ONMM Program

Overview

Welcome to the South Pointe Hospital NMM Residency! We have been training residents in osteopathy since 2010. We have achieved ACGME continued accreditation.

Residents

Our ONMM-3 residents teach and collaborate with students, PGY-1 residents, residents in other training programs and practicing physicians. We are looking for residents who plan to teach, do research and actively advance their skills.

• Learn more about our residents.

Faculty

Our core teaching faculty includes neuromusculoskeletal medicine (NMM) board-certified and board-eligible physicians and is widely varied in technique and style. We are all dedicated to finding health in our patients, to teaching and to lifelong learning. All of our faculty use multiple treatment styles. We can familiarize you with most treatment styles including all of the commonly used techniques as well as visceral, Fulford percussion, Still method, Fascial Distortion Model and osteopathic cranial manipulative medicine.

• Learn more about our faculty.

Our non-ONMM rotations are precepted by world class Cleveland Clinic faculty who are enthusiastic and dedicated to teaching.

The general medical staff in our hospital comprises both MDs and DOs, with a good acceptance of osteopathic philosophy and treatment from both. Our specialists are knowledgeable, helpful and dedicated to educating trainees.

Patient care

Our patient base represents a wide cross-section of the population and reliably follows up with appointments, allowing good continuity of care. The opportunities for treating (under ONMM faculty supervision) pediatric patients (including newborns), pregnant patients, seniors and surgical/medical/ICU patients are sufficient to meet or exceed residency standards. The outpatient continuity clinic has large treatment rooms with full-length power tables for each resident, Fulford percussors and anatomical models for teaching.

Our hospital consult service is steady and provides residents with experience treating patients with a variety of medical and surgical diagnoses. On the longitudinal inpatient ONMM rotation, hospital consults are seen by the residents with faculty supervision. Patients are seen Monday through Friday. The longitudinal hospital ONMM rotation permits scheduling one additional rotation during the resident's training program. The ONMM residents teach residents in other training programs, with faculty support, during weekly ONMM inpatient teaching rounds with internal medicine and general surgery.

Living in Cleveland

• Learn more about the city we call home.

Please contact Jessica Owens, program manager, at OWENSJ13@ccf.org for all inquiries.

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Curriculum

Residents will be entering in the ONMM-3 year. Rotations will be adjusted to meet the residents’ individual needs in fulfilling the residency standards as specified by the ACGME.

Please see the block diagram here.

13 rotations, including:

• 1 month longitudinal inpatient ONMM rotation.
• 1 month Orthopaedics.
• 1 month Neurology or Rheumatology.
• 1 month Sports Medicine.
• 1 month Pain Management or MSK Radiology.
• 1 month PM&R.

6 Elective rotations from the following:

• Diagnostic radiology.
• Musculoskeletal radiology.
• Orthopaedics.
• Neurology.
• Hospice and palliative medicine.
• Outpatient ONMM.
• Pain medicine.
• Pediatrics.
• OB/GYN.
• Physical medicine and rehabilitation.
• Podiatric medicine.
• Research.
• Rheumatology.
• Sports Medicine.
• Longitudinal academic medicine experience.

Other courses hosted at South Pointe Hospital include:

• Still Method.
• Osteopathic Treatment of Systemic Dysfunction.
• Treatment of Pregnant Patients.
• Osteopathic Treatment for Pediatric Patients.

Curriculum subject to changes due to COVID-19 restrictions. Please contact Jessica Owens at OWENSJ13@ccf.org for all inquiries.

Didactics

ONMM didactics include faculty lectures, anatomy review, journal club, book club, hospital rounds, small group labs, noon conferences/labs, board review and frequent use of multimedia materials. Our affiliation with OUHCOM and the CORE OPP committee provides many didactic resources including ONMM CME courses.

