Liberty University Students Again Working at St. Anthony's

(FRONT ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: KELSIE SMITH, MARIAM ASPAR, SULAMAN DURRANI, ANNA SPENCER, and JENNIFER “JJ” KOSA. BACK ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: ABIGAIL WHEELER, BENJAMIN PASLEY, BRYAN TAYLOR, and KEITH SHAMROCK)

10 third-year medical students from Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) in Lynchburg, Virginia are again working at HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in Effingham to serve and learn alongside hospital colleagues and Medical Staff.

This is the third year St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital is partnering with the University to provide clinical education for their osteopathic medical students. These 10 students chose Effingham and St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital as their clinical sites for this year. The goal is to train primary care physicians who will hopefully return to practice in this region.

St. Anthony’s and Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine share an aligned vision: providing excellent patient-centered care to an underserved population through the marriage of medical science and the love of Jesus Christ. The college has designed a world class, distinctively Christian, student-centered curriculum taught by dedicated professionals who demonstrate excellence both in knowledge and experience within their practice of medicine.

As third-year medical students, they work alongside Medical Staff preceptors, physicians who have chosen to help provide direction and guidance. The students practice gathering information on patients such as history and physicals, doing consultations, and taking notes about a patient. Their work is evaluated by their preceptor. Hospital physicians direct all orders and perform examinations and medical procedures with medical students observing.

HSHS St. Anthony’s Chief Medical Officer Ryan Jennings, MD, shared, “We are excited to welcome our third class of third-year medical students from Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine. The reason we are successful in serving as a clinical site is because of the support of our colleagues, physician preceptors, and the warm and welcoming nature of our community. We are truly grateful to everyone for being so welcoming and embracing these students in their educational journey.”

With the hospital’s partnership with Liberty University now in its third year, Dr. Jennings shared some of the successes of the inaugural class. “I am proud to say that our inaugural class of third-year students who received their clinical education at St. Anthony’s during the 2016-2017 school year, have all now graduated medical school from Liberty University!”, he said. “Additionally, at least three of the 10 students from that class grew to love this area during their semesters here, so much so that they have expressed interest in returning to this area to practice primary care when they complete their residency programs. This is why we continue our commitment to this program: we are proud to be a part of developing a new generation of physicians which will help us meet the needs of the community into the future,” he said.

For more information about Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, visit their web site at www.liberty.edu/lucom. For more information about HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital, visit the hospital web site at www.stanthonyshospital.org. HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital is part of the Southern Illinois Division of Hospital Sisters Health System, which also includes HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Breese, HSHS Holy Family Hospital in Greenville, and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Highland.