Health Policy Fellowship Class of 2012-2013

Front Row: Shannon Scott, D.O. (AZ); Victoria Damba, D.O. (MO); Jennifer Gwilym, D.O. (OH); Robert Hill, Ph.D. (NY); and Ronald Stevens, D.O. (OK). Back Row: Adam Nally, D.O. (AZ); William Felegi, D.O. (NJ); Melissa Gastorf, D.O., MBA (OK); Gregory Saggio, D.O. (NY); Raul Garcia-Rodriguez, D.O. (WA); David Park, D.O. (NV).

Biosketches

Victoria A. Damba, D.O.

Farmington, Missouri

William B. Felegi, D.O., FACEP
Bridgewater, New Jersey

Dr. Felegi received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the University of New England College Of Osteopathic Medicine in 1989. He graduated from Rutgers College, Rutgers University in 1979 with a B.A. in psychology. He completed a one-year rotating AOA internship at St. Michael’s Medical Center, Newark in 1990 and a PGY-1 postgraduate year at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville, NJ in the family practice residency program. He then completed his PGY 1-3 Emergency Medicine Residency at Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he also served as the chief Resident. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.

He is a member of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), American College of Osteopathic Family Practitioners (ACOFP), the New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons (NJAOPS), the American Medical Association (AMA), the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the American College of Osteopathic Emergency medicine Physicians (ACOEP), the New Jersey Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (NJACEP), Society of Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), International Society of Travel Medicine, the Medical Society of New Jersey (MSNJ), the Morris & Sussex County Society of Osteopathic Physicians, and the Morris County Medical Society. Dr. Felegi is a Past President of NJACEP and he currently serves as a Councilor to the College, the Chairman of STATPAC, NJACEP Political Action Committee, and advises the chapter on legislative and regularly affairs. He is the recipient of the chapter’s Good Government Award in 2003 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2009. He also serves as the Chairman of ACEP’s Federal Governmental Affairs Committee and is a member of ACEP’s State Legislation and Regulation Committee and is a Past Board Member of ACEP’s NEMPAC, political action committee and an avid “Give-a-Shift” donor since the inception of the program. He is the distinguished recipient of the ACEP 911 Legislative Network 2009 and 2008 Member of the Year Award and is the only ACEP member to ever have been honored for two consecutive years for his work in political advocacy. He also serves as a Team Captain and State Leader for ACEP’s 911 Network. He is a member of the Board of Governors for the Emergency Medicine Action Fund (EMAF). He also serves as an oral board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine and has received numerous teaching awards from the Morristown Emergency Medicine Residency program for his eclectic teaching style. He has served at the pleasure of two governors as a Commissioner on the NJ Health Care Assess Study Commission and the NJ Commission on Rationalizing Health Care Resources Subcommittee on Hospital/Physician Relations and Practice Efficiency. He currently serves on the NJ State Advisory Council for Basic and Intermediate Life Support which administers the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) Training Fund (EMTTF).

Dr. Felegi is a partner with Emergency Medical Associate (EMA) of New Jersey and is currently the Associate Director of the Emergency Department and the Vice Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and has been an attending at Morristown Medical Center, Morristown, NJ for the last eighteen years. He a faculty member for the emergency medicine residency at Morristown with an appointment as an Assistant Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY. He also serves as the Medical Director of Travel MD,® Atlantic Corporate Health.

Melissa Gastorf, D.O., MBA

Durant, Oklahoma

Dr. Gastorf received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. She graduated from Baylor University with a B.S. in Chemistry. She completed a one-year rotating internship at Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma (MCSO). She then completed a family medicine residency in 2005 also at the Medical Center of Southeastern Oklahoma. She is Board Certified in Family Medicine by the American Osteopathic Association. She also received a Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis on Health Care Administration from Regis University in Denver, Colorado in 2009.

Dr. Gastorf is a member of the American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association, and the Association of Osteopathic Medical Informatics. She is currently the vice President of the Oklahoma Chapter of the ACOFP, and an alternate delegate for Oklahoma to the AOA. She is a bureau member of several boards for the OOA, including the chair of the Residency poster competition for the Bureau of Post-graduate education. She is on the Medical Advisory Board for the Adult and Child Rehabilitation Center in Sherman, Texas.