Our program focuses on preparing the resident to be an excellent clinician specializing in the distinct practice of osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine and to assume the role of ONMM faculty in a variety of settings. We have the flexibility to tailor didactics to fully meet the trainees' needs as well as to explore specific individual interests. Residents are expected to contribute to the didactics schedule and present regularly. In addition to formal and informal lectures, small groups, journal clubs and skills labs, some didactics sessions have included:

• Participating in shared medical appointments for chronic pain patients at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Center.
• Visiting the Cleveland Natural History Museum's collection of human skeletal specimens.
• Participating in Gross Anatomy Lab workshops at OUHCOM.
• Participating in locally held AFDMA Fascial Distortion Model courses.

Faculty development for residents

Our ONMM faculty and residents are involved in teaching students, interns and other residents in many types of ONMM labs throughout the year. Residents will have regular exposure to teaching and feedback on their efforts. Teaching begins with presenting at didactics, expands to arranging didactic sessions and table training student ONMM labs, and eventually includes preparing group labs for other residencies, pre-recording labs for medical students and/or presenting a lab that is broadcast to OUHCOM campuses in Dublin and Athens, Ohio.

We encourage resident participation in formal OMT courses available locally and through OUHCOM, many of which are hosted at South Pointe Hospital. Courses held here in the past include Counterstrain, Exercise Prescription, SCTF basic course in Osteopathy in the Cranial Field, HVLA and Muscle Energy. Our trainees attend the AAO Convocation annually.

Research

South Pointe Hospital has a dedicated research staff member and many resources to help you complete your research project. We have support for qualifying studies from the Brentwood Foundation and OUHCOM as well as many Cleveland Clinic resources. Our program uses the Scholar 7 and Scholar 4 research training resources to assist residents in developing research skills.

Resiliency curriculum

Our residency seeks to train our residents to be resilient, goal-oriented individuals. We dedicate approximately 10% of our residency didactics to focusing on building the whole person, using Mastermind curriculum; SCRUM and agile project management methodology; Tai Chi; and Qi Gong. We also incorporate and support individual residents' interests.

Collaboration

We seek and select proactive physician trainees who demonstrate initiative and drive for pursuing success. We expect and welcome collaboration from the residents in generating didactics schedules based not only on basic competencies, but also areas of particular resident interest. Many of the innovative solutions we employ were suggested by our trainees. Our faculty are open-minded and enjoy learning new skills and concepts along with our residents.

Faculty

Zhan Tao Yang, DO, Program Director
Medical School: Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine, Henderson
Residency: Family Medicine/NMM at South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Hts., Ohio
Board Certification: AOBFP, ABFM, AOBNMM

Dr. Yang studied under Paul Rennie, Robert Kessler, Elias Ptak and Wesley Lockhart during her medical school years. Having moved from the desert to Cleveland, she enjoys experiencing all four seasons here as well as the food and culture that the city provides. She is the resident craft queen, which means you can often find her working on a beautiful knitting project during her downtime and taking walks in the Metroparks. Balanced ligamentous tension is her favorite treatment style to use in treating patients. Her clinical interests include health promotion for all populations, Traditional Chinese Medicine, nutrition and non-pharmacologic management of chronic pain. Her current research interests include pediatric and infant sacral anatomy and osteopathic genealogy.

Katrina Rakowsky, DO, Associate Program Director
Medical School: Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, East Lansing
Residency: Family Medicine, South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Hts., OH
Board Certification: AOBFP, AOBNMM

