Dr. Bairava Kuppuswamy of WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center was presented with a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians this past July in London, England.
“Once you become a member, you are part of the select few across the world,” he said.
Representatives from the organization take nominations and monitor a candidate’s progress within their communities. They look at things like how long someone has been practicing medicine, what the physician has done within their community in doing research, improving medicine, providing mentorship as well as making advancements in medicine.
Based on that they have a council that they review nominations and get endorsements from some of the 35,000 Fellows across the world, Kuppuswamy said.
The staff of Dr. Bairava Kuppuswamy’s office in south Parkersburg pose with him after he was awarded a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians in the United Kingdom. Pictured are, from left, Bonnie Seese, receptionist; Cathy Conley, office facilitator; Bethany Farnese, medical assistant; Angela Perkins, nurse practitioner; Caitlin Shears, LPN; Kuppuswamy and Brandi Tanner, LPN. (Photo provided by WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center)
As a Fellow, he is expected to continue to lead in such areas as population health, Medical Informatics and medical care for the community.
Kuppuswamy was educated in Basic Medical Education at Mysore University India; MRCP at the Royal College of Physicians in London, U.K.; MD in Internal Medicine in Brooklyn, N.Y., MBA in Healthcare at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of Hospitalists Medicine.
The Royal College of Physicians is one of the oldest colleges in the world, at over 500 years old.
Since he was trained there, being considered for a fellowship was easier since he trained there and they knew him.
“It is an honor to be apart to have a Fellowship from the Royal College of Physicians,” Kuppuswamy said. “It is an accolade where they recognize what I do.”
He said he has been working over the last 15 years mentoring new graduates and health care officials who come into the area, leading different efforts at the WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center and throughout the community. He has also done work on new innovations in how technology plays a role in the future of healthcare in meeting the community’s needs.
“It is not only educating patients about their healthcare needs, but taking care of those needs,” Kuppuswamy said.
To be considered for a Fellowship, one has to go above and beyond the call of duty and above and beyond what anyone routinely does, he said.
“Someone nominating you doesn’t automatically mean you become a Fellow,” Kuppuswamy said. “They evaluate you to make sure you have gone above and beyond.”
The recommendation came from the endorsement of his colleagues, locally and nationally for contributions to their profession.
“It is not offered to all physicians and many considered are not offered fellowship because they have not demonstrated they have gone above and beyond,” he said.
The Fellowship was presented to Kuppuswamy by Professor Andrew Goddard, MD, President of Royal College of Physicians.
As well as being a Primary Care physician, Kuppuswamy is also the chief medical information officer for Camden Clark.
Around 70-100 physicians are presented with Fellowships annually. He was one of a couple from the U.S. to be presented with a Fellowship in July.
“It is an honor to be accepted into this group,” Kuppuswamy said. “When you are doing medicine, you feel proud to be recognized and to be honored to be part of that group and continue to keep medicine in the forefront.”
His goal is to adapt patient technology along with what is happening in medicine and make it available to everyone. He is working to get patients to take more preventive measures now rather than just treating symptoms after they appear.
“It is about taking preventive measures early on to prevent the disease rather than fight it after it presents itself,” Kuppuswamy said. “I am trying to get all the knowledge and trying to marry it all together and work for our patients in this community.
“Knowledge used to be limited to the physicians and you had to go see them. Now with technology available to the patient they themselves can take a proactive step in being healthy. I think that is the way forward. It is personalizing the medicine by using the technology.”
Technology has helped to open up the world to those in this area by adapting the best practices from everywhere and bringing it here locally, he said.
“The patients have access to the information being entered by the doctors through the electronic record,” Kuppuswamy said. “Trying to adapt the technology for use at Camden Clark where I will help physicians and patients going forward so people have access regardless of where they are.”
*Article used with permission from The Parkersburg News & Sentinel