Gee was the guest of honor at the OSU College of Medicine

Ohio State University President Gordon Gee was the guest of honor at the OSU College of Medicine’s Dinner with the Dean. In typical Gee fashion, the relaxed atmosphere of sharing knowledge, asking questions, and generally having a good time was the ambiance of the evening.

Gee told the students that he feels they are on the path to one of the noblest occupations education can offer, but they will face challenging lessons of health care disparities and reform. He pointed out that as an academic medical center, OSUMC has the challenge of serving the most critically ill patients while bearing the largest amount of uncompensated care in the state of Ohio. Balancing this strong moral commitment of serving the underserved with the need to achieve economic viability requires that we all be diligent, agile and creative in determining what an academic medical center can offer.

Students asked pertinent questions regarding medical education and student debt, health care issues and affirmative action, among others. Addressing the anticipated shortage of general practitioners by the year 2020, due in large part to attraction of higher salaries in the specialty areas, Gee observed that OSUMC needs to focus on recruiting quality students who are interested in providing family care.

Dr. Gee was presented with a student white coat at the end of the visit.