Kirkpatrick Installed as 2024-2025 President
(May 1, 2024) Garrett L. Kirkpatrick, DO, of Cleveland, was installed as Ohio
ACOFP president, April 19, during the organization’s Annual Meeting at the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium. He practices at Cleveland Clinic Beachcliff Family Medicine in Rocky River. See his inaugural speech below.
The breakfast meeting, presided over by Jill Y. Porter, DO, outgoing Ohio ACOFP president, included an update of activities at the national level by ACOFP President Brian A. Kessler, DO, of North Carolina.
Ohio ACOFP Inaugural Address
Garrett L. Kirkpatrick, DO
April 19, 2024 • Columbus, Ohio
It is an honor to be installed as your 2024-2025 President.
Many of you I already know. Many of you I look forward to getting to know. I thank you for being Ohio ACOFP members and for being leaders in our profession.
When I think about this time of year, beyond the usual cool and rainy start to spring here in Ohio, I think about osteopathic medicine. It’s a time of year that always feels like an invigorating new start – when we’re all awakening from our winter hibernation and annual conference season begins anew.
And, with it – connection… camaraderie… and community. Specifically, osteopathic community.
To me, the start to spring is synonymous with rejuvenation… reinvigoration… of the passion for our osteopathic profession and our osteopathic roots. It’s a time for the annual conference and we all come together, leaving behind the dreariness and the daily grind that seems to occur throughout much of winter.
And when I think about the ACOFP, the Ohio ACOFP, and the OOA, I think about family. As osteopathic physicians, and especially as osteopathic family physicians, we have something unique. We have a built-in extended family. We have a unique connection that we share with each other, no matter where we go and no matter what we’re doing.
How many of you have been somewhere across the country or even across the world, doing something completely unrelated to medicine, and found a surprise connection with another DO? There’s an immediate connection. As DOs, we share something unique. It’s an immediate bond with each other.
We are family.
That’s what I love about osteopathic conferences such as the Ohio Osteopathic Symposium. We all come together as a family, excited to see each other again and to re-establish connection with those who maybe we haven’t seen in several months… or since last year… or possibly for years or even decades prior. But when we come together again and make that connection, oftentimes it’s like no time ever passed at all.
As osteopathic family physicians, we will always have a unique bond and connection, and it’s this connection that has always been and always will be the backbone of our practice of medicine. We have something unique to share with the world. It’s this uniqueness that sets us apart.
But, as family physicians, we aren’t always good about sharing that and celebrating that uniqueness. We tend to be a humble profession… we aren’t braggadocious; we don’t always share and celebrate our successes. We don’t always share and celebrate what sets us apart. We don’t always share and celebrate what makes us uniquely osteopathic family physicians.
I would like to issue a challenge. At least once this coming year, find a way to share and celebrate something about the uniqueness of osteopathic family medicine with someone or some group outside of those with whom you would typically celebrate these successes. I challenge you to share the uniqueness of our profession with someone who may not normally see it on an ordinary day.
We all have unique stories to tell. These unique stories are all due to the relationships that we are able to develop. It’s this ability to form unique relationships that harken back to who we are at our core as osteopathic family physicians. This unique ability has been fostered since day one of osteopathic medical school and has grown every day that we practice in our profession and interact with each other and our patients.
It's organizations like the Ohio ACOFP that bring us together in unique ways and help to renew our passion for our profession. It is my hope that during this year, we can develop new ways to share our stories and celebrate our successes. And I would like to see us share those stories with students and residents, with the public, and with legislators.
To close, I have a question for you: What’s on your mind? I would love to hear from each and every one of you – what do you want to see from our organization? What is most important to you as a member of the Ohio ACOFP? As the president this year, what can I do for you?
Thank you all for the opportunity to serve you and to be your voice of the Ohio ACOFP this year!
