Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Synapsis Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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I PRESIDENT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF I960 I am always happy to greet Philadelphia College of Osteopathy men and women on the occasion of their completing the studies for their degree — Doctor of Osteopathy. I am indeed happy to greet you — the members of the Class of I960. Nineteen Hundred Sixty is the beginning of a new decade. There have been numberless com- ments on what the next ten years will bring. No one knows. You, however, are secure in the knowl- edge that you have been educated to fulfill your lives in service to all, whether they be in good or bad health, and whether economic conditions be prosperous or depressed. The quality of the fulfillment of your lives will be determined by yourselves. Philadelphia Col- lege of Osteopathy has presented you with an opportunity for an education. You have been in- structed by a largely volunteer faculty. These osteopathic physicians are in the great tradition of the generations of physicians. They are teaching and giving of their knowledge to the next genera- tions. There are many factors which will deter- mine the quality of the fulfillment of your lives: your family life, your health, your character, your personality, your capability in nurturing a con- stant growth as a physician, your ability to make manifest in the good health of your patients those skills of which as an osteopath you have special knowledge, and your ability to live as part of your community — both lay and professional — with a becoming professional demeanor based on your competence as an osteopathic physician. As an osteopathic physician you will be part of that numberless company of men and women who through time have brought to the service of Charity their skills and their lives. No really great physician has been outside this tradi- tion. You are the recipient of manifold gifts — many made at great sacrifice: a fine education; a golden opportunity; and a professional life — in- cluding helping those who follow you — to which precious few can look forward. My congratulations and best wishes to each of you.

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A MANUs7 TO THE JVfi MBERS OF THE CLASS OF I960: t ' The osteopathic profession is dedicated to the advancement of the osteopathic school of medicine and it has declared that it elects to seek its destiny as an independent healing arts group. The osteopathic profession like any living organism must adapt and grow in a changing environment and at the same time remain true to its nature and function. • Society at large tends not to be too mindful, except irt periods of crises, of any profession. Individuals in society, however, are very much aware of individuals in a profession and are apt to equate the profession with the individual practitioner. What you do, then, determines what your patients think of the osteopathic profession. Americans are used to and indeed expect change. They expect im- provement, they expect hard work and they extend a great deal of trust in judgment. But woe be unto the profession that abuses this trust. The key to the matter is integrity. Americans look first for this and having found it, to trust the man who has it. For you as osteopathic physi- cians, integrity rests in your being real osteopathic physicians. You must identify yourself as such, practice as such, and exemplify the integrity the American people expect of a physician who has taken the oath you have. With such integrity your material rewards will be more than adequate and your satisfactions beyond your fondest hopes. With all good wishes. DEAN