Alumnus becomes president of national internist organization

A West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) alumnus has been named the leader of a national medical association with about 12,000 members.

C. Clark Milton, D.O., became president of the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI) Board of Directors during an installation at the organization’s Annual Convention and Scientific Sessions. The convention took place Oct. 7-10 in Palm Springs, Calif.

Milton is an internal medicine physician who is medical director at WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital in Wheeling, W.Va. He also maintains a practice at the hospital and is the institution’s designated official in charge of graduate medical education programs.

Milton earned a D.O. degree from WVSOM in 1982. He completed an internship at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center in 1983 and an internal medicine residency at Ohio Valley Medical Center in 1986, where he was chief resident.

He said he is pleased to take on the top leadership position in an organization he has been a member of for more than two decades.

“It is with gratitude and humility that I embrace the role of president,” he said. “From Lewisburg, W.Va., and WVSOM to ACOI, my osteopathic internal medicine journey has been life-changing. My vision for the future of ACOI centers around education, patient advocacy and osteopathic internal medicine professional development and leadership through innovation, influence and inspiration.”

Milton, whose presidential term will last one year, has been an academic fellow of ACOI since 2007 and served on the organization’s Continuing Medical Education Committee from 2020 to 2025.

Additionally, he served as president of the West Virginia Osteopathic Medical Association from 2016 to 2017.

James W. Nemitz, Ph.D., WVSOM’s president, thanked Milton for helping to train the next generation of osteopathic physicians.

“This is a great honor for Dr. Milton and for his alma mater. We appreciate the many years of service he has given to his patients, but also his dedicated service to educating osteopathic students and residents. He truly is a leader at the local, state and national levels,” Nemitz said.

ACOI represents current and aspiring osteopathic internal medicine physicians and subspecialists. Internal medicine physicians specialize in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases in adults.