WVSOM Magazine: Summer 2024

M A G A Z I N E SUMMER 2024

IMPACTING PATIENTS

NATIONWIDE W e s t Vi r g i n i a S c h o ol of O s t e opat h i c M ed i c i n e

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• WVSOM’S IMPACT REACHES PAST THE HILLS, MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA Writers Ken Bays Tiffany Wright

Designer Mary Claire Ickes

34 •

WVSOM’s new Testing Center opens

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• Federal funds support research expansion

Photographers Druann Dalton Mary Claire Ickes Jesse Jones

14 • WVSOM received accreditation for

new master’s program

16 • Commencement Ceremony

celebrated 190 new physicians

22 • Graduates received $69,100 at

awards ceremony

46 • Couple give back to school

that produces ‘physicians who have caring hearts'

48 • WVSOM celebrated West Virginia Day by honoring employees, retirees 50 • Two former WVSOM deans received

national awards 25 • Legacy graduates 52 • Jill Cochran, Ph.D., recognized in 26 • Graduate profile: Rafael Hamawi, D.O. Health Care Hall of Fame 28 • Graduate profile: Vennela Pulikanti, D.O. 53 • Chris Kennedy, D.O., received 30 • Graduate profile: Benjamin VanTasel, D.O. statewide ‛40 Under 40' honor 54 • Association named Nazar Honorary 32 • Graduate profile: Jessica King, D.O. Alumni 38 • Spring Awards Ceremony provided 55 • Collaboration between WVSOM and

more than $102K to students

41 • WVSOM Foundation received $80K gift from alumnus' estate

Marshall University allows medical students to earn dual degree

56 • New hires and transitions 42 • Class of 2024 students achieved 100% 58 • Class notes residency placement rate 60 • Gifts to WVSOM 44 • Graduate became first student in WVSOM's Research Scholar Elective

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Contributor Don Smith

Cover Photo featuring Lisa Arnold, D.O.

Mission Statement

“The mission of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) is to educate students from diverse backgrounds as lifelong learners in osteopathic medicine and complementary health-related programs; to support and develop graduate medical education training; to advance scientific knowledge through academic, clinical and basic science research; and to promote patient-centered, evidence-based medicine. WVSOM is dedicated to serve, first and foremost, the state of West Virginia and the health care needs of its residents, emphasizing primary care in rural areas.”

A message from the president

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With this edition of the WVSOM Magazine we are celebrating our success in bringing statewide and national attention to the school as a leader in osteopathic medical education.

As our mission states, WVSOM is “dedicated to serve, first and foremost, the state of West Virginia and the health care needs of its residents, emphasizing primary care in rural areas.”

We take great pride in being a medical education leader in West Virginia. The most recent Health Sciences and Rural Health Report by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (WV HEPC) reported that WVSOM had produced the highest number of physicians overall, as well as the most physicians who practice in primary care specialties and in rural areas of the state. Our staff works hard to attract West Virginia students, making high school and college visits, hosting events and programs for students, and promoting the school in numerous ways around the state, including our expanding online and social media presence.

We are not alone in this effort. As I often say, West Virginia’s medical education institutions are stronger when we work together. WVSOM, West Virginia University and Marshall University work hard to serve the people of this state, especially the students.

Our medical schools had 138 in-state medical students in the 2022-23 academic year, according to the WV HEPC.

“At WVSOM, we understand that serving West Virginia never meant just serving West Virginians.

We attract students from and have alumni practicing in every state in the nation.”

However, as I can attest after 40 years, one does not have to be born in West Virginia to love this state or this school.

WVSOM is equally proud of our students who make West Virginia borderless. The need for primary care physicians and specialists in all medical fields isn’t limited to West Virginia. The health care shortage is a crisis in all 50 states, and our osteopathic medical graduates are helping to fill voids across the country.

At WVSOM, we understand that serving West Virginia never meant just serving West Virginians. We attract students from and have alumni practicing in every state in the nation. WVSOM alumni are superstars, and several are highlighted in this issue.

We have learned that when out-of-state applicants experience our campus in person, we have a good chance of retaining those future physicians in West Virginia. The probability of keeping them in West Virginia increases exponentially if they secure a residency in the state. This year we were proud to announce that 100% of our graduates obtained residencies, many of them in highly competitive specialties.

At WVSOM, we are dedicated to West Virginia and committed to educating exceptional osteopathic medical students. I have said it before, but this year brings to mind that we are what we are because of what we accomplish together. I am deeply grateful for each of you.

Best regards,

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WVSOM’S IMPACT REACHES PAST THE HILLS,

MOUNTAINS OF WEST VIRGINIA Out-of-state alumni and students account for 75% of WVSOM’s demographic

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The origin story has been shared many times. Four West Virginia doctors recognized a need for more physicians to serve rural communities throughout the state. Against all odds, they purchased the campus of a former military school and founded an osteopathic medical school in a small town in the southeastern part of the Mountain State.

While the goal of educating students to pursue careers as primary care physicians in rural and underserved areas still holds true to this day, the scope of that medical care extends much farther than the state’s borders.

WVSOM is the leading producer of physicians practicing in West Virginia, with alumni serving in 52 of 55 counties. For decades, the school has led the state in providing physicians for rural areas of West Virginia. However, there are WVSOM graduates practicing in every state in the U.S., totaling nearly 4,000 physicians from 1978 to 2020. Out-of-state alumni and students account for 75% of WVSOM’s demographic. And while it remains an important aspect of the school’s teaching model — educating bright minds to provide care to the state’s population — it is no surprise that the medical school has permeated communities outside the Appalachian region.

“While WVSOM is a state-supported medical school established to serve West Virginia, first and foremost, we have gotten to a point in our history where we are bigger than that,” said WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D. “We have alumni in all 50 states and we accept students from every state in America. I am proud of our alums who are serving in West Virginia and throughout the country.

And I care for and appreciate all our students, regardless of their state of origin.”

The 798 students enrolled at WVSOM during the 2023-24 academic year represent 36 states. Aside from West Virginia, the highest number of current students hail from Pennsylvania, followed by New York, Virginia, Michigan, Florida, Maryland, Ohio and New Jersey. Nemitz said it makes sense that many students are natives of mid-Atlantic states due to the school’s well-established, quality osteopathic education program and competitive price.

“I believe we have very good word of mouth, and our students and grads share their experiences with others who want to pursue a medical education,” he said. “Many students want to be close to their families, so if the student doesn’t get accepted in their home state, they look for quality schools that are close to home. One of WVSOM’s strengths is our incredible clinical education network, our Statewide Campus, which enables students from nearby states to be close to their loved ones during their medical school years.”

Josh Olmstead is a Class of 2027 student originally from a town in Northern California with a population of about 800 people. He has always been drawn more to small towns than large, urban areas, which is one of the reasons he selected WVSOM for his medical education.

“I chose to attend school in West Virginia because I saw this community as one that has conserved traditional American values,” he said.

Another reason Olmstead found WVSOM appealing was because it provides early clinical experiences for first-year students.

“The sooner we’re able to start developing our patient interaction skills, the sooner we develop the skills necessary for health care,” he said. “We could have all the knowledge of medicine in our back

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pocket, but if we don’t know how to have a human connection with our patients and earn their trust, it’s useless.”

Tapping into technology is a way Nemitz thinks WVSOM can continue to attract students from across the country and be a top option, especially with new osteopathic medical schools forming regularly.

“We need to explore ways we can create new markets for the school.

This is important for our growth as new D.O. schools are established to grow the physician workforce. Innovative uses of social media, artificial intelligence and other technologies should help us establish new markets,” Nemitz said.

Finding students who are a good fit for WVSOM and want to be part of fulfilling the school’s mission will ultimately lead to alumni who maintain relationships with their alma mater.

encounter WVSOM alums who are doing great work taking care of their patients, contributing in many other ways to their communities and are grateful for the education they received at WVSOM.” Other states with active alumni participation include Pennsylvania, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan, Georgia and Kentucky, though the WVSOM Alumni Association wants to explore more ways to engage with alumni in areas farther away from West Virginia.

“Connecting and maintaining relationships with alumni across the country is where we are looking to expand our engagement opportunities,” Warren said. “One alumnus mentioned that we need a West Coast WVSOM Alumni Association chapter.”

The alumni team has utilized digital efforts in the form of social media connections and email communications, as well as small alumni gatherings at national conferences and conventions, to connect with graduates throughout the country.

Shannon Warren, WVSOM’s executive director of alumni relations, Nemitz said he would like to identify a “champion” in each of the has worked to build alumni relationships at the medical school for areas where there are large groups of alumni and agreed he would 24 years. She said the best alumni are graduates who advocate for like to see the establishment of WVSOM, volunteer in the school’s regional alumni chapters. programming, refer potential students and support the next “Regardless of where I go across the “What I have been doing, in generation of physicians. conjunction with the WVSOM Alumni country, I encounter WVSOM alums Association, is visiting areas where “We have a tight community who are doing great work taking we have concentrations of alums, of graduates who want to stay such as Ohio and Florida, and have connected to their alma mater, who care of their patients, contributing gatherings that include sharing a want to be involved in some way in many other ways to their meal and updating alums on what because of the success they have is happening at their alma mater,” he gained from attending medical communities and are grateful for the said. “One of the benefits we have school at WVSOM and who are found with these visits is to connect excited to see the school excel,” education they received at WVSOM.” the alums in a region to each other, she said. “Our alumni have fond which strengthens their relationship memories of their time in medical - W VSOM PRESIDENT JAMES W. NEMITZ, PH.D. with the school.” school and are proud to share those experiences with future students.”

While WVSOM has excelled at producing primary care physicians who practice in rural and Alumni who practice in West Virginia are certainly the most engaged underserved areas, the reality is that WVSOM prepares its students with school events, Warren said. They represent the highest number to enter any residency of their choice. Nemitz said an important of graduates from 1978 to 2020, with 873 physicians actively message to future students is that a D.O. degree doesn’t limit practicing in the state. Ohio, with 353 graduates, has the second students’ choice of specialty. highest number of alumni in practice, and areas such as Columbus, Dayton and Cuyahoga Falls have a higher concentration of WVSOM “The number of WVSOM alumni in non-primary care specialties alumni because of the more prevalent and available osteopathic continues to grow,” he said. “These physicians are an extremely residency programs. important contribution to the physician workforce, both for West Virginia and the rest of the country, as the current physician “There are a number of reasons WVSOM graduates choose to population ages.” practice in Ohio. We accept a higher number of Ohio residents compared with other states, we train a significant number of our In the pages ahead, we’re profiling some WVSOM alumni who have students on the border between West Virginia and Ohio since three entered specialties outside of primary care and in states throughout of our Statewide Campus regions border Ohio and partner with that the country. state’s hospitals to help train our students in the third and fourth years,” Nemitz said. “Regardless of where I go across the country, I WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 5

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CAYTLIN DEERING, D.O. Royal Oak, Mich.

Infectious Disease

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Medical school may not have been the original plan for Caytlin Deering, D.O., Class of 2013, and Clinton Deering, D.O., Class of 2020. But the Michigan-raised siblings are happy that their paths ultimately brought them to WVSOM, and both are now physicians practicing in specialties that each of them finds rewarding.

Caytlin Deering is an infectious disease specialist and attending physician at William Beaumont Hospital in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, Mich. She planned to become a lawyer, and earned a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Michigan — but having also completed pre-med courses and worked as a medical assistant, she decided to apply to medical school.

“Our parents are physicians — our father is a radiologist and our mother is in family medicine — and my goal was to not do that, because that was the question I was asked all the time: Are you going to be a doctor like your parents?” Caytlin said. “But during college I worked in a primary care office, and I learned that I liked talking with people and enjoyed the problem-solving aspect of health care.”

Clinton Deering is a psychiatrist who this summer joined the staff of Serenity Mental Health Centers in the company’s Clearwater, Fla., location. He earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology with a specialization in health promotion from Michigan State University, and worked first in medical research and then in politics, operating a campaign office in Michigan before feeling the pull of medicine.

“Medicine has provided me the opportunity to engage directly with others and see the results firsthand. I’m passionate about helping people who have struggled but are putting in the effort to get better,” he said.

The siblings’ father, James Deering, D.O., is a graduate of WVSOM’s Class of 1978, so Caytlin was familiar with the school when she began searching for a place to complete her medical education. A visit to Lewisburg cemented her decision.

“I came for an in-person interview, and I loved the campus, the community and the people I interviewed with,” she said. “The whole process went smoothly, from applications to travel, and it felt comfortable right from the start. It was just a good fit.”

Three years after Caytlin graduated, Clinton arrived at WVSOM. Having a sister who had already experienced medical school was beneficial, he said.

“Caytlin has been my biggest supporter,” he said. “She had been through it, so she was able to say, ‘Here’s the tough part of medical school.’ When I was on rotations and preceptors would ask about antibiotics, I was able to talk about things my peers hadn’t heard of because of Caytlin. And she helped me find places to interview for potential residency matches. She’s always played a pivotal role in helping me.”

Following medical school, Caytlin completed an internship and internal medicine residency at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., and an infectious disease and HIV medicine fellowship with Philadelphia’s Drexel University College of Medicine at Hahnemann University Hospital. She chose the subspecialty for the challenges it brings.

“It’s like solving a puzzle,” Caytlin said. “There are a lot of ways to answer the questions I’m faced with. Sometimes a patient will come in with a bacterial infection where the recommended therapy is a particular antibiotic. But maybe the patient is allergic to that antibiotic, so we have to find something else. Then it turns out the antibiotic is too expensive, so we have to try to find something else. It becomes a process of figuring out how to make people better without compromising their care.”

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CLINTON DEERING, D.O. Clearwater, Fla. Psychiatry

As with any specialty, being an infectious disease physician has advantages and drawbacks, she said.

“My work-life balance is great. I don’t want to say there are no emergencies; there are. But there aren’t a lot of reasons I have to get up and come to work in the middle of the night. Because we’re always researching new strategies and new antibiotics, it’s a field that’s going to see a lot of progress,” she said. “Things like the COVID-19 pandemic were hard. I worked at the University of Toledo’s COVID-19 hospital for six or seven months, and it was scary to see people frustrated and not knowing what was going to come next. I didn’t get sick, but a lot of providers did.”

Clinton discovered his passion for psychiatry during a rotation in the Central East Region of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus.

“I ended up working with a preceptor who thought I was a resident. He would quiz me on things I didn’t know, but I found that to be a good fit for my learning style. He gave me more autonomy than I’d had previously, and even when he found out I was a medical student, I kept the responsibilities.

Being treated like a colleague motivated me,” he said.

Upon graduating, he entered a psychiatry residency at Unity Health in Searcy, Ark. Clinton said he has learned a lot by observing patients whose diagnoses turned out to be more complex than first imagined, and recommends that medical students who are considering becoming psychiatrists observe as many cases as possible.

“It’s important for students to explore every opportunity, because the cases you don’t think are going to be interesting — the ones where you say, ‘I’ve seen a hundred of these’ — are often curveballs.

Psychiatry is also different from other specialties because we rely on our interactions with patients to get where we’re going. We don’t have, for example, blood tests for most problems we see.”

Clinton selected Serenity as his post-residency workplace for its location on Florida’s Gulf Coast, but more significantly for the organization’s emphasis on innovative techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, in which magnetic fields are used to stimulate nerve cells in the brain, and ketamine therapy, which employs a psychotropic drug most commonly used as an anesthetic to treat conditions such as clinical depression that have proved resistant to other treatments.

“I’m interested in having the ability to rely on more than just the traditional pharmacological approaches of continuously adding more and more medication,” he said. “I’ll be seeing patients who have tried all the medications and have been to multiple clinics, who have struggled for a long time without relief. I was fortunate to have some training in these techniques during my residency, so I’m looking forward to doing interventional psychiatry at a practice that includes cutting-edge treatments.”

The Deering siblings have continued to maintain connections with WVSOM. Both have attended fundraising events; Caytlin has joined students on overseas service trips with DOCARE International, while Clinton has worked with WVSOM graduates who matched to Unity Health for residencies.

Caytlin said she especially appreciates the school’s ability to expose students to multiple locations and patient populations.

“I think the availability and diversity of the rotations help. Rotating throughout the state and out of state encourages students to find a good fit,” she said. “WVSOM certainly teaches students to be comfortable working in rural areas. But both of us, in our own ways, have found that West Virginia is not the only place with rural populations.”

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BROOKE KANIA, D.O. Bethesda, Md. Hematology and Oncology

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There may not be a cure for cancer, but physicians such as Brooke Kania, D.O., a WVSOM Class of 2021 graduate, are working to find treatment options for cancer patients that may help ease pain and improve comfort care.

And while hematology and oncology research can prove frustrating at times — doctors often invest years in studying different types of cancers only to hit roadblocks — Kania said it is worth it.

“There are a lot of ups and downs with research. You have to struggle to achieve anything, but I have a lot of hope for the field. There are clinical trials that require FDA approvals, but patients could have more options and possibly a cure. That’s what keeps me going when I get discouraged,” she said.

