Alumni - College of Osteopathic Medicine

Touro University California
College of Osteopathic Medicine
Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2015
Campus News
From the Office
of The Dean
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
Renovation is in its final phase to convert building H-89 on our campus into a multi-purpose
clinical facility that will house student health services, student counseling services as well as
function as an on-campus site for translational clinical trials, inter-professional clinical training
labs and services. Please look forward to an announcement designating the time and date for the
official groundbreaking.
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When you visit the newly refurbished H-89, please stop by the new DEXA machine which was
generously donated by David Steinberg MD Founder of Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging
in Las Vegas.
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The COM Class of 2015 donated a bench and plaque which sits in front of Lander Hall in honor
of their classmate Zach Hauser who passed away unexpectedly in 2013.

On May 22 we re-dedicated the Mare Island Flagpole with special remarks from the Honorable
Congressman Mike Thompson.
Inside this Issue:
Campus News
1
COM News
2
Student News
2-3
Alumni News
3
Department Updates 3-5
Global Health
Research Updates
Upcoming
& Recent Events
5
6-9
10
Photo by Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic
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In June, our campus hosted a presentation by Robert Wah, MD, who was the 169th President of
the AMA.
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In July, Senior Provost Berkley, with Drs. Hiserote, Rehfield and Clearfield presented at the
Commonwealth Club of San Francisco “My new physician is a D.O.: What is Osteopathic
Medicine?
COM News
 From March 30 through April 3 we had our 7-year COCA accreditation visits at both TUN and our campus. The result of this
visit was spectacular as we received a full seven-year accreditation with no requirements and a commendation for our research
program. We would like to thank and acknowledge all who participated in the self-study and accreditation visit for their
hard work, and for making this, such a success. It is truly a testament to what we can achieve when we all work together.

We are pleased to announce that Richard Riemer, DO, has accepted the position as our new Senior Associate Dean. Dr.
Riemer, a graduate of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, completed a neurology residency at University of
California, Davis Medical Center, where he also served as Chief Resident. Dr. Riemer’s training also includes a miniFellowship in Epilepsy at Bowman Gray School of Medicine and as a Preceptor and Fellow in Chronic Spine and Pain
Multidisciplinary Rehabilitation at the PRIDE Rehabilitation Institute of Dallas.

The Student–Run Free Clinic was highlighted in the DO magazine in the article, “Interprofessional Education: Is your school
fostering team players?”

Dr. Gregg Lund was appointed to the AOA OMM/OMT Task Force.

Dr. Jennifer Weiss was appointed to represent TUCOM on the AACOM Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) Liaison
Committee.

Drs. Jay Shubrook and Michael Clearfield were both appointed to the AOA Bureau of Osteopathic Clinical Education and
Research (BOCER).

In his role as Chair of the AACOM Board of Deans, Dr. Clearfield was also appointed to the AOA Education Nomination
Committee.

New from OMED 2015! AACOMAS Preliminary Fall 2015 enrollment:
 The total number of paid applicants to one or more COMs climbed from 18,177 in 2014 to 20,670 this year - an
uptick of 13.7 percent.
 The preliminary number of DO students graduating from medical colleges between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015,
rose from 4,997 to 5,314 - an increase of 6.3 percent.
 A total of 7,025 students began their osteopathic medical education (OME) at one of the 31 DO-granting medical
schools that educate students at 44 U.S. locations in 29 states.
 Much of this growth is attributed to the creation of two newly-accredited teaching locations - the Edward Via College
of Osteopathic Medicine-Auburn (VCOM-Auburn) and the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic
Medicine (OU-HCOM) Cleveland campus—which enrolled inaugural classes in the fall of 2015.
Student News
 The Class of 2015 completed their residency match once again, matching 100% to a graduate residency program: 57% of
matched students are pursuing primary care. Our three-year rolling average is 61%, both totals of which lead California
medical schools and for the sixth consecutive year placing us in the top 10 nationally for our students choosing a primary care
residency.

