Osteopathic pioneer Murray Goldstein, D.O.’50, M.P.H., talked with second-year students at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) in November for the annual lecture at the college that bears his name. The World War II veteran, recipient of the Purple Heart and founder of NYITCOM, Goldstein was honored along with Korean War veteran Martin Diamond, D.O.’62, as part of the institute’s Veterans Day activities.
For the Murray Goldstein Founders Lecture, the DMU alumnus described osteopathic medicine’s history and the hurdles that its practitioners had to overcome to achieve equality with allopathic physicians. He also charged students with shaping the profession’s future. “We have the opportunities to change and decide where we, as a profession, want to be and will be,” he said. “Most of those decisions will be made by you, not by us old timers….These changes will come about when you are in practice.”
Goldstein helped break down many obstacles for osteopathic physicians throughout his career. He was the first D.O. appointed as a commissioned medical officer in the Uniformed Services, in 1953, the first to achieve star rank (two-star admiral) and the first appointed to an institute of the National Institutes of Health. He was the first D.O. to be admitted to a U.S. school of public health and the first to receive a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He’s also the first to receive a presidential commendation.
A fellow osteopathic trailblazer, Martin Diamond is currently director of osteopathic medical education at Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island, NY. He has served in several academic leadership roles, including as founding dean of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, as associate dean for academic affairs and for preclinical education at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, and associate dean for clinical education and postgraduate medical education at the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in California. He also has held numerous professional leadership roles, including member and chair of the New York State Board for Medicine, director and president of the New York State Osteopathic Medical Society, chair of the American Osteopathic Foundation and trustee of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). In 2009 Diamond was awarded the AOA Distinguished Service Certification, the organization’s highest honor, for outstanding efforts to advance the osteopathic professional through education and philanthropy.
Diamond also served on the DMU Alumni Association Board of Directors and on the University’s Board of Trustees.