Kania just completed a three-year internal medicine residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, N.J. In July, she began a three-year hematology and oncology fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. She moved to Maryland with her husband, David McNamara, also a Class of 2021 graduate, who recently began work at Holy Cross Hospital as an emergency medicine physician.

“Oncology is something I’ve always been interested in. I had a family member with cancer. Seeing how the physicians interacted with and impacted my family, and the science behind it, sparked my interest to go into this specialty. Prior to medical school I completed three years of clinical research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and enjoyed the research aspect of oncology. And through my residency, that validated my interest,” she said.

During her work at the cancer center, Kania witnessed how clinical trials can advance medical knowledge and lead to more opportunities for patients seeking treatment. Years later, part of her work at NIH again focuses on patients in clinical trials, but the fellowship relies heavily on research.

She is still determining what her research focus will be.

The New Jersey native is drawn to oncology more than hematology but plans to achieve board certification in both specialties. She’s also certain, because of some of her experiences in residency, that she would like to subspecialize in treating patients with bladder cancer or those with gastrointestinal malignancies or pancreatic cancer.

Kania said one patient interaction has stood out above all others as offering her a valuable lesson as a physician.

She remembered a patient with squamous cell carcinoma, a head and neck cancer, whose breathing was obstructed by a tumor. The patient had a clear knowledge of his cancer but expressed to medical professionals that he wanted to pursue comfort care rather than chemotherapy. His daughter witnessed him struggling to breathe and asked that he be brought to the intensive care unit, where he was intubated and a plan was created for invasive management.

“On the oncology side the team was advocating for aggressive treatment, and on the palliative and primary care side the teams were trying to respect his wishes. These teams weren’t on the same page, and it created such a burden for the daughter,” Kania recalled. “What I learned from that is how much a family can also be impacted by these decisions and how stressful it can be to make decisions about our loved ones. Physicians can contribute to that stress if they are not communicating with families. Since then, I have made an effort to overcommunicate with families and ensure all the providers taking care of the patient are on the same page, with a unified front.

This helps reduce family members’ stress and hopefully eases their burden.”

That compassion and attention to patients and their families’ needs is one of the components WVSOM instills in students. Encouraging students to become engaged in the community is the best way to ensure that future physicians can understand patients and their backgrounds, Kania said.

“To be a good doctor you have to have a willingness to learn about others. We had incredible people in the Lewisburg community, and I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “Even though I’m in a non-primary care fellowship, I really enjoyed primary care. In order to be a good oncologist, you have to be a good internist. That was the main piece of advice every mentor would give: Become the best internal medicine physician you can, because you will apply a lot of that knowledge as an oncologist.”

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DANIEL LOFGREN, D.O. Nashville, Tenn.

Otolaryngology/Rhinology and Skull Base Surgery

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Rhinology and skull base surgery is a subspecialty of otolaryngology that focuses on treating conditions in the sinuses or at the base of the skull. Daniel Lofgren, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 2019, is an ear, nose and throat specialist who has begun a one-year fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., to learn this in-demand subspecialty.

Physicians in this field use endoscopic tools to examine and remove tumors or stop cerebrospinal fluid leaks. Lofgren said a childhood hobby may have helped him develop some of the skills needed to excel at this type of surgery.

“I played video games as a kid, so I have the hand-eye coordination required to look at a screen and do something that’s out of my field of vision. I liked using endoscopic cameras from the day I started using them,” he said. “It’s cool to have the ability to get into someone’s brain, take out a tumor and, because we go in through the nostrils, leave no residual scars.”

The son of a mother who was a nurse and businesswoman and a father who was a nurse anesthetist, Lofgren was interested in medicine for as long as he can remember. As a child growing up in Kirtland, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, he would try to help friends when they had minor injuries.

“I would carry a satchel filled with Band-Aids, gauze and other things on the playground. We’d run around and someone would get hurt, and I’d throw them some stuff and then go play again,” he said.

“I thought it was amazing how immaculately the human body is put together. When I was learning basic anatomy in high school, I recall thinking how interesting humans are. That’s how I came to be an ENT specialist; the anatomy pushed me that way.”

Lofgren earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pa., before attending WVSOM, where he received the Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Award. After medical school, he entered an otolaryngology residency at McLaren Oakland Hospital in Pontiac, Mich., which he completed this summer. Lofgren explained that his rhinology and skull base surgery fellowship will give him options other ear, nose and throat specialists don’t have.

“Most ENT surgeons can do sinus surgeries after residency. Vanderbilt is a Level I trauma center that gets a lot of interesting pathology, so my fellowship will let me take on not only big sinus cases, but cases with bad polyps or cerebrospinal fluid leaks. My goal is to be able to treat head and neck cancer, fluid leaks and the harder sinus cases,” he said.

Even in his years as an otolaryngology resident, Lofgren had the opportunity to perform a variety of procedures.

“One day I might be putting ear tubes in a child, and the next I might be drilling the mastoid bone,” Lofgren said. “I could put in a cochlear implant and dig cancer out of the neck on the same day.

Tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy and sinus surgery are all common procedures we do. I’ve even drilled along the brain and attempted a couple of repairs with my attending, which was really cool.”

The key to all surgical specialties lies in understanding anatomy, Lofgren said, and the osteopathic focus on the interconnectedness of structure and function he learned at WVSOM has been crucial to his success. Still, he knows that even his fellowship won’t be the end of his medical education.

“Structure and function is an integral part of how the body works. Knowing that is what drives any proceduralist,” he said. “WVSOM’s anatomy labs were great, and my physical exam skills were strengthened by the OSCEs and other work we did in medical school. But a lot of education is the drive to constantly be better, and that’s why we all have to be lifelong learners. I try to put that to the test every day.”

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LISA ARNOLD, D.O. Murray, Utah Neuro-Oncology

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As a neuro-oncologist, Lisa Arnold, D.O., treats patients who have brain tumors and works to mitigate the resulting neurological complications. In her position with Intermountain Medical Oncology in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray, Utah, she manages chemotherapy for her patients and coordinates care from other physicians, including radiation oncologists, neurosurgeons and palliative care specialists.

Arnold’s education and career have taken her to all corners of the nation. An alumna of WVSOM’s Class of 2017, she was born in New London, Conn., and grew up in Carson City, Nev. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in neuroscience from New Orleans’ Tulane University and chose WVSOM as her medical school after speaking with Deborah Schmidt, D.O., a longtime faculty member whose daughter was one of Arnold’s friends. She went on to complete a neurology residency at University of Vermont Medical Center and a neuro-oncology fellowship at the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute.

Arnold said that because brain tumors aren’t as common as other types of cancer, neuro-oncologists tend to practice in large cities where there are plenty of patients. She chose the Salt Lake City area for the beauty of the Rocky Mountains, access to outdoor activities such as skiing and hiking, and its proximity to Nevada, where her family still lives. But Arnold also appreciates her organization’s commitment to promoting rural health.

“It’s nearly impossible to be a neuro-oncologist in a rural location,” she said. “Patients will travel to a big city for care, but it wouldn’t be possible to draw that kind of population to a rural area. Salt Lake City feels like a ‘smaller big city,’ and one thing I like about my job is that there’s an initiative to bring care closer to home. One way we accomplish that is by doing a lot of telehealth, which means I’m able to help patients who live in rural areas. They can go to the cancer center that’s closest to their home to get labs and infusions, and I can help them when they see me on video.”

The heterogeneity of brain tumors and their relative rarity means that less research exists compared with other forms of cancer, so the focus often is on extending life and maintaining its quality rather than curing disease. Arnold said that while she believes medical advances will be made during the course of her career, the profession currently has a long way to go in curing many of the types of tumors she sees.

“Our knowledge just isn’t as advanced as with other types of cancer,” she said. “Also, the brain is a unique environment and the body does a lot to try to protect it, which makes it harder for treatments to penetrate. While we don’t have a cure for many of these cancers, we do have treatments that significantly prolong life, and that is valuable.”

WVSOM strives to instill in students the communication skills necessary to gain patients’ trust and help them feel comfortable. That’s especially critical in neuro-oncology, Arnold said.

“I see my patients regularly and get to know them as people, and I find it rewarding to help them navigate hard times. It does mean there are a lot of difficult conversations, which can be tough emotionally. WVSOM provided training with standardized patients where we talk about end of life, which was helpful — but bigger than that, the focus throughout medical school was on building relationships with patients. I feel grateful to have had such a good foundation going into residency, fellowship and my current position,” she said.

Arnold also appreciates the fact that neuro-oncologists work with other specialists in treating patients. But the collaborative approach means that this field of medicine isn’t for everyone, she said.

“The multidisciplinary approach is a great way to make sure the patient is getting the best care.

If you’re a medical student who doesn’t like working with a team, this probably isn’t the specialty for you.”

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JAMES BROCK, D.O. Denver, Colo.

Pediatric Pulmonology

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As the first person in his family to become a doctor, James Brock, D.O., is an example of how someone with fortitude can find success in their medical career.

Brock is a pediatric pulmonologist at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colo., where he has worked for more than three years. He is on the medical staff at five hospitals in the greater Denver area and is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics with National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

The Colorado native didn’t know much about West Virginia or the osteopathic medical school tucked among its hills, but Brock knew WVSOM was the school for him from the time he visited the campus nearly 1,500 miles from his hometown.

“When I met the people at WVSOM and in the community, I thought it was an incredibly welcoming place. The hospitality was some of the best I’ve ever experienced. The anatomy lab was one of the best I saw during my interviews, and the facilities and grounds in general were gorgeous — it reminded me of an Ivy League school,” he said. “WVSOM is known for training incredible primary care physicians, but I chose to specialize. The outstanding foundational education I earned has made all the difference for me as a pediatric subspecialist. After all, I am a pediatrician, too.”

The WVSOM Class of 2012 graduate desired to become a pediatric surgeon, but although he didn’t match into a surgical residency program, he matched in general pediatrics, which allowed for specialization through additional fellowship training. He completed a general pediatrics residency program at University of California, San Francisco-Fresno, which opened opportunities to subspecialize in nearly anything nonsurgical.

“Pulmonary care was another avenue I was interested in because a pediatric pulmonologist is a proceduralist, so I get time in the pediatric operating room. That’s a special place to me, where all the providers are working together, focused on diagnosing and treating a child,” he said.

Brock’s patients range from premature babies and children to teenagers and young adults. He finds career satisfaction in working with the aerodigestive multidisciplinary team in which he and other pediatric subspecialists perform combined procedures to optimize patient outcomes. During triple endoscopies, for example, the pediatric pulmonologist, otolaryngologist and gastroenterologist provide three back-to-back procedures under a single round of anesthesia to minimize general anesthesia and to more effectively deliver therapy and evaluation.

He recalls an incident when a toddler was eventually referred to the aerodigestive team after experiencing chronic cough for more than six months. Medical therapy failed, and imaging was nonspecific and abnormal. During triple scope, the team found a 3-millimeter piece of clear plastic in the child’s lower airway. The team later learned that the child chewed on pacifiers and this fragmented foreign body had been aspirated.

“Following flexible bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage of pus and mucous, the pediatric ENT surgeon was able to use forceps to recover the foreign body. This child could have developed permanent lung damage known as bronchiectasis requiring potentially lifelong breathing treatments and airway clearance, but instead within four weeks he was totally clear to auscultation and imaging, and asymptomatic with no cough,” Brock said. “It’s amazing how much disease and dysfunction was averted because of our ability to work as a team, collaborate in the operating room and treat from each of our areas of expertise.”

Aside from providing pediatric care, Brock believes in advocating for early childhood literacy. He has written and illustrated two children’s books — Creatures of Nature, released in 2015 when he was a pediatric resident, and A Sudden Commotion in the Jungle!, published in 2023.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 11

HOME STATES OF WVSOM STUDENTS (FOR 2023-24 ACADEMIC YEAR)

ME-1

WA-2

NH-3

ND-0

MT-0

VT-0

MN-2

OR-0 ID-1

NY-71

SD-0

CT-2

MI-67

WY-1

NJ-32

PA-104

DE-0

IA-0 NE-2

NV-0

MD-53

OH-47 IL-13

DC-0

IN-14 WV-166

CA-13

CO-1

UT-9

KS-1

MA-6 RI-0

WI-4

MO-4

VA-68

KY-3 NC-23 TN-7

OK-1 AZ-6

SC-1

AR-0

NM-2 MS-0

TX-7

AL-1

GA-3

LA-0 FL-56

AK-1 HI-0 MAP CREATED APRIL 12, 2024 TOTAL STUDENTS: 798

104

71

PENNSYLVANIA

56 FLORIDA 12 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

68

67

NEW YORK

VIRGINIA

MICHIGAN

53

47

MARYLAND

OHIO

32 NEW JERSEY

TOP 5 STATES FOR WVSOM ALUMNI OUTSIDE WEST VIRGINIA

353

256

221

OHIO

PENNSYLVANIA

VIRGINIA

FLORIDA

180 203

NORTH CAROLINA

ME-21

WA-43

NH-3

ND-8

MT-13

VT-4

MN-19

OR-20 ID-11

NY-89

SD-7

CT-12

MI-147

WY-2

PA-256 IA-10 NE-4 IL-51

CA-81

KS-7

MO-21

DE-9 DC-15

IN-50 WV-873

CO-30

UT-11

NJ-62 MD-79

OH-353

NV-12

MA-26 RI-3

WI-41

VA-221

KY-108 NC-180 TN-94

OK-18 AZ-42

SC-91

AR-11

NM-6 MS-53

TX-98

AL-69

GA-110

LA-9

FL-203

AK-17 HI-13

Lorem ipsu

MAP CREATED SEPT. 13, 2023 TOTAL GRADUATES: 3,747

NUMBER OF WVSOM ALUMNI PRACTICING IN EACH STATE (FOR 1978-2020) WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 13

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN

BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES WVSOM RECEIVED ACCREDITATION FOR NEW MASTER’S PROGRAM

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WVSOM has expanded its degree portfolio to offer a new Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree program. The first class of students began the program in August.

The new degree — which received accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission in January — is a two-semester, nine-month program. It includes a core of biomedical sciences courses designed to prepare students for advanced study in any health profession, as well as a health sciences thread that introduces students to the principles of community health and the importance of diet and physical activity for health maintenance and the prevention and treatment of some chronic diseases.

Timothy Garrow, Ph.D., WVSOM’s founding associate dean of graduate programs, said the rollout of the degree program is the result of a year’s worth of work.

“It’s been exciting to work with like-minded faculty, administrators and staff to develop a novel M.S. degree in biomedical sciences that includes training in the food, nutrition, public health and exercise sciences so that future health care professionals are well equipped to help prevent or better manage the most common chronic medical conditions in the U.S.,” he said.

In addition to core biomedical science courses such as cell biology, genetics, microbiology, immunology, and human anatomy and physiology, the health sciences thread introduces students to the topics of community and public health, nutrition and food science, medical nutrition therapy, and physiological adaptations to exercise.

Linda Boyd, D.O., chief academic officer, said the program is an example of WVSOM’s effort to expand interest in health care careers.

“At WVSOM, we have mastered the way in which we deliver a medical education. Being able to also offer a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences allows us to create a larger pool of qualified applicants to go on to complete their medical training. West Virginia needs more doctors, and this is another way to meet our mission.”

WVSOM’s graduate program will place an emphasis on lifestyle and chronic disease prevention — an issue of value to the state of West Virginia, which has some of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease in the nation — by teaching the science behind those issues. The medical school’s existing Culinary Medicine and Exercise is Medicine courses allow students to take a closer look at health maintenance and wellness through nutrition, dietary patterns and exercise. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to give physicians the confidence to provide nutrition and physical activity advice to their patients.

SCAN TO EXPLORE

THE MASTER OF SCIENCE IN BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES DEGREE PROGRAM

14 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

OFFICE OF GRADUATE PROGRAMS TIMOTHY GARROW, PH.D. ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS Garrow is the founding associate dean for graduate programs. His role at WVSOM is to oversee the development and delivery of graduate programs — a new endeavor for the medical school. The Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences (MSBS) program is the first graduate program ever offered at WVSOM, but additional programs are planned. Besides having administrative oversight of the MSBS program, Garrow will have a significant role teaching in medical biochemistry and nutrition science courses. Before coming to WVSOM, Garrow was a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois and a professor of biochemistry at Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. He completed a Ph.D. degree in biochemistry at the University of California-Berkeley, where he also completed postdoctoral research. Garrow has two Master of Science degrees, one in nutrition from the University of California-Davis and one in exercise physiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

ADRIENNE WILLIAMS, PH.D. ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Williams is the course director for the human anatomy and physiology course sequence and helps facilitate graduate program admissions, as well as advising students in the program. She has a Ph.D. degree in medical sciences from the University of Florida College of Medicine and Bachelor of Science degrees in biology and investigative science from West Virginia University. Most recently, Williams taught undergraduate students at West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

AMBER MACDONALD, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR MacDonald is an assistant professor in the program, with a focus on biochemistry and exercise science courses. She thinks the program will help students be more competitive in gaining admission to health professional schools and will help others advance their current careers. MacDonald has a Bachelor of Science degree in sports science/sports medicine from Bluefield College, a Master of Science degree in cellular and molecular nutrition from the University of Tennessee, and a Ph.D. degree in comparative and experimental medicine, also from the University of Tennessee. In addition to experience as a graduate research assistant and teaching assistant, she was a University of Tennessee research associate and laboratory support coordinator.