As one class leaves another starts such that 79% of the new 135 students that comprise the Class of 2019 are from California
and have set a new standard for academic rigor by collectively having the highest MCAT 30.8 and GPA 3.5 in the history of
our institution.
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Student News continued

Our first year students also received their White Coats on August 23 and were honored by a keynote address given by
Dr. Kowalczyk, the current President of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California. During the ceremony the
students were also presented on behalf of Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, 14th District, and Assemblyman Bill Dodd, 4th
District, of the California Legislature, a Certificate of Recognition from the State:
“Your Commitment to the health and wellbeing of community is deserving of the highest commendations from the people of the
State of California. The esteem, gratitude, congratulation, and best wishes of the public are hereby extended. August 23,
2015.”

Student Doctors Martha Benitez and Tyler Fleming join an illustrious group of fellow COM students as this year’s recipients of
the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Fellowship:
 2010 Michael Herndon
 2012 Jennifer Tran
 2013 Soaman Dizechi
 2014 Melissa Belic
 2015 Martha Benitez and Tyler Fleming
Alumni News

AACOM released the second edition of, “A Brief Guide to Osteopathic Medicine”, a 32-page comprehensive resource to help
aspiring physicians understand osteopathic medicine and the path to become an osteopathic physician. The authors of this Guide
are COM 2014 alumni Patrick Wu, DO, MPH, and Jonathon Siu, DO.

Joy Dugan, MSPAS, MPH, PA-C, was elected President of the TUC Alumni Association.

Alumnus Kearnan Welch DO, MS, COM 2015 authored a perspective on being a physician with a hearing disorder in JAOA
2015; 115(7):466.

Alum Ai-Ling Lin, DO, was chosen as one of the Yale/Stanford Johnson Global Health Scholars Program, which has rotation
sites in South Africa, Uganda, Indonesia, Rwanda and Columbia.
Department Updates
Primary Care and Solano County Clinic
 Dr. Pera will be inaugurated as the President of OPSC in February, 2016.
 Congratulations to Dr. Phil Malouf on his promotion to Associate Professor.
 Dr. Wagner completed the Costin Scholar program.
 Dr. Hendriksz was selected Teacher of the Year by Class of 2017.
 Dr. Wagner participated in NBOME Clinical Decision making rater training workshop.
 Dr. Rehfield served on the NBOME COMLEX Level-2 PE humanistic domain standard setting panel.
 Welcome to new faculty:
 Kim Pfotenhauer, DO, joined the PCD department in August. Dr. Pfotenhauer received her DO degree from Michigan State
University COM and was most recently the Chief Resident in Family Medicine at the Ohio Health O’Bleness Hospital. During
her residency Dr Pfotenhauer instructed students and house staff in both clinical and didactic settings and we are thrilled to have
Dr. Pfotenhauer join our academic team.
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Department Updates continued
 Georgia Allen, DO, joined the PCD department in June. Dr. Allen received her DO degree from University of North Texas,
Texas COM and has extensive professional experience including having assumed the role of Vice-Chief of Medicine at
Weatherford Regional Medical Center. She was also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Community Medicine
at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. We are excited that Dr. Allen has joined our team.
 Jonathan Forncrook, DO, joined the PCD department in April. Dr. Forncrook is a board certified physician in Internal Medicine
and Pediatrics. He obtained his DO degree from Western University of Health Sciences COM. Amongst his professional
achievements include being the Chief Medical Officer of Camarena Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center. He was also
the Residency Director and Clinical Faculty in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at St. Josephs’ Hospital in Marshfield, WI.
Welcome, Dr. Forncrook, to our team!
Clinical Education

