With his impressive resume, Martin Diamond, D.O.’62, would have been entitled to decline an invitation to help fulfill a vision both ambitious and complex. But it was that resume and his advocacy for the underserved that made him ideal for the job: to help establish and lead the first medical school in New York state in 30 years–in the heart of Harlem.

“Our mission is to increase under-represented minorities in medicine and to attract people who want to serve underserved communities,” says Diamond, the school’s founding dean. “Plus there had never been a medical school in Harlem.”

The new Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine–part of an extensive network of Touro colleges and schools around the world– welcomed its first class on Sept. 4, 2007, in the former Blumstein’s department store. Now students fill its classrooms, laboratories and clinical training areas. The fact the college was but a dream of Touro leaders barely four years ago says a lot about Diamond’s leadership and experience.

“I personally believe we achieved our goal because of Martin Diamond and his relationships,” says Dr. Jay Sexter, chief executive officer of the new college.

Attending the announcement of the new medical school in 2007 were Jay Sexter, Touro COM CEO; Kenneth Knuckles, president and CEO, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone; then- lieutenant governor and now New York Gov. David Paterson; Martin Diamond, D.O.’62; founding Touro College President Bernard Lander; Daniel Laroche, president, Empire State Medical Association; and Sheldon Sirota, Touro College vice president for osteopathic medicine.

That’s a reflection, in part, of Diamond’s years of service on boards of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, the New York State Board for Medicine, the New York State Osteopathic Medical Society and the American Osteopathic Association, to name a few. He served as an associate dean at both the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, Calif., along with maintaining an active family practice.

Diamond credits his distinguished career in large part with his enrolling at DMU–then the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery–as “probably the best decision of my life.”

“Had I gone into allopathic medicine, I never would have had the interesting career I’ve had, never would have been exposed to the exciting experiences I’ve had,” says Diamond, past member and president of DMU’s National Alumni Association of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

The new school took over the historic Blumstein's department store in Harlem.

Diamond also has a passion for serving the underserved and the discriminated. A Jew who grew up in a black neighborhood in New York City, he experienced anti-Semitism while in the Navy. “I’ve been a minority my whole life,” he says.

That’s one reason Diamond wanted the new medical college to be in an area with very few practicing physicians. That also was a reason some people thought the idea was crazy.

Last year, in its second year of accepting students, Touro COM received 3,400 applications for 125 slots. Diamond became dean emeritus last July, but he continues to work with its administrators and faculty. He also tries to meet every student. “I don’t know what I’ll be doing next July,” he says, “but I doubt I will be retired.”

Job description: Small town family physician, involved in hospital care, EMS, OB, sports medicine, geriatrics and the county medical examiner.

Background: I was born in Monticello, Iowa, and attended primary school there. I completed my undergrad at the University of Dubuque then medical school at Des Moines University and an internship at Des Moines General. My family includes wife, Julie, five sons, three daughters-in-law and two grandchildren.

Why I chose to be a part of DMU’s global health trip: I was following in my son Jonathan’s, (DMU D.P.M. ’11), footsteps, who had gone on an earlier DMU medical mission. I had planned on doing medical mission for quite a while and this was the best option.

What I enjoyed most about being a part of the global health trip: Working with other providers and students interested in relieving pain and suffering for very grateful people.

Why I would encourage other alumni to get involved in global health with DMU: It reminds you of the basic reason you entered medicine, renews the vitality of it and gives you faith in the future of medicine when given the opportunity to work with the bright, hardworking health care providers of tomorrow.

Advice to those considering a global health adventure: Prepare to see a very different world and yet have much in common with those you care for.

What I learned from my global health experience: The need is tremendous and we have been given so much. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Interested? To learn more about global health opportunities contact nicholas.schmit@dmu.edu, call 515-271-1573 or visit www.dmu.edu/globalhealth.

Being followed around at work, explaining everything you do, getting your colleagues to pitch in–is letting a DMU student job-shadow you worth it?

“I would do it again in a heartbeat,” says Lisa Rechkemmer, D.P.M.’92, FACFAS, a podiatric physician with two offices in the Chicago area. “It was energizing both for me and my staff.”

It also benefited Kathryn Jenewein, the second-year DMU podiatric student who shadowed Rechkemmer. “I saw so much variety among patients,” she says. “After my first year with all that studying, the job-shadow experience made me excited about podiatry again.”

Visiting the two offices a couple of days a week, Jenewein observed procedures and the practice’s advanced technology for fitting orthotics. Rechkemmer reviewed patients’ pre- and post-treatment X-rays with her to deepen her understanding. “It was great she took the time to get out those pre-surgery radiographs for me,” Jenewein says.

She also enjoyed interacting with staff and patients who “obviously thought very highly of Dr. Rechkemmer.” The feeling was mutual.

“Patients loved seeing a young person just getting into medicine,” Rechkemmer says.

For the physician, the experience reminded her of the challenges of medical school while she helped Jenewein “see what lies ahead.”

“I encourage alumni to mentor students, because it’s a great way to reconnect with DMU,” she says. “It really doesn’t take much time out of your day. And what you get back is so much more than the time you put into it.”

Want to make a meaningful difference to a future fellow DMU grad and member of your profession? Your perspective and personal contact with a DMU student will be a valuable experience that will enhance his/her education at DMU. Students will look to their mentors to advise them on clinical rotations, post-graduate training or practice opportunities.

A mentor may be contacted depending on the student’s interest in location and/or specialty.

Become a mentor today by visiting www.dmu.edu/alumni or contacting the alumni relations office at 515-271-1463.

Drs. Jim Lovell, Mark Randleman and Rick Glenn in Washington, D.C.

DMU alums volunteer with Honor Flight

Taking care of 350 veterans in their 80s and 90s on a marathon trip to Washington, D.C., on a 90-degree day might intimidate even a seasoned physician. But for DMU alumni Mark Randleman and Rick Glenn, it was the honor of a lifetime.

Randleman, D.O.’78, and Glenn, D.O.’92, were two of three physicians who accompanied 350 World War II veterans on a round-trip Aug. 11 “Honor Flight” from Des Moines to Washington. Conceived by an Ohio physician assistant and launched in 2005, Honor Flights transport WWII veterans from across the country, at no cost to them, to view the WWII Memorial and other sites in the nation’s capital.

“This is America’s greatest generation. To give one day to these individuals who gave us a life of freedom was truly an honor for me,” says Glenn, a hospitalist at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames, Iowa.

Randleman, a physician in emergency medicine at Iowa Lutheran Hospital and Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, learned about Honor Flight while visiting Washington, D.C. An organizer invited him on the trip; he then asked Glenn and Des Moines cardiologist Jim Lovell, D.O., to join the trip.

Grocery store chain Hy-Vee contributed $250,000 to fund the trip, which started with a predawn send-off at the Des Moines International Airport, a tour of several Washington memorials and a wee-hours return.

“What the veterans lack in physical endurance, they made up for it in spirit,” says Randleman, himself an Army veteran. “While standing in long lines at security, they’d say, ‘It’s just like being in the Army.’”

Glenn and Randleman, whose late fathers both served during WWII, enjoyed the veterans’ camaraderie and engaged conversations. When the talkative group observed the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, however, all fell into reverent silence.

“It’s such a solemn and respectful ceremony, so deep in military tradition, they were transfixed,” Glenn notes. “It was like they were young soldiers again. They were in that moment.”