The former head of the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Statewide Campus System at Michigan State University and two osteopathic physicians have received the college’s highest award – the 2014 Walter F. Patenge Medals of Public Service. They were recognized during a dinner on May 12 at MSU’s Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.
Mark Cummings, who served as the first associate dean of the SCS for 12 years, developed the program into one of the largest graduate medical education collaborations in the nation. The system now encompasses 47 major health care institutions and 31 federally qualified health centers, training 1,761 physicians in 227 programs.
David Dora, an advocate in western Michigan for both osteopathic education and family medicine, is the founder of the MGH Family Health Center in Muskegon, Michigan, which has achieved the status of a federally qualified health center. He has served as acting chair of the Department of Family Medicine at MSU, a family practice residency director, and director of medical education for Mercy General Health Partners.
Harris Mainster, a clinical faculty member of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, is the veteran of numerous trips to developing countries offering teaching and medical/surgical care and meeting the needs of some of the globe’s most vulnerable people. He is also extremely active in several professional and Jewish organizations, including serving on many boards.
Cummings, Dora and Mainster will join a celebrated group of leaders in health care, education and community service who have received past medals, which are named for Walter F. Patenge, the first president of the Michigan Osteopathic Medicine Advisory Board.