HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University has established a new Department of Anesthesiology to facilitate additional learning opportunities for student education, research, and advanced training.
Anesthesiologists specialize in the medical care of patients before, during, and after surgery, known as perioperative medicine. Anesthesiologists also provide expertise in critical care, airway management, operating room management, and acute and chronic pain control. There is a national shortage of anesthesiologists across the country, a trend that is particularly hitting rural communities and West Virginia. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, a shortage of about 12,500 anesthesiologists is expected over the next 10 years.
“Our medical school has benefited from the expertise of many talented local anesthesiologists who have served as volunteer faculty over the years,” said Bobby L. Miller, MD, acting dean of the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “Looking to the future, however, it is evident that we need to create a more robust mechanism for growth in this area of specialist care in order to address labor shortages and enable our operating rooms to operate at maximum efficiency.”
The department will be led by alumnus Jay Shepherd, MD, who received his MD from Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in 2007. Shepherd completed his residency at Tulane University in New Orleans, in Louisiana, and has been an anesthetist at King’s Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Kentucky, since 2011. He is board certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology.
As Associate Professor and Chair of Anesthesiology, Shepherd will work alongside anesthesiologists from NorthStar Anesthesia, a national anesthesiology group that supports the school’s major teaching hospitals through the Mountain Health Network and Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center. He will work to build a core faculty to support the department’s clinical, educational, and research missions and initiate steps to ultimately establish an accredited anesthesiology residency at Marshall.
“Creating a formalized anesthesiology department is an incredible opportunity to ensure exceptional perioperative care for all patients while enhancing the training environment for future physicians,” Shepherd said. “The match with an anesthesiology residency program has become increasingly competitive. In the months and years to come, we will work to enrich the educational experience of medical students interested in this specialty in order, ultimately, to help them be more successful in their career path. Being able to lead these efforts at my alma mater is both an honor and a privilege.
The department is housed at Marshall University Medical Center, located at 1600 Medical Center Drive in Huntington, on the Marshall University Health Sciences Campus.
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About the Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine
Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine is a community medical school established in 1977. Located in Huntington, West Virginia, the School of Medicine trains physicians, scientists, and other professionals to meet the unique needs of health care for rural and underserved populations. communities. Learn more about jcesom.marshall.edu.
Contact: Sheanna M. Spence, Marshall Health/Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, 304-691-1639
Publication date: Tuesday, November 15, 2022
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