Jason Peklinsky, MD

Name: Jason Peklinsky 

Board Certification: Family Medicine

Medical School: West Virginia University

Residency: West Virginia University Family Medicine 

Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor 

Special Clinical/Research Interests:

Clinical interests: Addiction Medicine, Inpatient medicine, Outpatient chronic care management including minor procedures and musculoskeletal procedural intervention

Research interests: Primary care addiction medicine; addiction education; curriculum development; FM scope of practice growth

Is there a particular population of students (e.g., ethnicity, spiritual, sexual orientation) that you would particularly like to advise?

No preference

What does a typical day in the life of a Family Medicine Physician include?

A typical day for my practice varies based on the day. I am involved in patient care in several locations with focus on all populations. I provide family medicine resident oversight and teaching. I regularly rotate as an attending for our department’s inpatient service. Ultimately, I choose to embrace as much of the scope of practice as I can in Family Medicine.

The bulk of my clinical responsibilities are as follows:

Addiction Treatment: I am a physician in the Comprehensive Opioid Addiction Treatment Clinic (COAT) in collaboration with WVU Medicine Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. I provide introductory treatment to new patients in search of sobriety as well and advanced level treatment for patients who require higher level of intervention as a means to gain control of their active addiction.

Continuity Clinics: I do acute care, chronic disease management that includes behavioral medicine and addiction, women’s health including procedures (ie: implantable contraception, colposcopy, endometrial biopsies), and minor office based procedures/injections on my own patient panel or patients apart of our practice at the University Town Centre.

Resident Continuity Clinic Precepting: I provide oversight and education to residents as they see patients in our practice at the University Town Centre.

Nursing Home: I spend one day a week at Sundale Nursing Home handling acute concerns, continuity visits, and admissions at the facility. Sundale Nursing Home provides long term, hospice, and skilled nursing services (rehab).

Vasectomy clinic: our department has 3 providers that offer office based vasectomy procedure.

Inpatient medicine: our department manages admissions of all ages—newborn to geriatric for patients of the University Town Centre and Cheat Lake Family Medicine practice. Our practice at the University Town Centre offer’s obstetrical care, which is one thing I no longer do, but I get to take care of  the newborn babies (including circumcisions) while in the hospital.

What is the biggest challenge of being a Family Medicine Physician?

One of my mentors frequently uses the phrase—“Family docs know common things uncommonly well.” I think that Family Medicine Physicians constantly have to remind the medical community and general population what all they can provide to the healthcare system. A well trained family physician is capable of managing such a large scope of patient care in one office and in hospital. My biggest challenge, but also greatest joy as an educator, is reminding medical students and family medicine residents to embrace the diversity of training received in this specialty. I cannot count how many times I have heard from students and patients—“Oh, you do that?”

How do you foresee Family Medicine changing over the next 20 years?

Interestingly enough this very question is being asked by the American Board of Family Medicine and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education right now. I have participated in several surveys and forum discussions about how our specialty is going change with the evolution of medicine. Ultimately, like I have previously stated above, I believe that well trained family physicians can provide such a large scope of care. We have to keep pushing our training programs to embrace the scope of practice that the specialty caries in the residency curriculums, and as a specialty continue to fight to grow our scope of practice. I can remember a period of time where our specialty failed to embrace the above, and our specialty is still trying to remind everyone that we aren’t just a means to a referral to a specialist. Our focus should be to continue to provide care of all ages, reduce healthcare costs, and reduce referral burdens to specialists whenever possible.

What advice would you give a student who is considering a Family Medicine residency?

Don’t wait for your clerkship time to see Family Medicine. Reach out and visit. Get involved in the interest group. Identify a mentor—student, resident, faculty, community physician. Start thinking about what type of training environment that you want because there are a lot of options—large city, small community, academic hospital, community hospital, large program (12+ residents per year), small program (6 per year), etc.