“I have been practicing obstetrics and gynecology since 2004. I started in Weirton at Weirton Medical Center. I then moved my practice over into the Steubenville/Wintersville region. I’ve also practiced at Harrison Community Hospital in Cadiz and then most recently at East Ohio Regional Hospital, Martins Ferry,” said Dr. O’Karma. “I’ve been a variety of places. I’ve been practicing for over 20 years.”
Dr. O’Karma sees a broad range of women at many different ages and stages of life.
“I see patients as adolescents. I’ll get referrals from pediatricians or from patients who say, Hey, I have a younger daughter who I’d like you to see. And I’ll address any of those concerns. I also then will see patients who are in the reproductive part of their life. If they’re interested in getting pregnant, I can help them try to conceive and do the workup for that. Even help them up until about 12 weeks of pregnancy, then refer them to the obstetrician where they’d like to go for their further OB care,” said Dr. O’Karma. “I see women with abnormal uterine bleeding, and we see that a lot, you know, during the ages–anywhere from 18 up to 50. Then once women go into menopause, I also take care of those women.”
Dr. O’Karma also helps women with other common issues they may face as they age.
“Other things I focus on would be urinary incontinence,” said Dr. O’Karma. “We tend to see that as women get older and that’s something that I will address and help them with that.”
The journey itself as a physician is also rewarding.
“I find most rewarding is developing those relationships with my patients. Like I said, I’ve been practicing for over 20 years and I enjoy having that rapport with my patients. They feel comfortable. They can trust me. They know that I have their best interest at heart, and I can develop that relationship with them throughout different stages of their life,” said Dr. O’Karma. “I have patients that I’ve seen from back in the early 2000s that still follow me in the Tri-State area. And I’m able to provide care for them. I just had a patient recently travel two hours last week to come see me.”
Dr. O’Karma is excited about being part of East Liverpool City Hospital and contributing to the team and its mission.
“What I like about East Liverpool City Hospital is their mission; they are very focused on the community. I want to be part of that. I want to contribute to the community so that patients don’t feel the need to travel outside of that. That they can get quality care right here in their community,” she said. “And I can work alongside with the other providers, and we can all work together to help the patient improve their quality of life. I want to be a part of that and just help those patients and build their trust and let them know that we’re empathetic to them.”
If you need further care, they can help with that as well.
“We’re here to help and if we’re not able to provide a solution, I definitely can get them to where they need to be. Let’s say I have a patient with gynecologic cancer,” said Dr. O’Karma. “That’s something I don’t deal with that’s handled by a gynecologic oncologist. But I have those referrals that I can reach out to other providers and get them to wherever they need to be.”
Trust is also extremely important.
“I think first off is to build trust, especially with gynecology. That’s something that patients are a little bit hesitant and I want them to know that, again, they can come to me. I am here to just have an open conversation that I care about them,” said Dr. O’Karma. “Whatever they have to say, I’m here to help them through that. I want them to know that they can really trust me and open up to me and I think that’s important.”
River Valley Physicians Women’s Health is located at 205 West Sixth Street in East Liverpool, as part of East Liverpool City Hospital. Call 330-385-9670 and visit us online at ELCH.org. You can also follow us on Facebook.