Marla Golden named dean of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine South Georgia

MOULTRIE — Dr. Marla DePolo Golden will begin her tenure as dean of the osteopathic medicine program at PCOM South Georgia on Jan. 2. A 1988 graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, she is currently associate dean of clinical education for both PCOM Georgia in Suwanee and PCOM South Georgia in Moultrie.

“Dr. Golden has served our college in various administrative and faculty capacities since 2010,” Dr. Peter F. Bidey, dean and chief academic officer of PCOM, said in announcing Golden’s appointment. “She first functioned as a preceptor to PCOM students in her integrative pain medicine practice, teaching students the benefits of a comprehensive osteopathic approach to patients and their pain and allowing them to hone their OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment) skills.

“Dr. Golden began her administrative career at PCOM as a regional assistant dean for PCOM Georgia, creating a clinical anchor site for students in Jacksonville, Fla., as well as overseeing other anchor sites in northeast Florida. In addition, she developed relationships with partners in south Georgia. She went on to serve as interim and then chair of clinical education for PCOM South Georgia, while maintaining her position as regional assistant dean before moving into her current role.”

Golden understands pain. Whether she’s working with a patient suffering from pain or teaching a student physician how to treat a patient’s pain, she understands because she’s been there. Her career in osteopathic medicine began partly because of her own experience of intractable neck pain.

In the early 1980s, Golden and her family lived outside Philadelphia. Her sister, Mary, was looking into a career in osteopathic medicine and possibly applying to PCOM. She shared that information with Golden, who was a graduate student at Drexel University studying organic chemistry and considering her own career path.

Then Golden was in a five-car accident that caused a severe whiplash injury resulting in neck pain. When her family doctor realized that she was not healing properly and she could not take medications while continuing her classes, he referred Golden to an osteopathic medicine physician in South Philadelphia. The DO’s use of OMT significantly improved her neck pain.

“He helped me so much with OMT and opened my eyes to the profession,” she said. “It inspired me to want to be a DO who could help people with the work of my hands in addition to everything else!”

Not only did Golden and her sister graduate with DO degrees from PCOM, but so did their cousin, Michele Romano, and Mary’s husband, George Schmieder.

“When I finally made that career decision, I never had another doubt about what I should do with my life,” Golden said. “I was able to provide that compassionate care to each patient I saw without forgetting about their family members and the people around them. I was able to ease suffering and touch people’s lives, calm their nerves, reassure them, take care of their problems and on wonderful days, heal them.

“I feel like it’s a God-given privilege to be able to do that. And now, I realize that, as an educator, I can pass on that osteopathic approach to taking care of the whole person. I can teach students how to listen to patients, look at them with an osteopathic eye and truly help them by going the extra mile. If I can inspire students to do that, then I will do so much more than I ever did working with one patient at a time.”

At PCOM, Golden is also an associate professor of emergency medicine and recently served a term as a faculty representative to the PCOM Board of Trustees and chair of the Committee on Committees.

Golden holds a bachelor’s degree from Cabrini College, a master’s degree from Drexel University, and a doctor of osteopathic medicine degree from PCOM. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

“Being selected as dean is an incredible honor,” Golden said. “I’m honored to know that the PCOM community has the faith in me to lead this campus and to continue my work in Georgia, specifically in south Georgia, a region to which I’ve become very attached. There’s a lot we can do in south Georgia because there is an incredible amount of talent in our institution at large, but specifically on the South Georgia campus. I think we will do great things for south Georgia and in south Georgia continuing the long-standing PCOM tradition of excellence.”

Golden succeeds the previous dean, Dr. William Craver, who retired on April 30. Robert Lloyd has served as interim dean since May 1.

Special Photo: PCOM South Georgia