Dr. Menini was selected Teacher of the Year by the Class of 2017.
Lectures at National Meetings
2015 Joint AACOM & AODME
Dr. Hendriksz: Using Patient Perspectives to Increase Empathy and Interest.
American Diabetes Association
2015 Dr. Shubrook: Diabetes is Primary: Atypical diabetes.
Patient Centered Management of type 2 diabetes: focus on newer agents.
13th Annual UC Davis Pre-Medical and Pre-Health Professions National Conference
Dr. Clearfield Keynote Address: The Osteopathic Option: Opportunities in Osteopathic Medicine.
2015 American Association of Diabetes Educators
Dr. Shubrook: The National Diabetes Prevention Program- get employer engagement.
2015American Osteopathic Association (OMED)
Dr. Shubrook: AOA Public health program: Management of diabetes from patient to population.
The Path to better outcomes in managing type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Hendriksz served as a Standardized Patient and Panel Member
Webinars
Dr. Shubrook: Medscape: Patient Case Discussion in Type 2 diabetes: which intensification plan is best?
Dr. Shubrook: John Hopkins University-- Basal Insulin and Beyond--management of persistent hyperglycemi.a
Dr. Shubrook: AOA-- Type 2 diabetes Evolving treatment and patient management trends Leveraging the Osteopathic Principles in
managing type 2 diabetes.
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Basic Sciences

The Biotech Internship Program has its largest summer enrollment to date-19 students. This program originated by Dr.
Murakami was instituted in 2012. Now in its fifth year, the program has afforded 52 high school students a summer
internship focusing on osteopathic medicine to create a loop to a potential career in medicine. The program places an
emphasis on under-represented minorities as is highlighted by 49/52 (94%) of the students in the program meeting that
criteria.
 Welcome to new faculty:
 Dr. Mark Teaford, Professor in Anatomy. Dr. Teaford brings to our campus extensive teaching experience earned during 27
years as Professor of Functional Anatomy & Evolution at Johns-Hopkins School of Medicine. Most recently, he has provided
anatomy content at High Point University department of Physical Therapy. In addition to decades of teaching experience,
during which time he received numerous awards, Dr. Teaford serves as editor of the distinguished Journal of Human
Evolution, reviews manuscripts from 26 journals, reviews grants from 7 national institutions (including NIH and NSF), has
published 121 peer reviewed articles, and has maintained a 30 year history of grant funding. We are honored to have him join
our busy anatomy team, which provides content to the COM, MSMHS, and PA programs.
OMM


Dr. Stacey Pierce-Talsma was appointed to the AOA Program and Trainee Review Council (PTRC).
Dr. John Glover was selected the Teacher of the Year Award by the Class of 2017.
Global Health

A total of 34 students and faculty have participated in the 2015 summer internship in Taiwan, Tanzania, Ethiopia and
Mexico.

2015 Global Health Program Scholarly Activities: 11 posters related to the 2015 Global Health Program summer internship
were presented at the OMED and BIOMEA International Seminar on October 17 and 18, 2015 in Orlando, Florida.

2015 Global Health Programs Awards at the BIOMEA 17th Annual International Seminar “Innovation in Osteopathic
Education and Outreach”:
 Student Doctor Michael Lee OMSII
1st Place in the Research Category
Title: Patients with Six Cannulation Sites for Hemodialysis Correlated with Decreased Occurrence of AV Shunt Thrombosis
in Taipei Hospital. Authors: Michael Lee, Athena Lin, Yin-Cheng Chen
 Student Doctors Mallory Mitchell, Durany Mohammed, OMS II
2nd Place Outreach Category
Title: Obstacles to implementation of neonatal resuscitation techniques following training at a Rural District Hospital in
Tanzania. Authors: Mallory Mitchell, Durany Mohammed, Chirange Bweri, Audra Lehman, Eiman Mahmoud

