D.O. or Do Not: The Osteopathic Physician's Journey for Premed & Medical Students

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Dr. Aimee Stotz is board-certified in anesthesiology, pain management, and osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine. Prior to attending osteopathic medical school, she worked as a physical therapist and discovered her passion for cranial sacral therapy. Drawn to osteopathic medicine, she decided to pursue a career as a DO at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Following graduation, Dr. Stotz completed an internship with the Chicago Osteopathic Health Systems at Rush Medical School, a residency in anesthesiology from Northwestern University, and a fellowship in pain management at Loyola University. She has worked as a staff and attending anesthesiologist in a variety of different settings and currently performs anesthesia during gastrointestinal procedures. Additionally, Dr. Stotz serves as a clinical professor at both an allopathic and osteopathic medical college.

Dr. Stotz is a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Osteopathic Association, the American Academy of Osteopathy, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Illinois State Osteopathic Society, and the Osteopathic Cranial Academy. She gives back to the osteopathic community by teaching and supervising Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine students at the free Old Irving Park Community Clinic.

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Dr. Lawrence Sands has spent over 25 years working as a public health physician. He has led a variety of local and state-level teams in community health services, biodefense preparedness, and epidemiology. Dr. Sands was introduced to medicine by working in his father’s primary care practice in Michigan before going on to earn a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan. He then received his D.O. degree from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, became board-certified in General Preventative Medicine and Public Health, and then earned a fellowship in clinical administration.

Dr. Sands is currently the vice-chair of the Department of Osteopathic Family and Community Medicine, Clinical Associate Professor at the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Associate Professor in Public Health at Midwestern University. He has held various board positions in the past, including president of the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association and Adelante Healthcare board chair.

We hope you enjoy his story of becoming an osteopathic medical practitioner with a focus on health policy, prevention education, population health management, addressing the social determinants of health, and promoting health equity.

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An emergency medicine physician by training, Dr. Thomas Boyle, DO, FACOEP, FACEP, currently serves as the dean of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine (CCOM) at Midwestern University. As a clinical assistant professor of emergency medicine, Dr. Boyle began his career at Midwestern University in 1992. From 2001 to 2008, he served as its Student Education coordinator and chair of Emergency Medicine. Following these positions, Dr. Boyle had the opportunity to serve as the associate dean of Clinical Services for CCOM, the dean of Postdoctoral Education, and even as the interim dean for one year while the current dean, Karen J. Nichols, DO, MA, MACOI, CS, took a leave of absence from the position to serve as the president of the American Osteopathic Association.

Prior to his roles in academic medicine and medical education, Dr. Boyle earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Philadelphia College of Medicine. Following graduation, he completed his intern year and went on to serve as a general medical officer in the United States Air Force before returning to complete a residency in emergency medicine at CCOM. In addition to his medical degree, Dr. Boyle also completed a Master’s in Business Administration at Saint Joseph's University Erivan K. Haub School of Business in 2019. In fact, it is Dr. Boyle’s interest in teaching that lead him to pursue a career in academic medicine.

Tune in to hear about Dr. Boyle’s pathway to becoming dean of CCOM and learn more about the osteopathic medicine program at CCOM, including what makes a good applicant for the program, elaboration on the program’s strengths, and plans to improve the curriculum for future classes of osteopathic graduates. 

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Jann Gael, OMS-IV, is a medical school student at Western University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest. Born in Amarillo, TX, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor of science in biology before spending several years working at the university as an embryology research assistant. During his time in research, Gael invested his efforts towards fully characterizing fundamental physiological processes necessary for proper human development in the hopes of elucidating mechanisms that could be used to create treatments for congenital disease. Currently, in his role as a medical student, Gael believes that diligence, integrity, and a love of learning will allow him to best serve and support his future patients and peers. Focusing on the flexibility needed to view problems from different perspectives, he holds these values as essential in creating a robust and reliable foundation for treatment plans that can best address a patient’s needs.

Medicine offers the perfect venue in which deductive reasoning and natural curiosity can be used to affect and improve the lives of others more directly. Passionate about the field of pathology, Gael was drawn to the challenge of finding connections between vast amounts of information, the openness to collaboration needed to address a problem from multiple angles, and the critical thinking skills required to be successful in these endeavors.

