HAGERSTOWN — Dr. Catherine Feaga likes to think of her career and passion using the German word “Beruf,” which translates as “profession” but more in the sense of a calling.
She has approached osteopathic medicine as her “Beruf” since medical school.
“It’s the opportunity to understand the world and humans, and our interactions with each other, on a deeper level,” Feaga said.
The Maryland Association of Osteopathic Physicians recently named Feaga its 2025 Physician of the Year. Feaga assisted the organization with seminars in 2024 and 2025, hosted visiting students and participated in advocacy in Annapolis and Washington, D.C.
Feaga joined Meritus Health in 2019 to partner with others in starting a family medicine residency program focused on rural communities. That program enrolls six residents per year, so it has 18 residents at a time based on the three-year program.
The residents are often choosing to practice in Maryland’s Washington, Garrett and Howard counties.
“We wanted to see a solid workforce for (these counties’) primary care in an area that is underserved,” Feaga said. “You have to have a broad scope of knowledge to practice in those settings.”
The doctor likes to incorporate osteopathic, holistic methods of care, ensuring a patient has appropriate levels of sleep, movement and stress when responding to acute and chronic illnesses. She said overall health very much affects treatment and recovery.
The single most important step a person can take to improve his or her overall health is to eat real, whole foods, she said.
Feaga, who lives in the Sharpsburg, Maryland, area, talks to today’s residents about work-life balance. She said perceptions about that balance have changed greatly since she first graduated from West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and entered residency. She said residents are learning to finish their work within the confines of their shift to leave the medical center on time and not leave tasks behind for the next shift.
Feaga is building a curriculum that focuses on psychiatry as it aligns with osteopathy. She said she looks forward to incorporating that within Meritus Health, which she praised for being community oriented and independent.
Feaga hopes to help newer doctors find their own “Beruf.”
