OU-COM announces new Summa Foundation scholarship
Medical school assistance intended to support future Akron-area primary care physicians

Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine students from the Akron area may be eligible for a new scholarship, thanks to a $100,000 gift from the Summa Foundation.

"By supporting students from our community to pursue an education and eventual practice in osteopathic medicine, we continue our efforts to have the best health care in our community," said Kathleen Rice, president and chief operating officer of Summa Western Reserve Hospital.

The hospital is a charter member of the Centers of Osteopathic Research and Education (CORE), OU-COM's statewide consortium of affiliated teaching hospitals, though the relationship between the hospital and the college extends back more than 30 years, Rice said.

"We are investing in osteopathic medical education because Cuyahoga Falls was one of the original founders of the CORE in 1995, and because it is part of our mission," Rice said. "Our physicians are the guiding force behind our continued support of OU-COM and osteopathic medical education."

The Summa Foundation Osteopathic Medical Education Endowed Scholarship will be given to an OU-COM student or students who are permanent residents of Summit, Portage or Medina Counties. Scholarship recipients could receive up to $4,000 a year for related medical school expenses.

"Summa Western Reserve Hospital has designed this scholarship with OU-COM to give back to our community," said Ronald Russ, D.O., director of medical education and director of the family medicine residency program at Summa Western Reserve Hospital. "We firmly believe that our success and leadership in the Akron area health care community has been tremendously enhanced through our partnership with OU-COM."

"We hope to ease some of the financial burden on these individuals," said Russ, a 1998 alumnus of OU-COM. "We hope these physicians will return to their hometown to complete residency training and establish future private practices."

Jack Brose, D.O., dean of OU-COM, noted that the Summa gift supports OU-COM's mission to produce primary care physicians for Ohio.

"OU-COM prioritizes the training of outstanding primary care physicians. We are one of a dwindling number of medical schools who maintain primary care as a high priority," Brose said. The dean noted that more than 62 percent of the medical college's graduates remain in Ohio to practice medicine.

To qualify for the scholarship, which will be awarded in 2011, the OU-COM student must be a resident of one of the three counties and demonstrate that they intend to pursue a primary care residency after graduation.

"Ohio University is so very grateful for partners like the Summa Foundation that provide private resources to help our students achieve their educational goals," says Howard R. Lipman, vice president for University Advancement and president and CEO of The Ohio University Foundation. "This generous support not only enhances the quality of the educational experience, but it truly changes lives. Helping doctors graduate with less personal debt and to return home to serve small Ohio communities, that's what this kind of philanthropy can accomplish."

The gift to OU-COM was made in recognition of the valued academic and professional relationship between the college and hospital, said Russ, who also serves as a CORE assistant dean.

"When presented with a possibility to contribute something back to our educational partner, we could think of no greater way than to assist those osteopathic medical students who one day might be on our house staff, or serve as our personal physician," Russ said.

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The mission of Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine is innovative learning, focused research and compassionate care for Ohio and beyond. Each year more than 100 osteopathic physicians graduate from OU-COM, Ohio's only college of osteopathic medicine. Fifty-four percent of OU-COM alumni practice in primary care fields, and more than 60 percent of its graduates remain in Ohio, where they are more likely to practice in rural and other physician-shortage areas.