FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Contact:  Sheanna M. Spence, Assistant Director, Alumni Affairs and Community Relations, School of Medicine, 304-691-1639

Doctor honors family’s medical legacy with School of Medicine scholarship

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Bruce A. Ratcliff, M.D., a local obstetrician and gynecologist, and professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, has established an endowed scholarship with the School of Medicine.

The Ratcliff Family Scholarship honors the memory of Bruce’s father, Dr. Gilbert A. Ratcliff Sr. and his brother, Dr. Gilbert “Gil” A. Ratcliff Jr. The late Gilbert Ratcliff Sr. was originally from Indiana and graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He arrived in Huntington in 1930 and established a private OB/GYN practice. He retired in 1978 at 81 years old after delivering more than 10,000 babies in the Tri-State area. Gil Ratcliff Jr., a 1963 graduate from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, is a co-founder of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Cabell Huntington Hospital and a retired pediatrician/neonatologist.

Bruce Ratcliff, a 1966 graduate from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, joined the Marshall faculty in 1999 and has practiced in the Huntington area for more than 40 years.

“As a member of a medical family, my brother, and I are fortunate to practice medicine and educate future physicians at the School of Medicine,” said Bruce Ratcliff. “Our father instilled in the two of us the need to help others, be committed to life-long learning and to make a difference. By endowing this scholarship, we are fulfilling my father’s life lessons in helping future physicians.”

The scholarship is for first-year medical students at Marshall with strong academic backgrounds and financial need. The award is renewable for three additional years pending normal academic progress.

“Faculty support is vital to the success of our students and the School of Medicine,” said Linda S. Holmes, director of development and alumni affairs for the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine. “Dr. Ratcliff and his family’s commitment to our medical community spans decades, so it is only fitting that the Ratcliff legacy continue to benefit the school and its students for generations to come.”

For more information on the scholarships or to make a gift to the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, please contact Holmes at 304-691-1711 or go to https://jcesom.marshall.edu/alumni-giving/. 

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Photo caption:  Pictured left to right are Dr. Gil Ratcliff Jr., the late Dr. Gilbert Ratcliff Sr. and Dr. Bruce Ratcliff in this archived photo circa 1970s, courtesy of The Herald-Dispatch.   

Date Posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016