There was a time when James Wadding, D.O., MPH, the longest-serving of the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine’s (WVSOM) current regional assistant deans, couldn’t see himself working in higher education.
Wadding oversees third- and fourth-year students in the Eastern Region of WVSOM’s Statewide Campus, based in Martinsburg and encompassing the eight counties that make up West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle as well as Tucker County and part of Randolph County. As a physician in the U.S. Army’s Medical Corps, the Aliquippa, Pa., native spent time in Germany, Iraq and the Congo before joining WVSOM. December 2023 will mark his 10-year anniversary with the medical school.
“I didn’t picture myself going into academics after my military service,” Wadding said. “But I’d spent time as a preventive medicine physician at Fort Detrick, in Maryland, where Bob Gum, D.O., an alumnus of WVSOM, was establishing a biosurety program. Bob left to become a WVSOM regional assistant dean, and then later, when he found out I was retiring, he reached out to me. Bob was proud to have worked here, so I researched the school and it looked like an interesting position.”
Twenty-five years earlier, Wadding earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Pennsylvania’s Grove City College before participating in the Army’s Health Professions Scholarship Program while pursuing a medical degree at Missouri’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine. Following an internship year, he practiced as a general medical officer in Kitzingen, Germany, and Fort Campbell, Ky., and as a flight surgeon in Fort Campbell. As part of his residency training, he also received a Master of Public Health degree through Johns Hopkins University.
“At the time, everyone did an internship for one year and then did time as a general medical officer on what the Army called a utilization tour before applying to residency,” he said. “I was doing a lot of soul searching on what I wanted to do, and while on one of my utilizations, I met the public health officer at Fort Campbell, and he asked me what interested me and told me what drove him to enjoy the specialty. He mentored me.”
During the war in Iraq, Wadding served as public health officer for the 61st Area Support Medical Battalion, initially at Camp Dogwood southwest of Baghdad, then at Camp Anaconda north of Baghdad. He led epidemiological investigations and collected disease and non-battle injury surveillance statistics to analyze trends that could compromise the mission-readiness of deployed units — work that earned him a Bronze Star Medal for meritorious achievement.
Later, Wadding traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to assist the Army with research on monkeypox disease — now known as mpox — partnering with physicians from a Congolese public health agency. Over the course of three trips, he spent six months in central Africa.
“Mpox and smallpox are closely related,” he explained. “Smallpox as a naturally occurring disease was eliminated, but it was believed there were entities that may have had intentions of reintroducing it into the population. So we were working toward the development of therapeutics for monkeypox that we hoped would also be effective against smallpox should it ever be reintroduced.”
In his position as a WVSOM regional assistant dean, Wadding works with students on rotation at school-affiliated hospitals and medical centers, monitoring their academic performance, assisting them in working through issues with preceptors and providing career counseling, which often includes helping students determine which specialty is right for them. He said he especially enjoys observing students as they make progress in their medical education.
“I like seeing them grow. It’s great to watch the maturing process as students start out kind of green in the third year and then blossom as future physicians by the end of the fourth year. It’s also exciting when they match to competitive residencies like urology, ophthalmology or orthopedic surgery. And this year, especially, it was good to see WVSOM attain a 100 percent residency placement rate for graduates,” Wadding said.
Wadding retired from the Army Medical Corps as a colonel, having overseen captains and majors whom he took pride in leading by example. He said his military service proved valuable in preparing him to help medical students be all that they can be.
“In the military, you recognize that there is a hierarchy and a proper way of respecting those who are in positions above you,” Wadding said. “That translates into advising students on how to maintain a professional posture in relationships with people they interact with on clinical rotations — not just preceptors, but housekeepers and other staff. I try to convey to our students that everyone’s a person and that everyone deserves respect.”
Ultimately, Wadding’s objective is to aid his students in achieving their professional goals.
“If you assert yourselves, show that you want to learn, work hard and act professionally, those things will make you successful in your future career as a physician,” he said.