Throughout his 30-year career as a plastic surgeon, Christopher Reeder, DO, senior associate dean of clinical affairs for The Chicago School’s proposed Illinois College of Osteopathic Medicine (IllinoisCOM), served as a mentor to plenty of eager medical students.
“I’ve had multiple roles as a trainer to hundreds of students, so that experience enables me to look through the clinical eye to provide our students with the best possible education,” Dr. Reeder says. “As we continue to go forth in creating our proposed college, I plan on ensuring that every student continues to learn more and more every day, so they can provide the best care possible.”
Dr. Reeder’s mindset stems from his experiences when he was straight out of medical school, trying to learn as much information as possible.
“I did five years of general surgery residency and three years of plastic surgery after medical school,” Dr. Reeder says, “but to me, it was never work. It was always like living the experience. Every day was a different case that I saw.”
Even if he is no longer a practicing plastic surgeon, Dr. Reeder says this love of gaining knowledge is something he wants to share with his students.
“It’s all about expanding educational opportunities,” Dr. Reeder says. “I plan on making sure that I share that mindset with students as they begin their clinicals.”
Compared to the first two years, when students are in the classrooms learning the foundations of osteopathic medicine, Dr. Reeder oversees the clinical-education aspect of the proposed IllinoisCOM’s student experience, in which students participate in medical center rotations, applying what they learned during their first two years of medical school to support actual patients and communities.
Through the clinicals, Dr. Reeder says he hopes students have those same amazing experiences he had.
“When you’re participating in clinical learning, it’s a real awakening period where you reap the rewards of all that you’ve learned so far and get a chance to apply that learning to so many different contexts and cases. It’s what set me up on a career-long quest for knowledge and growth. I’m committed to ensuring that our future students have this same type of rewarding experience.”
To turn those visions into reality, Dr. Reeder is working to establish the partnerships with hospitals and medical centers that will support students’ clinical rotations. The Chicago School’s proposed IllinoisCOM plans to offer students clinical opportunities across Texas, Southern California, Chicago, and Washington, D.C.
With this breadth in clinical opportunities, students will gain familiarity with a wide range of communities and medical cases and will have the chance to work with a wide range of medical mentors. This will set students up for post-graduation success when collaborating with diverse communities across the country.
Through his student mentorship, Dr. Reeder says he hopes to fulfill the proposed IllinoisCOM’s mission of helping historically underserved communities.
“As I’ve matured in my life, I realized there are many underserved people in the United States. I feel like the mission of The Chicago School is to try to break down barriers between historically marginalized communities and the health care and education that they deserve,” Dr. Reeder says. “To me, that’s the most exciting part of the job. I’m passionate about it. I wouldn’t have chosen this field if I didn’t feel like it was exciting.”