- Dr. Donald Kotoske -

We are awarding the Lifetime Achievement Award to the D.O. who during his or her lifetime as an osteopathic physician has contributed outstandingly to his or her profession. He is a locally homegrown boy going to Holy Cross Grade School, Central Catholic High School, graduating from University of Notre Dame in 1952. He was a salesman for Eaton Laboratories. He graduated from Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1968, returned to South Bend and did his residency at Osteopathic Hospital in South Bend. He opened a solo office at the end of his internship and has been practicing as a family practitioner on Miami Street for 35 years.

He was instrumental in convincing St. Joe Regional Medical Center to allow all D.O.'s that had completed a 12-month AOA approved internship to be awarded full practice privileges at St. Joe Regional Medical Center in 1970. He had also opened the doors for D.O.s to obtain staff privileges at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois prior to that.

Throughout the years, he has written reference material for the AOA instructing new physicians on how to conduct themselves on radio and television. He has performed in over 1,000 radio, television and public speaking engagements. He has received two honorary writing awards from the AOA. He has written over 120 medical articles for medical nursing journals and the airlines. He has written on medical economics for physicians for 20 years.

In 1988, he received the J.B. Kensinger Award for outstanding service to Indiana D.O.s.

In 1990, he received AMA'S Recognition Award.

In 1990, the Indiana Association of Osteopathic Physicians named him Indiana Physician the of the Year.

In 1991, he was named National Physician of the Year for the American College of General Practitioners. He also has received the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine Specialty Award from its alumni association.

He has been Indiana's representative to the House of Delegates for the AOA and the ACGP for over 20 years.

He will be the first Fellow in the OCGP Fellows Conclave to receive the Fellow of Fellows Award in San Francisco this fall.

Married for 51 years, he and his wife have five children and eight grandchildren. To listen to him talk, all he says is "I just drive the bus."

It is with the greatest of pleasure I introduce the Lifetime Achievement Award which goes to Dr. Donald E. Kotoske.