OOA gives OSU med students tools, support as they begin school
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Media Contact: Sara Plummer | Communications Coordinator | 918-561-1282 | sara.plummer@okstate.edu
The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association have a relationship that dates back to the school’s founding 50 years ago.
“OOA was instrumental in getting the College of Osteopathic Medicine started, and many of our association’s presidents, leaders and most accomplished members have been graduates of OSU-COM,” said OOA CEO and Executive Director Allison LeBoeuf. “It’s a relationship we cherish and foster, supporting our medical students with resources and a community of physician mentors to encourage the next generation of OOA members and osteopathic physicians within our state.”
The OOA was founded in 1900 — before Oklahoma was even a state — as an affiliate of the American Osteopathic Association, and today it represents more than 2,000 D.O. physicians, residents, interns and medical students in the state.
Each year, OOA supplies the incoming medical students with their white coats and OOA board members present students with their first stethoscope at an informal presentation and meet and greet during their first week of classes.
“It’s amazing to see the spark of excitement in the students’ eyes when they receive their stethoscope and shake the hands of the OOA board members handing it to them. We’ve received some lovely thank-you notes from the students, and it’s nice to know that the contributions of OOA members that enable us to provide these stethoscopes and white coats to the incoming class have such a personal impact,” LeBoeuf said.
"It’s amazing to see the spark of excitement in the students’ eyes when they receive
their stethoscope and shake the hands of the OOA board members handing it to them."
Dr. Natasha Bray, interim dean of OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation, said OOA advocates for practicing physicians and supports medical students in order to ensure the future of the profession for Oklahoma and its citizens.
“Osteopathic physicians in Oklahoma support one another and our students. Students are the future of our profession, they will provide vital care to our families and communities,” Bray said. “OOA supports our students in very tangible ways by providing them with their first white coat and stethoscope as well as scholarships, but they also provide mentoring and education as our students develop their professional identity.”
LeBoeuf said the OOA board members and staff look forward to meeting the incoming class each year and talking about how they and the organization can best serve the students on their journey into the practice of medicine.
“We want to prepare each generation of OSU medical students with the proper tools to practice excellent medicine and show them how valued they are within our state as future Oklahoma physicians,” LeBoeuf said. “OSU-COM students, before they even begin their first day of classes, are important advocates for the health and well-being of their future patients and can be very effective in helping to shape the laws and regulations that will impact their future practice.”