Last fall, David Susser, right, received an American College of Osteopathic Internists citation from outgoing ACOI President Jack Bragg, D.O.

Back in the 1970s, when opportunities for advanced, high-quality training were still limited for osteopathic physicians, David Susser, D.O.’57, MACOI, helped create a haven for graduate medical students: As chairman of the internal medicine department at Zieger Osteopathic and Botsford Hospital for more than 20 years, he gave “each of his residents as much responsibility, guidance and leeway as one could possibly wish for.”

So stated the nomination that resulted in Susser’s receiving the American College of Osteopathic Internists’ Presidential Citation at ACOI’s annual convention in October.

“It was David Susser’s name and reputation that permitted consideration by our allopathic brethren for advanced subspecialty training of his graduates when it was simply not available within our own profession,” noted Gerald Blackburn and Pedro Espat, the osteopathic physicians who nominated Susser for the honor.

Board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology,
Susser was clinical professor in internal medicine at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, a member of the Botsford Hospital Board of Directors and past director of its internal medicine residency program. He is an ACOI fellow, past president and past member of the ACOI board of directors as well as past president of the Michigan Society of Osteopathic Internists.

The Presidential Citation is not Susser’s first ACOI honor. An active member of the organization for more than 48 years, he’s also been honored as an ACOI Master Fellow and recipient of its Distinguished Service Award. He is a cardiologist with Cardiovascular Clinical Associates in Farmington Hills, MI.

He gave much to his profession, serving on the Iowa Society of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons and chairing the Iowa Board of Osteopathic Examiners. He played a key role in ensuring equal medical reimbursement for osteopathic and allopathic physicians. His leadership moved Iowa to create a composite state licensing board, which continues today as the Iowa Board of Medicine.

Anderson also has contributed, some would say, to controversy, with his proposal to do away with the separate D.O. and M.D. degrees. Frustrated by the lack of understanding of osteopathic medicine and concerned about limited osteopathic training programs in the specialties, he says combining the two would raise the stature of both.

An exemplar of America’s greatest generation, Dr. Anderson has quietly and sometimes not so quietly propelled positive change.

Despite one’s reaction to his view, no one can doubt Anderson’s positive and lasting impact on physicians, patients and the medical profession. His impact is similarly significant and enduring at DMU. He served as a member and president of the National Alumni Association of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery, now DMU. Anderson also has established, via his will, a trust that will direct revenue from family-owned farms in Minnesota to the University. Because that revenue will come to DMU in perpetuity, he will benefit physicians, their patients and his profession for decades to come.

Planned gift options allow you to make a major impact on DMU. Contact us at 515-271-1387 or via www.dmu.edu/donations.

Editor’s note:  In the fall 2012 issue of DMU Magazine, we invited readers to respond to our “Great Escapes” cover story with their own such adventures. Paul Rein, D.O.’72, did just that, sharing his “escape” that took him from coast to coast and raised nearly $35,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Paul Rein, D.O.’72, knows many things, wisdom gained from the seat of a bicycle. The best roads and best drivers are in Kansas and Colorado; Missouri is home to the worst roads and most flies. He drank the best milkshake at the Dairy Café in Bluff, UT, and relished his most rewarding moment at the 11,312-foot summit of Monarch Pass, on the continental divide in Colorado.

More important, Rein knows the importance of family and friends; of finding a balance in one’s life; and in “finding something that you can do that provides personal satisfaction while doing good for others.” He lived all these lessons during the summer of 2011 when, as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), he dipped his back bicycle tire in the Pacific Ocean in San Diego and, 67 days later, his front tire in the Atlantic in Virginia Beach, VA.

“It was the best experience of my life, short of the birth of my two children,” says Rein, an anesthesiologist in Newport News, VA.

A golf injury led Paul Rein to trade running for bicycling, which led to an epic and charitable adventure. “When you’re 64 years old and you tell people you’re riding across the country for leukemia, they listen,” he says.

Rein’s relationship with LLS began in 1967 when, as an undergraduate at Wayne State, he chaired a fundraiser for his fraternity to benefit the Children’s Leukemia Foundation, which netted $5,000. “That was a lot of money then,” he says. That was also when leukemia was a death sentence. Now, advances in detection and treatment enable the vast majority of leukemia patients to survive, albeit not without hardship.

“This ride may take me close to three months, but that’s nothing compared to what cancer patients go through during treatment,” he told The Health Journal prior to his trip. “Compared to being a parent of a child diagnosed with these diseases, my ride across our country will be a ‘chip shot.’”

Rein, who has two family members who have survived leukemia and lymphoma, has participated in many LLS fund-raisers. He kicked off his 2011 cross-country trek that June with the Lake Tahoe Century Ride, a 100-mile ride around the lake. “After finishing, I realized I can do this cross-country stuff,” he wrote on the blog he kept during his ride, coast2coastpaul.wordpress.com.

