Giving Tree outside the Dean's Office in Stella Maris
share a common thread. In order to treat the whole person, osteopathic physicians understand that a patient’s emotional health is just as vital as their physical health, and that understanding takes a certain degree of empathy. In this sense, empathy is an important skill set for any osteopathic medical student. Recent studies show that medical students who participate in service work have higher empathy scores. In addition, these activities have been shown to increase professionalism, cultural competency, and sensibilities toward disadvantaged patients.1 Service work becomes doubly important, to give medical students necessary diverse experiences, and to be of service to communities in need.
One of the most successful service projects of the year was The Giving Tree that Sigma Sigma Phi (SSP) initiated with John F. Kennedy School in Biddeford, ME during the holiday season. SSP is one of the many clubs and organizations within COM, but the only osteopathic organization entirely devoted to service. As an honor society, it is the only club on campus that requires members to apply and maintain a certain grade point average to participate. Jay Lavrich, COM ’22 is the outgoing 2019-20 president who, during her tenure, implemented a number of initiatives to connect COM with the larger Biddeford Community. “We really focus on bettering the community through service and also the UNE community through a lot of academic endeavors,” she says. Some of that time is spent on board reviews for second-year students and block reviews for first-year students. “SSP is really all about encouraging the best academic excellence as well as the best service excellence that we can provide to the community.”
The initial concept for The Giving Tree began when Student Doctor Lavrich attended the Sigma Sigma Phi National Conference. As she listened to other chapters report on the success of the project at other institutions, she was excited to bring the idea back to UNE COM. “I'd done giving trees with my church when I was younger, and I thought that was such a fun experience,” she explains, “so I really wanted to bring that back to UNE, but I had no idea what to expect… if people would be interested or even get involved.” The holidays seemed like the perfect time for SSP to implement something big for the community. While the time of year promotes a spirit of giving, it can also be a reminder of financial deficits and needs. “During the holidays, people really come together, especially when a kid doesn’t have a present to open. It's really hard for them, and just having something to open makes a huge difference in this whole kid's life,” she says.
The next SSP meeting seemed like the most opportune time to bring the idea to the other club members. “We had a meeting and I pitched the idea… I really wanted to try this and they were on board,” she recalls. “Ali Daly was like my number two who helped move everything along, helping pick up the trees, making the tags… she was really fundamental to this whole process. A lot of people with SSP were helping out. Shannon Donovan also helped a lot, as well as Emily Tamimie… it was really a collective effort by our SSP members.” The next step was to locate families who wanted to participate. Since UNE COM is in Biddeford, SSP wanted local families to benefit from the endeavor. “I think UNE sometimes gets a bad stigma in the community, being a well-off University, even though we do so much, it's not often publicized,” reflects Student Doctor Lavrich. Throughout the year, SSP organizes ongoing service work projects, but these services can be unknown to those outside the niche communities. For years, they have organized the Mechanics Park Cleanup, where they spruce up the
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