As a seasoned gastroenterology physician, Donald has gained incredible recognition among his colleagues as a leader within the medical field. With a comprehensive knowledge of his practice, he has grown to serve a wide variety of clients as a physician group consultant. Just as Dr. Saelinger dedicated his gastroenterology practice to making sure his patients received the best care possible, as a consultant, he works to ensure that the organizations he assists receive the best guidance possible.
Today, working as a physician group consultant, Donald utilizes his extensive knowledge in medicine and facility management to help physician groups become more distinguished within their markets. Understanding that managing a practice or physician group can be challenging, Donald however, provides his clients with expansive guidance that can help them tackle a variety of operational issues with modern solutions. By focusing on improved governance, group leadership and management, he has helped many physician groups not only achieve exceptional fiscal performance, but also gain greater recognition among communities and colleagues.
In addition to his extensive success as a physician group consultant, Donald Saelinger has become a noted locum tenens contractor. By taking on locum tenens contract work, he has been able to successfully fill the roles held by other medical professionals and serve their patients and practices with the highest level of care and dedication. As a medical professional who has earned solid trust within his community as a temporary care provider, he has fulfilled locum tenens duties in many practices throughout the United States, including those in Indiana, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Maine.
Donald Saelinger has served the medical community for many years, witnessing incredible progress and change in several areas of medicine and healthcare. While trained in gastroenterology, Dr. Saelinger’s expansive experience in the medical field has allowed him to become an authority on many important subjects related to the industry. For instance, his past in the medical field has allowed him to speak on matters such as health care costs and quality, hospital and physician integration, medical record management and many topical diseases and conditions. Today, he relies on his solid foundation in the medical field to provide colleagues and readers with greater insight on the current state of health care in his updated blog.
Education
As a gastroenterologist who has adapted and evolved alongside the changing nature of modern healthcare, Donald Saelinger is one professional who holds a high regard for education. Having earned licensure in multiple states and serving as a current physician group consultant, embracing continuing education has allowed him to advance and remain relevant within his field.
As a Kentucky native, Donald Saelinger knew that his home state was where he wanted to begin his academic pursuits to become a medical professional. In 1964, the soon to be doctor enrolled in Thomas More College located in Covington, Kentucky. As a small, distinguished private Catholic college, Thomas More offered him and his peers a genuine and solid approach to education. Building on the traditions of this university, Donald Saelinger developed a deep appreciation for academics and successfully earned his Bachelor of Arts in Biology in 1967.
Having had such a positive experience at Thomas More College, he was committed to advancing his educational pursuits and decided to move to Cincinnati, Ohio, to attend the University of Cincinnati. In becoming a part of the comprehensive student body at this respected public research university, he was afforded immense opportunity to benefit from extensive academic pursuits and refine his scientific knowledge. In 1969, Donald successfully graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Master of Science in Microbiology.
With a stellar record of academic performance, Donald took a bold step forward to pursue difficult, yet rewarding training in the medical field. Moving back to his home state of Kentucky, Donald Saelinger attended the historic University of Louisville where he earned his MD. While earning such a rank is an accomplishment for any student, Saelinger excelled beyond his peers as he graduated in 1973 with highest honors, ranking first within his class of 91 total students.
Breaking into the Medical Field
Although many may agree that making steady progress in higher education for nearly a decade is a major accomplishment in itself, his journey as a medical professional had only just begun. After earning his MD, he successfully pursued extensive post-graduate training at the University of Cincinnati medical facility. Focusing on internal medicine, he advanced in ranking and respect from Intern to Junior Resident, and finally, Senior Resident.
After such progress, Donald Saelinger was awarded a fellowship in Gastroenterology at the University of Cincinnati in 1976. Following this experience, Donald was credited for all his dedication and hard work in the field, becoming a Chief Medical Resident and Instructor of Internal Medicine at the establishment.
A Mind for Business
Although Dr. Saelinger’s continued achievements within the medical field as a gastroenterologist revealed his incredible aptitude for internal medicine and patient care, his passion for health care administration encouraged him to pursue other areas of education. While continuing his role as a medical professional, he enrolled in the business school at Xavier University, where he earned his MBA in 1989. With this additional accomplishment, Donald was able to confidently approach not only his role as a leader within medicine, but also take on new challenges in health care administration and physician group management.
Building a Private Practice
As noted above, Donald Saelinger’s efficacy in business and medical practice allowed him to pursue new goals within his career field. With a strong vision for his future and a desire to provide citizens with exceptional care, he founded a private practice in internal medicine and gastroenterology in 1977. Known as the Patient First Physician Group, this private practice proved a successful venture for him and many of his associates.
With an effective grasp on health care administration, modern treatment and practices, as well as private practice governance, Donald Saelinger built a strong group of doctors that moved forward in the field delivering a high level of service to patients. For more than three decades, Patient First Physician Group served a wide range of patients suffering from a myriad of medical issues.
Utilizing the latest tools and practices, this multi-specialty physician group was able to achieve great respect in the medical community, as well as earn recognition from patients. Throughout its development, Patient First Physician Group eventually grew to represent 90 medical professionals. As a successful practice, Dr. Saelinger chose to sell Patient First Physician Group to a hospital party in order to pursue greater opportunities as a physician group consultant.
While the legacy of Patient First Physician Group is one that will always remain closely associated with the comprehensive dedication of Saelinger, he is also connected to many other business affairs within the medical community. For instance, from 2006 to 2010, he retained a position as the Senior Vice President at St. Elizabeth Medical Center located in Edgewood, Kentucky.
An Honored Physician
The past and current accomplishments of Dr. Donald Saelinger speak volumes to the in-depth capabilities he offers as a medical professional and business leader. However, the prestigious doctor has also received significant notoriety in his field through several honors and awards he earned throughout his career.
Saelinger’s history as an award-winning figure began early in his university days, having won distinction as an NDEA Fellow in Microbiology in 1968, a Mosby Award winner in 1971 for Outstanding Performance in Science, as well as a Hoffman La Roche Award recipient in 1971. As a medical student, he was also credited as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Medical Society.
In more recent years, Donald Saelinger has also been recognized for outstanding performance as a medical professional, as he has won titles such as the “Healthcare Heroes Award” and “America’s Top Physician.”
Although retired as the Patient First Physicians Group CEO and Senior Vice President of St. Elizabeth Physicians, Donald Saelinger remains committed to leading new developments within physician groups and the health care community at large. As an authority on many topics within gastroenterology and private practice management, Donald is trusted by many peers for his authoritative knowledge on current practices, technologies, treatments and modalities. Through his work as a locum tenens physician, he continues to receive praise from patients he has served, as well as the practices that he has helped improve on an internal level.
As the medical field remains a fast-changing industry faced with several economic, social and political obstacles, Donald Saelinger is heavily invested in the future of health care in the United States of America. Through his blog, he has directed much conversation around current concerns regarding the cost and the quality of modern health care. As a result of this extensive, on-going dialogue, he hopes that other concerned medical professionals, leaders and public citizens can incite change in areas where it is needed.
In addition to his continuing work as a physician group consultant and temporary medical practitioner, Dr. Saelinger is committed to philanthropy and community involvement. Specifically, he remains connected with his alma mater, acting as a charitable partner for the Thomas Moore College and the Covington Latin School. Through this involvement, Donald Saelinger hopes that today’s students in science and technology will continue to show interest in progressing medicine and delivering new options for advanced patient care.