NEWS from The Corvallis Clinic
April 29, 2014
Judy Corwin 541-754-1374
CORVALLIS — Roland B. Szemerei, PA-C, has joined The Corvallis Clinic Sleep Medicine Department. Mr. Szemerei (pronounced Seh-meh-reh-ee) had been a physician assistant at the High Desert Cardiopulmonary Medical Center in Apple Valley, Calif., since 2012.
He is board certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
Mr. Szemerei decided to enter the medical field after selling his small business. “I wanted to do something with purpose,” he said, “to use my talents and energies on something noble rather than just making money. I had been introduced to medicine while working as a part-time EMT during my undergraduate studies and realized that it wasn’t too late for a career in medicine.”
Mr. Szemerei received a Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies at Western University of Health Science in Pomona, Calif., in July 2012. His studies gave him “a deeper appreciation for the complexity of the human body.” He said the sub-specialty of Sleep Medicine suits his love of data analysis and deductive reasoning. “I enjoy looking at the complex data of a polysomnogram (the results from a sleep study) and using that information to identify problems and draw up strategies to improve an individual’s quality of life. I also appreciate that it’s a relatively new specialty which is underutilized and has a lot of room to expand. A great night of sleep is something we all love, and I enjoy helping people attain it.”
He said he strives to instill as much knowledge about a patient’s disorder to them as possible and to make them feel at ease. An example of his approach is when he convinced an especially petulant patient to follow his physician’s advice to undergo a sleep study. “After a few months of using CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) one would scarcely recognize him as the same person we first met. He would come in laughing and joking with the medical staff – and he even gave up smoking! It was really rewarding seeing someone’s life so radically changed for the better from something as simple as a CPAP machine.”
Szemerei chose The Corvallis Clinic for his practice because “it is well-organized and efficient … yet manages to also stay very personable and compassionate to its patients. The clinic seems to have a good rapport with the community, and so far everyone I have met has been very amiable and has a lot of zeal for their work.”
The Corvallis Clinic, an independent, physician-led medical group, is a comprehensive multi-specialty organization, serving Benton, Linn and Lincoln counties. It offers more than 100 board-certified providers and advanced professionals in 27 specialties at seven area locations. As the fifth-largest area employer, The Clinic has 600 employees.