LINDA GARROW, PH.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR Garrow teaches lab courses in food science and medical nutrition therapy, providing skills that can be used in students’ personal lives and can be shared with patients should they enter the fields of medicine or dietary counseling. She believes the knowledge gained from these courses is foundational to the philosophy of osteopathic medicine. Garrow has a Ph.D. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in food science as well as a Master of Science degree in human nutrition. She has 25 years of experience teaching undergraduate and graduate students in the food, nutrition and culinary sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michigan State University. Garrow also is a certified culinary medicine specialist.

MARA DAVIS PROGRAM COORDINATOR Davis provides complex administrative support to the associate dean for graduate programs as well as the program’s faculty.

She provides guidance for employees and students, manages the office’s budget, assists with the coordination and administering of courses to ensure achievement of curriculum goals and provides support to graduate students as they progress through the curriculum. Davis has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in health care administration from Southern New Hampshire University and has experience providing administrative support in the health care industry with WVSOM and CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 15

COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY CELEBRATED

190 NEW PHYSICIANS

I

It was a day when the end of one journey marked the beginning of another. At WVSOM’s 47th annual Commencement Ceremony, graduation caps soared and hoods were draped over grads’ shoulders as the school celebrated the conferral of medical degrees to 190 new physicians.

The May 3 event brought thousands of guests to the school’s campus to watch students cross the stage to receive their diplomas. In addition to graduates’ families and friends and members of WVSOM’s administration, faculty and staff, the audience included Lewisburg Mayor Beverly White and Lewisburg city manager Misty Hill.

The event’s keynote address was provided by Ira Monka, D.O., then-president of the American Osteopathic Association, which represents more than 186,000 osteopathic physicians and students nationwide. Monka praised graduates’ resilience in succeeding despite entering medical school during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s impossible to overlook the unprecedented challenges that have shaped your journey in starting medical school,” he said.

“You adapted to remote classes, navigated virtual anatomy labs and practiced social distancing while studying medicine.

But through it all, you refused to let circumstances dictate your future. Instead, you embraced innovation. Your creative minds and pioneering spirit will forever define your class. You turned challenges into opportunities, obstacles into stepping stones and setbacks into triumphs.”

Monka urged members of the class to serve as ambassadors of hope, healing and humility and to embrace the philosophy that makes osteopathic medicine a distinct medical tradition.

“You are joining the proud profession of osteopathic medicine, becoming physicians who recognize that a person’s state of health depends on the body, the mind and the spirit. You will work to become a trusted advocate and resource to patients.

The true measure of physicians lies not in the accolades they receive or the titles they hold, but in the lives they touch and the difference they make in the world. You are here to make that difference,” he said.

Monka pointed out that more new osteopathic physicians graduated in 2024 than in any previous year in the history of the profession. In all, he said, the number of osteopathic physicians has tripled in the past 30 years.

Olivia Rombold, president of WVSOM’s Class of 2024, shared a conversation she had with her grandmother. Rombold asked her classmates to remember those whose support made their achievements possible.

16 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

CLASS OF

2024 190

GRADUATES

100%

RESIDENCY PLACEMENT RATE

104

GRADUATES ENTERING PRIMARY CARE RESIDENCIES

6

GRADUATES RECOGNIZED FOR MILITARY SERVICE

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 17

“We were talking about how I was soon graduating from medical school when my grandma recounted how she had to drop out of high school to shoulder the responsibility of driving her father to work each day so that he could put food on the table for her and her siblings,” she said. “Her story serves as a reminder of the countless individuals who have made sacrifices to pave the way for our successes. If it weren’t for the tenacity of those who came before us, we would not be here today embarking on careers as physicians. Their sacrifices have laid the groundwork upon which our dreams have been realized.”

In an introductory speech, James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, advised graduates to treat their patients with empathy and compassion, and to extend that same care to themselves.

“I can’t wait to see the leaders I know you will become as you move on to the next phase of your medical career,” Nemitz said. “I encourage you to remember the values and principles that brought you to osteopathic medicine in the first place. Embrace your role as a healer and continue to prioritize the well-being of your patients. Above all, I encourage you to show compassion to your patients. And remember to take care of yourself, because in order to provide the best possible care for your patients, you need to be well.”

Others who spoke during the ceremony included leaders from the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association, the WVSOM Board of Governors and the WVSOM Alumni Association, as well as Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer.

After graduates received their diplomas, Chelsea Feger, D.O., a WVSOM clinical sciences faculty member, led them in reciting the osteopathic oath, which acknowledges their transition from student to physician.

Following the ceremony, new physicians gathered on campus with their loved ones to celebrate their accomplishments after four years of rigorous study in classrooms, labs and clinical rotations.

18 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

“

“You turned challenges into opportunities, obstacles into stepping stones and setbacks into triumphs.”

Ira Monka, D.O.,

then-president of the American Osteopathic Association

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 19

20 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 21

GRADUATES RECEIVED

$69,100 AT AWARDS CEREMONY

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WVSOM students in the Class of 2024 were recognized for their achievements in medical school during a Graduation Awards Ceremony on May 2. Graduation awards totaled $69,100 with students being recognized in 33 categories including awards, scholarships and membership in national organizations.

This year’s class consisted of 190 graduates, with 104 graduates entering primary care residency programs and a 100% residency placement rate for the class.

The event recognized 19 students who graduated with honors. In addition, 28 students were recognized as members of Psi Sigma Alpha, a national osteopathic scholastic honor society. Eleven students were recognized with American Medical Women’s Association Glasgow-Rubin Certificates of Commendation for Academic Achievement. Forty-one students received cords reflecting their membership in Sigma Sigma Phi - Nu Chapter, a national osteopathic medicine fraternity that supports medical scholastic excellence. Thirty students from the Class of 2024 became the first WVSOM cohort to be inducted by the Gold Humanism Honor Society, a national honor society comprising medical students, physicians and leaders who have been recognized for compassionate care. Six graduates were recognized with special coins for their military service.

Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, said the awards ceremony was the perfect time to recognize graduates receiving financial assistance.

“These graduates are about to begin their medical careers and many of them have incurred tremendous debt. There is no better time than now to celebrate some of the medical students who have worked hard for four years to get to this point. Not only is graduation an electrifying time, but these graduation awards are exciting for those who will reap the financial benefits,” she said.

This was the inaugural year for the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to recognize one graduating medical student and one faculty member who exemplify humanism in patient care. These

22 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

individuals are recognized by their peers for consistently demonstrating exceptional dedication in providing care to those in need. This year’s recipients were Skarleth Moran and Chelsea Feger, D.O. Moran, a native of Union City, N.J., who is entering an emergency medicine residency at Rutgers-Community Medical Center, said she was honored to be the first-ever new WVSOM graduate selected for the award.

“Humanism, for me, is making sure you’re incorporating every part of the body. We all know the osteopathic philosophy of mind, body and spirit, but it’s about being able to go the extra mile,” she said. “It’s not just the medicine, it’s about making sure a patient’s well-being is all-encompassing, whether that means overcoming a language barrier, making a patient feel more comfortable with a blanket or providing emotional support. It’s making sure you have all those elements.”

Dawn Roberts, Ed.D., WVSOM’s associate dean for multicultural and student affairs, said she is pleased the school is able to present this national award at WVSOM’s ceremony.

“This prestigious award recognizes a graduating medical student and a faculty member who exemplify humanism in the care of patients. It spotlights those who are willing to go above and beyond in providing compassion but also acknowledges the recipient’s commitment to being an empathetic medical professional in the community,” she said.

The Graduation Awards Ceremony celebrates fourth-year students’ memberships in various national scholastic honor societies, but it also includes scholarships and awards specifically created for WVSOM through the school’s WVSOM Foundation and WVSOM Alumni Association. Both charitable organizations secure financial contributions of businesses, individuals and WVSOM alumni. Those who wish to become financial supporters have a variety of options to contribute and can do so online at www.wvsomfoundation.org/give-online or by calling 304-793-6852.

Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award Presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to recognize one graduating medical student and one faculty member who exemplify humanism in patient care. These individuals are recognized by their peers for consistently demonstrating exceptional dedication in providing care to those in need.

SKARLETH MORAN CHELSEA FEGER, D.O. Student Researcher of the Year Each year, one student from each osteopathic medical school that is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine can be selected. The award recognizes students for their research accomplishments throughout medical school.

MARK HAFT Student D.O. of the Year Acknowledges a student’s commitment to his or her school and community and to the osteopathic profession.

DEVIN TOWNE WVSOM Alumni Association Roland P. Sharp Graduate Award Created to honor the values of WVSOM’s first president. The award honors graduating students who exemplify Dr. Sharp’s vision of holistic care and service.

JONA DEL RIO STEPHEN SUTPHIN Olen E. Jones Jr. and WVSOM Foundation Academic Achievement Award Presented to a student graduating in the top 10 percent of the class.

CAMILLE PANAS

Opal Price Sharp Memorial Fund Award Created in memory of the wife of WVSOM’s first president, Dr. Roland P. Sharp. Opal Price Sharp worked alongside Dr. Sharp in the early years of the school, using her journalistic skills to promote WVSOM’s mission throughout West Virginia.

TREVOR LOVELL

West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust/Dr. Olen E. Jones Jr. Scholarship Established in 2016 and named after Olen E. Jones Jr., Ph.D., who served as president of WVSOM from 1987 to 2009. The scholarship is awarded to West Virginia students based on literary and scholastic attainments, morality, leadership and physical vigor.

ABUNDANCE HUNT WVSOM’s Rural Health Initiative (RHI) Recognized 16 graduates who participated in the program.

The RHI program is designed to enhance the rural primary care curriculum at WVSOM and produce graduates uniquely qualified to practice medicine in underserved communities in rural West Virginia.

JESSICA BRUMBAUGH JONA DEL RIO CHEYENNE EARLE EMILY HARRIS ABUNDANCE HUNT CONNOR MCKAY SAMUEL PLASKA KATHERINE ROACH JOSHUA ROSENBERGER KEIRSTON SAMPSON HUNTER SHEARD TRAVIS STEERMAN STEPHEN SUTPHIN AARRON WARD NICHOLAS WILSON SKYLAR WOOLMAN MSOPTI West Virginia Primary Care Scholars Award Aims to increase the likelihood that students from West Virginia medical schools will self-select residency programs located in the state, establish a relationship in the community and commit to practice medicine in that area.

ELIZABETH COYLE CHRISTIAN KAFTANIC TREVOR PRITCHETT

WVSOM Foundation Scholars Given to West Virginia residents with satisfactory academic performance who plan to stay in West Virginia after residency to practice. Preference is given to students from Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Nicholas, Roane, Summers, Wayne, Webster or Wyoming counties.

ABUNDANCE HUNT TREVOR PRITCHETT KAYLA VAUGHAN Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield West Virginia Farson-SmithEarley Award Presented to a graduating student who has matched to a West Virginia primary care residency with the intent to practice in a rural area.

CHEYENNE EARLE Donald Newell Sr. Memorial Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior Presented to a student who, in the opinion of his or her classmates, best exemplifies the qualities of scholarship, osteopathic professional interest, leadership and citizenship.

KAYLA VAUGHAN

Gwen Clingman Memorial Scholarship Presented to a graduating student who has demonstrated a commitment to community service throughout his or her time in medical school.

KAYLEE KRINER Drs. John and Nancy Chambers Memorial Scholarship Fund Award Given to a student who intends to practice medicine in an underserved community and who had a strong academic performance. The scholarship honors two former WVSOM professors.

ELIZABETH COYLE Stephanie Dawn Barragy Memorial Scholarship Established to honor Charles and Jean Cornell’s daughter, who was a victim of suicide. The scholarship recognizes a student committed to working on behalf of mental health issues, with a focus on patient care and intervention.

BROOKE MENDELSON Libby Kokott, D.O., Memorial Grant Established by Kokott’s four children in 2020 to honor a woman who became a physician at the age of 50 (from WVSOM’s Class of 1993).

Kokott helped hundreds of patients in her 20 years as an internist, and her hope was that others could do the same.

VENNELA PULIKANTI Olivia Claire Obrokta Pediatric Award Recognizes a student who is committed to serving in a pediatric specialty. Deena Obrokta, D.O., Class of 1994, established the award after losing her granddaughter shortly after her birth.

JONA DEL RIO

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 23

Dr. Catherine A. Bishop Scholarship Fund Award Recognizes a graduating student committed to a residency program in West Virginia.

TRAVIS STEERMAN David Hinchman, D.O., Emergency Medicine Award Created by Brant Hinchman, D.O., Class of 2012, to honor his retired father, from WVSOM’s Class of 1982, and others who have helped medical students become emergency medicine physicians.

The award is given to a graduating student who intends to enter an emergency medicine residency.

JESSICA ABOLOFF Dr. William R. Holmes Jr. Scholarship Award Given to a student who has shown determination, persistence and commitment in pursuing a medical education.

Eugene McClung, M.D., Family Scholarship Created by McClung’s family to honor his service to the medical profession. McClung was a graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine and was a U.S. Army Purple Heart recipient. He practiced internal medicine in Lewisburg from 1957 until his death in 1988.

The scholarship recognizes a first-generation college graduate who exhibits a strong interest in community involvement.

BROOKE MENDELSON West Virginia Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians Award Each year, the organization recognizes one student from each of the three medical schools in West Virginia whose performance in clinical rotations reflects an understanding of and commitment to the delivery of emergency care.

JESSICA BRUMBAUGH

NICOLE NEWMAN Order of Vesalius Award Presented to students who have served as graduate teaching assistants in the biomedical sciences department

KYLEE KARCZEWSKI JOHN MICHAEL PIRTLE

24 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

RAMS Head Award The award is given to students who served as graduate teaching assistants in the osteopathic principles and practice department.

RYAN RUSSELL MARIA SENA Clinical Sciences Award Recognizes a student who served as a graduate teaching assistant in a clinical sciences or family medicine capacity.

PATRICK QUIGLEY Donna Jones Moritsugu Memorial Award Recognizes an osteopathic medical student’s spouse or partner. The recipient exemplifies the role of a professional’s partner in providing support to their family and the osteopathic profession.

COURTNEY SUTPHIN, SPOUSE OF STEPHEN SUTPHIN

Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Awards Students from each of WVSOM’s seven Statewide Campus regions received Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Awards for their third- and fourth-year clinical rotations.

CENTRAL EAST REGION: STEPHANIE GIORNO MARK HAFT CENTRAL WEST REGION: HUNTER NEELY RAYA SABA EASTERN REGION: DEVIN TOWNE CARLEIGH WARD NORTHERN REGION: JAMES EASLER RAFAEL HAMAWI SOUTH CENTRAL REGION: KALEB BOHRNSTEDT ZUBAIRA KHAN MARC ANTHONY PAJARILLO NICOLE SANTOS SOUTH EAST REGION: MATTHEW DYER JULIA MOORE SOUTH WEST REGION: TAYLOR ROUTE RYAN RUSSELL

KALEB BOHRNSTEDT

SON OF GARRETT BOHRNSTEDT, D.O., CLASS OF 2009

CAMILLE PANAS

SISTER OF ALICIA HEYWARD, D.O., CLASS OF 2016

MANSI PANDYA SETH CONLEY

SON OF PAUL CONLEY, D.O., CLASS OF 1997

NIECE OF BHAVANA PATEL, D.O., CLASS OF 2013 NIECE OF RAVI PATEL, D.O., CLASS OF 2013

MADISON DAVIS

BRENNAN TOLER

CARLY GARVIN

JORDAN WHERTHEY

TREVOR KOHARI

AMANDA WOLFE

DAUGHTER OF ANGELA LEWIS, D.O., CLASS OF 1995

DAUGHTER OF BETH BEEN, D.O., CLASS OF 1989

SON OF JAMES KOHARI, D.O., CLASS OF 1988

ASHTON MULLENS NIECE OF DAVE MARSHALL, D.O., CLASS OF 2004

COUSIN OF SCOTT MARSHALL, D.O., CLASS OF 2008

COUSIN OF KELLY LOPEZ, D.O., CLASS OF 2013

SON OF JOHN WHERTHEY JR., D.O., CLASS OF 1992

NIECE OF JASON SHEPHERD, D.O., CLASS OF 2002

LEGACY LEGACY LEGACY

GRADUATES WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 25

Graduate aims to serve military,

HELP PATIENTS MAINTAIN VISION

R

Rafael Hamawi, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 2024, has two goals he hopes to achieve in his medical career: He plans to pursue flight medicine, helping members of the U.S. military maintain their health, and he would like to specialize in ophthalmology.

they said, ‘Welcome to the family.’ And that’s what I’ve felt ever since coming to WVSOM, that it’s like a family where everyone looks out for each other, academically and personally. This is an institution that cares about its students,” Hamawi said.

