During the 112th Convention, the MOA also held its Annual Awards Luncheon to honor the contributions of osteopathic physicians in Maine. Meet this year's Awards Recipients!

Caroline LaFave, DO & family after she received the 2023 MOA Young Physician of the Year Award

Caroline LaFave, D.O., of Waterville, was selected as Young Osteopathic Physician of the Year. This award is conferred upon an osteopathic physician with less than five years in practice who has demonstrated the potential to become a major force in osteopathic medicine in the future.

Dr. LaFave provides full- spectrum care– outpatient, inpatient, and obstetrics in the Central Maine area.

She attended Colby College, graduating in 2006, and then the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNE COM), graduating in 2017. She was active at UNE COM, earning a service award for her involvement in 2017. She continued her medical training at Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency (MDFMR) in Augusta–becoming Chief Resident.

She now teaches medical students and family medicine residents as a faculty member for the MDFMR Program. As the program’s director of recruitment, she launched a holistic review of residency applicants to improve equity in the recruitment process with a goal to bring kind, good, and smart primary care doctors to Maine.

Dr. LaFave has also been active in research and scholarly work, contributing to many published articles with a research interest in Cystic Fibrosis. She has presented nationally several times and her colleagues applaud her commitment to her community, her patients, and her family.

Charles Radis, DO (far right) after receiving the 2023 Bates Public Service Award

Charles Radis, D.O., of Peaks Island, was recognized with the Roswell P. Bates, D.O., Public Service Award, given for outstanding achievement in public health, political, or community service that enhances and demonstrates the osteopathic profession’s commitment to service above and beyond that of direct patient care.

Dr. Radis is now a well-known osteopathic physician, educator, and author. He completed his D.O. degree at the Kansas City University of Medicine. After completing his internal medicine residency, he moved his family to Peaks Island, off the coast of Maine, and provided primary care to four year-round islands in Casco Bay.

In addition to his clinic duties on Peaks and Chebeague Islands, he traveled year-round by boat to the outer islands and logged more than 100 yearly house calls. He eventually left his Peaks Island medical practice for fellowship training in clinical immunology/rheumatology at the University of Pittsburgh’s Presbyterian University Hospital, before returning to Maine to practice rheumatology.

He recently published a book, “Go By Boat,” about his time on Peaks, which demonstrates his commitment to the health and wellness of Maine’s most vulnerable communities and has resulted in a second book about this special experience.

He is also the founder and medical director for the Maine-African Partnership for Social Justice and      travels regularly to the Kiryandongo United Nations Settlement in Uganda, where he partners with refugee groups in innovative public health programs.

He has also demonstrated his commitment to the local community in other ways, giving back to students by teaching at UNE COM and regularly presenting at MOA events to share his medical knowledge.     

James Eshleman, DO (2nd from left) after receiving the 2023 MOA Distinguished Service Award

James Eshleman, D.O., of Wells, was the 2023 recipient of MOA’s highest honor– the Distinguished Service Award. The award recognizes an osteopathic physician who has made a major impact on the profession and society over the course of their career. Dr. Eshleman previously received the award in 2001.

James Eshleman graduated from Pennsylvania College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) in 1972 and completed his internship at the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine (OHM). He then began a family medicine practice in Norway/South Paris and practiced there for more than four decades. In addition, he served as medical director for several local nursing homes for more than 40 years and as a Tufts University School of Medicine preceptor for nine years.

After a short retirement of weeks, he joined Calais Community Hospital Family Medicine post-retirement in 2020 and continues to practice part-time 2-3 days per week.

Dr. Eshleman is well-known in the MOA community and has served the profession in many capacities, including as a board member, Maine delegate to the national AOA House of Delegates from 1998 to 2000, and as the association’s president from 1995 to 1997. His legacy includes championing the resurgence of the association’s legislative activities. He also worked diligently to ensure that Maine D.O.s were not unfairly discriminated against in various hospital settings for their credentials.

In addition to this honor, Dr. Eshleman was recognized for achieving 50 years of active practice in Maine this year.

Stephanie Collins, D.O., of South Portland, was honored with the 2023 Louis Hanson D.O. Physician of the Year Award, a prestigious award named in honor of the late Dr. Hanson, an icon in the osteopathic community, given to an osteopathic physician who demonstrated a high quality of practice, a compassionate interest in patients, and a commitment to their community in the past year.

Stephanie Collins, D.O., is a second-generation osteopath whose father, Hans Waecker, D.O., practiced in Portland for many years. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed Family Practice Residency at Maine-Dartmouth Family Practice and later taught students there and at UNE COM.

She has practiced family medicine, specializing in osteopathic manipulation (OMM), since 2001. Her practice, Maine Osteopathic Medicine, opened in 2013 in South Portland.

Her contributions to the Maine osteopathic profession and community are many. She has committed countless years to the MOA Board of Directors (2013 to 2022). Most recently, she served as the Chair of MOA’s Medical Economics Committee, advocating for fair reimbursement policies for private practice physicians, particularly OMM private practitioners. Her efforts to ensure patient access to OMM will benefit Maine D.O.s for years to come.

Art & Fran were unable to join us at the ceremony June 3rd -- Photo Courtesy of Maine Homes

Arthur & Fran Girard, of Portland, were chosen as the 2023 recipients of MOA’s Sandra Featherman, Ph.D., Osteopathic Champion Award. This award honors an osteopathic physician and/or friend who has made a recent outstanding and significant contribution to the osteopathic profession in Maine. It was renamed in 2019 to acknowledge Sandra Featherman, Ph.D., President Emeritus of UNE COM.

The Girards are natural connectors, problem solvers, and generous souls. Members of the osteopathic medicine community first discovered this when “Art” became friends with several osteopaths at the Osteopathic Hospital of Maine (OHM) on Brighton Avenue in Portland. He constructed and renovated many of the Forest Avenue medical offices for friends such as Tom Babonis, John Eslinger, Charlie Hoag, Jerry Cole, Carlene Dam, and Martha Frieberg.

When Maine’s only medical school and the only osteopathic medical school in New England moved to Biddeford at the University of New England in 1978, Art was living across the river in Camp Ellis. Many of his friends from OHM were connected with the school, so he became familiar with the campus and the students, even hosting a graduation party for the first class of UNE COM physicians in 1982.

Fran, a champion in her own right, currently serves on the UNE Board of Trustees as the university makes a transformational investment in healthcare education. The construction of the new home for the College of Osteopathic Medicine on the Portland UNE campus forever ties this family name with osteopathic medicine in Maine.