Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center Celebrates 100 Years of Training Physicians

July 7, 2016

Friday, June 17, 2016, marks Conemaugh’s 100^th Resident Physician Graduation.  

The first medical training program at Conemaugh Memorial began in 1915 with three interns who were training for a one year period. One of them, B.A. Braude, MD, was elected president of the Conemaugh Valley Memorial Hospital Medical Staff in 1938. His granddaughter, Lynne McQuillan is employed at Conemaugh as a fitness specialist in Employee Wellness.

While the original medical training program ended in 1975, others began. Today Conemaugh Memorial residency programs include Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgery, Internal Medicine, Pharm D, and Psychology, with preliminary year residencies in Internal Medicine and Surgery, as well as AOA Residency programs.

“We are very proud of our legacy of being a teaching hospital,” says Dr. Richard Wozniak, Medical Director of Conemaugh Memorial’s residency programs. “Many great physicians have trained here and we are fortunate that many also remained in the community developing programs and providing care that has made Conemaugh Health System what it is today.

“Many residents that have trained at Conemaugh come back to work and teach the next generation of physicians,” adds Dr. Wozniak. “In fact, since that first class in 1915, Conemaugh Memorial has had over 200 residents remain at or return to work at Conemaugh Health System.”

This year’s Resident Physician Graduation will take place on Friday, June 17, 2016, at the Pasquerilla Conference Center.

• Harold Gordon, MD was an intern at Conemaugh Memorial then later worked in Pathology. Dr. Gordon is 101 years old and still lives in the area.
• General Surgery Residency started in 1961. It is a five-year program. Many of Conemaugh's surgeons are graduates from this program and also have completed specialty fellowships and returned to Conemaugh to practice.
• Family Medicine Residency started in 1971 and was one of the first in the country. It is a three-year program. The program has graduated 224 physicians.
• Internal Medicine Residency started in 1972. It is a three-year program. Many of Conemaugh's Primary Care physicians and Hospitalists graduated from this program.
• Transitional Year started in 1982 and ended in 2012.
• Internal Medicine Preliminary Year started in 2013 (replacing the Transitional Year program). It is a one-year program.
• Emergency Medicine Residency started in 2008. It was a four-year program but is now transitioning to a three-year program.
• PharmD Residency started in 2002. It is a one-year program and remains active. They have graduated 33 residents and 4 are working here at Conemaugh.
• The Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship is a one-year program for graduates of approved doctoral programs in psychology. It started in 2012 and remains active. The goal is to provide a comprehensive training experience which includes primary care psychology, inpatient health and mental health experience, assessments, and treatment of multiple patient populations within and outside the hospital
• American Osteopathic Association (AOA) Residency started in 1988 and remains active

Congratulations to our 2016 graduating residents!
Sarah Abbot DO
Martin Bolinger DO
Tina Boni PsyD
Jason Bregg MD
Nour Daboul MD
Almaan El-Attrache MD
Shane Fassnacht PharmD
Jessica Ferguson PsyD
Amibahen Gandhi MD
Neal George DO
David Gnugnoli DO
Munawwar Hussain MD
Adrienne Jantzi PharmD
Tanya Kindel PsyD
Richard Kutz PsyD
Richard Lammers DO
Rebecca Larsen DO
Lusine Mesropyan DO
Muhammad Naeem MD
Sara Nakhal MD
Emma Oberlander DO
Fooroogh Ostovari MD
Jeremy Pappacena PharmD
Muhammad Saleemi MD
Allison Schiller DO
Douglas Schiller DO
Maitri Shah MD
Wael Toama MD
Puneet Tuli MD
Candice Widuch-Mert MD
Paul Williams MD
Christopher Wolfe DO
Amy Yan PharmD