He was drawn to medicine after seeing members of his family experience difficulties communicating with health care professionals. Hamawi’s father, a factory worker, and his mother, who operated a child care center, both emigrated from Lebanon and spoke English as a second language.

When his grandmother became sick with cancer, it fell upon Hamawi to help the family grasp what physicians were saying.

His interest in flight medicine led him to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. Hamawi recently entered a transitional year at San Antonio Military Medical Center, in Texas, which is home to the Air Force’s only residency program designed for aspiring ophthalmologists. There, he hopes to prove his commitment to ophthalmology while also preparing for a flight medicine residency.

“My grandmother didn’t speak English at all,” the Waterbury, Conn., native said. “Seeing her struggle with the health care system and being at her side to make sure she understood what was happening played a pivotal role for me. Doctors sometimes use big language and don’t know their audience, and I wanted to break down those barriers and help put things in terms people could understand. When you speak patients’ language, they’re appreciative because they feel they can trust you and they know your decisions are made with the best intentions. That’s what sparked my interest in medicine.”

Hamawi attended Assumption University in Massachusetts, where he majored in biology and minored in Spanish.

Between his undergraduate degree and medical school, he spent two years working as a pharmacy technician and as a formulation chemist in the personal care and hygiene industry, designing lotions, creams, detergents and other products and showing corporate clients how to incorporate his company’s cleansing agents into their own products.

In his medical school search, Hamawi only applied to osteopathic schools.

“I was interested in the osteopathic philosophy and wanted to learn hands-on medicine,” he said. “I know that in flight medicine I’ll be able to assess patients physically because I’ve learned how to feel for changes in muscles or tissue structures. The osteopathic approach has traveled with me throughout my clinical years, and it will translate well into practicing flight medicine.”

It was WVSOM’s sense of community that brought him to the school. He said his initial interview and subsequent acceptance call made it clear that WVSOM would provide a welcoming environment where students are the top priority.

“I fell in love with the school on interview day. The campus was beautiful, and we were treated with so much respect.

Then, when I received the call telling me I was accepted, 26 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

Physicians who specialize in flight medicine make critical care decisions for patients inside an aircraft and serve as a primary care physician for pilots and crew members. These specialists also can become pilots or paratroopers. Hamawi has already begun taking flight lessons.

“I flew for the first time in March,” he said. “It was a quick introductory course for medical students and physicians, and they said, ‘We know none of you know how to fly a plane, but we’re going to just go with it.’ It was an amazing experience.”

While at WVSOM, Hamawi served as secretary of the Class of 2024, a position that allowed him to advocate for his fellow medical students in the areas of academic and student affairs, and, during his third and fourth years, to act as a liaison between the school’s administration and students across the seven regions of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus.

He also participated in research while at WVSOM and, in 2023, was recognized in a poster competition sponsored

by Mountain State Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institutions and Mon Health for his poster “Inherited Retinal Eye Disorders: A Case of Choroideremia,” which examined a condition that causes loss of vision due to degeneration of cell layers in the retina.

Earlier this year, he received the Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Award for the Northern Region and was recognized for his military service during graduation.

Hamawi, whose flight medicine residency could take him to any part of the world where the Air Force believes he is needed, said he is eager to serve those who have served the U.S. as members of the military.

“America has done so much for my family. It’s given me opportunities to get an education and to be successful, and I want to make sure other people have the same opportunities.

I want to help our military personnel and give back to those who have sacrificed for us. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have the freedoms this country gives its people.”

“When you speak patients’ language, they’re appreciative because they feel they can trust you and they know your decisions are made with the best intentions.”

Rafael Hamawi, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 27

For one nontraditional grad, physical medicine and rehabilitation will continue her trajectory of

HANDS-ON HEALING

N

Not all WVSOM graduates are new to the health care professions. Vennela Pulikanti, D.O., spent 13 years working as a physical therapist before attending medical school. Now, the Class of 2024 graduate is preparing for a career as a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, where she will help restore function and alleviate discomfort in patients with injuries or disabilities.

Pulikanti was born and raised in Hyderabad, a large city in southern India. She attended the nearby Kakatiya College of Physiotherapy before moving to the U.S. and completing a master’s degree in physical therapy at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. The mother of two said she was interested in becoming a physician from a young age.

“I was always passionate about medicine, but my kids were my priority. They were young when I started doing physical therapy,” Pulikanti said. “I wanted to wait and go through medical school when they were old enough to manage by themselves. Once they were ready, I said, ‘I’m going to give it a shot,’ and everything fell into place.”

Pulikanti and her husband, a computer engineer, moved where his work took them — from Connecticut to Maryland, and then to McLean, Va. Along the way, she satisfied her premed requirements through a postbaccalaureate program at Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown University designed for nontraditional students. Her classmates came from all walks of life and included nurses, lawyers and fashion designers, she said.

An administrator who was one of Pulikanti’s mentors noticed that her skills went beyond providing therapy and extended into identifying diagnoses. It was at Georgetown that Pulikanti first became aware of osteopathic medicine and its distinct philosophy.

“My mentors asked if I’d looked into osteopathic schools, so I started researching and learned that D.O.s had a similar approach to the work I’d done as a physical therapist, such as manual therapy, osteopathic manipulative medicine, acupressure and acupuncture. It resonated with what I’d always wanted to do, which was approaching patients in a holistic way rather than just pharmacologically,” she said.

Pulikanti said her studies at WVSOM required some getting used to.

“At Georgetown, I took courses at my own pace. Stepping into medical school, my first year was, as they say, like drinking water from a firehose, especially because I hadn’t been in school for so long,” she said. “But it was amazing. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were divided into pods for labs. The pros of that were that we turned out to be awesome friends and made long-lasting bonds because the same 10 people were together for almost a year and a half. Staff were supportive, too; I had a nice hideout where I would study, and they would come to check on me. And I would sometimes walk into ASPIRE [WVSOM’s Academic

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Support and Intervention Resources department, which offers academic support and counseling services] for a friendly chat.

There was always somebody to listen.”

By the time she entered her clinical years, Pulikanti’s background in physical therapy proved helpful in multiple ways. Where some students were just learning to communicate with patients, Pulikanti had years of experience collecting information from those in her care. Her knowledge of the musculoskeletal system also gave her a leg up.

“My third and fourth years were very comfortable. I could walk in and understand the situation without having to relearn to collect patient data. Even diagnoses were easier, when it was musculoskeletal, because I knew what the possibilities were.

As a physical therapist, the scope of practice doesn’t allow you to get into the medical side of patients’ problems, but you still have to know the basics,” she said.

During a physical medicine and rehabilitation rotation with an outpatient physician, Pulikanti saw patients with pain, muscle weakness and sports injuries. She was able to observe how procedures such as joint injections and ablative techniques to burn specific nerves in the spinal cord could result in drastic improvement.

“It was great when patients would come back and say, ‘I don’t know what you guys did, but I don’t have any pain,’” she said.

“Or with pharmacological treatments, the physician would have me follow up with patients we saw the week prior and some of them would say, ‘The medication doesn’t work. I still have the pain.’ So we would go back and try to figure out if it was coming from a nerve or a muscle, or if it was postural. It’s exciting to go step by step and come up with a solution.”

During her time at WVSOM, Pulikanti twice won the school’s Libby Kokott, D.O., Memorial Grant, established by Kokott’s children in 2020 to honor a woman who became a physician at age 50.

Because many physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs require a transitional year, she will spend time at LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, Va., receiving foundational training in multiple disciplines before entering a residency in her chosen specialty at Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation, a hospital attached to the Albert Einstein Medical Institute in Philadelphia, Pa. At WVSOM’s Commencement Ceremony in May, Pulikanti shared the milestone with a family member who is also kicking off a new stage in life: Her daughter, who graduated high school just weeks after, was fortunate to be able to attend Pulikanti’s own big event.

“She’s going to the University of Maryland to study mechanical engineering,” Pulikanti said. “It was a big debate because we didn’t know if both ceremonies would happen on the same day.

I’m glad they were on different days, because it meant all of my family could be there to support me.”

“[I] learned that D.O.s had a similar approach to the work I’d done as a physical therapist ... It resonated with what I’d always wanted to do, which was approaching patients in a holistic way rather than just pharmacologically.”

“When you speak patients’ language, they’re appreciative because they feel they can trust you and they know your decisions are made with the best intentions. ” - RAFAEL HAMAWI

Vennela Pulikanti, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 29

Graduate shifted interest from primary care to subspecialty after spending time

IN OPERATING ROOM

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In the past 10 years, only three WVSOM graduates have entered otolaryngology residency programs. Benjamin VanTasel, D.O., from the school’s Class of 2024, is one of them.

Association Scholarship, given to students who exemplify scholarship, osteopathic professional interest, leadership and citizenship. He also focused on audition rotations in otolaryngology to set himself apart from other students.

“I wasn’t a kid who wanted to be a doctor from when I was young. But in community college I took a general biology course and learned about the cardiovascular system and the heart and was fascinated by it. I told my wife that I couldn’t stop studying it and that I wanted to know everything about it,” he said. “Medical school was the way I would get there, so I pursued more human anatomy and physiology classes in college. I took a deeper dive into all the body systems and loved it. There was no question I was going to go to medical school.”

One patient interaction during his rotations especially stands out.

VanTasel was drawn to WVSOM for its emphasis on educating physicians to be primary care physicians, a career path he was attracted to until his third year in clinical rotations when he realized how excited he was in the operating room.

“While I did initially pursue osteopathic medicine with the intention of practicing primary care, I found myself drawn to procedures and the operating room. I remember how exhilarated I felt after closing my first laceration in the emergency department,” the Williamsburg, Va., native said. “I was able to spend some of my days with ENTs [ear, nose and throat doctors] and found what they were doing to be interesting, especially from a functional aspect. Giving patients the ability to breathe, hear and smell again was amazing. There is a lot of variety in the procedures they do, and at the end of my third year I decided I wanted to go into that field.”

Issues that otolaryngologists can care for include chronic sinus congestion, difficulty sleeping, loss of taste or smell, painful swallowing, loss of hearing, balance issues, vocal changes and traumatic or cosmetic skin concerns.

VanTasel said helping a patient restore those vital functions of life is rewarding and can have an incredible impact on a patient’s overall well-being.

Otolaryngology is considered a competitive specialty, and VanTasel said he knew he had to prioritize impressive board scores, research project involvement and club involvement. He was president of the school’s Student Osteopathic Internal Medical Association and a member of the Atlas Club and the Christian Medical and Dental Association. In 2022, he received the WVSOM Alumni

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“We had a patient who had a mass in her neck and we were getting her ready to go in the operating room to fix it. Her caretaker had mentioned how she didn’t listen well and struggled with communication. We looked in her ears and determined there was fluid behind both her ears.

That meant the eardrum couldn’t move as well and thus couldn’t transmit sound properly. We were able to treat her later by putting tubes in her ears, and she could hear and communicate much better after that,” he said.

VanTasel said the surgical variety of otolaryngology is appealing and many people don’t understand the entirety of the profession.

“Otolaryngology is a mystery field to most people.

Pronouncing the name is a task in itself. Not many people fully understand the scope of an otolaryngologist’s practice. I did not know they were surgeons prior to my third year of medical school,” he said. “I knew I might pursue a surgical specialty, and I always wanted to treat a pediatric population as part of my practice.

Otolaryngology fulfilled both of these preferences. In my time on rotations, I saw patients from just a few days old to beyond 100 years, helped perform a variety of surgical procedures and witnessed life-changing treatment.

Otolaryngology is a hidden gem, and I’m so glad I found it.”

He is completing his residency at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va. While there, he is hopeful he can incorporate osteopathic manipulative techniques into patient treatments.

“I only applied to osteopathic medical schools because I wanted to be a D.O. and I wanted to learn OMT and practice that philosophy. I think physicians can always use that basic philosophy and treat patients holistically.

As I train, it could be easy to develop tunnel vision and only see things that pertain to my field, but I’d like to keep a primary care mindset so I can think of all the possible issues my patients are dealing with," he said.

“Not many people fully understand the scope of an otolaryngologist’s practice. I did not know they were surgeons prior to my third year of medical school.”

Benjamin VanTasel, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 31

WVSOM grad practices in the

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

as an OB-GYN

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Before Jessica King, D.O., received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree, she assisted in the delivery of about 50 babies.

The Class of 2024 graduate, a native of Bethpage, N.Y., said she still remembers the first time she witnessed a cesarean section delivery in the Dominican Republic. Ever since, she knew she wanted to be an obstetrician and gynecologist. However, King had wanted to be a doctor since high school.

“I was born premature at 25 weeks. My birthday is in August, but my due date was November and I always joke that I wanted a summer birthday,” she said. “I was a sick kid and growing up I was in and out of hospitals so I was attuned to medicine, but I didn’t decide I wanted to be a doctor until I was 14. I loved biology and it made a lot of sense to me and helped educate me about my own body and the things I went through growing up.”

After graduating from college, King earned a master’s degree and took time to travel to countries such as the Dominican Republic and Thailand. After three gap years, she began medical school at WVSOM. Beginning in her first year of medical school, she assisted Chris Pankey, Ph.D., a WVSOM associate professor of physiology, with research on sheep, looking at how obesity during pregnancy alters cardiovascular development in offspring.

During medical school, King was a member and later treasurer of the school’s chapter of the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists, was part of the school’s first committee for Grand Rounds, a student-led series in which WVSOM alumni share case-based presentations with students, and was a member of the Student Admissions Leadership Team, a program in which current medical students assist with WVSOM applicants and the admissions process.

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King said her research and club involvement strengthened her ability to find a career as an OB-GYN. “I like the combination of the specialty. Gynecology can take the roots of primary care with the surgical side of obstetrics. I always knew I wanted to operate and I love being in the OR, but I didn’t like that with most surgical specialties you only saw patients a couple of times during follow-up appointments,” King said. “I wanted to go into a specialty where I would see a patient before, during and after a surgery and I would be able to form a relationship with them.”

She recalled how, in her third-year clinical rotations, she developed a physician-patient relationship with a young mother. King helped deliver the woman’s baby, and the teen began scheduling postpartum visits around King’s schedule.

“I felt so honored, and that was the moment where I thought, ‘This is the job for me,’” she said.

King is the first person in her family to become a physician. And while she is excited to have begun her residency in an OB-GYN specialty at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip, N.Y., she wants to focus on trauma-informed care and possibly maternal-fetal medicine.

Good Samaritan is a Level I trauma center that performs about 3,000 deliveries each year. King expects that approximately six months into the residency she will be responsible for delivering infants and providing women’s care under attending supervision.

“Instead of looking at patients from the clinical standpoint when things appear normal, trauma-informed care is looking at things through the perspective of patients,” she said. “Forty-four percent of women rate their birth experience as traumatic even if everything goes OK. Taking a few extra minutes to get to know a patient and listen to things from their perspective will strengthen my relationship with patients. I’m curious to explore that more throughout my residency.”

“I wanted to go into a specialty where I would see a patient before, during and after a surgery and I would be able to form a relationship with them.”

“When you speak patients’ language, they’re appreciative because they feel they can trust you and they know your decisions are made with the best intentions. ” - RAFAEL HAMAWI

Jessica King, D.O. WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 33

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WVSOM’S NEW

TESTING CENTER OPENS

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WVSOM celebrated the opening of the newest addition to its Lewisburg campus with a community open house on June 25.

The first new construction on the school’s campus since 2016, the Testing Center serves as a central location for first- and secondyear medical students to take course quizzes and exams and practice for national board exams.

The centerpiece of the building, which connects the existing Center for Technology and Rural Medicine to the Clinical Evaluation Center, is a 234-seat testing hall filled with partitioned, three-feet-wide carrels designed to give students privacy and to ensure the integrity of the examination process.

David Meadows, MBA, WVSOM’s chief financial officer, said the school has outgrown its previous testing environment and that the Testing Center will make WVSOM’s testing process more efficient.

“The new building provides a more secure and individualized testing environment for students than the current classroom functionality,” Meadows said. “A facility that provides singular testing spaces, as opposed to separating students in a large classroom, is the optimum process.”

Raeann Carrier, Ph.D., WVSOM’s director of National Boards Office and Exam Center, helped plan the center. She said its configuration is designed to reproduce the experience of taking national board exams at external locations, giving students a sense of familiarity when they take the COMLEX, a series of standardized examinations required for licensure for the practice of osteopathic medicine.

“When it’s time for board preparation, students will have practice exams in the facility,” Carrier said. “Taking practice assessments in the testing hall will help them get used to sitting in a place for four hours, buffered by walls, having somebody on either side of you,

in an environment that’s similar to the Pearson VUE or Prometric sites where they take their licensing exams.”

The Testing Center has six “accommodation rooms” for testing students who have additional needs — for example, students with health conditions that require them to eat or drink while taking an exam — or who require isolation due to illness. Additionally, the center contains offices for staff of WVSOM’s National Boards Office and Exam Center and for selected employees of the school’s Information Technology Department.

