[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 89 (Tuesday, June 5, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TRIBUTE TO WEST VIRGINIA SCHOOL OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO

                            of west virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 5, 2007

  Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the West 
Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine as a leader in the study and 
practice of rural medicine.
  The need for primary care physicians in rural areas is of great 
importance to our Nation's overall health care delivery system. These 
providers are often on the front lines of health care delivery and 
provide much needed care to our sick and elderly populations.
  Since its first graduating class in 1978, the West Virginia School of 
Osteopathic Medicine has countered this need by producing gifted 
physicians prepared to practice rural medicine.
  In fact, nearly half of the school's graduates go on to serve in 
rural communities that are in desperate need of their care. Often 
understaffed and covering large geographic areas, these communities 
require accommodating physicians with a range of services.
  Madam Speaker, as today's medical profession is glamorized in the 
public consciousness by popular television dramas it is the graduates 
of West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine who go on to serve in 
rural communities that deserve to be celebrated. I thank the school's 
students, faculty and staff for their service and wish them continued 
success in the future.

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