| Journal of the POMA - Vol 69, No 3 - October 2025 |
From the Editorial Board
"We Have A Problem"
Written by Joseph Zawisza, DO, PCOM '05
In October 2024, I wrote in this very column that we were reinventing the JPOMA after a hiatus. From then on, it was going to be delivered in a digital format, with a new layout, new features, and a new presentation style. The Publications Committee had requested contributions from our members. Furthermore, all of this was set to happen successfully, despite JPOMA having not published an issue in almost a year, and the previous committee chair had passed away.
That was a year ago. With any new (or renewed, as the case may be) undertaking, there is always a fear that it may be doomed from the start. As physicians, we have all taken on new projects and adventures in our lives that we worried might not work out. Remember the first day of medical school? Residency? And most frightening of all, your first day as an attending physician, when there was no safety net.
As expected, the first issue required significant contributions from the committee members. Nevertheless, it was published, and only a few glitches arose, which we were able to resolve quickly. As a bonus, for the first time in JPOMA’s history, we were able to determine how many members were reading the journal and which articles they were engaging with.
October came and went. We patted ourselves on the back for a successful publication, and only a few minutes later, we began working on the second digital issue, scheduled for publication a few months later. After all, one success is good luck, but two successes constitute a tradition. I am now pleased to report confidently that you are currently reading the fourth digital issue of JPOMA!
So, you are probably asking at this point: what is the problem? Well, it’s a fantastic problem to have. Our members are not only reading the Journal, but they are contributing to it! We have gone from having to create articles to having to rank which ones to include in a particular issue due to space considerations and the length of the publication. We are receiving original research pieces and creative writing. Our members are sending in opinion and research-based pieces alike that are helpful to other physicians and their patients. This is exactly what we wanted to achieve!
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The Sound of Music
Written by Samuel Garloff, DO, PCOM '78
Earlier this week, I was happy*. Honestly, quite happy. It was a week of perfect beginnings. The Sun-Times reported that Chicago will be home to the Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine, the first new Chicago medical school in over a century. Even better, the curriculum is reported to integrate mental and physical medicine throughout each year to deepen a physician’s holistic approach to not only patient care, but self-care. To an over-the-hill shrink, living in Chicago, what could sound better?
My friends, the happiness I felt didn’t stop there. Friday, my spouse and I were scheduled to attend the CSO, featuring Mahler. Two days later, dinner out to celebrate our 57th anniversary. Then, the vicissitudes and vulgarities of life arrived.
Thursday morning, I awoke to a text message from the wife of an old friend. I knew it could not be good news. Dave, aka Zoot, was now receiving home hospice care. Dx: Glioblastoma.
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The Physician and The Life Insurance Policy
Written by Merrill Jay Mirman, BSc (Pharm.), DO, CPIA, PCOM '66
No, this is not the name of a new TV melodrama.
It is, however, a part of the life of every physician. How so, you say? Well, let's begin with what Life Insurance is.
Life insurance is a contract between the Insured (usually you) and the insurer (usually an insurance company). The contract stipulates that upon the death of the Insured, the Insurer will pay a sum of money to a party named in the contract, known as the Beneficiary. In passing, this type of contract is called a "third party" contract (the Beneficiary is the third party).
The reality is that the insurance company, which issues the contract (the life insurance policy), is making a bet. The bet is simple: they bet that with the premiums which the insured pays, together with the income from investments the insurance company makes, minus expenses, that the company will make a profit. It's gambling.
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Standing Firm: POMA's Commitment to Physician-Led Care
Written by George Wolters, DO, POMA President, PCOM '79, and Tyler Burke, POMA Sr. Dir. of Government Affairs
Opposition to granting independent licensure for advanced practice nurses is grounded in the realities and demands of family practice. Providing comprehensive medical care for all ages and all genders requires extensive training and experience, best delivered by a team directed by a physician. Multiple physician organizations have opposed expanded licensing efforts for decades.
Advocates for independent nurse practice claim there is no difference in outcomes between independent practice and physician-led, team-based care. Other studies contradict this claim by showing poorer outcomes, lower patient satisfaction, and higher costs associated with unsupervised nurse practice. Additionally, concerns over increased diagnostic X-ray use and overprescription of antibiotics and opioids reinforce questions of patient safety. An excellent commentary and overview, published in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine (2024; 124(12): 555-558), is well worth the read.
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A Dignified Death
Written by Melissa P. Broyles, DO, PCOM '97
A typical Qliq message reads, “Routine Palliative Care consult to discuss goals of care with family. Patient is Sylvia S. in ICU 468.” The chart describes a somnolent 100-year-old woman with advanced dementia, admitted due to dehydration and subsequent acute-on-chronic kidney disease. When I speak with her daughter, I learn that Ms. Sylvia, fondly called so by her students, was a beloved kindergarten teacher for forty years and a devoted mother of four. Her daughter shares that she had poor oral intake for two weeks prior to admission and had stopped eating and drinking entirely in the last two days.
