Blandine Helfrich, MD, MPH
Professor of Pathology Clinical and Applied Science Education Email: bhelfric@uiwtx.eduDr. Blandine Bustamante-Helfrich is Professor of Pathology and Public Health and former Associate Dean of the Office of Faculty Affairs (2021-2023) at the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM). She earned her M.D. at Weil Cornell Medical College in New York. Her postgraduate residency training in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology was completed at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando, Florida.
Dr. Bustamante-Helfrich subsequently completed a Fellowship in Obstetric, Gynecologic and Perinatal Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh, Magee-Women's Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Bustamante-Helfrich has over 20 years of experience practicing hospital-based pathology in Boca Raton, Florida and Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was Clinical Associate Professor of Pathology at Indiana University School of Medicine, Fort Wayne Center for Medical Education (1994-2005), and thrice awarded the Clinical Professor of the Year Award. After retiring from clinical practice in 2010, Dr. Bustamante-Helfrich served in the mission field, traveling to China, Poland, France and the Republic of North Macedonia. In 2013, she was Visiting Professor of Pathology on the Faculty of Medical Sciences, at Goce Delčev University, Štip.
Upon her return to the USA, Dr. Bustamante-Helfrich pursued a Master of Public Health degree. She is a graduate of the Centennial Class (2016) of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where she concentrated in Women's and Reproductive Health. Her public health research focuses on associations between placental pathology, maternal characteristics, and birth outcomes.
In 2021, Dr. Bustamante-Helfrich completed her Master of Education in the Health Professions from the Johns Hopkins School of Education. Her interests in medical education research include innovative faculty development initiatives focusing on professional identity formation/physician personhood and individualized faculty needs.
- M.D., Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences
- M.P.H., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2016