LEWISBURG, W.Va. – For more than 50 years, the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine’s (WVSOM) graduation season was defined by the celebration of newly minted physicians. This year, however, students who completed the school’s Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS) program were recognized for the first time in a separate ceremony.
The message to the program’s 44 new graduates centered on a theme that was likely familiar to all who completed the intensive nine-month curriculum: Growth often comes through discomfort.
The ceremony highlighted the continued expansion of graduate education at WVSOM. The MSBS program — designed to prepare students for advanced study in any health profession, including the school’s own four-year Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program — nearly doubled in size from last year’s inaugural class of 24 graduates.
The program launched in summer 2024 and includes anatomy labs as well as courses in cell biology, genetics, biochemistry, physiology, nutrition, exercise science and public health, among other topics. Graduates who achieve an overall program score of 85% or higher, have a cumulative science GPA of at least 3.0 and have a letter of recommendation from MSBS faculty are granted guaranteed acceptance to WVSOM’s D.O. program.
Thirty of this year’s MSBS graduates are from West Virginia.
In her keynote address, Karen Wines, an instructor in WVSOM’s Department of Graduate Programs, emphasized the MSBS program’s academic and personal demands.
“A friend once told me that the key to education is to learn how to be comfortable being uncomfortable,” Wines said. “In this moment of being uncomfortable is the moment we grow, a snapshot we can put into our suitcase of knowledge and pull out when we need it.”
In a comparison appropriate for an audience of students with extensive anatomy knowledge, she likened the growth process to the development of cells that serve the skin’s protective barrier.
“Time is ever-changing, and each moment builds on the next. Whether it’s a moment during the maturation of a keratinocyte or an unexpected hardship that makes us stop and look around, there is a unique memory created,” she said.
Wines said she, too, has learned a great deal during her time working in the MSBS program.
“For me, this has also been a year of personal growth,” she said. “When asked to take more of a leadership role with the program, I thought about what my role should be and how to approach it. I grew up in athletics and playing on teams. Coaches and teachers shaped how I saw my world and how I learned to face adversity. So, when thinking about how to help shape a program, I saw it as a team.”
Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D., a WVSOM faculty member who is also secretary of the school’s Board of Governors, told members of the MSBS Class of 2026 that completing their master’s degrees marks a change in perspective they can carry with them as they take the next steps in their education or pursue a profession.
“When you started this program, biomedical science may have felt like a collection of facts — pathways to memorize, systems to learn, exams to pass. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. You stopped memorizing and started understanding. You stopped asking ‘What do I need to know?’ and started asking ‘Why does this matter?’ And that question — why it matters — is the most important of them all,” she said.
Gail Swarm, D.O., WVSOM’s interim chief academic officer, assured graduates that it’s normal to be unsure of what they want to do with their future.
“You don’t need to have everything figured out today. That’s not how meaningful careers, or meaningful lives, are built. Progress isn’t linear, and uncertainty isn’t failure; it’s where growth happens,” she said. “Take the next step, even if it’s not perfectly clear. Trust that what you’ve built here — your resilience, your discipline, your perspective — will carry you further than you think.”
Other speakers at the ceremony included James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, and Marina Diioia, Ph.D., the school’s associate dean of graduate programs.
WVSOM is a national leader in educating osteopathic physicians for primary care medicine in rural areas. Visit WVSOM online at www.wvsom.edu.
