KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Jan. 21, 2013) – The recent Martin Luther King, Jr., Day holiday didn’t necessarily mean time away from campus for some dedicated students at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences-College of Osteopathic Medicine. Many were willing to lend a hand and participate as KCUMB hosted two events on its campus throughout the weekend.

On Jan. 19, KCUMB welcomed first-year medical students from Missouri’s six medical schools for the annual MO M-1 Conference. Then, on Monday, Jan. 21, KCUMB partnered with Missouri Area Health Education Center to provide workshops for teens from St. Joseph and Kansas City.

The MO M-1 Conference is an annual event that brings approximately 200 students from Missouri’s two osteopathic medical (D.O.) schools and four allopathic medical (M.D.) schools together to network and share common ground as they train to become physicians.

In addition to networking activities, the agenda included lectures round table discussions and break-out sessions on topics covering pathology, international medicine and osteopathic manipulative treatment led by KCUMB faculty.

Logan Banks, D.O., physician and faculty member for Cox Family Medicine Residency in Springfield, Mo., was the keynote speaker. In his presentation, International Medicine: Changing Your Perspective, he shared his experiences practicing medicine in Africa.

On Jan. 21, as part of a program through Missouri AHEC, approximately 25 teens spent the day on KCUMB’s campus to learn about a career in osteopathic medicine and gain hands-on laboratory practice.

The program began with a presentation by Patricia Harper, director of admissions for KCUMB, who provided insights into the requirements for admission to medical school. 

The students then shifted gears to a more interactive approach with an osteopathic medicine demonstration by KCUMB’s OMM fellows and later, a dissection workshop led by Travis Brown, second-year osteopathic medical student.

About KCUMB
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences is a fully accredited, private university, with a College of Biosciences and a College of Osteopathic Medicine. Founded in 1916, its College of Osteopathic Medicine is the oldest medical school in Kansas City, Mo., and the largest in the state.