Raheel Khan, MD FAAP has been named chair of the West Virginia University Health Sciences Charleston Campus department of pediatrics. Dr. Khan has been serving as interim chair of the department and assumed the chair role at the beginning of the month.
In his role as chair, Dr. Khan will oversee pediatrics department faculty, as well as all faculty appointments and educational activities. He will also help advance strategic planning of the department and its research activities for WVU’s health sciences campus in Charleston.
“Dr. Khan is a widely esteemed pediatrician and has the strong support of his faculty as he assumes the role of permanent chair of the department of pediatrics on the Charleston campus,” said John C. Linton, PhD, ABPP, associate vice president for health sciences and dean of the school of medicine at West Virginia University’s health sciences Charleston campus. “His remarkable work ethic and dedication to his students and colleagues make him the ideal choice for this position. The faculty, staff and leadership at WVU and our partners at Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) are delighted that Dr. Khan has agreed to accept this most important role in our organization. Please join me in thanking and congratulating him on this accomplishment,” Dr. Linton said.
Dr. Khan graduated from Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan and immigrated to the United States in 1987. He completed his pediatric residency training at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, and then a fellowship in Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. He joined West Virginia University Health Sciences Charleston Campus in 1994 and was appointed as residency program director for Pediatrics in 1997 and Medicine-Pediatrics in 2010.
Dr. Khan was elected as President, American Academy of Pediatrics-WV Chapter in 2013, after serving as Vice President of the same for the preceding three years. He has served as Chair of the Mid-America region of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors from 2007-2010, receiving the “Advocate for Children” award. Dr. Khan is a certified medical ethicist and is a member of Charleston Area Medical Center’s medical ethics consultation team.
His areas of interest include pediatric HIV infection, cystic fibrosis, childhood immunizations, medical ethics, and healthcare disparities.
As one of the nation’s oldest regional medical education campuses, West Virginia University’s Health Sciences Charleston Campus was formed in 1972 as part of a federal rural health initiative in order to expand medical schools beyond the traditional campus. An affiliation with Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) to direct CAMC residency programs was also established that year.
Over 100 WVU faculty and 400 clinical faculty provide training and educational oversight to both medical student clerkships and to the CAMC residency programs. Each year, 70 to 80 students and more than 150 residents are on the campus in Charleston furthering their education. These and other health care students in the disciplines of medicine, nursing, and pharmacy come through WVU’s Charleston campus to complete their clinical rotation requirements.
