Doctors of Dayton 2019

DOC T ORS

OF DAYTON

BY THE EDITORS

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Health care continues to be an important part of our lives. Everyone wants to be healthy, but sometimes you need some help to get that way. Luckily, the Miami Valley is home to fantastic doctors in a variety of fields. We spoke with 8 local doctors about the care they provide and why your health matters to them.

DAYTON MAGAZINE . December 2019/January 2020

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DOCTORS OF DAYTON

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PHOTO BY TOM GILLIAM PHOTOGR APHY

Dr. Sameep Kadakia OTOLARYNGOLOGY Premier Health

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r. Rujin Ju recently became the third partner in the practice at Southwest Ohio Urogynecology, located at 7700 Washington Village Drive in Centerville and part of the Kettering Health Network.

Ju is a graduate of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York City and subsequently trained with some of the field’s finest urogynecologists at Indiana University.

Specializing in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, the passion she feels for her profession is obvious when she discusses her work.

“I chose urogynecology for its interesting conditions,” Ju says. “And the predominantly surgical therapies used to treat these conditions. Since there

r. Sameep Kadakia says it’s important to have a family-centered approach to treating his patients.

“If you try to be very honest with your patients and really talk to them like they are a family member then … you’re really going to give them your 100,” he says. “If we ever detract from these goals that’s when we perform less than ideally.”

Kadakia, who completed a fellowship in head and neck oncology/facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at Baylor Medical Center, specializes in facelifts, facial paralysis, facial rejuvenation, facial trauma, larynx and pharynx neoplasms, general otolaryngology, microvascular and regional reconstruction, oral cavity malignancy, rhinoplasty, sinonasal tumors, skin cancer, skull base tumors and reconstruction, surgical airway management and thyroid lesions.

Kadakia had several career paths in mind in junior high school and high school until he became a certified emergency medical technician in high school. “I thought it was a very real and a very humanizing experience and that really motivated me to pursue a career in medicine,” he says.

is still taboo or hesitancy for patients to bring up issues like urine leakage or prolapse to a doctor many patients don’t get help until they have suffered for a long time. It is very rewarding to help improve someone’s quality of life.”

Ju’s practice focuses on helping her patients overcome stress/urge urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, pelvic organ prolapse, fecal incontinence, recurrent urinary tract infections and vaginal atrophy. In addition, chronic constipation is a common issue with Ju’s patients.

When asked what the average person can do to improve their urogynecological health, Ju says, “Maintain a healthy weight and diet.” In her spare time, Ju enjoys traveling with family and friends.  TIM WALKER

He gravitated toward head and neck cancer and reconstructive surgery of the head and neck after finding himself interested in those patients with cancer. “I realized these are the patients that I find myself really connecting with, identifying with and it made me realize that patients who have cancer and other terminal diagnoses have very, very real problems.”

He finds great satisfaction in being able to help patients with disfiguring cancer surgeries, such as advanced tongue and jaw cancers, return to normal activities such as speaking and eating by using advanced reconstructive techniques.

“If I ever have to treat a patient with a very advanced tongue cancer, for example, with surgery I can rebuild the tongue for them using skin and muscle from their belly using skin and muscle from their chest or their thigh,” he says.

Helping patients not only become cancer free but also look and act normal again is an important part of being a physician, he says. “I think you can connect with patients as human beings in a very unique way that is not only very noble but it’s also fulfilling on multiple levels,” says Kadakia.  ERIC SPANGLER

Dr. Rujin Ju UROGYNECOLOGIST Kettering Health Network

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DOCTORS OF DAYTON

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Dr. Harish Raj SeethaRammohan CARDIOLOGIST Kettering Health Network

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r. Harish Raj SeethaRammohan, a board-certified cardiologist specializing in cardiovascular disease and internal medicine and a member of the Kettering Health Network, brings a uniquely global perspective to his work caring for patients in the Miami Valley.

The award-winning cardiologist graduated from Kakatiya Medical College in Telangana, India, before completing his residency in internal medicine at the Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and his fellowship in cardiovascular medicine at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.

“My work experience and training is unique,” says SeethaRammohan. “I offer experience from three different continents—Asia, Europe, and North America.” His experience, education and work ethic certainly show in the

accolades the doctor has received: in 2017-2018 he was awarded the Top Doctor Award for Central New York by International Health Care and Professionals and in 2014 SeethaRammohan won the Best Fellow Award from the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia.

SeethaRammohan believes that it is his responsibility to treat each patient like he would a member of his family. “It is a lifelong commitment,” he adds. When asked what individuals can do to improve their own cardiovascular health the doctor is direct and to the point. “I believe prevention is better than cure,” he says.

“Regular cardiovascular exercises for 3045 minutes each day complemented with a few days each week of resistance training.

