Damon L. Baker, DO, MACOI, Selected to Lead ACOI for 2025-2026

The American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI), a national professional organization representing osteopathic internal medicine physicians and subspecialists, has announced the appointment of Damon L. Baker, DO, MACOI, as President for 2025-2026. The announcement was made during the ACOI 2025 Annual Convention & Scientific Sessions in Marco Island, Florida.
 
Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Baker currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Oklahoma State University (OSU). He has served as the Chief Medical Officer at OSU Medical Center since 2005, and the Program and Medical Director of Internal Medicine Specialty Services HIV/AIDs program at OSU Center for Health Sciences since 1998.
 
A member of ACOI since 1997, Dr. Baker was inducted into the Conclave of Fellows in 2001, elected to the Board of Directors in 2016, and named the 2021 Internist of the Year. He currently serves on the ACOI Research Committee and has been active with several other ACOI committees in the past, including the Council on Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Medical Education. This year, he was nominated to the Gillum Society of Master Fellows; he now holds the prestigious MACOI designation, which honors members who have demonstrated outstanding past and present contributions to the College or to osteopathic internal medicine on a local, regional, or national level.

In addition to this involvement with ACOI, Dr. Baker is also actively involved with numerous committees at OSU, including as Chair of the Quality Council and of the Peer Review Committee. His professional memberships outside ACOI include the American Osteopathic Association, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association, and the Osteopathic Founders Association.  
 
After graduating from the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1993, Dr. Baker completed his internal medicine residency at OSU Tulsa Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, OK. He worked with the OSU Center for Health Sciences for several years after completing his residency—as Assistant Professor within the Department of Internal Medicine from 1996 to 2002, Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency from 1999 to 2005, and Associate Professor within the Department of Internal Medicine from 2002 to 2007. He was also Vice Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine from 2002 to 2004, and between 2002 and 2018, served as Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy.
 
“This opportunity to lead ACOI is a huge honor, and I look forward to using it to provide encouragement and leadership to ACOI over the course of this next year,” Dr. Baker said. “I’m grateful for the chance to focus on new, innovative ways to help ACOI continue to grow and advance.”