6-12-97
ATHENS, Ohio -- Chemistry Professor Gary Small drew on the experiences of the 19th century explorers Lewis and Clark in his speech "A Challenge to New Explorers" at Ohio University's graduate commencement Friday in the Convocation Center.
Ninety-six Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-COM) students and 700 master's and doctoral degree candidates participated in the commencement before an estimated crowd of 3,000 friends and relatives.
Small, recipient of the 1996 Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award, said there were four keys to the explorers' success which the graduates could use in their lives.
"First, they had the opportunity to do something special, and they made the most of it," Small said. "In your lives and your careers, you will have opportunities, too. Your challenge is to recognize them and to seize them. Second, they had a passion for their work. Third, they had the courage to persevere when the going was tough. And finally, they kept their focus on the goal."
Following are some vignettes on three four of the graduates.
Born in Vietnam in the midst of a horrible war, Van was one of nine children raised only by her mother after her father died in a car accident.
In April of 1980, six of the Nguyen children, including Da-Thuy, left their mother and three siblings behind when they escaped Vietnam on a boat to Hong Kong where they stayed in a refugee camp for seven months before a Catholic church in Oregon sponsored the children and brought them to a foster home.
"When I came to this country the only word I knew was no.' Then I eventually learned how to say I don't know,'" says Van. "Somehow though, I felt comfortable where I was. My teacher and my classmates were very helpful. After school, my classmates played with me and that expedited my learning English. I was very lucky that everyone was so helpful, friendly and open-minded, even if I was the only student with straight, black hair and different colored skin."
After earning her bachelor's of arts degree in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and working as a research scientist for a year, Van her family on the West Coast and to attend medical school in Southeastern Ohio in 1993 to further her education.
"I went to medical school as a challenge to myself," she says. "My whole life has been challenge. I remember being on a boat floating on the sea at 11 -- making it through life has been an experience in itself. One challenge after another."
"As I physician I hope to serve my patients well . That is what the profession is all about," she says.
In addition, Van has utilized a component of osteopathic medicine known as osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) that adds to her personal touch' approach. This technique makes it possible for osteopathic physicians, when appropriate, to use their hands to help diagnose illness and treat patients. For example, the medical management of a patient with pneumonia can be augmented by an OMT technique that makes blood and lymph flow better.
"When I put my hands on a patient, it makes them feel that I'm giving them extra time and attention. It makes them feel important," says Van. "Most of the patients I see comment that no doctor has done anything like that before.' It makes them feel more comfortable with me." . . .
The arrival of the former Wittenauer twins in mid-winter of 1970 was widely publicized after their mother self-delivered Valerie and Venus in the back seat of the family's station wagon while their Aunt Olga drove in haste to reach Salem Hospital, 30 minutes away from their home in East Palestine, Ohio.
Their mother, Genevieve Wittenauer, a general practitioner with more than 30 years experience in family medicine at the time, is now a proud mother of a pair of graduating medical students who will succeed her.
Upon completing one-year internships following graduation, the twins plan to moonlight in their mother's office while in residency, eventually taking over her practice in East Palestine, when Dr. Wittenauer retires.
Valerie and Venus each completed rotations under their mother's supervision at different times during their clinical training.
"The school let us do that to see if we liked it, if we liked the patients and if we liked the family practice setting. I liked it very much. I definitely know that's what I want to do," Venus says.
Both completed pre-med at Youngstown State University majoring in biology and chemistry and both will intern at Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital after receiving their D.O. degrees from Ohio University. . . .
Sombat was operating his own landscaping business in the Cleveland area in 1983 when a cable hauling a log broke and severed Sombat's leg above the thigh.
"We were clearing a lot, moving a section of tree trunk when the buckle, hog tied to a log I was next to and rolling, broke," Sombat said. The next instant, I'm down at the bottom of the ravine. I had no leg.
Sombat was transported to Cleveland's University Hospital where Michael Joyce, M.D., was part of a three-doctor team, reattached the limb.
"I'm pretty much the only person I'm aware of, at the time, who had reattachment above the knee done successfully," Sombat said.
The Mayfield High School graduate was reunited with Joyce when he trained with Joyce last summer.
Sombat had several operations following the reattachment and now is able to play basketball and racquetball.