She has been in family practice for the last seven years in Durant, Oklahoma at a family practice clinic she owns with her husband. In 2011, her clinic became the first in the nation to receive an incentive bonus from CMS for electronic health record (EHR) implementation.
 

 

Jennifer L. Gwilym, DO

Athens, Ohio

Dr. Gwilym received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2003. She graduated Cum Laude from Ohio University in 1999 with a B.S. in Biological Sciences. She completed a one-year rotating internship at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital in 2004. Dr. Gwilym completed a two-year family practice residency in 2006. The first year was completed at Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital and the subsequent year at Doctors Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She is board certified in Family Medicine by the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP).

She currently serves as the O’Bleness Memorial Hospital Family Practice Residency Program Director in Athens, Ohio and Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine. In the past, Dr. Gwilym has practiced as a solo family practitioner, urgent care physician, wound care physician, and Emergency Department physician. Dr. Gwilym served as the Medical Director of the Columbus Public Health Department Sexual Health Clinic from 2007-2008.

Dr. Gwilym is a member of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP), the Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA), and the Columbus Osteopathic Association (COA). She is also a member of the Urgent Care Association of America. She is currently on staff at O’Bleness Memorial Hospital in Athens, Ohio. Dr. Gwilym has been on medical staff at many facilities, including Hocking Valley Community Hospital, Logan, Ohio; Memorial Hospital, Marysville, Ohio; St. Ann’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; and Doctors Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.

Ohio Osteopathic Association (OOA) and Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM) sponsor Dr. Gwilym’s participation in the Health Policy Fellowship.

Robert V. Hill, Ph.D.

Old Westbury, New York

 
Dr. Hill received his Ph.D. in Anatomical Sciences from Stony Brook University in 2004. In 2002, he was awarded dual degrees of M.Phil. in Anatomical Sciences and M.S. in Basic Health Sciences, also from Stony Brook. He graduated in 1997 from Hofstra University, with a B.S. and high honors in biology.

Dr. Hill is the author of numerous scientific publications on varied anatomical topics. These have included human anatomical variation, histological markers of osteoarthritis, comparative anatomy of fossilized skin, and the bones of extinct crocodiles. His research has taken him to distant locales including Madagascar, Argentina, Senegal, and Mongolia. He was named Faculty Member of the Year for Excellence in Teaching Basic Sciences by NYCOM’s class of 2012. He is also the recipient of NYCOM’s Standard of Excellence Award, and Stony Brook’s Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student.

As the Chairperson of NYCOM’s Department of Anatomy, Dr. Hill oversees the anatomy lab and lecture portion of NYCOM’s curriculum. He also works with the New York State Department of Health to ensure compliance and safety in NYCOM’s anatomy lab. He serves on the Anatomical Committee of the Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY), where he helps to develop policies for human cadaver use in New York State. At NYCOM, he has served on the Curriculum Task Force, the Academic Senate, the Committee on Reappointment and Promotions, and the Student Progress Committee. Before serving as Chair, Dr. Hill was Assistant Professor of Anatomy, and then Acting Chair of Anatomy. Prior to working at NYCOM, he was Visiting Assistant Professor of biology at Philadelphia University.

Dr. Hill’s participation in the Health Policy Fellowship is sponsored by the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine of New York Institute of Technology.

David J. Park, DO, FAAFP, FACOFP
Henderson, Nevada

Dr. David Park received his DO degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1998. He completed an ACGME/AOA dually accredited Family Practice Residency Program at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, an affiliate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine at the time. He was board certified by the ABFP in 2001 and by the ABOFP in 2002. Upon completion of his residency, Dr. Park stayed on with the residency program as faculty for a total four years.

Dr. Park was recruited by Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUNCOM) and moved to Nevada in 2005 as the Acting Chair for the Department of Primary Care. He became the official Chair in 2006 and continues in this position to the current date. In 2006, Dr. Park became the founding program director for Valley Hospital’s new Family Medicine Residency Program, the only osteopathic Family Medicine residency in Nevada.

