VCOM - Auburn 2018 Yearbook

Building Traditions in Military Medicine Serving Our Military and the Community

V COM-Auburn has grown in the last three years in tremendous ways, and SAMOPS has grown as well through its membership and community service. Over the past year, we have continued to expand our presence in the community, while forging stronger relationships within our network of local school Council of Presidents and faculty. We are in communication with the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team to give talks to the student and faculty about the ability to set up an entire remote surgical facility. Our local chapter has always been committed to helping our fellow VCOM-Auburn organizations with events that teach and further the mission of this College. It has been a great honor and responsibility for SAMOPS to raise and lower the flag to and from half-mast during times of tribute and mourning to keep with military traditions. SAMOPS has fostered strong relationships with the faculty and staff at VCOM-Auburn, which has allowed the organization to put on events for our fellow student body, military members and families. Club members recently conducted the annual Memorial Day bike ride where $700 was raised for the Wounded Warrior Program. This program aids injured armed forces service members that have suffered traumatic events during war. This year, SAMOPS members will also conduct another Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) event with members of the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists (ACONP). For this event, we plan to involve reaching out to the Auburn University (AU) School of Nursing, the Auburn Student Veterans Association and the AU psychology student population. By holding this event, we hope to teach the local community and fellow future medical team members about PTSD, its effects on military members and their families. We will also be working closely with the VCOM-Auburn Student Osteopathic Surgical Association (SOSA) to organize a hemorrhage control class during VCOM-Auburn’s Surgical Conference in December 2018. As SAMOPS members, we take pride in our continued focus, perseverance and dedication to this school and this country. Our members entered the Armed Forces to protect and serve this country and its ties with our partners in other nations across the world. The future physicians from our local chapter of SAMOPS are among the finest this school has to offer. Their continued selflessness allows them to not only serve this great nation, but also assists them in carrying on the Osteopathic principles instilled by our institution. I am personally honored to have served in the Navy as a Corpsman, and I am especially honored to belong to the VCOM-Auburn SAMOPS family. As our students become Osteopathic physicians and begin their military careers, I know they will provide nothing short of unparalleled excellence!

David W. McGregor, Jr. U.S. Navy Veteran SAMOPS President Class of 2021

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