph.D., chairperson, Anatomy.