From 2006 to 2011, Dr. Park was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Nevada Osteopathic Medical Association.
Dr. Park is an active member of the ACOFP. Since 2005, he has served on various committees including Scholarship & Student Loan Committee, Osteopathic Family Medicine Educators committee, Program Committee, Convention and Site Committee. He has also served as the Program Co-Chair for the ACOFP’s 47th Annual Convention in 2010. He will serve as the Program Chair again in 2013 for the OMED convention. In January 2012, Dr. Park revived the ACOFP-Nevada chapter and assumed leadership of the organization as the new President.

In February 2012, Dr. Park participated in a DOCare mission to Guatemala where he helped care for thousands of underserved patients. Most recently, Dr. Park was honored as one of Las Vegas Top Docs by Las Vegas Life magazine. Dr. Park is being sponsored for the Health Policy Fellowship by Touro University Nevada.
 

Raul Jose Garcia Rodriguez, D.O., FACOEP
Yakima, Washington

Dr. Raul Jose Garcia Rodriguez, D.O., F.A.C.O.E.P., received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) in 1998. Dr. Garcia is Board Certified in both Emergency Medicine and Neuromuscular Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM). He finished his Emergency Medicine residency at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, NY. He finished an undergraduate fellowship in OMM in NYCOM. Born in Pinar del Rio, Cuba, Dr. Garcia immigrated to the United States at the age of eleven. Dr. Garcia graduated in May of 1993 with a Bachelors of Science degree in Microbiology/Immunology from the University of Miami. During his college years, Dr Garcia worked as a Legislative Intern at the Washington D.C. Offices of Senator Bob Dole.

Dr. Garcia is the new Assistant Dean of Clinical Education and Osteopathic Integration at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine in North Carolina. He will also chair the Emergency Medicine Department and will teach as a Professor of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) when the school opens in 2013. Dr. Garcia has practiced Emergency Medicine for fourteen years. Five of those years, he was an Attending at Saint Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, NY, and the last five years he has worked in Washington state serving Yakima Regional Cardiac and Medical Center, Toppenish Community Hospital, and Sunnyside Community Hospital. Dr. Garcia served as one of the founding Deans at Pacific Northwest University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Yakima, WA.

Dr. Garcia served as Chair of the AOA’s Intern and Resident Committee (IRC) and was instrumental in transforming the IRC to what is now known as the Bureau of Interns and Residents of the American Osteopathic Association. Dr. Garcia was also at the forefront in creating the Bylaws of the Council of Young Physicians of the AOA that he chaired for two years. Dr. Garcia was the first resident to be selected to the AOA Board of Trustees. He has served the AOA through Membership, COPT, Minority Affairs, International Medical Education and Affairs, Chair of the AOA’s International Seminar, and the new OIA in external affairs. Dr. Garcia helped with the revitalization of the New York State Osteopathic Medical Society that he presided over in 2006. He has served his profession in osteopathic licensing boards (COMLEX II, II physical examination, AOBEM Oral Board Examination). Dr. Garcia has served his specialty colleges in key leadership roles domestically and internationally

Dr. Garcia was featured in the internationally acclaimed BBC Discovery Channel Mini-Series “Bronx 911, Life in the ER.” Dr. Raul Garcia also served as the Medical Director of the New York City affiliate of the national AM/PM Concierge Medicine Company; an elite medical service company whose clients included hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria.

Dr. Garcia has received many awards throughout his career but none more important than being one of five finalists for the profession’s Mentor of the Year Award in 2009. Dr. Garcia is in the National Osteopathic Mentor Hall of Fame.
 

Greg Saggio, D.O.
Old Westbury, New York


Dr. Saggio received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1994. He graduated from Adelphi University in 1989 with a B.S. in biology and a minor in psychology. He completed a one-year rotating internship at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn NY in 1995. Dr Saggio completed a residency in general surgery at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Osteopathic Medicine in 1999. Dr Saggio served as chief surgery resident in 1999. Dr Saggio is board certified in general surgery.