Rein, 64, plotted his cross-country path by stitching together routes offered by the Adventure Cycling Association. His son, Earon, worried about the heat of the California desert; his daughter, Kate, bought him a SPOT, a satellite messenger with GPS tracking he affixed to his bike so others could follow him online.

From a physical training point, however, Rein notes, “the only thing you can train is to get your butt in condition.” From a safety standpoint, he adds, “it helped to be naïve.” He’d changed a bike tire tube only once in all his riding. He had the first of his three flats on the trip on Interstate 10 crossing from California to Arizona; after managing to get the tire off, he discovered the CO2 cartridge he’d brought for such emergencies wasn’t working. Just then, a man bicycled up with a hand pump to fix the tire. “I was really fortunate, and what a great guy,” Rein says.

The man was one of many kind people Rein met on the trip, from the hotel managers who discounted his bill to the food vendors who fed him for free to “Marathon Martha,” a gas station staffer who inspired him with her tattoo signifying her son as a Hodgkin’s disease survivor. “I met 80 kazillion nice people,” Rein says.

Loved ones were hugely supportive, too. His significant other, Linda Bourdon, was his self-described “sag hag” for the first 17 days of his ride. Other family members and friends met up with him at points along his route. Pedaling alone, he says he was “never bored,” pondering topics ranging from business ideas to favorite songs to the national debt. He became philosophical about the importance of shoulders on roads, blogging, “If we didn’t have the support of shoulders either literally or figuratively, going through life would be so much more difficult.”

Rein also admits to some low moments in Kansas. “It’s a state that never ends, and I rode every day but one into the wind,” he says. “I yelled the ‘F’ word a few times.”

By great contrast, his arrival in Virginia Beach was “surreal.”

“A bunch of people with Team in Training were there,” he says, referencing the LLS organization for athletes who participate in its fundraising events. “It was a late afternoon but I wasn’t even tired. Seeing the people and the happiness on their faces was just so cool.”

With a final count on his bicycle odometer of 3,699.3 miles, Rein expressed gratitude on his blog to all who supported him and LLS and for “the good passion gene” given to him by his parents.

“Whether at work in wanting to be the best anesthesiologist and treat every patient as a VIP, or on the golf course wanting to shoot 68 and take money from my opponents, or riding 3,700 miles on a bicycle, I can honestly say I want to be the best,” he stated. “I know I will never accomplish that, but even now at my age that is my goal.”

Silver and gold are the gifts of choice for 25th and 50th wedding  anniversaries, respectively, because of their beauty, value and  strength. That’s a great model for DMU’s new reunion tradition: In May, reunion and commencement activities will be united in a special weekend celebration, with milestone 25- and 50-year alumni and members of earlier classes receiving silver and gold medallions.

Members of the classes of 1963 and 1988, in honor of their 50-year and 25-year reunions, and graduates of 1962 and earlier years will be invited to lead the Class of 2013 in the commencement procession on Saturday, May 25. They will receive gold and silver medallions and be recognized during the ceremony. “This will be a powerful symbol of the connection of all alumni to each other and to the University,” says Marcia Grassman Hammers, B.H.A.’88, president of the DMU Alumni Association Board of Directors. “It also will be a wonderful opportunity for graduates across the years, including the Class of 2013, to interact and share in the celebration.”

Other reunion activities tentatively planned on Friday, May 24, include a campus panel discussion featuring current students; a campus picnic for alumni, graduates and their families, current students and DMU faculty and staff; campus tours; a medallion ceremony for milestone alumni; and an all-DMU commencement reception for alumni, new graduates, their families and DMU faculty.

Ronnette Vondrak, DMU’s director of alumni relations, notes that while special activities are planned for members of the classes of 1963 and 1988, other alumni are encouraged to contact the alumni office if they want to arrange reunion events for their class.

“What we’ve found over the years is that members of the 25- and 50-year classes are especially interested in marking those milestone years by reconnecting with each other and with the University. The new medallion ceremony is intended to enhance their celebration,” she says. “That said, our alumni office will work with graduates who want to reach out to classmates and plan their own special reunion activities at a time that works best for their class.”

Inviting alumni to campus during a momentous occasion for new graduates, Hammers says, will add to the festivities.

“We hope hosting these significant milestone reunions during commencement weekend will let alumni rekindle special memories of their own graduation as they share their bond with the graduating class and reconnect with each other and the DMU community,” she adds.

You can get more information on reunions and other events by visiting the DMU alumni website, www.dmu.edu/alumni/ visiting the reunion website, www.dmu.edu/reunion/; calling 515-271-1463; or emailing alumni@dmu.edu. You can also use these contacts to plan additional class reunion activities.