2015 Global Health Program Award of American Osteopathic Foundation:
 Student Doctor Marissa Haberlach OMSII has been awarded the American Osteopathic Foundation Rossnick Humanitarian
Grant.
“Needs Assessment of Shirati District Hospital Staff: An Evaluation of Staff Training, Recruitment and Preparedness”, was
presented at the Family Medicine and Global Health Conference.
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Research Updates
Presentations
2015 Stanford Medicine X/ed Conference
 Nasir Bhatti, Alex Djuricich, Philip Malouf, Chethan Sarabu Reducing the distance between learners: eConferences to
standardize learning on clinical rotations
2015 AADE National meeting.
 Hendriksz T, Malouf P. Medical Students’ Perceptions on their Preparedness for their Pediatric Core Rotation. Poster
Presentation at the Pediatric Academic Society Annual Conference
 Malouf P, Hendriksz T. Online Morning Report in the Pediatric Clerkship. Poster Presentation at the Pediatric Academic
Society Annual Conference.
2015 International Diabetes Hospital Meeting
 Sebastian G, Mora N, Healy A, Shubrook JH. Treatment of Steroid induced Hyperglycemia.
 Regula V, Shubrook JH. Beverly E. Diabetes Patients’ Perception of Preparedness for Self-Management Post
Hospitalization
75th American Diabetes Association Scientific-2015
 Beverly EA, Berryman DE, Howe CA, Coschigano KT, Shubrook JH. Program Evaluation of a Diabetes Certificate
Program Designed to Educate Undergraduate Students about Diabetes and its Management.
2015 American Association of Diabetes Educators
 Brown H, Lang M, Berryman D, Shubrook JH. Patient Preferences for Diabetes Education. Poster presentation at AADE
National meeting.
 Headley D, Merckle C, Shubrook JH. A school based child diabetes navigator: early experience.
2015 Annual meeting of the International Association of Medical Science Educators
 Glenn Davis, Greg Gayer, "Are DO and MD Students Expected to Learn a Similar Scope of Basic Science?"
Submitted to 2016 AAMC
 Pearce M, Weiss J, Pierce-Talsma S, Davis G. “Proposal for an Osteopathic Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA).”
2015 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Toronto,
 Noworolski SM, Mulligan K, Korn N, Gibson M, Tai VW, Wen MJ, Erkin-Cakmak A, Gugliucci A, Lustig RH, Schwarz
JM Isocaloric sugar restriction for 10 days reduces MR-measured liver, pancreatic and visceral fat in high
dietary sugar-consuming, obese children.
2015 Hot Topic Conference 2015: Obesity, Dietary Sugars, and Metabolic Disease Risk, Berlin
Schwarz J-M, Wen MJ, Pan KY, Tai VT, Erkin-Cakmak A, Noworolski SM, Gugliucci A, Mulligan K, Lustig RH.
Isocaloric fructose restriction for 10 days improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity in obese Latino and African
American children.

