Family Practice Doctor Serving West Virginia

Dr. Berens was born in Washington, DC; however, he was raised in southern Maryland where his interests in nature and the outdoors flourished. So much so, that he entered college in pursuit of a degree in Forestry. Like many students in the 1970’s he lacked a degree of academic discipline; floundering, he soon enlisted in the US Air Force. The USAF provided him with training as a Medical Laboratory Technician. It was while stationed in a small hospital at Hill AFB, Utah that his passion for Medicine took root.

Education

Following military service, he moved his wife and children to Hedgesville, WV and attended Shepherd College while working as a Medical Lab Technician at City Hospital in Martinsburg. In 1986, he graduated from Shepherd with a B.S. in Biology. That fall he moved his family to Morgantown and entered the West Virginia University School of Medicine. Earning the degree ‘Doctor of Medicine’ in 1990, he was accepted into WVU’s Department of Family Medicine residency program, which he completed in 1993. Soon after, he received and has always maintained his board certification from the American Board of Family Medicine. In the summer of 1993, Dr. Berens moved his wife, Phyllis, and four children to Berkeley Springs, WV where he has been in practice on Washington Street ever since.

Community Service

Holding additional certifications in Basic and Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and having an interest in Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine, Dr. Berens serves the local community through his positions as Medical Director for local rescue squads. As a Clinical Associate Professor for the WVU’s School of Medicine, he serves his profession by hosting and providing educational experiences to WVU medical students as well as medical students from Marshall University, Georgetown University and the WV School of Osteopathic Medicine. He is a member of the AMA, WV State Medical Association, Eastern Panhandle Medical Society and is on the staff at War Memorial Hospital in Berkeley Springs and WVUH-East’s Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg.

Small Town Life

Dr. Berens truly loves small-town family practice and takes pleasure in providing his good-natured and down to earth style of care to adults and children in an informal setting. He sees patients wearing his blue jeans and refuses to wear a white coat, suit or tie. Being a lifetime NRA member and Republican, his traditional leanings sometimes lead to good-humored banter with his liberal friends. He and Phyllis have been married for nearly 35 years. His hobbies include motorcycling, martial arts, playing guitar (folk and classic rock), hunting, shooting, camping, boating and catching the occasional fish.