Dear Student of Osteopathy;
Welcome to the South Pointe Hospital GME website and particularly to the Family Medicine section.
Do you like a challenge? Can you see yourself caring for newborns and infants who are just a few days to months old or caring for our senior population who are getting older, living longer, but finding it harder to maintain their health? How about a mother who just gave birth six weeks ago and is now overwhelmed, depressed and suffering low back pain along with pelvic pain, secondary to her obstetrician not knowing how to simply, but properly reposition her feet, legs and pelvis from a chronic unstable position all the while she labored to give birth? Do you like caring for the weekend warrior who still thinks he/she is still number one on the field of play? How about the injured worker who has been out of work... can you get him/her back to the job with the same degree of functioning and productivity that was present before the injury? This is just a sampling.. but there is more!
South Pointe Hospital has a rich tradition of training and graduating many fine physicians in all provinces of medicine. Some of them may already be your preceptors and mentors. Our program was one of three Family Medicine residencies founded in 1973 and has maintained it's certification through the AOA and ACOFP ever since.
Our graduates have all gone on to provide wonderful care throughout our nation: from Vermont to Alaska, California and even at the National Institiute of Health in Washington, D.C. We even have former graduates currently serving in the Army Reserves Corps, providing security for America and the hope of freedom for people in other nations.
How did these people get to where they are now? The same qualities that you have: desire, will, intellect and of course a proper education. It is the latter I wish to draw your attention to and share.
Education at South Pointe Hospital is supported through the CORE (Center for Osteopathic Research and Education), which is sponsored by the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Our residents meet monthly either via teleconference or at live education days to share knowledge and skills.
Daily education is the norm at South Pointe whether it be at noon conference or morning education lectures, journal clubs and gatherings while on the various rotations in medicine, family medicine, surgery or orthopedics. As residents in Family Medicine our program meets collectively on a weekly basis for formal didactic presentations on just about every topic required to become competent physicians in the clinic environment. Being a member of the Cleveland Clinic Health System, we have a great opportunity for educational exchanges with one of the premier medical institutions in the world.
Our library is second to none for a community hospital. Everthing is literally a "click" away.
The opportunities to grow and mature are endless in the metropolitan Cleveland area. You too can settle and start to raise a family in a beautiful region of the midwest.
Many who have trained here have elected to live and pursue their professional careers here as well. They will be your teachers.
Do you care about the politics of medicine? Many do not, but fortunately for us, those that do have made their voices heard at the local, state and national levels. Our graduates have held office in the national and state levels as well as having chaired numerous committees in various political arenas. Many of the osteopathic OMT codes have only recently in the history of our profession been accepted as re-imbursable services that for many years were given away for "free."
As you have already learned, this process of becoming a competent physician is not something that comes overnight, but takes time, time that is rigorous, yet should be fun and enjoyable and of course memorable as well. Dr. A.T. Still was right when he said: "It is easy for us to find disease, but to secure and maintain health, well that is a different matter."
You are the future of osteopathic medicine and it will be in your hands, but before the "baton" can be passed on, you are in our hands as you pursue the skills, medical knowledge and caring necessary to promote and promulgate this legacy. It is not about disease, conditions, or syndromes, but has been and always will be about people who have these afflictions. Come take a look, and see South Pointe Hospital. It is enticing!.
I look forward to meeting you.
Sincerely;
Richard M Garwood, D.O.
Program Director: Family Medicine Residency
South Pointe Hospital ~ 20000 Harvard Road, Warrensville Hts., Ohio 44122 ~ Phone: 216.491.7460 ~ Fax: 216.491.7802