Dr. Richard H. Catlett established a namesake fund to support the internal medicine program and its students at WVU School of Medicine’s Eastern Campus. Featured in the photo is Spot, Catlett’s favorite dog.
Future medical professionals studying at the West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Eastern Campus will benefit from a faculty member’s $50,000 gift.
The gift from Dr. Richard H. Catlett III, M.D., establishes a namesake fund that provides awards to deserving medical students within the Department of Internal Medicine at the Eastern Campus.
“Dr. Catlett has been a valued member of the WVU family since joining our faculty in 2019, and on behalf of everyone at the Eastern Campus, I would like to thank him for this substantial investment into the education of our medical students. We are grateful for his continued service to our patients, students and the University as a whole,” Eastern Campus Dean Richard Thomas, M.D., D.D.S., said.
Catlett is a pulmonary medicine specialist with a strong interest in newer types of bronchoscopic techniques. He is co-director of the third-year clinical rotation for medical students and director of internal medicine and subspecialties for the Eastern Campus.
Catlett hopes the gift will help grow the internal medicine program in the Eastern Panhandle and encourage others to follow in his footsteps.
“My gift is meant to be unrestricted or minimally restricted, with the goal of fostering internal medicine within the Eastern Panhandle,” he said. “I hope that it will be a seed to help other physicians, as they would reach retirement age, to think if there is something that they can do in a cost-effective manner to foster medical education and medical care in the Eastern Panhandle.”
Catlett, a Richmond, Virginia, native, attended Williams College in Massachusetts, where he received his undergraduate degree in economics. He began considering medicine as a potential career option around his senior year and worked as a respiratory therapist while taking pre-med courses.
Catlett eventually went to the University of Virginia for medical school. After earning his medical degree, Catlett completed his residency and a fellowship in internal and pulmonary medicine at the University of Oklahoma, where he also conducted research. However, Catlett discovered research was not his passion, and he wanted to move back to the mid-Atlantic states.
He accepted a job at Winchester Pulmonary and Internal Medicine, where he has worked since 1992. His interest in the WVU system arose when two hospitals came under the WVU umbrella and he saw a marked improvement in the quality of medical care.
Catlett joined the WVU School of Medicine in 2019, and he is thankful for the opportunities the system has provided him. To express his gratitude, he gave back.
“The opportunity to learn newer navigational techniques, work with medical students and participate in a growing medical system whose focus is on trying to promote the best medical care within the state has been a ton of fun,” he said. “I love the attitude within the system, and I think we are really trying to help our patients and help our medical students become good medical practitioners. I see the system as trying to develop an excellent overall system for coordinated care within the state of West Virginia.”
Catlett’s gift was made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.