LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) is stepping up its exercise game by establishing a campus program utilizing Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s “Mountaineer Mile” walking initiative.
WVSOM’s Mountaineer Mile will provide an opportunity every Monday for students, faculty and staff of the medical school to walk a mile on its Lewisburg campus with President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., or another member of WVSOM’s leadership team.
Members of the public also are invited to join the walks.
Nemitz said he looks forward to being part of an initiative to promote healthy behaviors among West Virginia’s citizens.
“This is an exciting opportunity for our state to move the needle when it comes to reducing obesity and positively impacting chronic disease,” he said. “I’m proud to lead the governor’s Mountaineer Mile initiative on our campus.”
WVSOM’s Mountaineer Mile initiative also will establish weight loss goals for members of the campus community; allow students, faculty and staff to log their weekly steps and weight loss; and use the school’s Center for Rural and Community Health to educate and offer resources to help communities in the Greenbrier Valley to follow Morrisey’s Mountaineer Mile walking initiative.
WVSOM’s program will begin April 14, with Nemitz leading a one-mile campus walk. Those interested in participating should meet at 12 p.m. in front of the WVSOM Student Center’s Alumni Tower.
In summer 2024, WVSOM launched a new “Finding Health” curriculum that incorporates wellness, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle and preventive medicine into medical students’ education. Physical activity is integral to osteopathic medicine, whose tenets state that the person is a unit of body, mind and spirit and that the body is capable of self-regulation, self-healing and health maintenance.
Nemitz said he hopes all West Virginia higher education institutions will implement their own versions of the governor’s initiative.
“I challenge other schools to adopt the governor’s Mountaineer Mile walking initiative in the hope that we can work together to improve the health of our population. WVSOM teaches future physicians that physical movement is an important part of maintaining patients’ well-being, and we believe higher education can play a role in establishing habits that lead to better health,” he said.
Drema Hill, Ph.D., WVSOM’s chief operations officer, said exercise is a necessary part of staying healthy and that she is eager to participate in the school’s initiative.
“As a person who has lost 160 pounds, I know weight loss is not easy,” Hill said. “I applaud the governor for taking a personal stand to set an example. I look forward to walking many Mountaineer Miles, and I hope all West Virginians will follow his lead so that we can get healthier together.”