Also, maintain an optimal weight and body mass Index and, not the least, make heart-healthy dietary modifications.”  TIM WALKER

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hile many people may think of family medicine doctors as being general practitioners, Dr. Marcus Washington, a family medicine specialist at Wright State Physicians, says that is inaccurate.

“I actually am board certified, and all of my colleagues are, in the specialty of family medicine. We specialize in taking care of families, which means we do a level of pediatrics, we do a level of internal medicine, there’s some of us who do obstetrics, so we deliver babies, all of us do gynecology … and there are a lot of health issues we’re capable of taking care of,” he says.

Being able to assist patients with a variety of issues is just one of the reasons

Washington enjoys being in family medicine. “I take care of, we often say womb to the tomb. I am trained to take care of anything from a newborn all the way to the oldest old person you can find,” he says.

While some patients may only come in when they’re sick, Washington recommends visiting a doctor regularly in order to prevent problems before they pop up, as it is much easier to keep people from being sick than it is to treat them once they are.

“That helps us to build a relationship, to develop a plan for dealing with your problems that are not just single-problem focused but more encompassing of the person,” he says.  CORINNE MINARD

Dr. Marcus Washington FAMILY MEDICINE Wright State Physicians

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Dr. Jennifer Jerele ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON Premier Health

here aren’t a lot of orthopedic surgeons who are women and Dr. Jennifer Jerele hopes to change that. The orthopedic surgeon at Premier Health says, “I am proud to be one of the few women (in orthopedics) and I hope that I’ll be able to influence some of the younger medical students that I work with and try to recruit more of us to the field.”

She already has some young recruits at home, two young daughters, who may follow in her footsteps. “One of them has expressed some interest (in medicine), but she’s only 2 so we really can’t reliably say that’s going to happen or not,” says Jerele.

Regardless of what career path her daughters eventually choose Jerele wants to set a good example for them. “I’m really proud to give my daughters an example of strong women doing good work.”

She says her work basically involves fixing broken patients. Jerele, who completed a trauma fellowship at Duke University School of Medicine, gets calls from the

emergency room when someone wrecks their vehicle or is involved in some other type of accident and breaks something.

She also performs elective surgeries such as hip, knee and shoulder joint replacements. Many times it’s not a life or death situation but simply restoring a patient to their normal quality of life, she says.

“It’s more of a quality of life type of thing and being able to pick that right surgery for the patient and help them be able to walk again, to play with their grandkids, just to go about doing their activities of daily living without pain.”

She says helping patients get better is very rewarding and one of the main reasons she chose to become a doctor.

“Being able to take a patient that you’re meeting on their worse day of their life coming in as basically broken and making them whole again and restoring that function that they used to have is probably the best part of my job.”  ERIC SPANGLER

DOCTOR PROFILES

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Dr. Drew Burleson Dr. Drew Burleson, is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine and minimally invasive arthroscopic surgery of the knee, hip, shoulder and elbow. He also has a special interest in employing state-of-the-art techniques in cartilage restoration, stem cells and biologics to improve his patients’ function and return them to the activities that they love.

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

• Sports Medicine • Orthopedic Surgery

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

Dr. Haleem Chaudhary Dr. Haleem Chaudhary enjoys providing his patients with personalized care. He specializes in minimally invasive total hip replacements, minimally invasive knee replacements, partial knee replacements and joint replacement revisions.

For his patients’ convenience Chaudhary has clinic hours at four of Beacon’s locations.

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Call 937-268-6511, ext 2035 Dayton VA Medical Center 4100 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 58

DAYTON MAGAZINE . December 2019/January 2020

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

• Hip Replacements • Knee Replacements

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

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t r ue Buckeye—and a lifelong fan of the Buckeyes, as well—Dr. Joseph Wan is a graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned both his undergraduate degree and finished medical school. Wan then went on to complete both his general surgery internship and his urological residency at OSU’s Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Now a member of the Day ton Physicians Net work, Wan has special interests in treating the conditions that commonly affect men’s health, including kidney stones, benign prostate hyperplasia, prostate and kidney cancer.

When asked about his specialty, Wan says, “I chose urology because the variety of different disease processes we treat and surgeries we perform. People often think of urology as a pretty narrow surgical subspecialty, however it’s really an incredibly broad field. The variety keeps our work very interesting and challenging every day. We treat every-

thing from cancer to kidney stones to overactive bladder to low testosterone.

The surgical tools we use are also cutting edge and always evolving.”

A true global citizen, Wan is an extensive traveler and has visited every continent except Antarctica. During his stint at the Ohio State College of Medicine he was able to spend a month studying abroad and he has also been on multiple medical mission trips.

