It’s hard to believe that it has already been five years of Alumni Reunion Weekend, wherein hundreds of podiatric medical physicians from around the country are welcomed to the beautiful Kent State University College of Podiatric Medicine (KSUCPM) campus in Independence, Ohio. Five years later, the mission of Alumni Reunion Weekend rings truer than ever - to bring the community together in support of student scholarships and raising the next generation of expert caretakers from KSUCPM. Each event held across the three day weekend has been thoughtfully crafted to provide the best value and experience for guests while contributing to a number of scholarships awarded to students throughout the year.
As has been traditional since the start, the North Coast Foot & Ankle Symposium kicked off the weekend on the morning of Thursday, August 17th, concluding Sunday morning for a total of 25.5 credits. As a special treat, KSUCPM welcomed Karen Zupko, of KarenZupko & Associates, Inc. for an all-new 6 category II credit pre-seminar on Wednesday afternoon. Once again, thanks to sponsorship from KSUCPM’s long-standing partner PICA, attendees took advantage of a 10% discount on their malpractice premium by attending a risk management session held by the company. The North Coast Foot & Ankle Symposium is funded in part each year through support from The Podiatry Foundation.
Following the symposium each evening were a series of events to honor and support the future of the profession through camaraderie and celebration. On Friday evening, both current students and alumni took over a Cleveland Guardians game downtown complete with dollar dogs, fireworks and a Cleveland win! On Saturday night, an all-new awards class was presented with the college’s highest honors during the 2023 Hall of Fame & Alumni Awards Ceremony and Dinner. This year, two alumni award recipients were honored alongside this year’s two Hall of Fame Inductees. In addition, a total of eight scholarships were awarded to current students, bringing the fundraising event full-circle.
A full listing of those recognized at this year’s awards dinner is as follows:
- Bruce Saferin, DPM, Class of 1981 Hall of Fame Inductee
- Mark Hofbauer, DPM, FACFAS, Class of 1989 Hall of Fame Inductee
- Georgeanne Botek, DPM, FACFAS, Class of 1994 Alumni Service Award
- Nilin Rao, DPM, PhD, FACFAS, Class of 2017 Young Physician Professional Award
- Harold Brabon, MSIV White Coat Scholarship
- Sophia Huynh, MSIV Dr. Thomas V. Melillo Full Tuition Scholarship funded by The Podiatry Foundation
- Victoria Suggs, MSIII Founders Scholarship
- Storm Berman, MSIV PICA Full Tuition Scholarship
- Kayla Curlis, MSIV OPMSA Outstanding Student Leader Scholarship
- DeAsia Garrett, MSII Young Leader Scholarship
- Jeff Nerestant, MSIII Service Scholarship
- Paul Adeyemi, MSIII Diversity in Medicine Scholarship
If you missed out on this year’s Alumni Reunion Weekend, save the date now to join in on the festivities next year. The weekend will be back the third weekend of August, 2024… and you never know what we’ll do next!