Dr. Rakowsky's practice includes newborn, pregnant, pediatric and geriatric patients, many with rare conditions. She also precepts in the continuity clinic and longitudinal inpatient ONMM rotations. She is grateful to her mentors for generously sharing their wisdom and time, saying “Drs. William Johnston, Paul Rennie, Fred Mitchell and Lon Hoover were incredibly patient and helpful when I was a student. Dr. Kenneth Klak mentored me, arranged a continuity clinic during my residency and made me believe I could succeed. Dr. Levente Batizy and the Brentwood Foundation gave me the opportunity to teach OMT. Dr. Karen Sept personally guided my hands when I was learning to treat babies and children. Dr. Melicien Tettambel encouraged me to dream big and make a difference. Now I am inspired by and learn from my residents every day.” She loves the multicultural aspects of Cleveland and actively works with the Ukrainian scouts and the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Korrie Beverley-Waters, DO, Core Faculty, Director of Osteopathic Education (DOE)
Medical School: Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH
Residency: Summa Health System Family Medicine Residency Program, Akron, OH
Fellowship: Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, Banger, ME
Board Certification: AOBFP, AOBNMM

Dr. Beverley-Waters joined as core faculty in January 2023. Previously, she had a practice in Southern Maine for seven years where she treated a wide variety of patients and did sideline care for a local football team. Dr. Beverley-Waters has continued her interest in sports medicine and pediatric care since joining the practice. She specializes in a diverse assortment of osteopathic treatment approaches borrowing a quote from one of her mentors, Dr. Anthony Chila, “there are no techniques, only principles.” She also performs acupuncture in clinic as an adjunct to her vibrant practice.

Aziza Bomani-Bailey, DO, Core Faculty
Medical School: Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, Blacksburg, VA
Residency: Osteopathic Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine, St. Barnabas Hospital, Bronx, NY
Board Certification: AOBNMM

Dr. Bomani-Bailey is a Cleveland native who is excited to return to her hometown after training across the U.S. She received a broad array of training during her residency at a Level 2 Trauma Center and is comfortable with a wide variety of patients from pre-and post-partum moms, infants, and peds to inpatient post-surgical and post-traumatic consults, to outpatient arthritis, sciatica, and back pain. Her favorite techniques include Balanced Ligamentous Tension, Osteopathy in the Cranial Field, Myofascial Release, and Counterstrain. Her mentors include Dr. Robert Truax, Dr. Hugh Ettlinger, and Dr. Dennis Burke. Dr. Bomani-Bailey is sensitive to the differing needs of diverse patients, especially in the African, Caribbean, Hispanic, Muslim, and Neurodivergent communities. She is fluent in Spanish and is currently learning Japanese and Korean. In her spare time, Dr. Bomani-Bailey keeps her hands busy with her never-ending crafting journey including knitting, crocheting, sewing, weaving, baking, sourdough making, and dancing. Her clinical interest is to make OMM an equitable service, available to as many historically underserved patients as possible.

Michael Bourgeois, DO, Core Faculty
Medical school: Edward Via College of Medicine, Blacksburg, VA
Residency: ONMM-3, South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Hts., OH
Residency: Internal Medicine Residency, Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC
Board Certification: AOBIM, AOBNMM

Dr. Michael Bourgeois joined the staff after completing his ONMM training at South Pointe Hospital. His fascination in osteopathic manipulative treatment dates back to his first encounter with it in medical school. During his internal medicine residency, an earlier graduate of the South Pointe program encouraged him to pursue additional training in OMT. He now uses his dual training to apply an osteopathic approach to the health of the whole person. One of his most cherished goals is the spread of osteopathic principles and the osteopathic approach to health through a combination of writing and research.

Cheryl Hammes, DO, FACOFP, Clinical Faculty
Medical School: Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Athens, OH
Residency: Family Medicine, South Pointe Hospital, Warrensville Hts., OH
Board Certification: AOBFP with OMT, AOBNMM