When asked what men in the Dayton area need to know about their urological health, Wan is quick to mention the importance of age-appropriate prostate screening. “Currently the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommends men aged 55-69 discuss the risks and benefits of prostate cancer screening with their physician. Around one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and prostate cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death in American men.”  TIM WALKER

Dr. Joseph Wan UROLOGY Dayton Physicians Network

DOCTOR PROFILES Dr. Jaideep Chunduri

Dr. Michael Planalp

Dr. Jaideep Chunduri is a native of Dayton and specializes in spinal surgery and management of spinal conditions. He has interests in degenerative conditions of the cervical and lumbar spine, including managing herniated discs, spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease. He also has extensive experience in minimally invasive spine surgery and a special interest in new techniques and technologies.

Dr. Michael Planalp is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in spinal surgery and management of spinal conditions. His interests include minimally invasive surgery, adult degenerative conditions as well as scoliosis and spinal deformity. He also has a passion for orthopedic trauma and fracture care.

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

• Back, neck and spine • Orthopedic Surgery

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

• Back, neck and spine • Orthopedic Surgery

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

Dr. Tim Kremchek

Dr. Andrew Razzano

Dr. Tim Kremchek serves as the team medical director for the Cincinnati Reds, Dayton Dragons and dozens of local college and high school athletics programs. His specialties are sports medicine and orthopedic surgery. He treats a wide range of patients, from young athletes to older adults.

Dr. Andrew Razzano specializes in sports medicine and the treatment of knee, shoulder and elbow injuries and conditions. His broad range of treatment options allow you to select a recovery plan to get you back to achieving your goals quickly. He also performs shoulder replacements and reverse shoulder replacements, as well as minimally invasive treatments for the knee and elbow.

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

Areas Of Practice

Primary Practice

• Sports Medicine • Orthopedic Surgery

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

• Sports Medicine • Orthopedic Surgery • Regenerative Medicine

Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine 2835 Miami Village Drive Miamisburg, OH 45342 (937) 354-3700 • Contact@BeaconOrtho.com

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DOCTORS OF DAYTON DAYTON DIALOGUE

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Dr. Kelly Lynn Robbins Miller

r. Kelly Lynn Robbins Miller specializes in hematology oncology.

She is a lifelong resident of the Miami Valley and a 2012 graduate of Wright State University’s Boonshoft School of Medicine and she completed her residency and fellowship training through Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. With her husband, Chris, and their two daughters, Miller was excited to begin her career by remaining in the area and helping patients in the local community.

When asked why she chose to make fighting cancer her specialty Miller says, “I chose my career in hematology/ oncology because of my relationship with a cancer survivor early in my life.

I was fortunate to see the way a patient, doctor, family and friends often can come

together during this stressful time. I have always been intrigued by the complexity of treating cancer patients and my interest in research made this field the perfect match. Above all, I could never imagine doing anything else with my life’s work.”

Affiliated with Dayton Physicians Network Cancer Care and Urology since 2017, Miller currently sees patients at Wayne Cancer Center, Greater Dayton Cancer Center and Miami Valley South.

Miller says that local residents who are concerned about improving their hematologic/oncologic health do the following: stay up to date with their health care routine, keep up with all age-appropriate cancer screenings and don’t ignore new symptoms if and when they might arise.  TIM WALKER

HEMATOLOGY/ONCOLOGY Dayton Physicians Network

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hen Dr. Miguel Parilo received a scholarship from the late Virginia Kettering it came with one stipulation: that he stay in Dayton to practice for two years after he finished his medical education and training.

That was over 20 years ago and Parilo is still helping diabetics in the Dayton area with their ongoing care, now as a part of Premier Health Network at Bull Family Diabetes Center in Oakwood.

The center was one of the first dedicated to diabetes treatment in southern Ohio when it opened and has become a model of multidisciplinary care for patients.

“Now we’ve got two locations, three physicians, a nurse practitioner, a diabetes educator, a dietician all focused on chronic diabetes management,” Parilo says. Parilo works largely with patients who have had difficulty with their diabetes treatment plans and come to Bull Family Diabetes Center for holistic care

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among diet, exercise, medication and blood-sugar monitoring.

“It’s such a complicated and difficult disease,” says Parilo, “but, to me, that’s part of the attraction. I have no two patients who are alike … That’s an exciting challenge, it’s a difficult mystery and when it works we celebrate it.”

The center continues to add better technology and care options, such as insulin pumps integrated with glucose sensors, to focus on each patient’s personal barriers and difficulties with managing their diabetes. And Parilo’s work on helping Daytonians live better with this disease continues well past the two years he promised Virginia Kettering.

“The fact that we have the resources, the time and the staff to individualize the care helps us to solve some of those more challenging mysteries,” Parilo says.  KEVIN MICHELL

Dr. Miguel Parilo ENDOCRINOLOGY Premier Health Network’s Bull Family Diabetes Center