The building also includes spaces where students can gather to study or socialize.

Carrier said WVSOM is working with CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, in Ronceverte, W.Va., to allow the hospital to use the facility to administer benchmark exams required of resident physicians.

The completion of the Testing Center provides WVSOM with an amenity often reserved for medical schools that are linked with universities, she explained.

“WVSOM is a free-standing medical school that recently also established a master’s program in biomedical sciences, so the value of this addition lies in the opportunity for all students to test in a facility that is solely dedicated to that purpose,” Carrier said. “As future physicians, our students are going to be assessed periodically for years to come. If we can establish a way for them to feel more comfortable with the experience of testing, the hope is that they will be more successful.”

ZMM Architects and Engineers, headquartered in Charleston, W.Va., served as the building’s primary architect, and DCI Shires, based in Bluefield, W.Va., was the general contractor for its construction.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 35

FEDERAL FUNDS SUPPORT

RESEARCH EXPANSION

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Plans to increase medical research capabilities at WVSOM have received additional financial support with a $6 million appropriation in a federal funding package.

WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., said expanding and renovating the current space is the initial phase of WVSOM’s plan to grow its research enterprise.

The federal funds, along with $29 million in state funds awarded in 2023, will allow WVSOM to complete a $35 million renovation and expansion of its Fredric W. Smith Science Building.

“This is an exciting time for WVSOM,” Nemitz said. “We are grateful to Senators Capito and Manchin for their efforts and Representative Miller for her support. They understand the value of investing in medical education, research and students. This investment in our research enterprise will spark new efforts to address health equity, benefit our students when applying for residency programs, aid in faculty recruitment and retainment, and serve as an economic engine for the school and southern West Virginia.”

West Virginia’s two U.S. senators, Shelley Moore Capito and Joe Manchin, both members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, championed the $6 million appropriation to help with work on the science building, which houses the school’s current research facility. U.S. Representative Carol Miller also voted for the package that included the WVSOM appropriation and a total of more than $138 million for 80 West Virginia projects.

Preliminary design plans for the $35 million project show the new structure will allow for an expansion of about 30,000 square feet, taking the existing structure from 21,254 square feet to more than 51,000 square feet. The addition is designed to provide laboratory and desk/office space for 20 lab teams and will include a forensic pathology suite and autopsy capability.

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Nemitz said WVSOM’s research efforts continue to grow.

He noted that WVSOM is now a member of the Bioscience Association of West Virginia and joined the West Virginia Department of Economic Development at the 2024 Bio International Convention in June to highlight the growing biomedical research opportunities in West Virginia.

WVSOM is engaged in biomedical, clinical and translational research, community-based participatory research and public health research. The research facility expansion will fuel WVSOM’s ability to remain competitive with other medical schools in the state and nation and increase WVSOM’s medical and scientific influence.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES • Natural products as therapeutics • Cardiovascular diseases: mechanisms and treatments • Stroke and aging research • New therapeutic targets for asthma • Vaccine development • Microbial biotherapeutic innovations

Dovenia Ponnoth, Ph.D., WVSOM’s associate dean for research and sponsored programs, represented the school at the Bio International Convention. Ponnoth is committed to outreach and working with biotechnology companies, investors, service providers, government officials and others at WVSOM’s facilities.

“We are looking to strengthen our preclinical research and expand into drug discovery and development, as well as clinical trials. Our faculty members conduct research in cardiovascular diseases, new therapeutics from microbial products, vaccine development and lung diseases, all of which are vital to the health of West Virginians. The new funding will see us turn our vision for taking bench research to the people with impactful solutions and better-trained physicians and scientists,” Ponnoth said.

Brian Hendricks, Ph.D., executive director for the WVSOM Center for Rural and Community Health and an associate professor in the school’s Department of Clinical Sciences, said the funding will provide new opportunities to address the challenges West Virginians experience across the state.

Nemitz, Ponnoth and Hendricks presented an update on WVSOM’s research expansion at the West Virginia Bioscience Summit in May in Huntington.

CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH • State opioid response • Community projects

FUTURE PLANS • $35 million toward research expansion • Developing new partnerships with biotech and other industries

SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM • Opportunities for basic, clinical and translational sciences research projects

FUNDING Funding sources include federal, state and private foundations such as the National Institutes of Health, the West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Health Resources and Services Administration and others.

WVSOM administrators and faculty members with employees from Edward Tucker Architects

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 37

SPRING AWARDS CEREMONY PROVIDED MORE THAN $102K TO STUDENTS

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Each year, WVSOM recognizes medical students for their achievements in academics and the community during the school’s annual Spring Awards Ceremony.

The event took place March 7 and recipients received a total of $102,300 through 29 scholarships, awards and certificates of appreciation.

WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., said generous contributions made by donors are invaluable in lessening the financial debts of medical students.

“We appreciate the continued support of our benefactors. I also want to acknowledge the work of the WVSOM Foundation and WVSOM Alumni Association for raising the funds for many of these awards and the special contribution made by the foundation to supplement some of the awards,” he said.

This was the inaugural year for the Weisser Scholarship Fund, which was established by Lydia Weisser, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 1992. The scholarship is awarded to a student who took a nontraditional path to medical school or who left a previous career to attend medical school.

Jacqueline Shoemaker was the first recipient of the Weisser Scholarship Fund. She said she was honored to be selected and appreciates that there is a scholarship dedicated to nontraditional medical students.

“It’s exciting for people to realize that nontraditional students exist and somebody who is a parent, a spouse or somebody who has had a prior career can come to school and pursue a second degree,” she said. “It’s remarkable to have support from the school while dealing with the fear that comes with quitting your job and leaving your past behind to start this new chapter. The ripple effect this will have will certainly be lasting. You can’t put a price tag on something like that.”

Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said nearly every year a new scholarship is presented during the Spring Awards Ceremony — a testament to the generosity of alumni, businesses and organizations.

“WVSOM has always had a strong base of alumni who understand the importance of giving back. Many have done so in the form of scholarship endowments,” she said. “This year we have more than 20 scholarships awarded through the foundation. This number will grow in years to come as additional endowments are being created annually. The foundation is grateful for our donors, and we congratulate the students who benefit from their generosity.”

The WVSOM Foundation is a supporting organization of WVSOM whose goal is to serve the school and its students by securing, managing and allocating the financial contributions of businesses and individuals. Along with the WVSOM Alumni Association, the foundation is the main entity responsible for philanthropic efforts at WVSOM. Those who become financial supporters are investing in students and ultimately in improved health outcomes for rural communities.

While the Spring Awards Ceremony focuses on first-, second- and third-year students, additional awards and funds are provided to fourth-year students at WVSOM’s annual Graduation Awards Ceremony in May.

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2024

$102,300 awarded

SPRING AWARDS CEREMONY DR. ROLAND P. SHARP PRESIDENT AND FOUNDATION AWARD OF EXCELLENCE FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Given to a first-year student based on academic performance, osteopathic professional interest, leadership and citizenship.

Derek Baran

U.S. PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE EXCELLENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH AWARD Recognizes medical students who have positively impacted public health in their communities.

It is given to a student who has developed and implemented a program advancing the overarching goals and achieving the objectives of Healthy People 2030.

Cameron Mitchell

WVSOM FOUNDATION SCHOLARS AWARDS

LORETTA MOORE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Given to West Virginia residents with satisfactory academic performance who plan to stay in West Virginia after residency to practice. Preference is given to students from Barbour, Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Fayette, Gilmer, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Nicholas, Roane, Summers, Wayne, Webster or Wyoming counties.

Recipient is chosen by first-year students and given to a classmate who has overcome obstacles in order to succeed.

Seth Jude Barbara Pridemore Carrie Proctor Daniel Proctor

Established by her family and WVSOM staff in 2018. Counts was the director of accreditation at WVSOM from July 2013 until her untimely death in August 2017. The scholarship is given to a female second-year student from West Virginia who exemplifies the characteristics that Counts embodied, which included getting things done behind the scenes, leading by example, and being compassionate, an untiring advocate of support for others and a community volunteer.

LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP ENDOWMENT Created by the WVSOM Foundation in an effort to help offset the cost of medical school for WVSOM students.

Makenzie Casto

ANNA MARIE COUNTS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

Carrie Proctor

Charles Hawley

WVSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIPS Given to students who exemplify scholarship, osteopathic professional interest, leadership and citizenship.

Ethaniel Galloway Brantley Hyre Daniel Proctor

JARRELL FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP Established by Greg Jarrell, D.O., Class of 1997, and his wife, Penny, to be awarded to a female student in her second year of medical school who is from Fayette, Raleigh, Summers or Wyoming counties.

Kathryn Peelish

WEST VIRGINIA EMULATION ENDOWMENT TRUST/ DR. OLEN E. JONES JR. SCHOLARSHIP

WEISSER SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Established in 2016 and named after Olen E. Jones Jr., Ph.D., who served as president of WVSOM from 1987 to 2009. The scholarship is awarded to West Virginia students based on literary and scholastic attainments, morality, leadership and physical vigor.

Established by Lydia Weisser, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 1992. The scholarship is awarded to a student who took a nontraditional path to medical school or who left a previous career to attend medical school. Preference is given to a student who is considering entering psychiatry.

Caleb Duncan

Jacqueline Shoemaker

FREDRIC W. SMITH MEMORIAL FAMILY PRACTICE SCHOLARSHIP Awarded to a student completing his or her second year of medical school. The student must be a West Virginia resident who plans to practice family medicine and has a strong interest in the school and community.

Carrie Proctor

SAMANTHA KETCHEM MUNCY PRIMARY CARE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP Established by Muncy’s parents to memorialize their daughter whose life ended too soon. The scholarship is awarded to a third-year medical student from Barbour, Harrison, McDowell, Preston or Taylor counties in West Virginia who plans to remain in the state to practice in a primary care specialty.

Caroline Ferrell

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 39

SPRING AWARDS CEREMONY DR. WILLIAM B. MULLEN AND JENNIFER WHITE SCHOLARSHIP Created in recognition of Dr. William B. Mullen of Logan, W.Va., a physician who cared for his patient, Jennifer White, who passed away in 2011.

Seth Jude Barbara Pridemore Gatlin Spangler

RON BILLIPS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FUND Established by a 2002 WVSOM graduate to honor his friend and classmate killed in a car accident.

The award is given to a first-year student who is a graduate of Big Creek, Iaeger, Mount View, Princeton or Bluefield high schools in West Virginia or Graham, Tazewell, Richlands or Pocahontas high schools in Virginia.

MOSS SCHOLARSHIPS Established by the late Marlene Wager, D.O., to support out-of-state students. This year, 14 students received the scholarship.

Derek Baran Maggie Bartony Colin Bashline Codi Elliott Autumn Horner David Horvath Anika Iyer Suren Jeevaratnam Peyton Kiser Barry Ndeh Charles Ononaku Lindsey Shughart Allison Voce Caitlin Zovack

Caitlyn Huntley

GREENBRIER MILITARY SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SCHOLARSHIP Presented to two students who excel academically and show strong leadership, determination and discipline.

Averee Pack Adarsh Vallurupalli

WEST VIRGINIA STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION ALLIANCE SCHOLARSHIP FUND Provides scholarships for medical students from West Virginia who desire to practice in the state after they graduate. The alliance is an organization that comprises physician spouses, who in the fall of 2016 established an endowment at each of the three medical schools in West Virginia.

Ronald Everhart

DRS. CHERYL AND MICHAEL ADELMAN WVSOM LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP Awarded to a student who has demonstrated character and leadership during their time at WVSOM and who has the potential to be a future leader in the osteopathic profession.

JAMES R. STOOKEY, D.O., MANIPULATIVE MEDICINE SCHOLARSHIP Created in honor of James Stookey, WVSOM’s vice president for academic affairs and dean from 1988 to 2002. The scholarship is given to a student who has demonstrated proficiency in manipulative medicine.

Samuel Fuller

MARLENE A. WAGER 10-FINGERED OPP SCHOLARSHIP Created by the osteopathic principles and practice department in 2008 to recognize a second-year student with outstanding skills in osteopathic manipulative treatment. Candidates are nominated and voted on by classmates. The winner has his or her name engraved on a plaque that is displayed in the osteopathic clinical skills lab.

Dalton McCown

Recognizes a student who plans to use osteopathic manipulation in treating patients and is willing to instill the importance of osteopathic principles and practice in the next generation of WVSOM students.

Barbara Pridemore

Presented to first-, second- and third-year students who go above and beyond to serve other students through leadership and who contribute to the betterment of the WVSOM community.

Derek Baran Emily Huffman Danielle Reynolds

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION STUDENT COLLEGIALITY SCHOLARSHIP Presented to first-, second- and third-year students who cultivate strong relationships with their peers and strive to improve the lives of students. The scholarship recognizes students who go above and beyond to serve and support other students.

Kristina Ekkel Anika Iyer Mike Farry Anas Huggi Caleb Duncan Sarah Socrates

FREDRIC W. SMITH COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD Recognizes a campus organization or club that demonstrates a commitment to the Lewisburg community, the WVSOM community and classmates.

WVSOM chapter of the American Medical Women’s Association

SPECIAL AWARD PRESENTATION Recognizes service and leadership to WVSOM and the student body.

SGA President Ethaniel Galloway SGA Vice President Deekshitha Tella

WVSOM FAMILY PRACTICE SCHOLARSHIP Awarded to a second-year West Virginia student who has intentions of practicing family medicine upon graduation.

Carrie Proctor

Apongnwu Tete

PAUL G. KLEMAN, D.O., FAMILY PRACTICE STUDENT AWARD

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION STUDENT LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP

WVSOM DIVERSITY TASK FORCE – EVA TETER HAMMER AWARD Given to a student who demonstrates an interest in osteopathic medicine and in eliminating the inequities of individuals.

Gray Caldwell

OSTEOPATHIC PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE (OPP) INTEGRATION TEACHING AWARD Given to faculty members for their efforts in teaching and for excelling in integrating OPP into their classes.

Irene Smail, Ph.D. (biomedical sciences) Christopher Kennedy, D.O. (clinical sciences) Elizabeth Clark, D.O. (adjunct clinical sciences preceptor)

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION APPRECIATION RECOGNITION Given to employees by SGA members for their work and support on behalf of medical students.

WVSOM Alumni Association WVSOM Foundation

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WVSOM Foundation

RECEIVED $80K GIFT FROM ALUMNUS’ ESTATE

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The WVSOM Foundation, which provides support to WVSOM, received an $80,000 gift from the estate of Kendall Wilson Jr., D.O., a graduate of the school’s Class of 1981 who also taught at WVSOM and served on its Board of Governors.

Wilson’s gift will be split evenly between the WVSOM Foundation’s Legacy Endowed Scholarship and a scholarship newly established by the Class of 1981.

Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said the school is thankful for Wilson’s gift and that it will help medical students for many years to come.

“This gift is a direct result of an alumnus who valued his education so immensely that he chose to remember WVSOM in his estate planning,” Mizia said. “Dr. Wilson had such a strong connection to the school that he ensured his generous gift was in perpetuity. This gift will bolster two scholarship endowments at the WVSOM Foundation, giving both the ability to provide more meaningful awards.”

Wilson passed away in September 2022.

He was born in 1948 in Marion Station, Md., and studied biology at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., before completing a Master of Science degree in pathology at the Medical College of Virginia. He came to WVSOM in the late 1970s with the intention of becoming a student, but was first hired as a pathology instructor and director of laboratories, he explained in a video recorded for the school in 2022.

After earning a medical degree from WVSOM, Wilson completed a residency at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo., and additional training at the Cranial Institute and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

He established a practice in Lewisburg, W.Va., specializing in osteopathic manipulative medicine and the treatment of chronic pain. He also treated patients at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Alderson, W.Va. His passion for education led him to become an associate professor of clinical sciences at WVSOM, in addition to serving on the school’s Board of Governors for seven years.

Wilson’s research on Chapman’s reflexes — nodules within the fascia that link the nervous system to the lymphatic system — was published in Foundations of Osteopathic Medicine, a textbook used in osteopathic medical schools.

A Civil War enthusiast, Wilson also was CEO and project director for the Battle of Lewisburg Reenactment Weekend, one of West Virginia’s most highly regarded Civil War events. He taught public workshops on Civil War medicine and the war’s influence on modern medical practices.

Wilson wasn’t just a graduate and faculty member of WVSOM; he was its neighbor. His home on Lewisburg’s Lee Street stood adjacent to the school’s campus, between Greenbrier Avenue Park and WVSOM’s main building. He also played a role in the local food industry, helping to introduce the city’s first Chinese restaurant, China Palace, by persuading its owner to relocate to Lewisburg.

In his 2022 video, Wilson said he’d wanted to be a physician since age 13 and thanked WVSOM for helping him achieve his goal. He described the school as representing “opportunity for native West Virginians, opportunity for the community and opportunity for the state as it relates to returning physicians to West Virginia and to Appalachia.”

