Great company, excellent food, elegant atmosphere…what a riveting evening! On November 30, 2022, the Open Medical Institute hosted its annual Donor Appreciation Dinner, a wonderful night with friends to celebrate philanthropy.
As it was the first post-pandemic donor appreciation dinner, the event embraced an entirely new, modern design. To begin the evening, Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky provided a warm welcome to all 80 guests. Following, Matej Dzido performed three traditional pieces by Mozart on the piano, but with a Latin American twist.
Alongside a lively, thrilling ambiance, guests enjoyed a delicious three-course meal and heard from Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky and Stephanie Faschang regarding an update on the OMI and how our donors’ contributions have made an impact on fellows, faculty, and the program as a whole.
Over the past year, the OMI has trained 1,200 doctors from 80 countries. In total, more than 26,000 fellowships have been offered. However, the impact of the Open Medical Institute goes far beyond these doctors since our fellows return home empowered, ready to share and apply their newly acquired knowledge for the benefit of their patients.
We very much appreciate the ongoing support of our board members, and therefore three individuals who represent the next generation and have helped to promote the OMI in Salzburg were highlighted: Dr. Thomas Bodmer, Johnny Heubach, and Philipp Spängler. We also took the opportunity to welcome Dr. Lukas Weiss to the OMI community. Additionally, a special thank you went to Clair and Rainer Ullmann and Ira Schwarz and Dieter Mann for having made significant financial contributions over the past year.
We could not run this program without the dedication and commitment of our faculty. Since 1993, thousands of faculty members from leading medical institutions worldwide have volunteered to teach and mentor OMI fellows. Dr. Nicholas Tsahouras, course director for the Salzburg CHOP seminar in Pediatric Emergency Medicine, shared about his experience with the OMI and why he has chosen to invest his time in teaching here in Salzburg.
One of our main goals is to make our faculty feel at home. A highlight of each seminar week are the faculty dinners, where Salzburg families open their homes to host and connect with our international faculty. These evenings often result in long-lasting memories and friendships. This year, 24 hosts invited faculty groups for dinner, and we are incredibly grateful for their hospitality. We are very thankful to Baroness von Schilgen for introducing us to two new hosts, Angelika and Anton Graf as well as Ira Schwarz and Dieter Mann.
Last but not least, the evening concluded with Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky and Andreas Rath officially honoring two families with the 2022 OMI Award: Waltraud and Josef Wöhrer as well as Anne and Georg Scheicher.
27 staff members from 12 different countries worked together to make this event possible, and it was all because of the enormous gratitude we have for all our donors who support us on a regular basis. Not only were many longtime supporters of the OMI present at the dinner, but many new faces as well.
For decades, we have worked to improve healthcare globally. We are grateful to our community of dedicated supporters who helps us continue to educate and empower doctors from countries in transition. Together, we make a difference.