At Ms. Sylvia’s bedside, she lies in peaceful stillness—frail, beautiful, and unmoving. Her heart monitor blares repeatedly, alarming for a heart rate of forty-eight, yet she does not stir. Suddenly, behind me, a determined attending physician and medical resident rush into the room with a consent form and surgical tray in hand—not due to Ms. Sylvia’s heart rate, but because they are on a different mission. To my surprise, following a specialist’s suggestion, they intend to place an access line in her neck to initiate dialysis.
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Advancing Health Equity Through Holistic Care: The Work of St. Joseph's Institute of Clinical Bioethics
By Shrijal S. Desai, PCOM OMS-III, Christopher Antoniello, PCOM OMS-III, and Jeremy Muhr, PCOM OMS-III
The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association (POMA) is pivotal in advancing the interests, safety, and welfare of osteopathic physicians and the patients they serve. This becomes more important as obstacles arise when serving underserved communities. Saint Joseph's University’s Institute of Clinical Bioethics (ICB) is an example of an initiative to address healthcare and social challenges through community-based healthcare programs. The ICB's Health Promoter Programs provide wide-ranging, culturally relevant healthcare services to various patient populations throughout the greater Philadelphia region.
The ICB’s Health Promoter Program is a comprehensive program that aims to bridge the gap in access to healthcare for vulnerable groups of people in Philadelphia. By offering an assortment of free health services ranging from blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes screenings to wound care services for assessment and treatment of drug-induced wounds, the program aims to address critical health disparities that affect marginalized communities disproportionately. The ICB’s provision of free healthcare services exactly responds to POMA's mission of providing equal access to healthcare, whereby anyone, regardless of socioeconomic status, is provided access to medical care. This model of care focuses on the individual's well-being and impacts community health directly by promoting preventive care early in life.
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Stillness: The Benefits of Mindful Meditation
Written by Jade McNulty, PCOM OMS-III
How do you find stillness? We get twenty-four hours in a day, but how often are you really present? The medical field is a constant stream of stressful encounters and never-ending decision-making. A twelve-hour shift can fly by in the blink of an eye without any awareness of the time passing. Days turn into weeks, and all of a sudden, years have gone by.
To combat this, it is important to find grounding in the present moment to avoid missing it. Meditation provides an outlet to find that grounding and root yourself in something sturdy. It may feel difficult to dedicate time for yourself, but it’s impossible to pour from an empty cup. It is just as important to look after yourself as it is to look after your patients. Self-care is necessary for survival, and only a few minutes per day could change your life for the better.
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We Need You in the Locker Room - By David Kaufman, DO
Written by Samuel Garloff, DO, PCOM '78
Serendipity is seldom given the credit it is due. It is the proximate cause that led me to read this book. By a random act, I learned of the “One Team, One Health” initiative at Michigan State University, a proposal to combine the College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) and the College of Human Medicine (MD) into the College of Medicine, granting both degrees. I contacted Dr. Kaufman, founding chair of the Department of Neurology and Ophthalmology at MSU, to seek more information. We emailed back and forth, eventually reminiscing about our families and experiences. Doing this, I learned of his book.
If you are a football fan at any level of the sport, this book is for you. If you have no interest in the sport but treat, diagnose, or want to learn more about TBI: Concussions, Second Impact Syndrome (SIS), and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), this book is for you. It’s not simply a sports book, it’s not a medical text, it’s a mixture of both, including compelling character development and sometimes humorous, sometimes deeply personal experiences as the author shares his development from a newbie sports neurologist to become the consummate sports neurologist at MSU.
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Hands That Heal
Written by Jina Park, PCOM OMS-II
Once,
a breath caught in my chest,
pain shooting between my ribs–
My classmate found a tender point,
Held it still through counterstrain–
Until the tension softened,
And my breath eased.
Later,
stress tightly clenched my jaw,
My TMJ grinding through restless nights–
I flipped through my textbook,
And tried a Muscle Energy Technique learned in lab–
Fingers guiding the hinge and release along my TMJ.
The ache softened,
Like a locked door that opened.