Xth Iberoamerican Congress of Food Technology (CIBIA) October 7-10 2015.
 Plenary session: A. Gugliucci. Fructose: main responsible for the diabetes and obesity epidemic?
Accepted for presentation at Obesity Week 2015, Los Angeles, November 2 - 7, 2015.
 Lustig RH, Wen MJ, Pan KY, Tai VW, Erkin-Cakmak A, Gugliucci A, Mulligan K, Schwarz J-M, Noworolski SM.
Reduction of fatty liver after short-term isocaloric fructose restriction in children with metabolic syndrome correlates with
improvement in insulin dynamics.
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Research Updates continued
Tamira Elul presented a talk on her group's published interdisciplinary research at the Art-Sci center at UCLA in May.
We also submitted a manuscript on another interdisciplinary project (with student author Avik Patel (OMS3)) to the Journal of
Biocommunication from the Department of Art Applied to Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical School.
Jospeh Pinizotto (OMS2) presented a poster on our neurobiology research at a Gordon Research Seminar in Italy this summer.
We also presented a poster (with student authors Greg Peng (OMS2) and Anokh Sohal (OMS1)) on our neurobiology research at the
2015 Neuroscience conference in Chicago.
We had a record breaking 19 students present a total of 20 different abstracts and posters at OMED Orlando 2015.
Our Student Researchers at OMED 2015 in Orlando, Florida.
Student Research Presenters
at
OME 2015
in Los Angeles.
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Research Updates continued
In the News
A collaborative ground-breaking study on the effect of reducing consumption of added sugar
led by researchers, Jean-Marc Schwarz of Touro University California and Robert Lustig at
UCSF was featured nationally in the news. Authors of the study and co-investigators include
Alejandro Gugliucci, Touro University California and Kathleen Mulligan of UCSF and Touro
University California. The study shows that reducing consumption of added sugar, even without reducing calories or losing weight, has the power to reverse a cluster of chronic metabolic
diseases, including high cholesterol and blood sugar in as little as 10 days. To view an online
feature of this study by KRON 4, go to:
http://kron4.com/2015/10/27/video-study-finds-childs-health-dramatically-improves-bycutting-out-sugar/
Publications
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As noted in our last newsletter, Dr. Lund was part of a team that received the 2015 George Northrup DO Medical Writing
Award for the article in JAOA: Degenhardt B, Johnson J, Gross S, Hagan C, Lund G, Curry W. “Preliminary findings on the use
of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Outcomes during the formation of the Practice-Based Research Network, DO Touch
N.E.T.
Redmond, P., Shane, P., West, C. (2015). The use of interactive case simulation to support cross-specialty teamwork and
interprofessional education. International Journal of Case Method Research and Assessment, XXVII(2), pp. 93-107
Dugan, J.A. & Parthasarathy, A. Diabetes recommendations for women of child-bearing years. Clinician Reviews. 2015; epub.
Dugan, J.A., Fagan, M.J. Sleep Apnea for Primary Care. Primary Care Reports. 2015; 21(7): 73-84.
Dugan, J.A. Managing Thyroid Disease in Pregnancy. Clinician Reviews. 2015; 25(4):20-22.
Shubrook JH, Bokaie B, Adkins SE. Empagliflozin in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: Evidence to date. Drug
Development and Design. 2015(9): 1-11.
Lavernia F, Adkins SE, Shubrook JH. Use of oral combination therapy for type 2 diabetes in primary care: Meeting
individualized patient goals. Postgraduate Medicine. Epub ahead of print. October 2015. DOI:10.1080/00325482.2015.1085293.
de Groot M, Shubrook JH, Schwartz FL et al. Program ACTIVE II: Design and Methods for a Multi-Center Community-Based
Depression Treatment for Rural and Urban Adults with Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of Diabetes Research and Therapy 2015. 1(2):
doi http://dx.doi.org/10.16966/jdrt.108.
Miller E, Shubrook JH. The role of the kidneys and sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitors in the treatment of
type 2 diabetes. Osteopathic Family Physician 2015. 7(5):10-30.
VanRavenwaay V, Hain, S, Walkowski S, Shubrook JH. The Effects of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on Diabetic
Gastroparesis. JAOA 2015. 115(7): 452 doi:10.7556/jaoa.2015.091.
Redhu Gehlaut R, Dogbey GW, Schwartz FL, Marling CR, Shubrook JH. Hypoglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes - More Common
Than You Think: A Continuous Glucose Monitoring Study. Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology 2015. DOI:
