Faculty Profile

Biography

Richard A. Ortoski, D.O. is the Regional Dean and Chair of the Department of Primary Care Education and Clinical Professor of Family Medicine / Human Sexuality. He is also the clinical director of the new Primary Care Scholars Pathway, an accelerated pathway into the specialties of Family Medicine and General Internal Medicine. Dr. Ortoski received his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and pursued his postdoctoral training at Flint Osteopathic Hospital in Flint, Michigan (now Genesys Regional Medical Center, Grand Blanc, MI). Dr. Ortoski is certified in Family Medicine and Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians. He is recognized as a specialist in the treatment of HIV/AIDS by the American Academy of HIV Medicine and the HIV Medicine Association / Infectious Disease Society of America. He is also a member of the American Osteopathic Association, the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association, the Pennsylvania Osteopathic Family Physicians Society (POFPS), and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. He presently serves as a trustee of the POFPS. In 2011, he was awarded the Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. He is a noted author with publications in Academic Medicine and the Journal of the Osteopathic Medical Association.

Being part of LECOM since its beginning in 1993, Dr. Ortoski lectures and coordinates the college courses stressing primary care medicine through physical diagnosis and topics involving human sexuality. His specialty lectures have included Sensitivity in Medicine and Clinical HIV/AIDS. In preparing his students for the practice of medicine, he has co-directed the standardized patient program at the college using “patients” in training his future physicians. He is one of the founders of the Primary Care Scholars Pathway and serves as the clinical director of that pathway.

While at LECOM, Dr. Ortoski has received the LECOM Humanitarian Award for 2000, the Frederick J. Solomon, D.O. Award of Merit from the PA Osteopathic FP Society in 2004, and the LECOM John and Silvia Ferretti Distinguished Teaching Award, 2008. He also has become an evaluator in the AOA Bureau of Professional Education, has participated in the development of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners COMLEX II PE Examination, is Chair of the NBOME Clinical Skills Testing Advisory Committee, and is the chair of the NBOME Quality Assurance for Clinical Skills Testing Committee. He is active as the faculty advisor for the student chapter of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians and the Gay Straight Diversity Alliance. At LECOM’s founding institution, Millcreek Community Hospital, Dr. Ortoski is former Chief of Staff and a Family Practice Residency / Intern Trainer.

Dr. Ortoski had a family medicine practice in the Erie / Girard / Fairview area until recently accepting a position as Regional Dean at the Erie Campus. His other endeavors include the HIV Medical Directorships of Northwest PA Rural AIDS Alliance, holding a Ryan White Title C Grant. He has been a clinical consultant in HIV/AIDS for the State Correctional Institutions of PA, and a Public Health Officer, Assistant to the Medical Director,  Chair of the Erie County Board of Health.