Residency News

Zhijun Huang, MD, Chief Physician, Director, Poison Control Center, Henan Province Institute of Occupational Health, Henan, China, presented a lecture at Occupational Medicine Grand Rounds, March 16 on Occupational Health in Henan, China.

Occupational Medicine Residency Program Approved

Cheryl Opalack, DO, MPH, FAOCOPM
AOCOPM; PO Box 3043; Tulsa, OK 74101; (800) 558-8686 3

It only took 32 years (1978-2010) for the AOA to approve an osteopathic occupational medicine residency program. From our humble beginnings as an Academy of Preventive Medicine in 1978 to our establishment as a specialty college in the early 1980s, working toward and finally getting this residency certified has been a long, arduous process. But, it has paid off due to the dogged perseverance of our members.

On April 26, 2010 I had the opportunity to visit and inspect the WVSoM Ruby Memorial Hospital's Occupational Residency program in Morgantown, West Virginia. The campus was most impressive. NIOSH head-quarters is about 100 feet from Ruby Memorial Hospital and offers the perfect location for real world training with world-class medical experts in all the subcategories of our specialty. Their library and industry records provide a unique body of information for ongoing research. Dr. Carl Werntz, our program chairman and colleague, developed and organized a top shelf training program for occupational medicine physicians. Currently there are three residents, 2 MDs, and 1 DO. This is a 2-year program complete with research, administrative, and patient-care opportunities. Faculty is able to spend time with each individual and assist each physician with their questions and research projects. The Department is very committed on giving each resident the best training and support network.

Congratulations to Dr. Werntz and his colleagues at WVSoM, and the University of West Virginia/Ruby Memorial Hospital in achieving this long overdue certification. Perseverance is the key to success.

Mina Thorstenson, a 4th year medical student at Virginia College of Osteopathic Medical School in Blacksburg, VA, completed a one month rotation with us in August 2010. Mina received her BS in Microbiology and MS in Exercise Science both at Mississippi State University. During her rotation with us, she was able to spend time in the Occupational Medicine clinics both in Morgantown and the Eastern Division, WVU's Urgent Care, WVU's PFT lab, and learned to interpret chest x-rays at NIOSH.

Robin Altobello, Program Coordinator (2nd from left) attended the 2010 ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Nashville, TN March 4-7, 2010.

Dr. Ibrahim Heiba (L) stands with Dr. Sanjeev Kakkar, PGY3 Occupational Medicine Resident.

"Corporate medicine as a career was quite frankly not high up on my priority list when I started my job hunt. Then in January, our residency director, Dr. Chris Martin, arranged a rotation at Eastman Chemicals, Kingsport, TN. Within my first ten days of the rotation, I realized that a career at Eastman would be incredibly rewarding, both personally as well as for the family. I was exposed to key aspects of corporate medicine, including clinical visits for workers, managing return to work issues, surveillance exams for a wide array for chemicals, and tours of the plant with dedicated staff of industrial hygienists. I finally accepted the offer to join as an occupational staff physician under the able leadership of the Eastman Chemicals Corporate Medical Director, Dr. Heiba." -- Dr. Sanjeev Kakkar, PGY3 Occupational Medicine Resident