LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – An osteopathic physician who has gained attention as “Dr. Tye: Hip Hop Dance Doc” will bring his passion for medicine and dance to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM).
WVSOM will welcome Tyree Winters, D.O., as its keynote speaker during the school’s 48th annual Commencement Ceremony.
Winters is vice chair of education and director of graduate medical education for Nemours Children’s Health-Delaware Valley in Wilmington, Del., and assistant designated institutional official for Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University. He will deliver the speech during the 2 p.m., May 2, ceremony on the WVSOM campus in Lewisburg.
Winters has committed his career to medical education and has more than a decade of experience in undergraduate and graduate medical education. He has lectured on topics such as childhood obesity, health equity and innovations in pediatric medical education.
He is committed to community pediatrics and child advocacy and maintains an interest in helping young people combat obesity. To that end, he created a dance exercise program for kids and adopted the moniker “Dr. Tye: Hip Hop Dance Doc.” He was awarded an American Academy of Pediatrics Community Access to Child Health grant to develop a training program to teach adolescents from historically marginalized and excluded communities to become healthy lifestyle peer mentors.
Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, said Winters’ desire to reduce pediatric obesity through movement could inspire medical school graduates to make an impact on patients in communities they will soon serve.
“Dr. Winters is a pediatrician with a commitment to serve his community by helping kids lose weight using hip-hop dancing. Additionally, Dr. Winters has been an inspirational mentor to underrepresented students in college and medical students who want to make a difference in the world as an osteopathic physician. I am so pleased that he is able to come and speak to our graduates this year.”
Winters received a B.A. degree from the University of Michigan and a D.O. degree from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed general pediatric training at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to his duties at Nemours Children’s Health, he is a clinical assistant professor in the department of pediatrics at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.
WVSOM’s Commencement Ceremony will be available to view live at www.wvsom.edu.
