Zachary College

Zachary College is named after T. Eugene Zachary, D.O.  Dr. Zachary served in many different capacities at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine; but most notably he was as Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Dean of TCOM from 1984-1990.  In addition to his service to the institution, he also held numerous leadership positions in the osteopathic profession, including Speaker of the American Osteopathic Association House of Delegates, Speaker of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians Congress of Delegates and the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association House of Delegates.  Due to Dr. Zachary’s commitment to rural primary care medicine, this college is his namesake.

Dr. Zachary continued to serve TCOM as a part-time faculty member until his passing February 20, 2012.

Zachary College Director

Christopher Rheams, MD

Assistant Professor
Medical Education
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Christopher.Rheams@unthsc.edu

Education/Training

A native of New Orleans, I did my medical training at LSU HSC in Shreveport, LA, for both medical school and Internal Medicine residency. I practiced in Shreveport for about 20 years prior to moving to Weatherford, TX as a hospitalist. A few years ago I had the opportunity to help start the IM residency program there as its first Program Director. I now teach full time, both at UNTHSC and as Program Director in IM at the new residency program at Baylor All Saints in Fort Worth. My chief areas of interest are resident wellness and humanism in medicine. In addition to being an Internal Medicine zealot, I like to roast coffee beans and play music.

Zachary College Faculty Advisors

Dr. Maria Crompton

Assistant Professor
Medical Education
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Maria.Crompton@unthsc.edu

Education/Training

Dr. Maria Crompton is board-certified in Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. She received her Bachelor’s of Science degree from UNT Denton, and was a Rural Track graduate from TCOM in 2008. She then completed residency training in Waco at the MCMERF Family Residency Program.  After residency, Dr Crompton practiced outpatient and inpatient family medicine in East Texas at a Rural Health Clinic and Community Access Hospital, as well as serving as Medical Director for the Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program.  She discovered a passion for teaching after becoming faculty for the UTHSCT Rural Family Medicine program and working with the FM residents.  Because of this, she and her family relocated back to Fort Worth and returned ‘home’ to TCOM in December of 2019, as Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and OMM. 

In practice, Dr. Crompton emphasizes whole-person, holistic care as a cornerstone of osteopathic medicine, with a special interest in the particular needs for rural and underserved communities.  She serves as faculty for the Family Medicine Residency Programs housed in HSC Health and directs the new Lifestyle Medicine Track available to current and incoming residents.  

Outside of work, Dr. Crompton loves nature, sports, music, and spending time with her spouse, children, and three dogs. As a seasoned ultra-runner, you may find her out on the trails or leading Walk With A Doc, and welcomes you to join along!  She might also be found coaching youth sports in the community or enjoying a game.    

She is a strong advocate for self-care and work-life balance, and excited to help you mold your future careers in alignment with your ‘why’.  

Bryn Esplin, JD, HEC-C

Assistant Professor
Medical Education
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
Bryn.Esplin@unthsc.edu

Education/Training

Bryn S. Esplin, JD, HEC-C, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Education at the University of North Texas Health Science Center TCOM where she teaches Medical Ethics and Jurisprudence. Dr. Esplin graduated cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in Rhetoric before obtaining her law degree. During law school, she externed with both the Supreme Court of Nevada and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, with an emphasis on Neuro-Psychiatric Ethics. She went on to complete a two-year Clinical Bioethics Fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, as well as a Visiting Scholar Residency at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and The Hasting Center in New York.

Dr. Esplin is also a certified HealthCare Ethics Consultant and a frequent speaker at both national and international conferences in Medical Education, Clinical Ethics and Humanities. Her scholarship has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of Clinical Ethics, Psychosomatics, and The American Journal of Bioethics.

Michael Oglesby PhD

Professor Medical Education
Medical Education
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine
michael.oglesby@unthsc.edu

Education/Training

Dr Oglesby is a pharmacologist, having taken his PhD at SUNY Buffalo and completed post-doctoral training at the University of Chicago. He began employment with TCOM on the day it transitioned from private to State-supported medical school. He had a long research career in pharmacology, including obtaining 7 RO1 grants from NIH and being named a Humboldt Fellow to spend a year at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Munich. In more recent years he has been full-time teaching with TCOM, serving for more than a decade as the Year 2 Curriculum Director. He is passionate about promoting and serving TCOM’s historic role in filling providers to the underserved of the state of Texas.