These factors lie at the cornerstones of the partnership developed over the past two decades between the osteopathic physician founders of the International Primary Care Educational Alliance (IPCEA) and the physician leadership of the primary care initiatives of Chengdu and Shenzhen, China.
Royce Keilers, DO, a member of the 1965 graduating class of Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences (KCU), received Heart to Heart International’s (HHI) 2016 Power of One Award for his life’s work to advance primary care medicine and build bridges between people, organizations and cultures.
On May 12, 2008, in the Sichuan Province of China, a Magnitude-8 earthquake killed an estimated 69,000 people injured 375,000 and left millions homeless. Within just days of the quake, two American Osteopathic Foundation volunteers, Dr. Royce Keilers and Dr. William Burke, joined members of Heart to Heart International in the medical relief effort.
For the last two years, there has been an historic medical effort building between osteopathic physicians and health officials in China as they tackle the transformation of a country’s medical system. Development of the ultimate goal – a medical system based on family medicine rather than the current specialty care system – moved closer to fruition with the October 2007 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding: “Towards the Development of Family Medicine in Sichuan Province, China.” Royce K. Keilers, D.O., FACOFP dist. (KCUMB-COM ’65), once again led the delegation of osteopathic family physicians on the most recent trip to Chengdu, China.
