Dean’s Faculty Achievement Awards

Clinical Service Award

Dr. Sergio Oehninger was one of five faculty members who were honored at the eastern Virginia Medical Schools Annual Dean’s Faculty Achievement Awards on June 1, 2005.

Just a few hours before flying off to Europe to serve as a guest speaker at two scientific organizations, Sergio Oehninger, M.D., Ph.D., paused for a few minutes between patients to reflect on his prolific career in reproductive medicine and his love of his profession.

“Even though it sound s soap-operaish, the fact that you get to help people get pregnant, conceive and establish a family is wonderful,” he said.

It is not unusual to catch Oehninger between tasks, and when one reflects on his resume, it is easy to see why. Oehninger, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and urology, is also director of the Division of Reproductive Medicine at EVMS. He has three graduate degrees – an M.D., a Ph.D., and a M.S. – and juggles work as a clinician, researcher and mentor. For his extraordinary contributions to Eastern Virginia Medical School, Oehninger received the Dean’s Faculty Achievement Award in Clinical Service.

“Everything we have achieved depends on the group of people we have working with us – nurses, andrologists, embryologists and our colleagues – that’s why I’m here,” Oehninger said upon accepting his award.

One colleague, in acknowledging Oehninger’s outstanding resume, said: “What impresses me the most is the volume of his scholarly production. While taking care of patients in the operating room, the hospital and the clinic all day long, Dr. Oehninger has managed to publish more than 200 peer-reviewed papers and over 35 book chapters, reviews and other publications.” The colleague goes on to note that Oehninger participates in numerous EVMS committees, reviews manuscripts for 12 medical journals, directs and teaches national and international courses in andrology and infertility and writes Grant proposals for his funded research.

Oehninger said he became interested in obstetric and gynecology because it combines surgery with endocrinology and medicine. In the early 1980s, the then-new fields of IVF and advanced reproductive technology piqued his interest and led to his decision to sub-specialize in reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

Infertility also has its frustrations, he conceded.
“It’s true that the coin has two sides,” he said. “Not all treatments are efficient in everyone and we are disappointed many times, but the successes far outweigh the failures and it is wonderful that we can help.”

Oehninger’s work, in conjunction with colleagues from the Department of Urology, has led to expanded treatment options for a special population of infertile men. He has also spearheaded research to transplant frozen ovarian tissue into chemotherapy/cancer-surviving patients, give them hope that they may one day have children of their own.