by Jennifer Kowalewski

Faculty, staff and students at OU-COM will be busy Wednesday, April 19, with two special events. In the first, students will learn about the practice of and opportunities in cardiology.

Cardiologist H. Paul Kim, D.O. (’94), will round out Career Medical Specialties Week with a presentation from noon to 1 p.m.

Events will take place in Irvine 194.

Career Medical Specialties Week

Kim says he looks forward to talking with students at OU-COM. He will lecture on the training needed to specialize in the area of cardiology as well as the subspecialties available. 

“This will be the first time I've been back to OU-COM since I graduated,” he says. “I teach medical students from Ohio State University while I'm doing rounds in the hospital. This will be nice to interact with med students from my alma mater.”

For more than a decade, OU-COM has had practicing specialists — many of whom were alumni like Kim —speak to students about their areas of specialization. Primary Care Medical Week, held in winter quarter, was for those interested in careers as family physicians. Career Medical Specialties Week highlights specialized medicine in order to provide students a glimpse of a day in the life of the specialist. This year, students heard from Daryl Sybert, D.O. (’86), (orthopedic surgery); and Robert S. Houser, D.O. (’97), (plastic surgery); CORE clinical professor Carl R. Backes, D.O., (neonatology); and John Hibler, D.O., (dermatology).

After a residency at Riverside Methodist Hospital, Kim completed a fellowship at Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Kim, who followed in the footsteps of an uncle, is board certified and is currently practicing in Columbus.

“I do think that early exposure to the different specialties of medicine and surgery is important,” he says. “As medicine becomes more specialized, I believe students should gain an understanding of what each specialty does so they can start planning their future.”