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The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (91�㽶��Ƶ) is one of only 156 universities and colleges — and the only osteopathic medical school — in the world to be recognized by Exercise is Medicine for its efforts to create a culture of wellness on campus.

The medical school earned a silver level designation from Exercise is Medicine On Campus (EIM-OC), a program created by the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Medical Association. Exercise is Medicine is grounded on the belief that physical activity promotes optimal health, is integral to the prevention and treatment of many medical conditions and should be regularly assessed and included as part of health care.

Christopher Pankey, Ph.D., a 91�㽶��Ƶ assistant professor of physiology, was approached in fall 2021 by two first-year medical students who were interested in incorporating the program at the Lewisburg, W.Va., medical school.

Campuses with silver distinctions engage students, faculty and staff in education initiatives and make movement part of the daily campus culture. Pankey said at 91�㽶��Ƶ, those goals were achieved by campus committees and clubs, such as the Culinary Medicine Club, which teaches students nutritional information through cooking demonstrations and other activities.

Class of 2025 student Samantha DeMartino, one of the students who introduced the program at 91�㽶��Ƶ, said she wanted to bring the program to campus to help future physicians better understand exercise physiology.

“Exercise would be the No. 1 prescribed treatment if it came in a pill form, yet 50 percent of physicians do not consult their patients on the benefits of exercise due to the lack of discussion of exercise in medical school education,” DeMartino said. “Aside from being a way to treat cardiovascular disease and diabetes, exercise is extremely beneficial for many clinical populations. Boxing is one of the best exercises for patients with Parkinson’s disease to improve brain and motor function, weightlifting allows stroke patients to regain confidence and independence, and cancer patients are now being recommended to exercise as a ‘pre-habilitation’ to build strength before starting chemotherapy and radiation. Exercise is the most versatile treatment and should be prescribed to every patient.”

DeMartino hopes to make 91�㽶��Ƶ students aware of the benefits of exercise so they can incorporate that knowledge into future physician-patient encounters.

“91�㽶��Ƶ and osteopathic medicine are focused on the philosophy of using the body to heal itself. Exercise strengthens the body to combat, prevent and treat diseases,” she said.

The Exercise is Medicine program is a natural fit for osteopathic medicine, which focuses on a whole-person approach to treating patients, Pankey said.

“Students interested in osteopathic medicine already incorporate osteopathic tenets that fit really well into this program,” he said. “These tenets teach that the body is a unit and it has self-healing properties. We can amplify those self-healing properties through physical activity and exercise.”

Program enthusiasts like DeMartino are pursuing an elective for 91�㽶��Ƶ students that would include activities such as estimating patients’ optimum heart rates to use for an exercise prescription, discussing different exercises to benefit specific populations and getting into the gym to apply these concepts.

DeMartino said it is also important to maximize relationships with campus clubs that are already supporting Exercise is Medicine without knowing it. For example, the Fit Kids program provides engaging activities for elementary-aged children in the community; Health Yeah committee members provide nutritional education opportunities to community members; and the 91�㽶��Ƶ chapter of the Lifestyle Medicine Club aims to educate members about the evidence-based practice of helping individuals and families adopt health behaviors that affect quality of life and emphasize how to incorporate nutrition and lifestyle-based preventive medicine into healing modalities.

Robyn Stuhr, vice president of Exercise is Medicine, said program members are thrilled to recognize campuses that make movement a part of daily culture.

“These campus programs are nurturing future leaders who will advance a key tenet of Exercise is Medicine: making physical activity assessment and promotion a standard in health care,” she said.

Of the 156 campuses recognized this year, 73 received a gold designation, 60 received silver and 23 received bronze. Next year, 91�㽶��Ƶ will go for gold, Pankey said, by incorporating physical activity vital signs, or PAVS, with its partner Robert C. Byrd Clinic. Gold status includes implementing a referral system and routine physical activity evaluations by health care providers.

“Exercise has immense benefits for a variety of clinical presentations,” Pankey said. “We live in an area at the epicenter of the obesity epidemic and the associated comorbidities. We have a huge opportunity to make a difference. By implementing physical activity prescriptions, we could make an impactful change in the community, which is a great way to serve West Virginia and our institution’s mission in an area we are passionate about.”

In addition to identifying patients who perform less than 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity, a referral system from the clinic would be implemented to connect patients with local exercise specialists trained in individualized exercise prescriptions for different diseases and conditions, making it easier for physicians to discuss exercise with patients and making it easier for patients to start exercising, DeMartino said.

Another goal DeMartino has to allow 91�㽶��Ƶ to achieve gold status is to incorporate PAVS into students’ clinical skills classes and into the computers at the school’s Clinical Evaluation Center in order to flag inactivity.

“I am hoping between the new elective and including PAVS in 91�㽶��Ƶ’s curriculum, more physicians will feel comfortable talking about and recommending exercise,” she said. “I am hoping if our future physicians don’t feel comfortable prescribing exercise, they can still identify which patients will benefit most and refer them to an exercise specialist or exercise physiologist.”

DeMartino is passionate about the Exercise is Medicine program and believes it is an important way to extend treatment options beyond pharmacological treatment.

“I believe most students came to 91�㽶��Ƶ because we wanted to find a treatment method that best suits our patients, which includes osteopathic manipulative medicine but should also include exercise as medicine. Exercise improves quality of life and decreases mortality and morbidity,” she said. “When patients inquire about health advice and physicians don’t recommend exercise, it is unlikely the patient will make it a priority. Exercise is a less invasive treatment with fewer side effects and should be considered a first-line treatment for most patients.”