Growing up Don Cunanan wasn’t unlike other young boys his age. He liked to play and he liked to have fun and there was no shortage of that in the Cunanan household.

 

But growing up Cunanan meant that you were exposed to something else – the world of medicine. His father Roberto Cunanan is a physician and his mother Zenaida “Zenny” Cunanan was a medical technologist. Because of that, it’s probably no surprise Don Cunanan is a chip off the old medical block.

 

“When other kids were saying they wanted to be race car drivers, or famous singers … I only remember wanting to be a doctor growing up, although I think I would have made a decent race car driver,” Cunanan joked. “Also, I always enjoyed visiting Dr. (Joe) Momen’s office and seeing how he interacted with kids, even the sick ones so I entered medical school wanting to be a pediatrician.”

 

Today, the son of Robert and Zenny Cunanan isn’t a pediatrician, but he is known by many as Dr. Cunanan. Of course, just because he was in a medical family didn’t mean it was a given to enter the medical field. Instead, he had to earn it. And by almost anyone’s estimation he has.

 

Not only is he a board certified family practice physician, but he is certified hyperbaric and wound care specialist. And according to one national official, the second certification is the only kind in the state for any physician. Before getting to how he achieved that certification and what he has going for him today, it’s important to know how get got there.

 

Although he went to school in Bridgeport, including the old Bridgeport Junior High School on Newton Street where he left in 1988, Cunanan graduated from Kiski Prep School in Saltsburg, Pa., in 1991. After graduating there, the long and unique journey in the medical field began and literally took him across the globe.

 

For medical school, Cunanan found himself in the homeland of his parents. He attend St. Luke’s College of Medicine in Quezon City, Philippines. Immediately, he got himself deeply involved.

 

“I served as class president and completed a rotating internship (in his first year of residency) there as well,” said Cunanan. “Training abroad, I received more hands-on training than you could imagine,” said Cunanan.

 

Part of the reason, he said, was where he was located. During most of his training, he worked in underserved areas that often desperately needed medical attention. The training apparently paid off as he successfully completed his U.S. Medical Licensing exams and then officially entrenched himself back in the states and went to work.

 

“I was fortunate enough to be accepted at (United Hospital Center’s) Family Practice Residency Program and I completed their training in 2010,” said Cunanan.

 

Cunanan worked as one of severa; residents during the time. He was under the guidance of Bridgeport Dr. Robert Hess, he said. After the residency was complete, the first job offer came.

 

“I was offered the full-time physician position at the UHC Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center where I served as Medical Director of UHC’s Hyperbaric Medicine Center,” said Cunanan.

 

The hyperbaric medicine training was done out of state in Texas. Cunanan trained at the Diversified Clinical Services facility in Woodlands, Texas.

 

Cunanan took and passed his Family Practice Board Certification Exam in 2010. And last year, he became certified in Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care earning the Certified Hyperbaric Wound Care Specialist (CHWS) tag in 2013. The Hyperbaric treatment handles a number of ailments by using oxygen at levels higher than was exist in typical atmospheric pressure.

 

According to Samantha Biallas, the executive director of the American Board of Wound Healing, Cunanan appears to be the first doctor in all of West Virginia to have earned that certification. So why the need to become the first to get the certification?

 

“I wanted to make sure my wound care and hyperbaric medicine practice was the standard of care and the most up to date with regards to treatment protocols … and the only way to ensure that was to become certified,” said Cunanan. 

 

By becoming certified, Cunanan said it shows a physician has demonstrated an advanced knowledge in the field of hyperbaric medicine and wound care. Because of that, he’s justifiably pleased of what he’s accomplished.

 

“I am proud to be the first in the great state of West Virginia to accomplish this certification,” said Cunanan. “I have a sincere passion for wound care and hyperbaric medicine. I worked hard on a daily basis to learn as much as I could about the specialty. I did my best to increase my knowledge base in the area of wound care and hyperbaric medicine, whether it’s reading journals, attending conferences, or picking the brains of wound care nurses and doctors. I’m a nerd, and I’m proud of it.”

 

The self-proclaimed “nerd” is more than just a doctor. He’s also a family man. He and his wife Jen are the parents of daughter Lexi and has another daughter on the way. He has a brother Chris Cunanan and a niece Isabelle. His older brother, Dr. Roberto F. Cunanan, a chiropractor, passed away in 2007.

 

Right now, Cunanan is no longer with UHC and is working full time for Urgent Care at Community Care of West Virginia in the Rosebud section of Clarksburg. It is know as Community Care of Clarksburg (formerly Premeir Urgent Care).

 

“I’m taking some time off from wound care at the moment and am utilizing my family practice training by doing urgent care,” said Cunanan.

While doing that full time, Cunanan said it’s possible you may soon see him at the West Virginia University Wound Management Center. You may also see him working at the well-known Health South facility. Not too bad for a “nerd” from Bridgeport.

 

Editor's Note:  Photos courtesy of Dr. Don Cunanan.