Charleston OB-GYN, women’s health advocate to deliver White Coat Ceremony keynote

The newest group of medical students at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) will receive their white coats during a ceremony that officially recognizes them as student doctors.

The White Coat Ceremony will take place at 2 p.m., Sept. 11, in the Conference Center in the WVSOM Student Center on the school’s Lewisburg campus. The event will celebrate the Class of 2030’s commitment to a health care career. 

The keynote speaker will be Dara Aliff, D.O., a WVSOM alumna who is the founder and owner of Premier Women’s Health Specialists PLLC, a Charleston, W.Va.-based practice that has provided care to tens of thousands of women since 2009.

Aliff is a West Virginia native and a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from Marshall University before earning a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree in 1999 from WVSOM, where she served as class president and student body president. Aliff completed a rotating internship and an obstetrics and gynecology residency at Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC), where she was chief resident and received multiple teaching awards.

A champion for the health of rural and underserved women, Aliff has advocated on these issues through the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and through direct engagement with state and local government. She is a member of CAMC’s Medical Ethics Committee Board, the Kanawha Board of Health and the Board of Directors for the West Virginia Women’s Alliance. Aliff currently serves as a WVSOM clinical assistant professor and as a member of West Virginia University’s clinical faculty.

Aliff also has served in health care governance, including board and committee positions at two major medical professional liability insurers. She has experience in fiduciary oversight, claims management, financial governance and outcome-focused quality initiatives.

Aliff was inducted into West Virginia Executive magazine’s Health Care Hall of Fame in 2025.

WVSOM’s White Coat Ceremony will have limited seating, and tickets will be required for admission. The event will be livestreamed at www.wvsom.edu.