Gary Sajko, D.O., a classmate of Wilson who has led fundraising efforts to create the Class of 1981 scholarship — WVSOM’s first class scholarship — said he is appreciative that Wilson’s gift will benefit students who want to attend medical school at WVSOM. “A significant number of members of the Class of 1981 were first-time professional students in our families. Many of us had parents who, like my dad, were coal miners,” Sajko said. “I’m hopeful that this generous gift will allow us to grow more funds to help students make their dreams of becoming physicians come true.”

Mizia said gifts presented to WVSOM through estate planning will help ensure the school’s future, and that donors who contribute through this method will receive a special designation.

“Estate gifts are a remarkable way to give back to WVSOM. When alumni and friends name WVSOM as a beneficiary in their estate planning and provide the necessary documentation to the WVSOM Foundation, they will be recognized in our Society 1972 and invited to exclusive donor events,” she said.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 41

100%

CLASS OF 2024 STUDENTS ACHIEVED

RESIDENCY PLACEMENT RATE

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Before their graduation ceremony, fourth-year students at WVSOM learned where they would begin their medical careers after years of hard work in medical school. The Class of 2024 attained a perfect residency placement rate, with 188 students receiving spots in residency programs.

Students learned of their 100% residency placement rate on March 15, a day designated as Match Day by the National Resident Matching Program, the organization responsible for placing medical school graduates into residency programs. On Match Day, students preparing to graduate learn where they will complete residencies and what specialties they will enter.

Linda Boyd, D.O., the school’s chief academic officer, praised students, faculty and staff career advisors for their work in reaching the 100% residency placement.

“Congratulations, you did it. This is what you’ve all worked so hard for,” she told the class. “Not only did we receive a 100% residency placement rate but we did so in highly prestigious specialties.”

While WVSOM’s main mission is to produce primary care physicians, graduates of the school can practice in any specialty. A total of 104 students in the Class of 2024, or 56%, are entering primary care residency programs, encompassing family medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics.

A total of 41 students matched to family medicine residencies, 48 matched to internal medicine and 15 matched to pediatrics.

Other popular specialties for members of the Class of 2024 include emergency medicine, with 28 students; psychiatry, with nine students; and general surgery, with nine students.

Abigail Frank, D.O., WVSOM’s assistant dean for graduate medical education, congratulated students on making it this far in their journeys.

“I know how hard you’ve worked to get to this point and I’m confident that your dedication and passion will lead to your success,” Frank said.

“This is a milestone moment in your career … remember that no matter what happens you’ve accomplished a lot already.”

Class of 2024 member Keirston Sutherland Sampson, of Lewisburg, W.Va., said she was relieved to have secured a residency in her first specialty option. She will complete a residency in dermatology at Northeast Regional Medical Center in Kirksville, Mo. “Dermatology was my specialty of choice. The excitement I felt opening my match letter was amazing,” Sampson said. “I am thrilled to begin residency in just a few months knowing that I will be getting to do what I love for the rest of my career.”

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104

entering primary care residencies

41

matched to family medicine residencies

48

matched to internal medicine residencies

15

matched to pediatrics residencies

GRADUATE BECAME FIRST STUDENT IN WVSOM’S

RESEARCH SCHOLAR ELECTIVE

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Mark Haft, D.O., spent the past year working 14-hour-plus days on research projects at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., that provided him with opportunities to delve into the medical specialty that is his passion — orthopedic surgery.

“I’ve known since before medical school that I wanted to go into orthopedic surgery. I took three gap years between undergraduate school and medical school,” he said. “I was the chief scribe at an outpatient orthopedic surgery clinic for two of those years, and the doctors there were a big influence on me. Seeing the impact they made pushed me toward wanting to become an orthopedic surgeon.”

The Class of 2024 graduate was also drawn to the specialty because it allows him to utilize his hands, which he also worked with growing up.

“I had a lot of blue-collar, manual jobs. I like working with my hands and have done everything from pouring concrete to renovating homes. I also like that in orthopedic surgery you can see a variety of cases. In a given day you could treat a pediatric patient with a fracture and then treat an arthritic 97-year-old, and those populations and pathologies are very different,” the Baltimore native said. “I like to learn and I see this as a long-term challenge to stay up to date on my medical education. This is the only specialty where I’ve worked 12-to-16-hour days in the hospital and have still enjoyed every minute of it.”

Haft did not initially match to an orthopedic surgery residency, so he pivoted and capitalized on a new opportunity provided by WVSOM that would help secure more research opportunities in addition to increasing his chance of finding a career in orthopedics.

In June 2023, WVSOM’s Board of Governors approved a newly established Research Scholar Elective, a research-intensive course dedicated to providing medical students with an additional year to conduct research specific to their specialty of choice that would make them more competitive in the health care industry. Haft was the first-ever student to participate in the course.

“If you would have told me before that not matching to a residency would be a good thing, I probably would have just cried. But this has been a great year and I’ve learned and gained a lot from it,” he said.

“It was awesome to have the support of WVSOM and work toward my goal. This course gives students in my situation another option.

It’s ideal for students entering competitive specialties.”

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The course was created for students who want or need a significant amount of research to achieve their professional goals. Students can take one year to work with research faculty at WVSOM or another affiliated school. Doing so will help build their curriculum vitae for their application to residency programs and build mentoring relationships with specialists in their field who can advance opportunities for them.

Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, said while the Research Scholar Elective can be taken after students’ second or third year of medical school, it’s also an option for fourth-year students who don’t match.

“Medical students hoping to match in competitive specialties are under a lot of pressure not only to excel academically, but to accomplish a lot of research. Mark met all the qualifications but was short on research. He was the ideal candidate to spark the creation of the Research Scholar Elective,” Boyd said. “I am incredibly proud of Mark for his hard work and perseverance. He believed in himself, and with the extra year of research, he got into his first-choice residency program in orthopedics. We have two additional WVSOM students who have taken this elective so far and are hopeful they will also have a successful outcome for their residency match.”

During Haft’s time in the course through Johns Hopkins, he has had 12 research papers accepted for publication, and submitted about 30 more. One of his most interesting research findings deals with rotator cuff repairs.

“There is a patch made of pig tissue that doctors put on the rotator cuff to augment repairs and make it stronger. It’s very popular, makes orthopedic companies a lot of money and has been on the market for 10-plus years,” he said. “But there isn’t really any evidence that shows it works. We spent a year calling patients and getting follow-ups to conduct a retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing rotator cuff repair with this patch, and we found that not only does it not provide any clinical benefit, it may actually cause higher reoperation rates than doing a cuff repair with no patch. Projects like this may go against the grain, but I think it’s important to take a step back and see if what is being used actually works the way we hope it does.”

Haft’s research was recognized at WVSOM when he was selected as Student Researcher of the Year, which was presented at the school’s Graduation Awards Ceremony. That recognition made him eligible for the 2024 National Student Researcher of the Year Award, for which he received honorable mention through the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

Forty-one student applications from across the country were considered. He also received WVSOM’s Statewide Campus Outstanding Student Awards for his third- and fourth-year clinical rotations in the Central East region.

After spending countless hours evaluating the intricacies of orthopedic surgery, Haft is using that knowledge while completing an orthopedic surgery residency at Riverside University Health System in Riverside, Calif.

“My advice to those interested in becoming involved in research would be to find an area you are genuinely interested in,” he said.

“The entire research process can seem daunting at first, but doing research on something you are passionate about will not only make learning easier, it will make you more productive in the long term.”

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 45

Couple give back to school that produces

‘PHYSICIANS WHO HAVE CARING HEARTS’

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For Class of 1991 alumni Rafael Villalobos, D.O., and Letetia Villalobos, D.O., their marriage was a match made at WVSOM. “We met in the old anatomy lab,” said Rafael, now a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Mansfield, Ohio. “Letetia was reading from Grant’s Dissection Manual for her table, which was next to mine. She had a beautiful Southern accent, so I said, ‘Why don’t you come and read for us?’ She said, ‘Not on your life, Yankee.’ I said, ‘I’m not a Yankee. I’m from Colombia, South America. I’m from further south than any of your relatives.’ She said, ‘I’m from Columbia, too,’ because she was from Columbia, Mississippi. That started us off, and we became good friends and study partners.”

By their third and fourth years of medical school, the two were completing rotations together. WVSOM’s Statewide Campus system wasn’t in place yet, and in one 11-month period, Letetia said, the pair rotated in 10 different states. They learned about cardiothoracic surgery at Texas’ Baylor University, studied radiology at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, and even worked for two months in Anchorage, Alaska, through the Indian Health Service, a federal health program for native Americans and Alaska natives.

They married at the end of their internship year and entered residencies at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, with Rafael focusing on general surgery — a prerequisite for physicians who want to subspecialize in plastic and reconstructive surgery — and Letetia concentrating on radiology.

Letetia had started college as a psychology major, but switched to a pre-med program at Mississippi State University after finding fulfillment in her job working in an emergency room.

“I was a late bloomer, and I was intrigued by medicine but wanted to put my feet in the water a little. A physician hired me as his scribe, and I would go with him to see patients. He would dictate and I would write everything on his charts. I got to know a lot of the doctors, and a D.O. practicing on the Mississippi Gulf Coast told me about WVSOM, and I applied and was accepted,” she said.

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Letetia went on to practice as a diagnostic radiologist in the Columbus area, specializing in outpatient breast imaging, before retiring to homeschool the couple’s two children. She said the specialty appealed to her because it allows for a variety of lifestyles and because it lets physicians master a single field of practice.

“It’s something you can do full time or part time, and it was important to me to have a family, too,” she said. “And I’m a perfectionist, so I wanted to be really good at something specific rather than have a broad knowledge of all kinds of diseases. Also, it’s a privilege to be the first person to see something you know to be a breast cancer and be in a sacred space with these women before they have to make life-changing decisions.”

Rafael, a University of Maryland graduate, first visited WVSOM as part of a two-week summer program designed to introduce minority populations to osteopathic medicine. After earning his medical degree, he completed a general surgery residency at Doctors Hospital and a plastic and reconstructive surgery fellowship at the Ohio State University before establishing a private practice in Columbus.

He eventually created a plastic and reconstructive surgery residency at Doctors Hospital and became a full-time faculty member at Ohio State, where he was the first D.O. in the surgery department.

He now operates a practice in Mansfield, Ohio, just north of Columbus, and continues to serve as a preceptor to medical students from Ohio State. Specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery, he said, champions creativity and gives physicians exposure to a variety of conditions.

“There’s a strong artistic aspect to it,” Rafael said. “I always say there are two types of plastic surgeons: engineers and artists.

Engineers are always drawing on people and measuring twice, while artists have their own perspective and find novel ways to attack a problem and approach a solution. Thinking outside the box is common in plastic and reconstructive surgery, whereas in other surgical disciplines, it’s about staying in your lane.”

“When we came here we fell in love with Lewisburg and with the school’s small-class, family atmosphere,” Rafael said.

The Villalobos family has been generous in giving back to the medical school that allowed them to build a life together and prepared them for successful careers. More than a decade ago, they contributed to the Capital Campaign that helped fund the expansion of WVSOM’s Clinical Evaluation Center (CEC). An advanced cardiac life support room in the CEC is named for the couple.

Rafael and Letetia also donated to the Alumni Tower campaign, purchased an engraved bench on the school’s campus, participated in the WVSOM Alumni Association’s “Take a Seat” campaign and have supported the association’s scholarship fund, which provides financial awards to students who exemplify scholarship, osteopathic professional interest, leadership and citizenship.

Rafael said the impetus for their financial support of WVSOM was the feeling of camaraderie the school fosters and that some larger institutions lack.

“WVSOM has a special place in our lives. It’s where we met and it gave us the opportunity to become physicians. But WVSOM also has a unique place within the structure of medical education. We both went to large universities, so we knew they can feel impersonal, and when we came here we fell in love with Lewisburg and with the school’s small-class, family atmosphere,” he said.

He acknowledged that the couple’s career paths aren’t the same as those of many other WVSOM graduates, given that primary care is a part of the school’s stated mission.

“I joke about the fact that WVSOM focuses on producing family practice physicians for rural Appalachia, and I’m a failure in that I’m a subspecialist in a metropolitan area. But I love my career choice, and even though Letetia and I are specialists, we recognize how the school has transformed health care in West Virginia,” Rafael said.

“It’s a privilege to help an institution that is producing a high-level product — physicians who have caring hearts — and I invite all alumni to embrace that privilege and join us in giving. I want to make sure the school not only survives, but thrives.”

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WVSOM CELEBRATED

WEST VIRGINIA DAY

BY HONORING EMPLOYEES, RETIREES

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On the 161st anniversary of West Virginia’s entry into the union, WVSOM had a wild and wonderful celebration of its own — one that recognized some of the individuals who make the school a leader in medical education in the Mountain State and nationwide.

During an Employee Celebration hosted by the school’s Office of Human Resources in June, the school distributed 17 awards in five categories.

Leslie Bicksler, WVSOM’s chief human resources officer, praised those in attendance for their devotion to educating aspiring osteopathic physicians.

“This is a celebration of the contributions and accomplishments of so many of you,” Bicksler told employees. “Who we are as an institution and what we continue to accomplish is due to the dedication, hard work and commitment of our faculty, staff, board, alumni, students and the community that supports us. As a small institution, I’m constantly and consistently proud of all our employees.”

The event recognized nine new retirees: Michael Cochran, Carolyn Cox, Angela Hill, Barbara Holt, Ken Miller, Joyce Morris-Wiman, Ph.D., Tina Richmond, Barbara Sanders and Karen Sparks.

The President’s Outstanding Employee Award, given annually to individuals identified through a vote by WVSOM faculty and staff as outstanding employees for the current academic year, recognizes exceptional and dedicated service. Twelve employees were nominated. They were Richard Aleshire-Ramsey, Kristie Bridges, Ph.D., Douglas Brown, Courtney Eleazer, Ph.D., Kathy Hoke, Christopher Kennedy, D.O., Carrie Lawrence, Scott Maxwell, Donna Polk, Jennifer Seams, Dawn Thomas and Jill Trent. This year’s winners were Richard Aleshire-Ramsey, WVSOM’s assistant director of food services, and Carrie Lawrence, senior payroll coordinator in the Office of Business Affairs.

Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, presented the President’s Outstanding Faculty Award to two faculty members, Irene Smail, Ph.D., and Christopher

Wood, D.O. The award is presented each year to faculty members in recognition of their excellence in teaching and commitment to osteopathic medical education.

The Living Our Mission Award recognizes WVSOM staff who exemplify professional excellence, an understanding of and commitment to WVSOM, and a commitment to achieving the school’s mission. This year’s winners were Douglas Brown, Paul Ciciora, Mara Davis, Traci Hoke, Carrie Lawrence, Eddie Miller, Richard Mines, Bren Pittsenbarger, Donna Polk, Jennifer Seams and Jamison Sizemore.

The Statewide Campus Pride Award recognizes an employee in one of WVSOM’s seven Statewide Campus regions who goes above and beyond in their service to WVSOM and the students they serve.

Adrienne Tucker, director of the Central East Region of the Statewide Campus, was this year’s recipient.

The Rising Star Award honors a newly hired employee who has already demonstrated a strong commitment to the school, an understanding of how their position supports the school’s mission and a commitment to working with others to engage the school’s future. This year’s winner was Jamison Sizemore, assistant director of grounds in WVSOM’s Department of Institutional Facilities.

The celebration also recognized employees for years of service in five-year increments. In addition to recognizing a number of employees who reached milestones of service, the school recognized two employees who achieved 15 years of service as of June 2024, four who achieved 20 years of service and three who achieved 25 years of service. Jeffery Cobb, an audiovisual specialist, has worked at WVSOM for 30 years; and Barbara Sanders, a former lab resources supervisor, served the school for 35 years.

Bob Foster, D.O., a longtime faculty member and administrator who retired from WVSOM in 2023 after 45 years with the institution, was honored with professor emeritus distinction. The honor of emeritus is granted at retirement in recognition of meritorious service.

Jill Cochran, Ph.D., a faculty member in the school’s Department of Clinical Sciences, was promoted to professor, and Christopher Pankey, Ph.D., of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure. Also granted tenure were Marina Diioia, Ph.D., vice chair of the school’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, and Dovenia Ponnoth, Ph.D., WVSOM’s associate dean for research and sponsored programs.

As of June, WVSOM employed 314 people.

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PRESIDENT’S OUTSTANDING EMPLOYEE AWARD

PROFESSOR EMERITUS

RETIREES PRESIDENT’S OUTSTANDING FACULTY AWARD

LIVING OUR MISSION AWARD

RISING STAR AWARD

Not pictured: Douglas Brown, Michael Cochran, Carolyn Cox, Angela Hill, Barbara Holt, Richard Mines, Jennifer Seams, Karen Sparks and Adrienne Tucker.

Two former WVSOM deans received

NATIONAL AWARDS

Craig Boisvert, D.O.

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Two osteopathic physicians who served as WVSOM’s vice president for academic affairs and dean — Craig Boisvert, D.O., and Lorenzo Pence, D.O. — were recognized in April with awards from the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP).

