PCOM Faculty Present at OMED 2015

November 4, 2015

Katherine Galluzzi, DO, CMD, FACOFP dist.
(Photo credit: American Osteopathic Association)

---

 

Several staff, administrators and faculty from PCOM attended the recent OMED 2015 Conference in Kissimmee, Florida in October to learn about activities at osteopathic medical schools across the country and to discuss how the profession continues to grow and change. Four faculty members, Murray R. Berkowitz, DO, MA, MS, MPH, associate professor, neuromusculoskeletal medicine and osteopathic manipulative medicine and director, preventive and community-based medicine; Katherine Galluzzi, DO, CMD, FACOFP dist., professor and chair, geriatric medicine; Erik Langenau, DO, MS, associate professor, pediatrics, and chief technology officer; and Greg McDonald, DO ’89, chair, forensic medicine and pathology, presented on topics related to their various fields of expertise.

Dr. Langenau discussed ways that medical schools could implement new and emerging technologies related to medical education and training, but noted that several factors should be considered before choosing which technologies to utilize, including if they are indeed ready to be utilized; if there is a significant benefit to using them; and whether the institution has the resources to implement them.

Dr. McDonald presented on post-mortem changes and forensic entomology, and the pathology of drug abuse, as part of several practice groups led by the American Osteopathic College of Pathologists.

Dr. Berkowitz presented on osteopathic manipulative techniques (OMT) and the industrial athlete as part of the Occupational Medicine Day of the American Osteopathic College of Occupational and Preventive Medicine (AOCOPM).  He discussed common musculoskeletal problems of industrial athletes and the epidemiology of those injuries, as well as appropriate OMT for those injuries. (Dr. Berkowitz was also recently named vice president and chair of the Occupational Medicine Division of AOCOPM.)

Dr. Galluzzi, who is a member of the content development team for the Collaboration for REMS Education (CO*RE), presented the latest iteration of curriculum modules designed to better train physicians on extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioid pain medication. CO*RE is a consortium of 10 partners and three organizations that has worked to create, update and present these modules in response to the Federal Drug Administration’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) initiative for ER/LA opioid analgesics.

“Physicians must balance the use, availability, and the necessity for pain management against the risk of serious adverse outcomes,” said Dr. Galluzzi.

Dr. Galluzzi’s presentation of REMS modules comes at an important time; earlier in October, President Barack Obama announced a renewed push for training on prescribing opioid pain medications for doctors as part of a White House initiative against abuse of prescription drugs and heroin use.