What does TCOM mean to you? What does it mean to be an Osteopathic Physician?

The following inaugural speech of John Wright, DO, TCOM alumni association president.

I would like to thank the alumni association for this great opportunity to serve the organization and its members. I would like to thank Dr. Stephen Laird for his leadership and service over the past year. Thank you, Stephen, you did a wonderful job. I would also like to thank the alumni board. Please raise your hands so you may be recognized. Thank you.

There is a Chinese proverb which states:  "May you live in interesting times." For those of us involved with the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine and UNTHSC, these are very interesting times. It is no secret that a threat to TCOM exists. This threat is extremely serious because, in time, it could lead to the end of TCOM.

The proposal to open an allopathic medical school alongside TCOM is the greatest threat our beloved school has ever faced. Scott Ransom, Lee Jackson and the Board of Regents at UNT do not see a future where two medical schools exist side by side; they see a future where they can slowly manipulate funding and resource allocation to increase the size of their pet project at the expense of TCOM. We must continue to accelerate our efforts to oppose those who would have TCOM wither on the vine.

While their report analyzes the cost projections involved in opening an allopathic school at UNTHSC, Dr. Tayson DeLengocky (TCOM ’02), and Brian Bartoz outline the many fallacies, factual errors and myths that this plan stands upon. [Editor’s note: The report – “A Cost Analysis of the Proposed MD Program at UNTHSC: Spending More and Getting Less” – is posted on the TOMA website.]  If Scott Ransom and Lee Jackson were actually concerned about increasing the number of medical school graduates state wide, they would favor allocating more to existing programs. Their estimates of starting costs for a new program are so unrealistically low, it can only be seen as a bait and switch tactic to gain enough support for an allopathic school to be opened, only to reveal the true cost when it is too late.

Make no mistake about our intentions. Our purpose in opposing an M.D. option is not an act that stems from a malevolent attitude towards allopathic medicine and its practitioners. Dr. DeLengocky and Mr. Bartoz state in their report that cooperation and friendship between Osteopathic physicians and Allopathic physicians is stronger than ever. As doctors, we support and stand with all doctors who serve in the interest of our communities, our state and our nation.

We agree that as our state continues to grow, we will need more doctors, both D.O.'s and M.D.'s, to meet the challenges of the future. That is why we support the establishment of Allopathic programs at schools such as Texas Tech University, The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M Round Rock. We also urge the expedient rebuilding of still damaged facilities at the University of Texas Galveston Medical Branch. We are not against M.D.'s. We are against those who threaten an institution that has served the community and the state for four decades.

What does TCOM mean to you? What does it mean to be an Osteopathic Physician?

Over three thousand doctors have been trained at TCOM. For decades, TCOM has produced the family practitioners, internists, pediatricians and specialists that have served at the front line of medical care. Graduates of TCOM have practiced and healed in Tarrant County, across the state of Texas and throughout the United States. In a time when many more than ever of those who are entering the medical profession shy away from primary care, family practice, geriatrics and rural medicine, TCOM ranks in the top 25 nationally in all fields. TCOM students today continue to carry the tradition of excellence associated with our school. With MCAT scores and GPA's that rival those found at the most prestigious institutions of medical study, TCOM students demonstrate that this institution does not just rival the best medical colleges in the country, it IS one of the best medical colleges in the country.

The tradition of excellence which we are all part of was handed down to us by the founding fathers, past presidents, and deans, along with dedicated individuals and groups whose sacrifices created and elevated our school. People like the administrators, educators, students, families and friends of TCOM have, with strength, love and wisdom, enabled us to be trained in the medical arts so that we could carry the standard and heal those who needed our help.

But this standard is eroding. Under the leadership of those who were not involved with the founding and history of TCOM, we now see the tradition of excellence slipping. This is not something we can ignore or turn our backs on. As the Alumni, we are TCOM. When you took your diploma, you took on the mantle, not just to continue the tradition of excellence through your practice, but to preserve and defend this tradition so that future generations can have physicians who are as exceptional as you. You are TCOM.

 

The struggle we face cannot be fought at the school, not at TCOM and not at UNT. We can and will preserve TCOM by winning this battle in Austin. By keeping intact the Texas Education Code Section 105.402, we can stop any plan to weaken our school. When the founders of TCOM agreed to join UNT, those who run the UNT system made a promise. That promise was to keep TCOM as UNT's only medical school and to keep TCOM D.O. Know that the effort to rewrite this law has already begun, that the effort to rescind this promise is already under way. Lobbyists and lawyers under the employee of UNT have already started work to convince our state legislators that UNT should not be held to its promise. This effort must be countered and we have already moved to do so.

A dedicated fund has been established by TOMA for the sole purpose of keeping 105.402 intact. We need your help. We are asking you to donate to this fund in TCOM's defense. We are asking that you tell your state representatives and senators that UNT should be held to its promise. This is what must be done to preserve and defend our traditions.

 

Those of us who were raised in Texas know the following story well. In the war for Texas independence, a small group of men stood against an army of thousands and their heroic sacrifices won them freedom from tyranny. The most famous of these sacrifices took place at an old mission called the Alamo. Shortly before the men entered what they knew would be the last battle they would fight, the commanding officer, Colonel William B. Travis, assembled the mission's defenders and gave them one last chance to save themselves. Colonel Travis withdrew his sword and with it, made a line in the sand in front of his soldiers. To cross the line meant they were making the commitment to fight until death, to defend the mission at all costs. All crossed but one. In the ensuing siege, all who stayed died, but it was this sacrifice that allowed the Texans to win the war and their independence.

We stand now at such a moment in defense of something we love. I am asking you to cross the line with me and commit to aiding our fight to preserve TCOM. We will prevail! We will keep TCOM D.O.! With your help, we will stop those who threaten TCOM and we will preserve, for generations to come, the finest school of Osteopathic Medicine in the U.S. and in the world.