Heritage Snapshot: Part 211

Virchel E. Wood, Jr., MD, is an author, poet, orthopedic hand surgeon, and collector of mineral spheres, was born as an only child on Feb. 13, 1934 in Leominster, Massachusetts. He graduated from South Lancaster Academy, on May 31, 1952, and from Atlantic Union College on June 3, 1956—both in South Lancaster, Massachusetts. He graduated from the Loma Linda College of Medical Evangelists in 1960 and immediately entered a one-year rotating internship at the Washington Sanitarium and Hospital, in Takoma Park, Maryland. Dr. Wood completed a general Surgery residency at Harbor General Hospital, Torrance, California, in 1963 and a residency in Orthopedic Surgery at Worchester City Hospital, University of Massachusetts, in Worchester, Massachusetts in 1966. Between 1966 and 1969 he took two fellowships in hand surgery in New York City and Iowa City. Between 1967 and 1969 he was Chief of the Orthopedic Service for the United States Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Wood, Missouri. In the meantime, while in private practice in Walla Walla, Washington, between 1969 and 1971, Dr. Wood was an instructor in Clinical Hand Surgery for the University of Washington in Seattle. From 1971, when he joined the faculty of the Loma Linda University School of Medicine, to 2000 he was Chief of the Hand Surgery Service at Loma Linda University Medical Center. In 1986, he became Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Loma Linda University. During his tenure in Loma Linda he directed the Microsurgery Laboratory and the Hand Rehabilitation Center. In 1973, Dr. Wood was voted the School of Medicine’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the School of Medicine Alumni Association’s Walter E. Macpherson Society. In both 1994 and 1995 he was granted the Outstanding Faculty Researcher Award by the Walter E. Macpherson Society. And in 1995, he received the “Most Frequently Cited Author in Congenital Hand Literature for the Past 50 years” award by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. In 1996, Dr. Wood received the Alumnus of the Year award presented by the Neufeld Society of Loma Linda University. Dr. Wood’s literary talents were recognized when he received the Editor’s Choice Award for Outstanding Achievement in Poetry presented by the National Library of Poetry. In 2005, he was listed in International Who’s Who in Poetry. Over the years Dr. Wood’s hobby has been to collect thousands of mineral spheres. From 1990 he has been the curator of the Minerals & Gems Division of the La Sierra Museum at La Sierra University where he displays many of his mineral spheres. From 1969 to date, Dr. Wood has been listed in Who’s Who of America, and from 1984 to date has been a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Society. In 1973, he was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the School of Medicine. In 1994 and 1995 he received the Outstanding Faculty Research Award from the Walter E. Macpherson Society. In 1999, he became the Honored Alumnus of the School of Medicine Alumni Association. In 2004, he received the University Distinguished Service Award during the Loma Linda University School of Medicine graduation, and on April 9, 2006, he received the Centennial Vanguard Award from Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center. Dr. Wood has repeatedly been listed in The Best doctors in the Inland Empire and The Best Doctors in America. In 2007, Dr. Wood became the School of Medicine Alumni Association’s Alumnus of the Year.