Alongside his love of science, Gael indulges in his passion for fine arts. Music has always played an instrumental part in Gael’s life, even more so now in the face of COVID. In his spare time, he enjoys performing lullabies on the piano, singing (poorly but enthusiastically) to songs from the last musical he’s seen, or listening to music livestreams as he sketches and writes on his weekend evenings.

Tune in to learn more about Gael’s path to osteopathic medicine, his passion for working with others, and his experiences navigating life and medicine as a transgender medical student.

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In this episode of D.O. or Do Not, we interview Dr. Melanie Jessen. Dr. Jessen is the Family Medicine Residency Director at West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, Illinois. Dr. Jensen also serves as the second-year Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine course director at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and subsequently attended the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she also completed her internship, a neurology residency, and a family medicine residency. Dr. Jessen has served as president of the Illinois Osteopathic Medical Society and was a  delegate for the American Osteopathic Association.

I hope you enjoy her journey starting as a teacher of dance and music and ultimately pivoting direction to attend medical school and become an osteopathic physician.  

Hosted by Tiffany Carlson
Edited by Thomas Jasionwski

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In this episode of D.O. or Do Not, we welcome Dr. Justin Boge.

Dr. Boge did a residency in anesthesiology at UW Madison and a fellowship in pain medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. He is an Air Force veteran who is currently on staff at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  While working part-time in his pain management practice, he is simultaneously furthering his education with a Master of Health Administration through Cornell University.

In this interview, Dr. Boge will tell us how he chose osteopathic medicine and why he decided to pursue extra time as a teaching assistant in osteopathic manipulation while in medical school at Des Moines University. He will talk about his experiences serving in Iraq and how he chose to specialize in anesthesia and pain management. I hope you enjoy his story and journey in being and becoming an osteopathic physician. Thanks for listening!

Hosted by Tiffany Carlson
Edited by Nicholas Buskill

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In this episode, we interview Dr. Georgeanne Freeman, a family medicine physician who graduated from the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. She then went on to complete her intern year at East Tennessee State University followed by a family medicine residency at the University of Washington. Currently, Dr. Freeman owns her own full-spectrum family medicine practice called Downtown Doctor in Austin, Texas. She is also the founder of Hippo Hydrate, which provides rehydration treatments for a variety of ailments.

Hosted by Madli Vahtra 
Edited by Thomas Jasionwski

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In this episode of D.O. Or Do Not, Dr. Tonni Bacoat-Jones shares her story with us. Dr. Bacoat graduated with a degree in mathematics from Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. She attended medical school at Des Moines University and completed a traditional osteopathic rotating internship in Brooklyn New York. Dr. Bacoat completed a residency in anesthesiology and a pain management fellowship at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Ultimately, she went on to work and teach at Nova-Southeastern University on the Clearwater campus, where she is currently the post-baccalaureate gross anatomy course director and assistant course director for first-year medical students. Dr. Bacoat holds a Master of Public Health that she obtained through George Washington University.

In this interview, Dr. Bacoat will tell us about her journey as a non-traditional medical student who raised her five-year-old daughter during her studies at Des Moines. She describes how an early family mentor led her to choose osteopathic medicine and will give students her study strategies to be successful in medical school. We hope you enjoy listening to Dr. Bacoat’s journey.

Hosted by Tiffany Carlson
Edited by Nicholas Buskill

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In today’s episode, we have Dr. Tuvia Marciano. Dr. Marciano is a pediatric gastroenterologist at NYU Langone on Long Island. He graduated from the New York Institute of Technology in 2000 and completed his pediatrics residency at Downstate Medical Center before moving on to finish his pediatric gastroenterology fellowship in 2007 at the prestigious Montefiore Medical Center. Dr. Marciano has won several awards for his excellent care and is featured in multiple regional guides including Newsday and New York Magazine. We hope you enjoy this episode.

Edited by Thomas Jasionwski

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Dr. Ariel Nassim is a sports medicine physician at Nassim Medical in New York. He graduated from New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his internal medicine residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel. He also completed a sports medicine fellowship at Drexel University College of Medicine. In addition to his regular practice, Dr. Nassim has worked with several professional athletes at various sports events, including the US Open and Pan American Games. He is even scheduled to be on Team USA’s medical staff at the upcoming 2021 Olympics.

Hosted by Madli Vahtra 
Edited by Thomas Jasionwski