Dear Members,

Our previous administration established the lofty goal of never turning down a medical student in need of a scholarship to attend an OCA course. Our office has maintained this informal policy and “always knows” which physicians to turn to when they run into a shortage of Foundation funding. “They never disappoint,” says former office manager Jennifer Southworth of the doctors on her extensive list of contributors.

This year, Drs. Richard Feely and Anthony Capobianco made up the monetary shortfall that made it possible for medical students to enroll in courses fundamental to their Osteopathic training, their gift was the determining factor. The list of physicians Ms. Southworth has accumulated in her 25 years with the Academy is too numerous to recount here (see directory listing of donors).

The gratitude expressed by the medical students serves as a reminder as to how much those scholarships mean to the next generation of Osteopaths. Third and fourth-year students are becoming more savvy about understanding the uniqueness of our specialty and where to seek advanced OMT training.

Michael Hagopian, now a medical student at Touro University California, attended the OCA introductory course in 2019: “The course renewed my passion for medicine,” he wrote. “I gave up my normal life to study medicine, and the experience of working with senior physicians and observing their passion and love for what they do gave me a glimpse of the excitement ahead.”

Clare Donahue, now a resident physician at a hospital in Tucson Arizona, enrolled in her first Academy course in 2015: “One of the most amazing things is training with doctors who became physicians because they have to heal,” she wrote. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have learned from them, trained with them, and been introduced to a community of critical thinkers and wonderful human beings.”

Eric J. Dolgin, DO, FCA
The Osteopathic Cranial Academy Foundation President