HELPING HANDS

Dr. Deborah Schmidt, Lewisburg

Professor and chair of the Osteopathic Principles & Practice Department at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

THE DRIVING FORCE

“I was interested in being a physician ever since I contracted pneumonia when I was eight. A male, military doctor examined me, and I was fascinated with him drawing blood obtaining an X-ray. I looked at him and said,‘I think I’d like to be a doctor,’ and he said, ‘You can’t do that, you’re a girl,’ and I said to him, ‘I think I can—I’m as smart as you are.’”

SATISFYING THE SOUL

“After working as a heavy-equipment operator helping to build the West Virginia Turnpike in the early 1980s and was accepted into WVU Medical School. I was disillusioned with standard medical training and found an osteopathic medical school right in my hometown of Lewisburg. I found that I liked the philosophy. My husband, also a D.O., and I worked in community health centers for quite a long time until I was lucky enough to be trained in medical acupuncture at UCLA in 1997. We moved back to our hometown and have taken care of our community ever since.”

MAKING AN IMPACT

“I was fortunate to be put on the state Board of Acupuncture by Governor Jim Justice and helped to pass House Bill 2324, which allows for non-physician providers to perform Acudetox for treating addiction, PTSD, and anxiety. We used grant money to train 87 health care providers in an intensive 40-hour national course. It’s been a lot of work, but definitely empowering for southern West Virginia health care providers to be able to perform an inexpensive and gentle technique to help people through recovery.”

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