The University of South Alabama College of Medicine will host a 25th year anniversary reunion celebrating the Biomedical Enrichment and Recruitment (BEAR) program at USA, initiated to prepare, admit, and graduate more African-American medical students and diversify the medical student body.
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| Dr. Charles Mouton |
The event will take place April 30, 2011, at the Downtown Renaissance Mobile Riverview Plaza Hotel from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.
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| Dr. Augustus White III |
The opening speaker at the reunion will be Dr. Charles Mouton, dean of the school of medicine and senior vice president for health affairs at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Augustus A. White III, professor of orthopaedic surgery and the Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medical Education at Harvard Medical School, will deliver the keynote address.
The objective of the BEAR Program is to provide a specially designed two-summer learning experience for underrepresented premedical students, in particular African Americans, during the summers prior to their junior and senior undergraduate college years. During the past quarter century, 152 students have successfully completed the BEAR program, and 50 percent of those have graduated medical school.
Dr. Otis Gowdy Jr. participated in the BEAR program in 1993 and 1994, and earned his medical degree from USA in 1999. Currently a nephrologist in Meridian, Miss., Dr. Gowdy said the BEAR program gave him a strong foundation for medical school.
“Throughout my experience with the BEAR program, I learned a lot about medical school and what is required to succeed,” Dr. Gowdy said. “I felt like I knew what to expect.”
“The work in BEAR was challenging and as close to being in medical school that you could get,” he said. “It allowed me to gain a new sense of educational responsibility for myself and for my study group.”
Dr. Gowdy said he is looking forward to attending the BEAR reunion at USA. “I am excited about reconnecting with friends and classmates and seeing former professors,” he said. “I’m also eager to be back on USA’s campus,” he said. “This reunion is a great way to show my support for USA and its efforts in medical education.”
Dr. Gowdy has been practicing in Meridian, Miss., for six years. He serves on the medical executive committee for his clinic, and he is medical director of one of the local dialysis units. In addition, he has served as the chief of medicine at two of the local hospitals.
To learn more about this event, click here. For more information, call (251) 460-7313.
