UPIKE Newsroom

Seema Sachdeva, M.D., FAAP, was named this year’s John A. Strosnider, D.O., Memorial Lecturer at the Kentucky College of Osteopathic Medicine (KYCOM) Founders Dinner on September 19. The award acknowledged Sachdeva’s service to KYCOM and her decades spent devoted to the pediatric profession.

Established in honor of John A. Strosnider, D.O., founding dean of KYCOM, the award is presented annually. Previous recipients include G. Chad Perry III, Burlin Coleman, Bennie Ray Bailey, Paul E. Patton, William H. Owens, Terry Dotson, Harold H. “Hal” Smith, Walter E. May, William Betz, Edward G. Stiles, Steve R. Harris, Julia H. Smith, Jody Brown, Rakesh Sachdeva and Jody Johnson.

Sachdeva serves as a clinical professor of pediatrics at KYCOM and was the founding vice-chair of the medical school’s Division of Pediatrics. She is a board-certified pediatrician with specialized training in pediatric emergency medicine who has served the children of Eastern Kentucky for more than 30 years. She is currently the clinical director of the HomePlace Clinic for Children and Families in Pikeville. Sachdeva has received numerous honors, including the CDC Childhood Immunization Champion Award and the Child Abuse Prevention Advocate of the Year. An active Rotarian and community leader, she co-founded the Empowering Girls of Appalachia initiative and has helped raise significant disaster relief funds for the region. She and her husband, Dr. Rakesh Sachdeva, have made lasting contributions to healthcare, education and community service across Central Appalachia.

In her lecture, Sachdeva remarked on how much KYCOM has changed since it began. It has grown from a small theatre-style classroom to a technically advanced institution housed in the Coal Building, more than doubling its original enrollment. 

“What has not changed is our commitment to the healthcare needs of Appalachia,” said Sachdeva. “We still stand firm on our core principles of our Founders. We are not just an institution. We are an institution grounded by core principles that are paramount to graduating successful physicians. The core principles that remain very relevant today are integrity, compassion, empathy and competence.”

Since opening its doors in 1997, KYCOM has graduated over 2,200 physicians with 70% of them going into primary care and a significant percentage practicing in rural and underserved areas. 

“KYCOM’s success is all because of the people who had a vision and were able to turn that into a reality,” said  KYCOM Dean Joe Kingery, D.O., MBA, FACOFP, FAAFP. “That included Dr. Strosnider, the founding dean. I’m convinced no one could have done what he did. He was the right man, for the right job, at the right time. It’s because of him we are here today.”