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Jared Storck, D.O., doesn’t strike you as a rebel until you spend some time with him. That playful contrarian quality doesn’t come out often, but when it does, it explains some of the risks he’s taken and hints at the resilience that underlies his current success.

As a graduate of Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine's class of 2006, Storck is an unlikely pick for the president of the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Society of Alumni and Friends (SAF) board of directors, but he has served 10 years so far, with the last four years in leadership positions. His path to the SAF started with his mentors, Mark Foglietti, D.O., and Jeff Stanley, D.O., both former board members from the Cleveland area who impressed upon him the value of giving back.

In modeling the impact a friend of the college can have, Storck’s role has morphed into becoming a friend maker, using his position as former chair of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons to promote and expand the reach of Heritage College on a national level while working with the SAF on Ohio-specific programs. Storck was also given the Preceptor of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016 for his work with Heritage College students, who have only become more well-rounded through the years. Many now come into medical school holding a master's degree, with stronger backgrounds in research and scholarship, able to contribute back to his practice with three days of mentorship.

Though so much of medical education’s landscape has changed, his advice to students has remained the same: “Relationships. That is what medicine is about. To stand out, make a personal connection and say yes. If someone reaches out and asks you to be involved, it starts with saying yes,” he said. 

That’s exactly the dictum he’s put into practice in his own career and life, to the benefit of the students he’s instructed, the patients he serves and the peers who sit with him on the SAF board.

As he completes his last year as president, Storck remains enthusiastic about the college, and the direction we’re going, referencing the groundbreaking of the new research center and the recent gift from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation. 

“Who wouldn’t be excited about our momentum and growth?” he asks. Who indeed?