Rogelio Arosemena, M.D.
1926-2003

Dr. Rogelio Arosemena died January 9, 2003 in Panama. He was a member of the Medical Society for 33 years.

A native of Panama, Dr. Arosemena was a graduate of Georgetown University and attended the District of Columbia General Hospital in Washington, D.C. for his internship. He took his residencies at Georgetown Medical Center, Washington, D.C. and Gorgas Hospital in the Canal Zone. He followed with a fellowship at Minnesota University (Mayo School) where he was awarded the Master of Science, American Board of Surgeons. He was Chief of the Surgical Service at Hospital Seguro Social, Panama 1960-1970 and Professor of Surgery at the Panama Medical School 1968-1969. He returned to the United States in 1970 to Barstow where he practiced surgery until his retirement in 1993. In 1995 he returned to Panama and assisted in establishing a program in socialized medicine. He brought in a number of cardiovascular surgeons and more recently, 22 medical professionals from the Health Science University in Oregon to help train local doctors in cardiovascular surgery for children in Panama.

Dr. Arosemena was a member of CMA, AMA, the American College of Surgeons, the Pan American Medical Association, Priestkey Surgical Society, the Panama Medical Association, and the Panama Medical and Surgical Academy. The city of Barstow elected him "Man of the Decade" in 1986 and presented a proclamation from the city in 1991. He received several awards. In 1991, the California Association of Hospital and Health Systems Rural Hospital Center in Sacramento named Dr. Arosemena "Rural Physician of the Year." In recognition of his efforts to expand and improve medical services, the Barstow Community Hospital honored their former chief of surgery by naming the hospital's emergency room the "Dr. Rogelio Arosemena Emergency Room" in July 1996.

Dr. Arosemena is survived by his wife, Tichi, and five children survive him.

Change of Status
The Medical Society Board of Directors approved the requests received from the following physicians for reinstatement of their membership:

Albert Arteaga, MD
Thomas Barrett, MD
Marti Baum, MD
Hong D. Bui, MD
Richard Chinnock, MD
Douglas Deming, MD
James Duke, MD
Michael Eby, MD
Thomas Elder, MD
Andrew Hopper, MD
Telesforo Ramos, MD
Ravindra Rao, MD
Shoba Sahney, MD
Usanee Sanders, MD
Sanford Schneider, MD
Rahul Thacker, MD

The Board of Directors also accepted the requests from the following physicians for retired status:

James H. Belote, MD
W. Benson Harer, MD