DMU Faculty Win AACOM Compassionate Community Grants

WEST DES MOINES, IA (11/12/2025) Three faculty members from Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences were awarded the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine inaugural Compassionate Community Grant.

The grant program, launched in connection with the Educating Leaders 2025 Friday Forum, provides small grants ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 to pre-accredited and accredited Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine to spark actionable culture change.

The 2025 recipients were selected for their ambitious proposals spanning community outreach, student wellness and curricular integration of empathy. Grant winners from DMU included: Mark Lambert, Ph.D., Lisa Streyffeler, Ph.D., and Julia Van Liew, Ph.D., all from the Department of Behavioral Medicine, Medical Humanities, and Bioethics, with support from Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D., FNAOME, associate dean for academic assessment, quality and development, and Autumn Brunia, D.O., psychiatrist at Des Moines University Clinic.

Projects include:

Whole-Person Care: Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Clerkship as a Model for Compassionate Care Training in UME

Primary Investigator: Mark Lambert, Ph.D.

Co-Investigators: Lisa Streyffeler, Ph.D., Julia Van Liew, Ph.D., and Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D.

Research Question: Following participation in chaplaincy and spiritual care-elective clerkship, does the deployment of verbatims exercises function as effective assessment measures for evaluating osteopathic medical students' achievement of two spiritual care competencies; presence and spiritual assessment, as well as an increase in overall compassion and empathy for patients?

Compassion-Focused Storytelling to Strengthen Connections with Peers and Patients

Primary Investigator: Lisa Streyffeler, Ph.D.

Co-Investigators: Julia Van Liew, Ph.D., Mark Lambert, Ph.D., Leslie Wimsatt, Ph.D., and Autumn Brunia, D.O.

Research Question: How can participation in compassion-focused storytelling increase osteopathic medical students' ability to reflect on their own practice and their overall level of compassion?

Community as Classroom: Empowering Compassionate Future Physicians Through Engagement in Service Learning

Primary Investigator: Julia Van Liew, Ph.D.

Co-Investigators: Lisa Streyffeler, Ph.D., Mark Lambert, Ph.D., and Autumn Brunia, D.O.

Research Question: How can an osteopathic medical school implement a partnership with its local public health department to provide meaningful, curriculum-integrated service-learning experiences that enhance preclinical students' understanding of health disparities and social determinants of health, while advancing local public health goals?

"Compassion isn't just a tenet of osteopathic practice - it's the cornerstone of a transformative learning environment," says David Connett, D.O., dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine at DMU. "These projects exemplify the profound impact colleges can have when they prioritize connection and community. We support these leaders who are actively building cultures where both students and patients thrive."

For a full list of winners and their projects, visit https://tinyurl.com/32pwz95y.

View Online: http://dmu.meritpages.com/news/dmu-faculty-win-aacom-compassionate-community-grants/55709