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

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Boathouse Row

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Class Chairman ej Ipl JM 4 mt mm W I M ■■ -i Fellow classmates, I wish to take these few lines to reflect upon four years of perhaps the most memorable and important part of our lives. I try to think of the words that could be used to describe each year leading to that final day when we are granted the legal means to practice medicine — the D.O. degree. The first two years are proba- bly described by fear , doubt , anxiety , disillu- sionment , comradiere , knowledge , and perhaps even boredom . In the third year such words as excitement , enthusiasm , immaturity , comprehension , may come to mind. And finally the fourth year can be summarized as maturity , perception , re- levance , confidence , and for some, arrogance . Through this brief, but some- what nostalgic, look back at those days of all-nighters , fi- nals. Boards, group and rotation arbitration, one can intuitively see a trend that has evolved. If I had to choose only one word to describe this trend, I believe I would choose the word metamorphasis . For it is this word that characterizes our be- coming the player from the spectator, the physician from the student. Obviously I do not wish to imply that the metamorphasis has occurred overnight on the day of our graduation; rather, it has been in evolution from the very day we made the decision to become a physician. We now have a commitment to serve mankind with all the imple- ments and resources we have gathered from our training. To do anything less than this is un- ethical. It would be naive of me to think that all of us are dedi- cated to that commitment; how- ever, I sincerely believe that the vast majority subscribe to this. And perhaps it was this some- what intangible gratification that comes to one from helping another human that has assisted our making it through four laborious years. As Class Chairman I am aware that what I have given in these four years has been inappreci- able when compared to the many individuals who have con- tributed collectively and unself- ishly toward the success of our didactic years. And during our clinical years I have learned much from my peers. I have made some; unpopular ck ' cisions during this time, hut I did st; only after I knew that these were the majority ' s choice. Be- cause of this I discovered that ours was a class of indi- vidualists, idealists, pragmatists, ff)Ilowers and jf-aders. To those who did not always agree with me I ask that you please never change or compromise ycjur opinions or feelings, for it is you, the sometimes vocal minority, that can effect a change in the many times archaic and unjust status (juo of both the profession and the world. I have truly enjoyed serving as Chairman for this class of 1978, and I shall be proud to say that I have come to know what I am sure will be some of the most erudite and most dedicated doc- tors of the Osteopathic profes- sion. Good luck, congratulations and may all of you experience the rewards and satisfaction so unique to Osteopathic Medi- cine. — Dennis E. Agostini

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Philadelphia ' s Italian Market