At the organization’s annual convention in New Orleans, La., ACOFP presented Boisvert with its Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors outstanding individuals who have demonstrated career-long service to patients, osteopathic family medicine and ACOFP. The organization presented Pence with its Excellence in Advocacy Award, which recognizes family medicine physicians who have significantly contributed their time and talents to health care policy issues at the local, state or federal levels on behalf of his or her profession and patients.

Boisvert, who continues to assist with WVSOM’s osteopathic principles and practice labs, suture labs and CPR course, was the school’s dean from 2014 to 2021. He said he was honored to accept ACOFP’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

“I have known many of the individuals who have received it in the past and it’s an impressive group, so I’m grateful to be included,” he said. “I was surprised when the state society nominated me, and even more surprised when the president of ACOFP called and told me I’d been selected as this year’s recipient.”

Boisvert received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Vermont and a Doctor of Osteopathy degree from the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Maine. He completed a family medicine residency at Lancaster Osteopathic Hospital in Lancaster, Pa., and a health policy fellowship through the American Osteopathic Association.

Following his residency, Boisvert, a Vermont native, moved to Des Arc, Ark., where he worked for a federally qualified health center, eventually becoming medical director of four clinics. He joined WVSOM in 1988 as an associate professor of family medicine, and within a few years was chair of the section of family practice and president-elect of ACOFP’s West Virginia society.

Boisvert stayed with WVSOM for three and a half decades, becoming the school’s associate dean for predoctoral clinical education in 2013 and vice president for academic affairs and dean in 2014, a post he held until his 2021 retirement. Among his proudest accomplishments at WVSOM, he said, were helping to create physical diagnosis courses that later became the school’s Clinical Skills 1 and Clinical Skills 2 courses; clarifying items in WVSOM’s institutional policy; and helping the school successfully navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

While at WVSOM, Boisvert received the Osteopathic Principles and Practice Integration Teaching Award, the President’s Award for Excellence for Outstanding Clinical Sciences Faculty and the Outstanding Employee of the Year Award.

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Lorenzo Pence, D.O.

Boisvert’s service with ACOFP’s West Virginia society has been equally productive.

In addition to a year as the society’s president, he served multi-year terms on its Board of Directors during four different decades. As West Virginia’s delegate at the organization’s national convention for 14 years, he voted on ACOFP’s governing bylaws.

He organized continuing medical education courses for the group and assisted with ACOFP-sponsored events at WVSOM. He has been a fellow of ACOPF since 1992, an honor bestowed on family physicians displaying outstanding service in their careers, participating in civic and community activities, and making contributions through teaching, authorship, research or professional leadership.

Pence, who served as WVSOM’s dean from 2011 to 2014, said he owes his success to the colleagues, mentors and the osteopathic family he has had during his career.

“I appreciate this recognition of my path and the things I’ve been able to do, but none of us work in a vacuum,” Pence said. “There’s a lot of credit to be shared. I may be the one being recognized, but there were teams of great people with me along the way whom I couldn’t have done it without. I’m a family doctor, and I’m proud to have had that role. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

After earning a medical degree from WVSOM in 1985, he completed an internship and family medicine residency at Parkview Hospital in Toledo, Ohio, before establishing a private practice in Mount Jackson, Va. He returned to Toledo in the mid-1990s, where he served in various medical education roles at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center, and as a regional assistant dean at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Pence joined WVSOM in 2003 as associate dean for graduate medical education, simultaneously serving as director of medical education and family medicine program director at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Ronceverte, W.Va. He was instrumental in helping to develop the Statewide Campus system that is still used to educate WVSOM’s third- and fourth-year students.

In 2011, following a year in an interim position, Pence became WVSOM’s vice president for academic affairs and dean. He helped develop the “patient presentation” curriculum that would be used at the school for the next decade.

Pence has advocated for the osteopathic profession through leadership in state and national associations and membership in numerous medical education committees. Among other positions, he was a trustee, vice president and president of West Virginia’s state society of ACOFP and served on the joint education and operations committees of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Osteopathic Association and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. He is currently senior vice president of osteopathic accreditation for the ACGME, the organization that establishes educational standards to prepare physicians at the residency and fellowship levels to deliver high-quality medical care.

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JILL COCHRAN, PH.D., RECOGNIZED IN

HEALTH CARE HALL OF FAME

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She has a long career as a nurse invested in helping the community, but now, Jill Cochran, Ph.D., can add “hall of fame” member to her list of accomplishments.

The WVSOM faculty member and nine other state health care professionals were inducted into West Virginia Executive magazine’s Health Care Hall of Fame. The 2024 recipients attended an awards program in February in Charleston, W.Va. Cochran began working with mothers and their newborns in the late 1970s. She has worked as a nurse in various areas of West Virginia, most recently as a nurse practitioner in the Rainelle Medical Center emergency department and as a family nurse practitioner at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic from 1999 to 2021. She has been an associate professor of clinical sciences at WVSOM, teaching pediatrics, since 2010.

“I feel honored and privileged to be thought of, let alone be a recipient of this award,” she said. “Having 40-something years’ experience in health care, this is one of the coolest things I’ve received. Especially being a nurse, because sometimes our work is not recognized since there are so many layers above and below us. To be picked from those layers is validating that your career has been worthwhile.”

Cochran has built a career that extends beyond a health care facility or clinic.

“I have built my community from the office. People see me at Walmart and ask me a medical question and I give them an answer. I am who I am no matter if I’m with my kids or someone else. If patients recognize me and need something related to health care, I’m going to help them. Community members expect me to be there for them and to stand for what I said in the office,” she said.

Cochran is involved in translational research projects focused on diabetes, childhood obesity, the health care needs of children and the care of children in rural Appalachia. As a WVSOM faculty member, she conducted research through the West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute in addition to teaching students how to observe trends in caring for patients.

One program implemented as a result of Cochran’s research was the Robert C. Byrd Clinic’s “telesoothe” program, which began in early 2020 with in-person visits that utilized an infant simulator to demonstrate swaddling to family members. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many parents were isolated from their support system or extended family and weren’t able to visit a clinic, so the program was offered through telehealth.

WVSOM President James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., praised Cochran and discussed the contributions of all health care providers.

“Whether you’re a physician, nurse practitioner, health care administrator, clinical faculty member or a member of the community who provides health care knowledge to West Virginians, these health care professionals are the individuals making a positive health impact in communities throughout the state,” he said. “I could not be happier for Dr. Cochran, who not only is an inspirational faculty member at WVSOM but is someone who is completely committed to helping better patients’ lives.”

The Health Care Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have had a positive influence in the state, whether by starting a unique business to meet a need, developing devices to improve medical treatment, acting as a trailblazer in the profession, leading efforts to treat underserved populations or finding new ways to address West Virginia’s health issues.

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CHRIS KENNEDY, D.O., RECEIVED STATEWIDE

‘40 UNDER 40’ HONOR

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Christopher Kennedy, D.O., an assistant professor in WVSOM’s Department of Clinical Sciences, was selected as a “Generation Next: 40 Under 40” honoree by The State Journal, a publication that covers business, government, education, health care and related topics throughout West Virginia. Kennedy was one of 40 West Virginians recognized during a June 19 awards ceremony in Clarksburg, W.Va. The Generation Next program pays tribute to young professionals who work to make the Mountain State a better place to live, raise families and conduct business.

In addition to his instructional duties at WVSOM, Kennedy is also a staff physician and vice chair of the Department of Medicine at the Robert C. Byrd Clinic in Lewisburg. He said he finds teaching medicine fulfilling because it allows him to make a difference not only in his students’ lives, but in the lives of their future patients.

“Every part of a student’s education is important, but medical school is where they really start to take on the identity of a physician,” Kennedy said. “It’s rewarding to mentor them through the good times and bad times. Shepherding them through this important time in their lives, and making sure they’re happy and doing well mentally, is exciting.”

At WVSOM, Kennedy is an instructor for renal, respiratory, and blood and lymphatic courses and assesses students in clinical skills labs. He also has served as director of courses on the gastrointestinal system and renal system.

He is chair of WVSOM’s curriculum committee and serves on the school’s faculty council, curriculum building committee, curriculum assessment subcommittee, predoctoral curriculum subcommittee, preclinical curriculum subcommittee and item review subcommittee.

Kennedy conducts weekly home visits to patients in Greenbrier County who would not otherwise have access to a medical provider. He mentors family medicine resident physicians in efforts to raise awareness about asthma management, and has spearheaded medical student service trips to international underserved areas such as Peru and the Dominican Republic.

Born and raised in Morgantown, W.Va., Kennedy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and psychology from West Virginia University in 2013. He earned a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from WVSOM in 2017 and completed a family medicine residency at WVU Medicine United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, W.Va., where he received the program’s Resident Teacher Award.

Kennedy joined WVSOM’s faculty in 2020. He received the President’s Outstanding Faculty Award in 2022, presented to faculty members in recognition of excellence in teaching and commitment to osteopathic medical education. Earlier this year, he received the school’s Osteopathic Principles and Practice Integration Teaching Award, given to faculty members who excel in incorporating osteopathic medicine into classes.

Andrea Nazar, D.O., who chairs WVSOM’s Department of Clinical Sciences, praised Kennedy for his work with patients and students.

“Dr. Kennedy is a remarkable individual, and it’s a privilege to work with him,” Nazar said. “His dedication to outstanding and compassionate patient care, as well as his exceptional work in medical education, are genuinely making a positive impact in our state.”

In July, Kennedy took on an additional role as program director of the family medicine residency at CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Ronceverte, W.Va. He maintains the program, organizes its faculty and supervises resident physicians while continuing his work at WVSOM and the Robert C. Byrd Clinic.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 53

ASSOCIATION NAMED

NAZAR HONORARY ALUMNI

A

At the WVSOM Alumni Association’s meeting and luncheon in January, Mark Yost, D.O., a member of the association’s board, presented Andrea Nazar, D.O., with the 2024 Honorary Alumni award. A WVSOM faculty member since 1991, she is chair of the school’s Department of Clinical Sciences.

Heather Phillips, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 2003, praised Nazar for her compassion and wisdom.

“For decades, Dr. Nazar has poured her heart and soul into WVSOM, and her dedication has not gone unnoticed. Her passion for medicine and medical education is second to none, and we are fortunate to have her as one of our most cherished assets,” Phillips said. “She has impacted thousands of students and, in turn, thousands of patients under their care.”

Nazar also has been recognized in the WVSOM community for work in medical education and nationally for her work as a preceptor. In 2018, Nazar received WVSOM’s President’s Outstanding Faculty Award, presented to a faculty member for excellence in teaching and commitment to osteopathic medical education. In 2020, she was selected to receive a Master Preceptor Award by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.

“I am truly honored to be recognized as an honorary WVSOM alumni. It has been a privilege to be part of the medical education of so many students and the experience, which is still happening, is so rewarding.

I am grateful to all for this gift,” she said.

As an honorary alumni, Nazar received an engraved brick that will be placed into the Alumni Brick Walk in front of the main building.

JOIN US:

WVOMA IS YOUR VOICE AT THE LEGISLATURE, REPRESENTING YOUR PROFESSION AND YOUR PRACTICE

TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.wvoma.org • 304.793.6842

CONFERENCE 122 ND ANNUAL CME OCT. 31-NOV. 3, 2024 THE GREENBRIER

CONFERENCE 123 RD ANNUAL CME NOV. 7-9, 2025 THE GREENBRIER

*Credits are recognized by the AOA Council on CME. The complete program schedule will be posted when it becomes available.

54 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

COLLABORATION BETWEEN

WVSOM AND MARSHALL UNIVERSITY

S

ALLOWS MEDICAL STUDENTS TO EARN DUAL DEGREE

Students at WVSOM have the opportunity to earn a Master of Public Health degree (MPH) while completing their osteopathic medical education.

WVSOM entered into a partnership with Marshall University that will allow the medical school’s students to supplement their Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree with an MPH degree through a program that lasts a total of five years.

The presidents of both institutions signed a memorandum of understanding describing the program’s admissions procedures, academic policies, tuition and billing, and other elements of the partnership.

James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., president of WVSOM, said the agreement allows students to broaden their base of knowledge in order to address issues impacting public health.

“The dual D.O./MPH degree program will benefit our students who want a greater understanding of community health needs and solutions. Just as osteopathic medicine addresses the entire patient, not just the symptom, public health looks at the larger population, not just the patient.

Marshall University offers an outstanding public health program, and we’re happy to work with President Brad Smith and the university’s administration to offer this option to our hard-working future physicians,” Nemitz said.

Brad D. Smith, president of Marshall University, said such dual degree programs are a key to addressing the region’s health care challenges.

“As we unveil this important dual degree program, we embark on a transformative journey for the health and well-being of West Virginia and Appalachia,” Smith said. “This innovative program stands as a beacon of hope, addressing the unique health care challenges of our region with strategic precision and unwavering dedication. By nurturing a new cadre of doctors also trained in public health, we not only elevate our communities’ health outcomes but also empower our people to thrive amidst adversity.”

Campus, where learning occurs in clinical settings such as physician offices, medical centers and hospitals.

The mission of the MPH program is to prepare a competent public health workforce, promote scholarly activities and reduce the burden of health disparities, particularly in West Virginia and Appalachia.

Linda Boyd, D.O., WVSOM’s chief academic officer, said the dual degree program will lead to innovative solutions for improved public health.

“WVSOM is thrilled to offer a D.O./MPH for our medical students by partnering with the Marshall program. Getting an MPH degree during medical school is one of the most popular dual degrees for medical students across the U.S. Learning more about public health will shape future doctors by allowing them to look at systemic problems in health care and work toward innovative solutions on the macro level, while also caring for their individual patients. Marshall has been a wonderful partner in developing this program, and we look forward to having many students engage in this value-added training,” Boyd said.

Michael Prewitt, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health Professions at Marshall University, said the school’s degree program provides unique experience and expertise.

“The MPH program is an interdisciplinary program whose graduates will seek to improve and maintain the health, safety and well-being of populations and to prevent and manage disease, disability and human suffering. Students will benefit from a comprehensive and rigorous curriculum along with specialty training. They will develop critical knowledge and skills in such areas as rural health, global health and health policy. Additional practicum experiences will provide students with the expertise and experience needed for public health practitioners,” Prewitt said.

The partnership establishes a path for interested students to attend osteopathic medical school for two years of preclinical education before starting a 10-month online program at Marshall for the MPH degree.

The D.O./MPH program began this summer and will be available to any WVSOM student in good academic standing after completion of their second year.

Following completion of the MPH program, WVSOM students will complete clinical rotations in the school’s Statewide

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 55

NEW HIRES

56 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

GARRETT CLEMONS, PH.D.

STEPHANIE BROWN, D.O.

Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Assistant Professor of Osteopathic Principles and Practice

Garrett Clemons, Ph.D., joined WVSOM on May 31. Clemons earned a Bachelor of Science degree in exercise physiology from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. degree from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, primarily focused on cerebrovascular biology in a range of conditions such as stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. He has worked as a scientific writer for the Atrium Health Sanger Heart and Vascular Institute in Charlotte, N.C., and plans to investigate aging and vascular health in the context of the rural population of Greenbrier County and the surrounding region.

Stephanie Brown, D.O., joined WVSOM on June 20. Brown earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business marketing with a pre-medical minor from William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and is a graduate of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in Middletown, N.Y. She completed an osteopathic neuromusculoskeletal medicine residency at Greenbrier Valley Medical Center in Ronceverte, W.Va., where she was chief resident, and worked as a table trainer in WVSOM’s osteopathic principles and practice labs. Most recently, Brown was a clinical assistant faculty member at the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is board certified in neuromusculoskeletal medicine.

LORI MCGREW, PH.D.

CRISSANDRA DIGGES, D.O.

Professor of Biomedical Sciences

Assistant Professor of Osteopathic Principles and Practice

Lori McGrew, Ph.D., joined WVSOM on July 1. McGrew earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and chemistry from Guilford College and a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt, she taught at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., for 18 years, and has been a professor at the DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University.

McGrew also has served as research director and chair of Lincoln Memorial’s Institutional Review Board. Her current research endeavors to utilize a zebrafish species to evaluate the anxiolytic effects of pharmacologic agents, including those found in native plants.

Crissandra Digges, D.O., joined WVSOM on July 29. Digges earned an osteopathic medical degree from WVSOM, where she was a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Osteopathic Principles and Practice. Prior to attending medical school, she graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry. Digges completed a MaineDartmouth family medicine residency, where she was chief resident, and also completed a Year 3 ONMM residency. She is board certified in family medicine and board eligible in ONMM.

TRANSITIONS DOVENIA PONNOTH, PH.D.

JACOB NEUMANN, PH.D.

Associate Dean for Research and Sponsored Programs

Department Chair for Biomedical Sciences

Dovenia Ponnoth, Ph.D., accepted the position of associate dean for research and sponsored programs starting Feb. 10, overseeing all research and sponsored programs at WVSOM. Ponnoth has research and teaching experience in pharmacology, toxicology, physiology and genetics, specifically in the areas of cardiovascular and pulmonary pharmacology/physiology. After joining WVSOM in 2020 as a biomedical sciences faculty member, she served for six months as the school’s interim associate dean of research and sponsored programs.