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Look what I found
Written by Richard Donze, DO, MPH, PCOM '78
Ron stopped by after cleaning
out his OR locker he’d gone
to 3 days a week 2 years ago
but his last case was today
“Look what I found” an older
logo’ed set of scrubs a dog-
eared Arnold Henry’s Extensile
Exposure from the orthopod’s
canon a tableside photo of his
first total joint in “my Dave
suit” the now stale reference
to the time-traveling whoosh-
breathing HAL-quieting pro-
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How I Earned Money in Med School
Written by Ted Eisenberg, DO, PCOM '76
I got married just before the start of my second year at PCOM, 1973. We had no income and needed to earn some money. I got a nighttime job doing arterial blood gases through the Pulmonary Lab at a local hospital. When I got a call in the middle of the night, I’d turn on the bedroom light and stomp on the floor to scatter the water bugs that lived in our second-floor garden apartment with us ...
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From Patient to Future Pediatrician: An Osteopathic Journey
Written by Aloko Mehta, LCOM OMS-IV
My osteopathic journey began during my own recovery, when I felt the power of care that acknowledged not just my symptoms, but my whole being. That experience opened my eyes to the profound connection between mind, body, and spirit, and to the healing that comes from truly listening to a patient’s story. These principles continue to guide me as I look toward a career in pediatrics. I hope to ...
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A Different Time
Written by Barry Getzoff, DO, PCOM '60
Sometimes I think about the beginning of my career at 48th and Spruce Street as a student at PCO, as it was called at that time. Classrooms were set with movable chairs and numbers on the back….so different from when I now enter the amphitheater as an instructor to give a lecture. From a classic show that had a song that began, “It’s a very ancient saying, but a true and honest thought, that if you become a teacher, by your pupils you’ll be taught.” As a mentor and instructor, I find that is definitely ...
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The first issues of JPOMA came at a time when many new osteopathic hospitals were opening across this state. This article in particular highlights the opening of Shenango Valley Osteopathic Hospital in Farrell, Pennsylvania. The original hospital opened with 50 beds in 1960, having to expand in 1966 and again in 1969. Shenango Valley Osteopathic Hospital merged with Greenville Hospital in 1992 to form Horizon Health System, and a merger with UPMC in 1998 led to the formation of UPMC Horizon Health. This entity exists to this day. At a time when multiple hospitals have closed across the state, it is fascinating to read about the multitude of hospital openings in the 1950s and 1960s. Even more interesting is that, according to this article, construction was three to four months ahead of schedule, a feat which rarely occurs today.
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While the treatments may have changed (a quick Google search indicates that the words “omaloids” and “garcels” must have been misspelled and instead pulls up websites dedicated to Scrabble Word Finders and Haitian-American actresses), obesity and its treatment were hot topics in 1960 and, of course, remain so to this day. The obesity rate in 1960 was approximately 13%; that number more than tripled to 40% by August 2023. Fortunately, advances in technology have allowed for the expansion of the treatment of obesity.
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If you are a PCOM alum, no words are needed to identify this 1956 graduate of PCOM. Which is fitting, as decades of alumni relate that there are no words to adequately describe the impact this radiologist had on his students. He first began lecturing medical students in 1962, quickly rising to Chairman of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Radiation Therapy, from 1973 to 1991. He used puppets as part of his teaching, and he would have students whistling, singing, playing the guitar, and performing skits as part of their education. A past president of POMA, he remained active in teaching until his death in 2005.
Click here if you can identify this legendary osteopathic physician!
The answer will be revealed in JPOMA's February 2026 issue.
(Answer to JPOMA's June 2025 Guess Who? - Galen Young, DO)
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Members of our osteopathic community are the best and brightest. We honor the passing of these POMA members. We recognize their contributions and legacies to the profession and to POMA. To friends and families, we offer sympathies.
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Publication Notes
Disclaimer
Views expressed in The Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board, The JPOMA, or POMA unless specified.
About the JPOMA
Frequency
The Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association will be published three times a year: February, June, October.
Submission Information
The Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association is a safe space for all DOs to have a voice and be heard. Opportunities to contribute in all content areas are open to all osteopathic medical students, residents, and physicians. Share your thoughts, ideas, and submissions via email to [email protected].
Submission Deadlines
The Publications Committee will review submissions one month prior to publication. The rolling submission deadlines are as follows:
- January 15th for the February issue
- May 15th for the June issue
- September 15th for the October issue
Editorial Board
The POMA Publications Committee serves as the editorial board for the Journal of the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association. It is currently chaired by Joseph Zawisza, DO, and includes Vice Chair Donna Delfin, DO, Richard Donze, DO, Katherine Galluzzi, DO, Samuel Garloff, DO, Porsche Lee, LECOM OMS-III, and Zachary Mendola, LECOM OMS-II. POMA President-Elect Angela Zawisza, DO, is champion of POMA's Communications Activities.
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Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association
1330 Eisenhower Boulevard, Harrisburg, PA 17111
www.poma.org | [email protected]
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