The biomedicine program prepares students for careers in medicine, hospital administration, teaching and other fields. Many of the current students did not pursue majors in college that would lead to healthcare careers but decided later that’s what they wanted. Fewer than half of the students came directly from undergraduate studies.

This graduate program offers three tracks – biomedical science, biomedical teaching and biomedical leadership.

The consulting team, led by longtime Richmond physician Joseph Longacher, will provide 91����Ƶ’s biomedical professors and students with “real-world experience, insights and advice,” says Roman Miller, PhD, director of the MA in biomedicine program. If all goes as expected, the team members will serve as resources for, and connectors to, the larger clinical and medical-academic worlds, leading to interesting research projects and clinical practicums. The team held its first meeting in December 2014.

The seven team members are (in alphabetical order by last name):

• J. Robert Eshleman: He has been a professor for some 50 years at the school where he earned his degree as a dentist − the School of Dentistry of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. For nine of those years he chaired the restorative dentistry department. A member of the class of 1956, he received the school’s “outstanding service award” in 2009.

• Joseph Longacher: For most of his career he was a practicing gastroenterologist in Richmond who also taught the subject at the McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. Beyond his medical work, he frequently served in roles supportive of his community and church. He is a 1959 graduate of 91����Ƶ. In addition to chairing 91����Ƶ’s biomedicine consulting team, he is the program’s scholar-in-residence on a volunteer basis.

• Randall Longenecker: A longtime family physician and program director for a rural residency program in Bellefontaine, Ohio, he is now assistant dean of rural and underserved programs at Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in Athens, and executive director for The RTT Collaborative, a nationwide nonprofit network of rural medical education programs. A 1975 91����Ƶ graduate, he earned his MD from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Joseph B. Martin: former dean of the School of Medicine at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and professor of neurobiology. Earlier he was dean of the medical school at the University of California at San Francisco, followed by a term as chancellor of the entire university. He completed his bachelor’s degree at 91����Ƶ, where he met his wife, and then returned to his native province to earn an MD from the University of Alberta. He also holds a PhD in anatomy from the University of Rochester.

• J. Phillip Moyer: He was a cardiologist for many years in Sellersville, Pennsylvania, affiliated with Grand View Hospital. A graduate of Goshen College, 91����Ƶ’s sister Mennonite school in Indiana, he earned his MD from the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Following retirement, he has worked as a volunteer physician in India and a high school biology teacher in Albania.

• John D. Wenger: He is a family physician at the Integrative Medicine Center of Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg. A 1985 graduate of 91����Ƶ, he got his DO from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Later he studied integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.

• Teresa Boshart Yoder: As director of women’s services at Sentara RMH Medical Center in Harrisonburg, she spearheads the services at the new Funkhouser Women’s Center. Opened in 2013, the center offers treatment for breast cancer and other diseases as well as educational seminars and support groups. A registered nurse, she also has a master’s degree in nursing.

Since the majority of the students in the two-year-old program are headed to careers in healthcare, it makes sense that the first scholar-in-residence would be a healthcare provider, said program director Roman Miller, PhD.

Longacher retired in February 2013 and moved with his wife Constance to Harrisonburg, where they live near the 91����Ƶ campus. In his part-time volunteer role with the biomedicine program, he will advise the professors and consult with students on their research projects. Longacher will serve a two-year term, with the possibility of renewal.

Longacher will also lead a consulting biomedicine team that will be set up this fall. It will be comprised of experts in the healthcare field.

“This is a big deal to have clinical expertise on our leadership team,” said Miller. “We were looking for a physician or other healthcare provider with connections to Virginia’s hospitals, medical schools and healthcare leaders as well as the ability to wisely guide us in further development of our program.”

Miller, who is 91����Ƶ’s longtime director of the , is himself the graduate of a biomedicine program. He earned his PhD in biomedical science at Kent State University in Ohio. A member of 91����Ƶ’s faculty for 29 years, Miller is the Endowed Professor of Biology.

“Our master’s in biomedicine is a good way to get into the healthcare field, whether as an administrator, teacher or healthcare provider,” said Miller. In some cases, like his own, it will mean further study after 91����Ƶ at the doctoral level.

Many of the current biomedicine students at 91����Ƶ did not pursue majors in college that would lead to health-care careers but decided later that’s what they wanted. Fewer than half of the current students came directly from undergraduate studies in college.

Following his undergraduate work at 91����Ƶ, Longacher, from Newport News, Virginia, went to the Medical College of Virginia (now part of Virginia Commonwealth University) in Richmond. After an internship at a hospital in Pennsylvania, he served as a general practitioner in Appalachia under . He returned to Richmond for a residency in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Next came three years at a clinic in Indiana, before Longacher settled in Richmond to focus on gastroenterology – dealing with the digestive system – at the McGuire Clinic, later renamed Virginia Physicians.

For most of his career in Richmond, Longacher was also a clinical professor of internal medicine at VCU. He mentored students at his clinic as well as teaching at the McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. A member of , Longacher related to some 50 Mennonite medical students at VCU over the years.

Longacher has been involved in a variety of leadership roles in his denomination, including two terms as moderator of . He served as president of and is completing a term this summer as president of its successor organization, .

“I’m looking forward to working with the other members of the advisory group to share our insights and help provide input from our experience,” Longacher said.