BIG STONE GAP, Va. – Plenty of hard work and persistence to develop a program that will significantly boost the number of physicians in Southwest Virginia will yield a lot of happy faces tonight as Dr. Derek Harman receives his white Wellmont Health System coat in a special dinner ceremony.
Dr. Harman is the first medical resident in a joint program established by Wellmont and Lincoln Memorial University's Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. The 30-year-old resident, who hails from Bluefield, W.Va., has started his three-year residency by working at Lonesome Pine Hospital.
Wellmont and Lincoln Memorial officials will be on hand at Lonesome Pine Country Club as Dr. Harman dons his white coat.
Dr. Maurice Nida, Wellmont's director of medical education, said the program will be the launching pad for a batch of locally trained physicians to open practices in Southwest Virginia.
"I'm excited," Dr. Nida said. "We've seen two years of work come to fruition. It's an important milestone we've crossed that will benefit patients throughout Southwest Virginia. There will be a sense of accomplishment tonight, yet there is still long way for this program to go."
Dr. Nida's partner in overseeing this program is Dr. Thomas Roatsey, who serves as program director for family practice.
Jo Anne Harding, residency program coordinator, said Dr. Harman will be primarily stationed at Lonesome Pine for the first year. His work will spread to Wellmont's other Mountain Region hospitals – Lee Regional Medical Center in Pennington Gap, Va., and Mountain View Regional Medical Center in Norton, Va. – in his second and third years.
He also will complete some subspecialty rotations at Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport, Tenn., and Bristol Regional Medical Center in Bristol, Tenn.
David Brash, president of Lonesome Pine and regional vice president for Wellmont, said tonight's ceremony is a major moment for the health system and region.
"While the results of this program will be evident in the excellent care patients will receive in our three Mountain Region hospitals, it is appropriate to take time tonight to celebrate this achievement," Brash said. "A lot of people have been diligent in bringing this program to reality, and I thank them for their efforts to improve the lives of our patients and the communities we serve. This is a watershed moment for Southwest Virginia."
In 2009, the American Osteopathic Association granted approval for the LMU-DCOM/Wellmont Family Practice Residency Program to enroll as many as 24 students. Harding said the association gave permission for up to eight new students each year. She said the program hopes to reach that number next year.
The program is open to students from LMU-DCOM and other medical schools.
Dr. Harman, a graduate of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, said he is honored to be the first resident in the new program.
"It's good to have one-on-one teaching in medicine, and you don't get that in larger programs," Dr. Harman said. "One-on-one teaching is much more conducive to learning for me."
This program was attractive to him because it was close to Bluefield, and the patient population and community are similar to his hometown. Dr. Harman said he has enjoyed his experience so far at Lonesome Pine.
"I like the size of the hospital because you're getting bread-and-butter medical training," he said. "Everyone's been extremely nice and very open to having me."
