Providing legal guidance on test accommodations, contracts, negotiations and legal matters, Sydney L. Steele, JD, has been a crucial contributor to the NBOME. Mr. Steele's law career and legal counsel to the NBOME span nearly 25 years. He is a recognized national authority on high stakes testing and testing accommodations, providing counsel to 12 NBOME Board Chairs throughout his service.
John R. Becher, DO, American Osteopathic Association (AOA) president from 2015-2016, and former NBOME board member, presented the award to Mr. Steele, commenting, "He's been indispensable in contracts, negotiations, and all legal issues." In summarizing Mr. Steele's contributions, Frederick G. Meoli, DO, NBOME President and CEO from 1999-2009, noted "For me, it has been a personal and professional honor, privilege and pleasure to have known and worked with Syd."
Mr. Steele is a graduate of Indiana University at Bloomington School of Law, and is licensed to practice law in Indiana, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He is highly active in his community, president and board member of the Columbia Club, Big Brothers of Central Indiana, and a board member and officer of the Center for Leadership Development, and co-founder of the Indianapolis Law Club.
The Santucci Award is named for Thomas F. Santucci, Jr., DO, president and chair of the NBOME Board from 1985 to 1987. This award is given annually to an individual for his or her sustained outstanding contributions to the mission of NBOME.
Barbara E. Walker, DO
NBOME Clark Award for Patient Advocacy
Throughout her extensive career in academic medicine, medical leadership and regulation, Barbara E. Walker, DO, has worked to improve patient care. President of the American Association of Osteopathic Examiners, the North Caroline Medical Board (NCMB), and a member of the Federation of State Medical Boards, Dr. Walker has tirelessly advocated for osteopathic credentials and qualifications, contributing to the universal acceptance of COMLEX-USA for licensure by the NCMB, FSMB, and all of the nation's state medical and osteopathic medical licensing boards.
On December 7, 2018, Dr. Walker was honored with the NBOME Clark Award for Patient Advocacy. Presenting the award , Geraldine T. O'Shea, DO, NBOME Board Vice-Chair and AOA Trustee, Dr. O'Shea, commented, "Through civilian and military service Dr. Walker has dedicated her career to service and advocacy to patients."
Dr. Walker graduated from the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific at Pomona, CA and completed a fellowship in faculty development in family medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to her roles on licensing boards, she is a family physician, medical educator and residency program director in Wilmington, NC, and an AOA trustee and president emeritus of the North Carolina Osteopathic Medical Association.
The NBOME Clark Award is given to individuals for demonstrating an unwavering advocacy for quality patient care assuring the use of valid, osteopathically distinctive assessment for physician licensure at the state or national level.
Other award recipients were Ronald R. Burns, DO, MS, and Millicent King Channell, DO, MA and J. Michael Finley, DO, whose terms on the board ended. The departing board members received Meritorious Service Awards in recognition of their years of service and dedication to the NBOME.
About the NBOME
NBOME is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit assessment organization committed to protecting the public by providing the means to assess competencies for osteopathic medicine and related health care professions. NBOME's COMLEX-USA examination series is a requirement for graduation from colleges of osteopathic medicine and provides the pathway to licensure for osteopathic physicians in the United States and numerous international jurisdictions.
SOURCE National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners
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