When he looks back at his decision to become a physician, Dr. Santhosh Koshy remembers the kindness, compassion, and empathy with which he saw physicians treat his ill family members.
As a medical student, Dr. Koshy saw how the care for heart disease impacted patients and their family members. He saw very ill patients who felt better minutes after undergoing cardiac procedures, and he felt instant gratification in the way a cardiologist could quickly improve a patient’s health and quality of life through interventions, along with helping patients prevent heart disease through counseling and educating them.
Now, after more than three decades as a physician and a leader in academic medicine, Dr. Koshy has the opportunity to mentor physicians in Southwest Michigan as the new chair of the medical school’s Department of Medicine.
“I am excited to be a part of WMed, an institution that strives to get better every day, has a successful track record of training the next generation of medical professionals, focuses on innovation, cares for its people, and values the community,” Dr. Koshy said. “I couldn’t ask for more.”
Dr. Koshy’s arrival to WMed comes after a national search to find a successor for Founding Department Chair Mark Loehrke, ², who retired from WMed in January after 34 years serving the medical school.
A practicing interventional cardiologist, Dr. Koshy started at WMed on a day for celebrating hearts – February 14. He plans to see patients at WMed Health, the clinical practice of the medical school, and also alongside cardiologists in the community.
WMed’s success in its first 10 years and its plan to grow in the next decade is exciting, Dr. Koshy said. Medical school leaders laid a solid foundation in WMed’s first 10 years and are positioning the medical school for the future.
“The institution is in the exciting growth phase, and I am excited to be a part of that growth,” Dr. Koshy said. “I also value the diversity and inclusivity focus of the institution compared to some of the other places that I have been a part of. I am excited to be a part of Dr. Termuhlen’s team to take the institution through this growth phase.”
Dr. Koshy comes to the medical school with extensive leadership experience in academic medicine. Prior to joining WMed, Dr. Koshy was a professor in the JT and Margaret Talkington Department of Medicine at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) School of Medicine and was the previous chair of the department. As the chair, he led the department through several achievements, including a remarkable financial turnaround, expansion of clinical service lines, successful accreditation of all graduate medical education programs, exponential growth in federal research grant funds, high learner satisfaction and increased faculty diversity.
Prior to joining TTUHSC, he was at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center (UTHSC) School of Medicine where he served as director of Interventional Cardiology, vice-chair of the Department of Medicine, and chief of Medicine and chief of Cardiovascular Services at the Regional One Health Hospitals and Clinics.
Dr. Koshy graduated from the University of Kerala in India and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He completed a fellowship in cardiology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and an Interventional Cardiology and Peripheral Interventions fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He holds an MBA from Washington University at St. Louis and an MA in Medical Law and Health Policy from the Hofstra University School of Law. He is certified as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity champion for organizational excellence by Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He holds numerous fellowships including Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at London and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
Looking ahead, Dr. Koshy said his vision for the Department of Medicine is to work with other areas of the medical school and WMed’s hospital and community partners to train talented physicians who can treat patients in Southwest Michigan and throughout the state in both primary care and specialty care.
“The Department of Medicine is strong in the educational mission that includes a well-run residency program with a rich history that spans many decades,” Dr Koshy said. “Many of the physicians in the Kalamazoo community were trained in the program. It should be the talent creator for both primary care and specialty care for all of West Michigan. The department should lead the efforts for tackling issues related to access to care, health disparity, and medical provider shortages. The department would have to grow in all the missions of the institution namely, clinical care, education, research and community service to achieve this.”
Specifically, Dr. Koshy will look to create new educational fellowship programs in specialties such as cardiology, hematology/oncology, pulmonary and critical care, and endocrinology to improve recruitment of physicians in those needed specialties to the Kalamazoo area.
Dr. Koshy said he appreciates the small-town feel and diverse community of his new city, along with its proximity to Chicago and Detroit. What’s most impressive about his new home, though, he said, is the community support and philanthropy.
“The support from the industry and the hospital partners for the medical school is amazing,” Dr. Koshy said. “Kalamazoo has become the center for medical innovation through this partnership of Western Michigan University, Ascension Borgess, Bronson Healthcare, corporate partners, and kind community leaders with philanthropic mission.”
Medicine is a family affair for Dr. Koshy’s family. His wife is an academic nephrologist and an associate professor at TTUHSC. Their three grown children are following their parents’ footsteps into medicine – all are in various stages of medical school or residency. In his spare time, Dr. Koshy stays active by hiking and playing golf, tennis and cricket.