Dr. Saggio spent one year after finishing his residency in private practice at Shore Memorial Hospital in Sommers Point, NJ doing general and vascular surgery. He subsequently took a faculty position as an Assistant Professor of Surgery with department of surgery at UMDNJ-SOM focusing on general surgery. Dr. Saggio returned to private practice as a general surgeon for 6 more years in Cherry Hill, NJ. He was on staff at Kennedy Memorial Center in Stratford, NJ as well as the Virtua Health system in Cherry Hill, NJ.

Dr. Saggio currently has a full time faculty position at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine as an Assistant Professor. He has been at NYCOM for 6 years. He spent 3 years in the Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine and the last 3 years in the Department of Biomedical Science. At NYCOM Dr. Saggio serves on many committees including the Student Progress Committee, the Task Force for Curriculum Revision, Academic Faculty Senate, and serves as Chair of the Academic Senate Grievance Committee. He is currently the president-elect for the Academic Faculty Senate. He is heavily involved in the Problem-Based Learning curriculum.

Dr. Saggio is a member of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS), and New York State Osteopathic Medical Society (NYSOMS).

New York College of Osteopathic Medicine sponsors Dr Saggio’s participation in the Health Policy Fellowship.

Shannon C. Scott, D.O.
Phoenix, AZ

Dr. Scott’s family roots are in the Pacific Northwest, growing up in Tacoma, WA. She is alumnus of Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, receiving a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Dance, Arts, and Education in 1998. She received her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in Glendale, AZ in 2004. Dr. Scott completed a three year residency at Scottsdale Healthcare Family Medicine Residency (2004-2007) where she received the Brazie Outstanding Second Year Resident Award (2005-2006) and served as their first DO chief resident (2006-2007). She is currently board certified by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians and the American Board of Family Physicians.

Dr. Scott is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Midwestern University Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine with her faculty appointment beginning in 2006-2007. Her practice is located at the Midwestern University Multispecialty Clinic in Glendale, AZ. She teaches and mentors students in the departments of Osteopathic Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine. Additionally, she is a clinical preceptor in the Family Medicine Clinic.

Dr. Scott is currently a member of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). She currently serves the AOA’s Council of New Physicians in Practice (CNPP) as a member-at-large and immediate past chair (2011-2012). She served on the AOA Board of Trustees (2011-2012) as the New Physician in Practice Trustee. She is also a member of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP). She serves the ACOFP on the Membership and Marketing Committee (2010- present). In 2012 she received the ACOFP Young Physician of the Year Award at the Spring Convention. As a member of the Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA), she is currently serving on the Board of Trustees as the New Physician in Practice Representative (2012-2014).

AOMA sponsors Dr. Scott’s participation in the Health Policy Fellowship.
 

Ronald S. Stevens, D.O., D.D.S
Muskogee, Oklahoma


Dr Stevens received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the Oklahoma College of Medicine and Surgery (now Oklahoma State University Center for Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine) in 1983. He had previously received a Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1974. He graduated from Northeastern State University in 1970 with a B.S. Degree in Biology. He completed a one year rotating internship at Hillcrest Health Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1984. He is board certified in Anesthesiology by the American Osteopathic Association American Osteopathic Board of Anesthesiologists.

He practiced Dentistry for six years before entering his osteopathic training. Upon completion of his internship he practiced emergency medicine in Oklahoma City for 6 years. After finishing his anesthesia residency in 1993 he entered private practice in Muskogee, Oklahoma and has been in practice for the last nineteen years. He is one of the founders of Muskogee Community Hospital, a forty-five bed, rural, acute care, physician-owned hospital that opened in March 2009. He is a member of the Board of Directors and was Chairman of the Department of Anesthesia. He has, for the past three years, been a member of the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality (OFMQ) the QIO for Oklahoma.

He is a member of the American Osteopathic Association, the American Osteopathic College of Anesthesiologists, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Oklahoma Society of Anesthesiologists. He is a Trustee of the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association.

The Oklahoma Osteopathic Association sponsors Dr. Stevens’ participation in the Health Policy Fellowship.

His hobbies include cattle ranching, flying and Barbershop Quartet Singing.