Dr. Hammes has a passion for education demonstrated by teaching medical students and residents for over 20 years. She has also created numerous instructional videos for pediatric and pregnant patient OMT for the American College of Osteopathic Family Practitioners (ACOFP) OMTotal video repository (https://www.pathlms.com/acofp/courses/13565) . Her private practice, Integrative Wellness, serves all ages including newborns with lactation dysfunction, children with developmental delays, individuals with neurodiversity, complex care patients and seniors with arthritic pain.  Dr. Hammes facilitates resident learning opportunities in the longitudinal academic ONMM curriculum as a Clinical Associate Professor in OMM at the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, Cleveland. Her beloved osteopathic mentor, the late Dr. Anthony Chila, taught her a great many pearls while rotating with him, through CME courses and during personal home visits for decades.  During her residency, she completed award-winning original clinical research on cranial osteopathic manipulation and its effects on sinusitis recovery when compared to antibiotics alone. Her current research projects include pedagogical methods for osteopathic instruction of the cranial concept and table training best practices. In 2023 she was awarded Fellow and Master Clinical Preceptor by the ACOFP.

Current Residents

Candice Melkerson, DO, PGY–4

• Medical school: Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine—Athens campus.
• Initial Residency: Nationwide Children's Hospital.
• Clinical interests: Pediatric and OB patients. Mom and baby visits are my favorite!
• Hobbies and interests: Fitness classes, gymnastics, wine/beer tastings, travel. My favorite destination so far has been New Zealand!
• Research interests: Plagiocephaly and feeding difficulties in infants.
• A little-known fact about me: I'm a crazy cat lady.

Austin Rubinson, DO, PGY–4

• Medical school: Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, Virginia.
• Residency: Puyallup Tribal Health Authority Family Medicine, Washington.
• Clinical interests: Direct Primary care with Osteopathy.
• Hobbies and interests: Hiking, climbing, surfing.
• Research interests: Somatic techniques for emotional regulation.
• A little-known fact about me: I've been through all 50 US states.

Reading List

The following books are available in the South Pointe medical library or in the ONMM clinic library collection. Required reading may include selections from any of the following.

Osteopathic History & Philosophy

• Glossary of Osteopathic Terminology.
• Foundations for Osteopathic Medicine, 4^th Edition – AOA/Seffinger.
• An Osteopathic Approach: Diagnosis & Treatment, 3^rd Edition – Digiovanna, Schiowitz & Dowling.
• Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Guidelines for the Hospitalized Patient, 3^rd Edition – Kenneth E. Graham, DO.

Board Review

• OMT Review: A Comprehensive Review in Osteopathic Medicine, 4^th Edition – Savarese.

Basic Sciences

• Gray’s Anatomy – Warwick.
• Clinically Oriented Anatomy – Moore.

Neurology

• Orthopaedic Neurology – Stanley Hoppenfield, MD.

Orthopedics

• Physical Examination of the Spine and Extremities, 2^nd Edition – Stanley Hoppenfield, MD.

Recommended

• AT Still: From the Dry Bone to the Living Man – John A. Lewis.

Application Information

The ONMM-3 residency uses the ERAS system for applications. We do not participate in the NRMP Match.

Applications need to be completed in ERAS by December 1, 2024. Interviews will be conducted virtually from October 2024 – February 2025.

Documentation required from applicants include:

• MyERAS application.
• Board exam scores.
• At least two letters of recommendation (three letters preferred).
  • For applicants coming directly from another residency: Letter from your program director is required as one of your letters of recommendation.
  • For applicants who are coming from clinical practice: Letter from your direct supervisor, if any, is required.
  • Other special circumstances may be discussed via email.
  • Please note that a letter from an AOBNMM/AOBSPOMM board-certified/eligible physician is strongly recommended.
• Personal statement, one page in length.
• Medical school transcripts.
• COMLEX-USA transcript.

Once approved by the recruiting committee, you will be asked to email the following information to Jessica Owens at owensj13@ccf.org.

• Letter of good standing from your current program (if you are currently a resident at the time of application).
• Block diagram of rotations from initial residency/residencies.
• Case log of any ONMM performed during initial residency/residencies, or at least 3 years of practice.

Learn more about our application process.

Our program offers both two- week and/ or four-week audition rotations throughout the year. Learn more about auditions.