EAST LANSING, Mich. — Leadership for the expansion of the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM) to two sites in southeast Michigan has been appointed.
Gary L. Willyerd will serve as MSUCOM’s interim associate dean for Detroit Medical Center, while Kari Hortos has been named interim associate dean for Macomb University Center.
Willyerd has been director of medical education at POH Medical Center in Pontiac since 1990 and osteopathic director of medical education at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, Pontiac, since 1999.
A recognized leader in osteopathic education nationally, he served as president of the Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators from 2005-07.
A 1978 graduate of MSUCOM, he is board certified in emergency medicine, a professor of internal medicine at MSUCOM and a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians and the Association of Osteopathic Directors and Medical Educators.
Hortos, a 1982 graduate of MSUCOM, served Mt. Clemens General Hospital as vice president of medical education from 1993-2003 and as medical director of integrated health and research from 2003-05.
She is a fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Internists and a fellow of the American Osteopathic Directors of Medical Education. She took a Harvard Fellowship in Clinical Nutrition in 1989-90. She has been involved in a number of research programs, particularly assessing the effectiveness of osteopathic manipulative medicine.
“The appointment of these two stellar osteopathic educators – both extremely active already in leadership in our Statewide Campus System consortium of hospitals – will provide the vision, impetus, coordination and advocacy to maximize our opportunities in southeast Michigan,” said William Strampel, MSUCOM dean. “I’m very pleased that they, both alumni, have decided to serve their alma mater in this important role.”
Pending accreditation by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation, MSUCOM will expand its entering class size by 50 students at each site, while continuing to educate 200 students in each class on the East Lansing campus. The request for accreditation follows May approval by the MSU Board of Trustees of the Detroit Medical Center and Macomb University Center as expansion sites.
The students will receive their first two years of education at these sites and then will be assigned to one of the 20 base hospitals in Michigan affiliated with MSUCOM for their third- and fourth-year education.
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