10.1177/1932296815581052.
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Research Updates
continued
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Ciervo C, Shubrook JH, Grundy P. Leveraging the Principles of Osteopathic Medicine to Improve Diabetes Outcomes within a
new era of health care reform. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2015;115(4 supplement): eS5 doi:10.7556/jaoa.2015.058.
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Ciervo C, Shubrook JH, Grundy P. Diabetes Management Within Evolving Health Care Delivery Models: The Osteopathic
Perspective. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2015;115(4 suppl):eS5 doi:10.7556/jaoa.2015.057.
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Presswala L, Shubrook JH. “What to do after basal insulin: Three treatment options for type 2 diabetes”. Journal of Family
Practice 2015. 64;4:214-220.
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Hendriksz T. The Unique Need for Physician Parent Groups. ACOP Pulse – The Quarterly Publication of the American
College of Osteopathic Pediatricians. 2015 Summer: 9.
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Preiss D, Campbell RT, Murray HM, Ford I, Packard CJ, Sattar N, Rahimi K, Colhoun HM, Waters DD, LaRosa JC, Amarenco
P, Pedersen TR, Tikkanen MJ, Koren MJ, Poulter NR, Sever PS, Ridker PM, MacFadyen JG, Solomon SD, Davis BR, Simpson
LM, Nakamura H, Mizuno K, Marfisi RM, Marchioli R, Tognoni G, Athyros VG, Ray KK, Gotto AM, Clearfield MB, Downs
JR,
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McMurray JJ. The effect of statin therapy on heart failure events: a collaborative meta-analysis of unpublished data from major
randomized trials. Eur Heart J. 2015;36(24):1536-46.
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Efficacy and safety of LDL-lowering therapy among men and women: meta-analysis of individual data from 174,000
participants in 27 randomised trials. Cholesterol Treatment Trialists' (CTT) Collaboration, Fulcher J, O'Connell R, Voysey M,
Emberson J, Blackwell L, Mihaylova B, Simes J, Collins R, Kirby A, Colhoun H, Braunwald E, La Rosa J, Pedersen TR,
Tonkin A, Davis B, Sleight P, Franzosi MG, Baigent C, Keech A. Lancet. 2015 Apr 11;385(9976):1397-405
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Gugliucci A, Caccavello R, Nassar H, Abu Ahmad W, Sinnreich R, Kark JD. Low protective PON1 lactonase activity in an
Arab population with high rates of coronary heart disease and diabetes. Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical
chemistry. 2015 May 20;445:41-7. PubMed PMID: 25801214.
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Kameyama N, Maruyama C, Kotani K, Caccavello R, Gugliucci A, Matsui S, et al. Postprandial Paraoxonase 1 Activity
Following Consumption of Recommended Amounts of Mixed Meals in Healthy Males. Journal of atherosclerosis and
thrombosis. 2015 Oct 8. PubMed PMID: 26447089.
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Satoh M, Kotani K, Gugliucci A, Horie H, Caccavello R, Takeuchi M. Changes of Ischemia- Modified Albumin During the
Postoperative Period in Patients With Colorectal Surgery. Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine. 2015 Aug;139(8):9689. PubMed PMID: 26230588.
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Uribarri J, del Castillo MD, de la Maza MP, Filip R, Gugliucci A, Luevano-Contreras C, et al. Dietary advanced glycation end
products and their role in health and disease. Advances in nutrition. 2015 Jul;6(4):461-73. PubMed PMID: 26178030. Pubmed
Central PMCID: 4496742.
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Vogelgesang J, Drozek D, Nakazawa M, Shubrook JH. Payer source influence on effectiveness of lifestyle medicine programs.
The American Journal of Managed Care. Accepted 2015. Accepted- in press.
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Porter B, Adkins SE, Shubrook JH. Outpatient Interventions for Smoking Cessation: the Pharmacist's Role as an Extender.
Osteopathic Family Physician. Accepted – in press 7-2015.
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Millstein R, Mora Becerra N, Shubrook JH. Insulin pump therapy: Initiation and successful management. Cleveland Clinic
Journal of Medicine. Accepted 2015 in press.
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Upcoming and Recent Fall CME

PreClinical and Clinical Education Faculty Development Symposium: October 25th -26th
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2015-2016 PCD Faculty Development Series meets monthly at 12 pm in LH 212.
Commitment to Our Community
1310 Club Drive, Vallejo CA. 94592
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