Adrienne Zavala, M.D.
“The Eastern Panhandle and the Eastern Campus are my home. The sense of community is so strong here, and everyone feels like family. I have been very lucky to have remained here throughout my training and my career as a practicing physician, serving the community that raised me.”
As a resident of West Virginia’s eastern panhandle for more than 40 years and a practicing physician in the region for almost 15 years, Adrienne Zavala, M.D., has dedicated her career to improving the health and well-being of patients across the region.
Originally born in Washington, D.C., Dr. Zavala moved to West Virginia with her family as a young child, grew up in Charles Town, and received a degree in biology from Shepherd University before starting her medical training at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in 2004.
She earned her medical degree in 2008 and transitioned directly into the Harpers Ferry Rural Family Medicine Residency Program, where she would go on to lay down her roots and become a permanent member of the Eastern Campus family.
“The Eastern Panhandle and the Eastern Campus are my home,” she said. “The sense of community is so strong here, and everyone feels like family. I have been very lucky to have remained here throughout my training and my career as a practicing physician, serving the community that raised me.”
Zavala graduated from the Harpers Ferry Rural Family Medicine Residency Program in 2011 and joined the Eastern Campus faculty as an assistant professor in 2012. As faculty, she provided crucial support to her former residency program, which now supports six new residents per year.
She has served in several leadership roles throughout her nearly 15-year-long career at the Eastern Campus, including as assistant clerkship director for family medicine from 2013 to 2019, and as assistant dean of student services since 2019.
Zavala will continue to provide crucial leadership to the campus, as she was recently named the leader for the Eastern Division of the newly renamed WVU Department of Family and Community Medicine.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to continue serving patients and supporting learners at the Eastern Campus,” she said. “It is an honor to be a part of this outstanding leadership team, and I look forward to working with them as we explore new methods of strengthening the excellent training opportunities already available on our campus.”
Zavala is board-certified in family medicine and is a longtime member of several prominent national medical societies, including the Gold Humanism Honor Society, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society for Teachers of Family Medicine and the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.
Throughout her tenure, Zavala has been the recipient of several honors and awards, which include being named the Preceptor of the Year three separate times, in 2014, 2017, and most recently, in 2023. This award is voted on by Eastern Campus students and residents each year and is given to the faculty member who embodies the ideal teaching physician, in both the clinic and the classroom.
Zavala said she is honored to have been recognized by learners on the campus over the years, but that her greatest honor is to be able to continue providing support to the next generation of family medicine physicians.
“It has been my privilege to work so closely with the students and residents at the Eastern Campus throughout my career. They continue to inspire me every day, and challenge me to never stop learning and to keep exploring innovative methods of better serving patients across the region,” she said.