Alumnus raised on dairy farm spends career as surgeon

By Nicholas Wood

Charles Mehlman’s, D.O.. M.P.H, eyes are cast downward, focused on the scrap paper he’s scratching red-ink notes on; his impassive expression slightly obscured by the shadow from his khaki cattleman’s hat. His voice is low, but deliberate—notably calm for someone who mere minutes ago wrapped up an operation at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. On the surface, with his long, gray hair pulled into a ponytail, his camouflage-patterned flannel sleeves rolled up, Mehlman is not the stereotypical image of a seasoned, Harvard-educated, orthopedic surgeon with a 105-page CV you might expect. But expectations have never really been much concern for him.

“I grew up on a dairy farm,” he shares, indirectly providing some context for his choice of headwear. “I was the oldest of four kids—my two younger brothers just retired from dairy farming after milking for 40 years…I was the first person in my family to ever go to college, and definitely the first person in my family ever to become a doctor.”

In Mehlman’s hometown of Bellaire, Ohio, he was never the biggest or the toughest kid (he describes himself as a “rather lame” eighth grade wrestler, just over 100 pounds.) What he was, however, was smart. His mother recognized this in him early on and pushed her son to never settle for less than the best when it came to academics.

“She was a person that lamented that she did not go to college; she always wishes she could have done that,” said Mehlman. “So that was sort of a foregone conclusion.”

His intellect was further guided by his high school coaches who recruited him to play the “quasi-medical role” of being an athletic trainer—taping ankles, applying liniment and wrapping injuries. This ultimately led him to a formal student athletic trainer role at the University of Akron, where his foray into pre-medical education officially began, and, later, to a spot in Ohio University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine’s class of 1989.

“I was the next to last to fill my class,” said Mehlman. He was initially put on the wait list, and began studying at a different institution in 1985, when he got a call letting him know someone had pulled out and there was a spot waiting for him. Coincidentally, the person who pulled out, Elsira Pina, D.O., and Mehlman would meet a few years later on rotation at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, fall in love, and begin a long, happy marriage.

From there, of course, there were his Harvard years spent traveling back and forth between Massachusetts and Cincinnati while he worked toward his Masters of Public Health—but though he’s grateful for the added education, he much prefers to dote on his Athens, Ohio, alma mater than the Ivy Leagues. He regards his 2006 Heritage College Medal of Merit Award as one of his proudest achievements, humbly polishing the etched glass trophy.

“Harvard’s never given me anything like this,” he said.

Today, education remains central to Mehlman’s work, as he heavily prioritizes innovative clinical research and sets the national standards for the operation of children’s hospitals as a committee leader determining the entries on U.S. News and World Report’s annual “Best Hospitals” ranking. He’s worked for Cincinnati Children’s for 30 years, never losing interest in the “coolness” of his specialty, relishing the opportunity to help young people lead longer, healthier lives.

“The joke always was that pediatrics took some of my inherent immaturity and helped make it marketable,” said Mehlman, characteristically deadpan. “It's just been a real treat to take care of kids.”

Mehlman was the first D.O. to join the surgical staff at his employer, but since then he’s made a concerted effort to ensure he won’t be the last—training hundreds of D.O. (and M.D.) orthopedic surgery residents throughout his career. He’s also contributed donations to facilities on Heritage College’s Athens campus.

“It's been my way to give back to the profession, and it's been a very good run,” he said.

Despite his successful, expansive career, Mehlman is nothing but humble as he reflects on his accomplishments—which may be due in part to his siblings.

“I've been a visiting professor at institutions across the country, internationally, lecturing in countries as far apart as China, South Korea, Singapore, United England and Scotland,” he said. “And my brothers, the dairy farmers, they always say ‘why couldn't you done something useful, like be a vet.’”

He’s come farther than perhaps he ever expected, but he’ll never forget where he came from.

“For an east Ohio farm boy, this has been a very surreal existence,” he shared..