Jacob Neumann, Ph.D., accepted the administrative faculty position of department chair for biomedical sciences and associate professor starting May 18. Neumann has served as a WVSOM faculty member since 2015. He has also served as vice chair and acting chair for biomedical sciences and director of WVSOM’s Human Gift Registry. Neumann has a Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from Southern Illinois School of Medicine in Springfield, Ill., and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of IllinoisChicago. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

MARK WADDELL, D.O. Director of Rural and International Medicine

Mark Waddell, D.O., accepted the position of director of rural and international medicine starting July 1. Waddell will direct WVSOM’s rural health mission, working with the Rural Health Initiative and the school’s director of rural outreach. He also will guide students seeking international rotations and medical service experiences by vetting opportunities and preparing and debriefing students for medical service trips. Additionally, he will lead WVSOM’s wilderness medicine elective. He will retain academic responsibilities in the Department of Clinical Sciences and will continue to teach residents in the Robert C. Byrd Clinic’s ambulatory clinic.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 57

CLASS NOTES 1979

George Sokos, D.O., FACC, was inducted into the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy Hall of Fame.

Scott Keller, D.O., FAAFP, published a children’s book, The Book of Pizza, under the pseudonym D.K. Robertson. Proceeds from the book’s sale benefit a free clinic where he serves as medical director.

2005

1980 Wayne Brackenrich, D.O., retired from full-time practice on June 7. Brackenrich practiced family medicine in Rich Creek, Va., before becoming director of the osteopathic family medicine residency at Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Va. He later worked at Carilion North Roanoke Family Medicine.

1988 Andy Naymick, D.O., FACOOG, is no longer responsible for night and weekend calls after delivering a total of 4,382 babies in his career.

Naymick retains obstetric privileges and continues to work full time, performing robotic hysterectomies at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hanover Women’s Health. He has three grandchildren.

1997 Forest Arnold, D.O., performed an interview with Brittanie West, D.O., of WVSOM’s Class of 2015, for Medscape’s InDiscussion podcast that earned a National Bronze Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

Lori Tucker, D.O., FACOG, is the founder and CEO of Discreet Wellness and Sexual Health, which offers telemedicine services nationwide.

1999 Dara Aliff, D.O., was elected section chair of the West Virginia section of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She also was elected to the board of MagMutual Insurance Company and appointed to the board of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department in Charleston, W.Va. Aliff serves on WVSOM’s predoctoral advisory subcommittee, is an associate clinical faculty member for West Virginia University’s OB-GYN residency and co-owns Premier Women’s Health Specialists in Charleston, where she is a partner with her husband.

58 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

B.J. Belcher, D.O., became site director for the main campus of Pediatric Urgent Care at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

2010 Jennifer Bailey, D.O., was named Pediatrician of the Year by the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

2012 Michael Antolini, D.O., received a presidential citation from Ira Monka, D.O., immediate past president of the American Osteopathic Association, at the organization’s annual House of Delegates meeting.

2014 Soham Dave, D.O., became associate director of the Commitment to Underserved People Program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.

Andrew Naymick, D.O., is a family medicine physician at Coastal Carolina Health Care in New Bern, N.C.

2015 Allison Holstein, D.O., received the Advocate of the Year award from the West Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, marking the first time the award has been presented to a D.O.

2016 Meredith Bentley, D.O., was named program director of the general psychiatry residency program at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in Huntington, W.Va.

2020 Clinton Deering, D.O., completed a psychiatry residency at Unity Hospital in Searcy, Ark., and accepted a position at a private clinic in Clearwater, Fla.

2022 Jason Miller, D.O., was named a chief resident in the internal medicine program at Trinity Health System in Steubenville, Ohio.

BIRTHS 1997 Allison Evans-Wood, D.O., welcomed her first grandchild on April 25.

2001 Jeff Engel, D.O., and his wife, Betty, welcomed a son, Vinh-Anh Sheridan Engel, on Aug. 30, 2023.

2003 Virgil McMillion, D.O., and his wife, Brianna McMillion, welcomed twin sons Miles Lee McMillion and Mason Waid McMillion on Feb. 25.

2008 Dennis Mays, D.O., and his wife, Flora, welcomed their second child, Nakoa Alexander Mays, on May 23.

2013 Peggy Schoening, D.O., and her husband welcomed their third child, Andrew Joseph Landel, on Feb. 2.

2014 and 2016 Megan Harman, D.O., and John “Evan” Ellison, D.O., welcomed their first son, Arlie Blaine Ellison, on June 3 in Asheville, N.C.

IN MEMORY OF 1978 Richard N. Halstead, D.O., passed away June 12, 2023, in Mooresville, Ind. Halstead operated a private practice for 40 years and served on the board of Westview Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind., as well as the board of Marian University. He received the Arnold P. Gold Foundation’s Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award.

Additionally, he would return to WVSOM to teach dermatology and was a regular speaker for the school’s continuing medical education events.

Hibler served as a member of the WVSOM Alumni Association board and was the first recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009.

1980 Emmart Hoy Jr., D.O., passed away April 7, 2022. Hoy served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and, after graduating from WVSOM, worked as an emergency medicine physician in St. Marys, Ohio, at Joint Township District Memorial Hospital before establishing a family medicine practice in Columbus, Ohio.

Ron Ross, D.O., passed away April 8 in Flatwoods, Ky. Ross served as a medic in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and, after graduating from WVSOM, spent his 39-year medical career in Louisa, Ky., first in private practice and later as an emergency medicine physician.

1981 James Clifton, D.O., passed away May 1 in Vidalia, Ga. Clifton established a private practice in Swainsboro, Ga., before serving as chief of staff at Emanuel County Hospital. He also served as medical director of Emergency Medical Service in Swainsboro and was a physician for Georgia’s Emanuel County Jail, Emanuel Women’s Facility and Emanuel Probation Detention Center. Additionally, Clifton served as medical examiner for Emanuel County.

1984 Fred (Rick) Sabol, D.O., FACEP, passed away Feb. 25 in Spanishburg, W.Va. A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Sabol worked as an emergency medicine physician at hospitals throughout West Virginia, most recently at WVU Medicine-Potomac Valley Hospital in Keyser, W.Va. He also was past medical director for the Bluestone Valley Fire Department, the Princeton Rescue Squad and the Mercer County Health Department.

1986 Susan Osborne, D.O., passed away Oct. 12, 2023. Osborne was a family medicine physician who owned the Barter Clinic of Floyd, in Floyd, Va. She also served as a medical examiner and was the operational medical director for Christiansburg Rescue and Riner Volunteer Rescue Squad.

2002 William Lee Massie II, D.O., passed away Sept. 9, 2021, in Georgetown, S.C. Massie served in the U.S. Army as part of Operation Desert Storm and, after graduating from WVSOM, became a flight surgeon. He worked in the emergency department at Conway Medical Center in Conway, S.C., from 2006 to 2015.

1979 John Hibler, D.O., passed away May 29. Hibler served as a physician for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps and received the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for outstanding conduct and leadership at California’s Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 59

GIFTS TO WVSOM LIFETIME GIVING LEADERS President’s Council Donors $100,000+

Founder’s Club Donors $50,000-$99,999

Drs. Michael and Cheryl Adelman Drs. David and Bonita Barger Charles Davis, D.O./Davis Eye Center Inc. Abdollatif Ghiathi, D.O. James Harless Ray Harron, M.D./Harron Foundation John Manchin II, D.O./Manchin Clinic Angus Peyton/Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation Michael C. Pyles, D.O. Roland Sharp, D.O. Marlene Wager, D.O. Lydia Weisser, D.O. Gary White Kendall Wilson Jr., D.O.

Christopher Beckett, D.O. Sean Brain and Jandy Hanna, Ph.D. Joseph Cincinnati, D.O. James Deering, D.O., and Jodi Flanders, D.O. Troy Foster, D.O. Drs. Robert and Rachel Hunter William McLaughlin, D.O. James Nemitz, Ph.D. Michael Nicholas, D.O. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Obrokta Jr./Olivia Claire Obrokta Foundation Patrick Pagur, D.O., and Billie Wright, D.O. Mr. and Mrs. David and Martha Rader Carole Stookey Drs. Andrew and Tiffany Thymius Mrs. John Tirpak Harold Ward, D.O. Dr. and Mrs. Badshah Wazir/Spring Hill Cardiology

BUSINESSES Encova Foundation of West Virginia The Greenbrier Hotel Corp.

Hildegard P. Swick Estate Hollowell Foundation Inc. Maier Foundation Inc. Seneca Trail Charitable Foundation Inc. WVSOM Alumni Association

60 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

BUSINESSES Humana National Osteopathic Foundation West Virginia Emulation Endowment Trust West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association

Patron Donors $25,000-$49,999 Michael Antolini, D.O. Manuel Ballas, D.O. Catherine Bishop, D.O. Craig Boisvert, D.O., FACOFP Jeffery Braham, D.O. Drs. Edward and Kristie Bridges Clyde Brooks III, D.O. Cathy Dailey, D.O. Steven Eshenaur, D.O., and Lori Eshenaur/Haven Ltd. Ahmed Faheem, M.D. Allen Finkelstein, D.O. Robert Flowers, D.O. J. Robert Holmes, DDS Dr. Gregory and Penny Jarrell Dorothy Montgomery Samuel Muscari Jr., D.O. Deena Obrokta, D.O. Lorenzo Pence, D.O. Dr. and Mrs. Art Rubin and the CarmelGreenfield Charitable Trust Rosa Stone, D.O. Peter Stracci, D.O. Phillip Triplett Jr., D.O. Lori Tucker, D.O. Drs. Rafael and Letetia Villalobos Lewis Whaley, D.O.

BUSINESSES CAMC Greenbrier Valley Medical Center CAMC Health Education and Research Institute City National Bank Jeanne G. Hamilton and Lawson W. Hamilton Jr. Family Foundation Inc. Highmark Inc. Highmark West Virginia Little General Stores OVP Foundation for Healthier Communities OVP Health Inc. Robert C. Byrd Clinic Inc. Smith Kline & French Laboratories Truist Corporation West Virginia State Medical Association Alliance

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 61

DONATIONS BY LIFETIME GIVING CATEGORY GIFTS RECEIVED FROM ACTIVE DONORS BETWEEN NOV. 1, 2023, AND JUNE 30, 2024

Dean’s Circle Donors $10,000-$24,999 Hal Armistead, D.O., and Amelia Roush, D.O. Randall Belt, D.O. Linda Boyd, D.O. Richard Carey, D.O. Samuel Deem, D.O. John Garlitz, D.O. John Glover, D.O. Donald Gullickson II, D.O. Thomas Johnson, D.O. Susan Ketchem Cynthia Mayer, D.O. Richard McClung, DDS Karen Montgomery-Reagan, D.O. Stephen Naymick, D.O. Pete Palko III, D.O. Ronald Smith, D.O. Daniel Trent, D.O. George Triplett, D.O. Naomi Wriston, D.O. BUSINESS Jackson Kelly PLLC

Benefactor Donors $5,000-$9,999

Sophia Sibold, D.O.

Heidi Clark, D.O.

Jan Silverman, D.O.

Shawn Clark, D.O.

Sponsor Donors $2,500-$4,999 Leslie Bicksler Edward Brennan II, D.O. J.P. Casher, D.O. Zachary Comeaux, D.O. Christi Cooper-Lehki, D.O. Allison Evans-Wood, D.O. Monte Finch, D.O. Kathryn Wallington Freeland Darla Gallentine, D.O. Kathy Goodman, D.O. Ray Hayes, D.O. Brant Hinchman, D.O. Mark Hrko, D.O. Anthony Johnson, D.O. Josalyn Mann, D.O. Stephen Mascio, D.O. Richard Meadows, D.O. James Paugh II, D.O. Mary Pozega, D.O. Jason Shull Albert Smith Jr., D.O. Monte Ward

Craig Chambers, D.O.

Carl Colombo, D.O. James Cooper II, D.O. David Dietz Marina Diioia, Ph.D. Roderick Doss, D.O. Richard Durham, D.O. Georgette George Patricia Hamilton Edison Hill Mark Jeffries, D.O. Clay Lee, D.O. Judith Maloney, Ph.D. William Martin, D.O. William Martin, Ph.D. Eric McClanahan, D.O. Brian McDevitt, D.O. Donette Mizia Drs. David and Tamara Montgomery Christine Moore, D.O. Sue Morgan John Myer Thomas Richardson, D.O. Eric Schneider, D.O. Victoria Shuman, D.O. Shannon Sorah, D.O. Robert Thiele, D.O.

Michael Chambers

BUSINESSES

H. Lawrence Clark

Cartledge Foundation Inc.

Leah Triplett, D.O.

Michael Cope, Ph.D.

FirstEnergy Foundation

Ryan Waddell, D.O.

Charles Cornell

West Virginia Society of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians

Ann Wells

David Cummings, D.O. Drema Hill, Ph.D. Buddy Hurt, D.O. Gretchen Lovett, Ph.D.

Associate Donors $1,000-$2,499

Kathleen Maley, D.O.

Beth Been, D.O.

Andrea Nazar, D.O.

Dan Breece, D.O.

Nancy Bulla Nemitz

Joseph Calvert, D.O.

Ryan Runyon, D.O.

John Carey, D.O.

62 • WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024

Brittanie West, D.O. Winter Wilson, D.O. BUSINESSES Comquest Osteopathic Specialists LLC Family Medicine Foundation of West Virginia WVSOM Staff Council

DONATIONS BY LIFETIME GIVING CATEGORY GIFTS RECEIVED FROM ACTIVE DONORS BETWEEN NOV. 1, 2023, AND JUNE 30, 2024

Friend Donors $500-$999

Laura Oleson

Marshall Barker, D.O.

Michael Warlick, D.O.

Kendra Unger, M.D.

Kristina Brown, D.O. Linda Cipriani James Dietz Jenifer Hadley, D.O.

BUSINESS New York Life Insurance

Karen Hausler

Caduceus Donors $50-$249

Christopher Kennedy, D.O.

Kathleen Bors, M.D.

Thomas Kleman

Jacquelyn Boswell

Lianna Lawson, D.O.

Dru Burns

Wendy Lee, D.O.

Sally Cooper

Jesamyn Fuscardo Marshall, D.O.

Gayle Cramer

Aaron McGuffin, M.D.

Ankur Dave, D.O.

Susan Medalie, D.O.

Frank Dempsey

Karthik Mohan, D.O.

Daniel and Kellie Gooding

Bobbi Morgan

Mistafa Hafid, D.O.

Jason Oreskovich, D.O.

Jacob Harmon, D.O.

Rick Pellant, D.O.

Haylee Heinsberg

Sandra Robinson, D.O.

Kamran Khan, D.O.

Jeffrey Shawver

Carol King

Louis Stanley, O.D.

Michael Lawless, D.O.

Katherine Williams, Ph.D.

Jessica Lewis

Lisa Zaleski-Larsen, D.O.

Laura Lockwood, D.O.

Supporter Donors $250-$499 Scott Brown, D.O. Richard Capito, M.D. Matthew Davis, D.O. Salvatore DeFilippo, D.O. Catherine Feaga, D.O. David and Olgusha Forrest Holly Hardesty Bradley Harris Tommy Holbrook II, D.O. Khan Matin, M.D. Reginald Motley, D.O. Fara Movagharnia, D.O. Steve Obermeyer

Lisa Marshall

SCAN THE QR CODE to donate to a scholarship endowment or other fund of your choosing.

WVSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NEW LIFE MEMBERS Nov. 21, 2023, to July 31, 2024

Scott Maxwell

2009

Louis Nardelli, D.O.

Shelden Mullens

2012

Brant Hinchman, D.O.

Ronald Pearson

2013

Ashley Jones, D.O.

Gina Puzzuoli, M.D., and Gary Needham

2015

John Diefenderfer, D.O.

Jennifer Rose, D.O.

2019

Janet Kowalsky, D.O.

2020

Crissandra Digges, D.O.

Dena Smith, D.O. Gary Smith, D.O. Karen Sparks Daniel Suders, D.O. Junyu Wang, D.O. Daniel Whitmore, D.O. BUSINESSES American College of Osteopathic Internists Clifton Presbyterian Church

SCAN THE QR CODE

to become a WVSOM Alumni Association Life Member and begin utilizing the membership’s benefits.

WVSOM Magazine • SUMMER 2024 • 63

West Virginia School of OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE

400 Lee Street North Lewisburg, WV 24901

finding health

preparing medical students to find health practicing in any specialty 800+

medical students enrolled each year — more than any other medical school in the state WV HEPC Health Sciences and Rural Health Report, 2023

@WVSOM.1

$133+ MILLION

economic impact in the state

100%

residency placement rate Class of 2024

Tripp Umbach Economic Impact Study, 2020

/WVSOM

/WVSOM

60+

hospitals and clinics for medical student rotation experiences

7

regional campus sites

WVSOM.edu