Rob Snuffer, D.O., Class of 2001, was recognized for his ongoing commitment to WVSOM, the osteopathic profession and rural medicine during WVSOM’s annual Mid-Winter CME in Charlestonon Jan. 28
Many of Snuffer’s family members – including his wife, Cathy, and three sons, John Paul, Patrick and Vincent – surprised him at the luncheon when he was presented with the 2017 Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award for his countless dedication to training students and providing medical care to patients in underserved areas.
“I’m fortunate that every day I get to get up and go to work and one of the best things I do is teach students,” he said after receiving the recognition. “I’m proud to be an alumnusof WVSOM and to be part of the family that sits in this room.”
Snuffer began private practice in 2004 at Weston Family Medical Care in Weston. Snuffer has served the nation on a larger scale as an active member of the U.S. Army Reserve and has been deployed four times in the past 10 years including duty in Iraq. He is also the medical director for the Lewis and Gilmer county emergency medical services and participates as a tactical medic for the Lewis County Sheriff’s Department. His professional interests include drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation and osteopathic manipulation.
The family medicine physician has served as a mentor for the WVSOM Rural Health Initiative (RHI) program since 2012. Within the program, Snuffer has been the lead physician for trauma scenarios representing accidents that could happen to an employee while working in the oil and gas industry in rural West Virginia.
The current and former students who Snuffer precepts and colleagues who he works with say he is incredibly deserving of his accolades. Lyndsi Cress, D.O., Class of 2014, said Snuffer was an invaluable RHI mentor to her learning experience.
“Not only did he teach me how to properly care for my patients, but he instilled in me that as a rural physician I am required to provide more than just medical care. His compassion, commitment and dedication to his patients and his profession are unparalleled by anyone I have worked with and I hope to one day live up to the standards he has set as a physician,” she said.
Snuffer received the WVSOM Statewide Campus Outstanding Primary Care Preceptor Award in 2014 and was awarded the Outstanding Primary Care Physician for the state of West Virginia in 2015 by the WV Rural Health Association.
The Alumni Association established the Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award in 2008 to annually recognize graduates who have demonstrated outstanding personal and professional achievements.