OU-HCOM Students Judge State Science Day Projects for OOA Awards Program
Six win Osteopathic Medical Award
(May 14, 2018) The Ohio Osteopathic Association awarded the Osteopathic Medical Award to six middle school and high school students at the 70th Annual State Science Day, held May 12 at The Ohio State University French Field House in Columbus.
State Science Day is sponsored by the Ohio Academy of Science. All totaled, about 1,100 students from 65 counties competed for scholarships and awards valued at nearly $500,000. As part of the sponsored awards program, the OOA presented $650 in cash prizes for outstanding projects related to the field of medicine. Priority was given to projects related to interrelationships between the body’s function and structure, the musculoskeletal system, or a holistic approach to medicine, including internal and external factors and preventive treatments.
The OOA partnered with the Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA) at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) to recruit volunteers for the event. Nine first-year medical students at OU-HCOM, and one from Ohio State University College of Medicine, spent their Saturday morning judging the 85 projects competing for the Osteopathic Medical Award: Braden Crouse, Rich Dowd, Kaitlyn Eckert, Jamie Eckert, Alex Merk, Joseph Orra, Adam Rabe, Zach Ross, Haley Rossiter, and Gage Spears.
Spears and Ross were interviewed and photographed for The Columbus Dispatch for an article about State Science Day. Spears, who is SOMA president at the Dublin campus, noted the young students had impressive projects. “When I was that age, my project was whether my dog was choosing food based on a preferred flavor,” he said. “Here, these kids are coding, looking at the role of probiotics in enhancing memory, and much more.”
Special thanks to Student Doctor Eckert, SOMA president at the Athens campus, who coordinated the project.
The following received the Osteopathic Medical Award:
SENIOR DIVISION, 10th-12th grade
First Place ($150)
Nikita Lee Brown
11th grade, Miami Valley Career Tech Center, Clayton
Second Place ($100)
Jeremiah Penick
12 grade, Brookville High School
Third Place ($75)
Lin Abigail Huang Tan
11th grade, Ontario High School, Mansfield
JUNIOR DIVISION, 7th-9th grade
First Place ($150)
Sanchita Paranthaman
9th grade, William Mason High School, Mason
Second Place ($100)
Kevin Agnew
9th grade, Carroll High School, Dayton
Third Place ($75)
Lauren Trusock
7th grade, Mother Teresa Catholic Elementary School, Liberty Township