Summer 2013 COM Outlook | NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine

43 COM Outlook . Spring 2013 Has there been a specific case that truly made you appreciate the reason you became a physician? If so, please provide some specific details. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges we’ve had in quite some time was a young man who developed transverse myelitis after a day of surfing. No cause could be found as to what may have contributed to this non- traumatic spinal-cord injury. I first met the 19 year old in the ICU at Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Florida. His legs had no motion and virtually no sensation, but he was driven to recover, and I could see some measure of hope. We brought him into St. Anthony’s, and our rehab and therapy team worked with him for a number of weeks. Fortunately, this turned into quite a success story, with the patient literally walking out of our rehab hospital. I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of outcome before in a patient with transverse myelitis. What personal and professional achievements are you the proudest about? Watching my kids grow into the outstanding people they’ve become gives me the greatest amount of personal pride. My wife and I have truly been blessed. Professionally, St. Anthony’s Rehabilitation Hospital has recently been placed in the top seven percent of rehab hospitals in the country, and there are over 800 such hospitals nationwide. I’m certainly proud of that as well as any part I may have played in helping achieve this level of success. As a past president of NSU-COM’s Alumni Association and a member of Dr. Silvagni’s Leadership Council, why are you so willing to give back to the college in this manner? There’s a long history of osteopathic medicine in my family. This university gave me the opportunity to realize a lifelong focus of becoming a physician. To say thanks, I’ve been working with Debbi Steinkohl, the college’s Interdisciplinary Generalist Curriculum program’s administrative director, to bring students to St. Anthony’s to give them an idea of what rehab medicine is all about. In short, I’m doing anything I can to give back to the college that helpedme get where I am today. Every NSU-COM student should be compelled to give back, and a great way to start is by joining the Alumni Association. Also, when Dr. Anthony J. Silvagni kindly asked me to join the Dean’s Leadership Council, well, you just don’t say no to Tony. He’s a great leader, and under his leadership the school has gone great places that will mean even more opportunities for the medical students. I’ve been on the Dean’s Leadership Council since its beginning and will continue to contribute any way I can as long as I can. Dr . Dan Carn e y “I guess I was always interested in medicine. My father was a family practice physician, so when I was a young kid around 1960, I used to ask questions like, “What’s happening in my head when I have a headache?” and “Why, in the middle of the summer in Florida, do they call it a cold?” — Dr. Dan Carney Dr. Dan Carney (far left) in 2010 at the college’s alumni reception held in Weston, Florida, during the Florida Osteopathic Medical Association’s annual convention.