Providing Services for: Neurology,Occupational Medicine, & Environmental Medicine Consultations, Clinical Evaluations, Treatment, Electromyography for Suspected Neurological Illness Secondary to Workplace Injuries or Chemical Exposure Injury,Independent Medical Examinations,Medical Record Review, Utilization Review& Consulting/ Litigation Support to Industrial, Legal, Government, Pharmaceutical And Academic Institutions. Licensed in California (CA), New York (NY), and Massachusetts (MA).
Professional Biography
For the most up to date version, please consult the printable version.
Biography
Dr. Rutchik grew up in Norwich, CT, and graduated from The Norwich Free Academy in 1982. He gave the Ivy Oration at graduation.
He then graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1986 and Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, in 1990.
He then completed an internal medicine internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, NY, an affiliated hospital of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1991.The next year, he worked for the US Public Health Services/Indian Health Service in Zuni, NM, and Bethel, AK, and then with the Joint Distribution Committee in Casablanca, Morocco, serving indigent populations in these areas of the world.
He then graduated from Columbia College in New York City in 1986 and Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, PA, in 1990.
He then completed an internal medicine internship at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York, NY, an affiliated hospital of the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1991.The next year, he worked for the US Public Health Services/Indian Health Service in Zuni, NM, and Bethel, AK, and then with the Joint Distribution Committee in Casablanca, Morocco, serving indigent populations in these areas of the world.
Between 1992 and 1995, he was with the Departments of Neurology and Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Boston University. Under the direction of the Chairman of Neurology, Dr. Robert Feldman, he completed a neurology fellowship in occupational and environmental neurology, a two-year residency in occupational and environmental medicine chaired by Cheryl Barbanel, MD, MPH, and Robert Swotinsky, MD, MPH, and a master’s degree in public health. During that two-year period, Dr. Rutchik was the recipient of a Clinical Fellowship Award in Environmental Medicine from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 1997, Dr. Rutchik also received training in nerve conduction velocity and electromyography testing at the Beth Israel Medical Center.
During these years, he has worked with the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, at OSHA on the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, carbon disulfide, and mercury and manganese toxicity and currently advises the Health Standards Section on issues related to current permissible exposure limits for many hazardous chemicals.
He has also worked as a consultant to Clean Harbors, Inc. on medical surveillance for hazardous waste workers. At Boston University Laboratories, he was involved in a project to improve medical surveillance for workers exposed to dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
Also, he has advised the NIOSH on health hazard evaluations involving asthma and headaches in a submarine manufacturing company, carbon disulfide exposure in a viscose rayon plant, lead and arsenic toxicity in an elementary school, and mercury exposure in a mercury waste company.
Dr. Rutchik has focused on research to assess a low allergenic latex glove and repetitive strain injury while working within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Environmental Medical Service and Dr. Robert McCunney.
He has also served as a consultant to the Disability Management Services of Prudential Insurance in Parsippany, NJ.
In 1997, he was affiliated with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on a proposal for an occupational toxicology training manual for health care and industrial professionals in underdeveloped countries and the evaluation of populations with a high prevalence of neurological illnesses in underdeveloped countries.
In 1997 and 1998, Dr. Rutchik worked as the Medical Director of the Division of Occupational and
Environmental Neurology for Occupational Health and Rehabilitation, Inc. of Boston, MA. This position enabled him to develop a practice that included clinical patient duties evaluating those with occupational injury and environmental illness as well as consulting to industry, government, attorneys, and academia. In this role, he worked as the associate medical director on-site at the General Electric Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Center in Lynn, MA. Injury management and prevention, ergonomic issues, and return to work and disability issues were common challenges.
During these years, he has worked with the Department of Labor in Washington, DC, at OSHA on the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, carbon disulfide, and mercury and manganese toxicity and currently advises the Health Standards Section on issues related to current permissible exposure limits for many hazardous chemicals.
He has also worked as a consultant to Clean Harbors, Inc. on medical surveillance for hazardous waste workers. At Boston University Laboratories, he was involved in a project to improve medical surveillance for workers exposed to dioxins and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
Also, he has advised the NIOSH on health hazard evaluations involving asthma and headaches in a submarine manufacturing company, carbon disulfide exposure in a viscose rayon plant, lead and arsenic toxicity in an elementary school, and mercury exposure in a mercury waste company.
Dr. Rutchik has focused on research to assess a low allergenic latex glove and repetitive strain injury while working within the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Environmental Medical Service and Dr. Robert McCunney.
He has also served as a consultant to the Disability Management Services of Prudential Insurance in Parsippany, NJ.
In 1997, he was affiliated with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, on a proposal for an occupational toxicology training manual for health care and industrial professionals in underdeveloped countries and the evaluation of populations with a high prevalence of neurological illnesses in underdeveloped countries.
In 1997 and 1998, Dr. Rutchik worked as the Medical Director of the Division of Occupational and
Environmental Neurology for Occupational Health and Rehabilitation, Inc. of Boston, MA. This position enabled him to develop a practice that included clinical patient duties evaluating those with occupational injury and environmental illness as well as consulting to industry, government, attorneys, and academia. In this role, he worked as the associate medical director on-site at the General Electric Aircraft Engine Manufacturing Center in Lynn, MA. Injury management and prevention, ergonomic issues, and return to work and disability issues were common challenges.
Dr. Rutchik’s focus is neurological illness, workplace injuries, and environmental exposure. Throughout his career, he has focused on neurological illness and workplace and environmental exposure in many settings.
- Dr. Rutchik has lectured to various audiences and presented academic papers on neurology data collection, carpel tunnel syndrome, ethylene oxide, perchloroethylene, lead neurotoxicity, toxicology of the visual system, neurological sequelae of chlorinated ethylenes, practical occupational and environmental neurology, and neurotoxicology.
- He has authored numerous abstracts and book chapters on the occupational hazards of anatomical pathology, occupational slow viruses, and occupational and environmental neurology and peer-reviewed journal articles on the effect of temperature on motor responses in organophosphate intoxication, neurological sequelae from an occupational exposure to lithium, biological monitoring of dioxin, revising a medical surveillance plan for a hazardous waste company, and an occupational and environmental neurology subspecialist.
- He is the author of chapters on metal neurotoxicity and mercury neuropathy for a prominent neurology internet text entitled MedLink Neurology.
- He is also the section editor for Neurotoxicology and has authored chapters on organic solvents and toxic neuropathy for eMedicine/Medscape, an internet medical text.
- In 1999, Dr. Rutchik relocated to New York, NY, where he developed Neurology Environmental and Occupational Medicine Associates (NEOMA). The URL for NEOMA's Website is www.neoma.com.
- In New York, Dr. Rutchik associated himself with the Industrial Medical Associates of White Plains, NY, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, and the Division of Environmental Health of the Columbia University School of Public Health.
- In August 2000, Dr. Rutchik reestablished his practice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Soon after, he became a qualified medical evaluator by the Industrial Medical Board of California.
- Presently, with a central administrative office in Mill Valley, CA, he sees patients in San Francisco, Richmond, and Petaluma weekly, Sacramento monthly, and the Eureka area quarterly. Focusing on industrial injuries, chemical exposure, and disability, Dr. Rutchik evaluates and treats injured workers with specialty neurology and occupational and environmental medicine expertise. He performs electromyography and nerve conduction velocity testing, IMEs, QMEs, AOE, and AMEs, and performs fitness for duty evaluations. Dr. Rutchik is also available for record review and utilization review. He is listed on a number of well-known MPN networks for workers’ compensation.
- His academic affiliations include the University of California at San Francisco, where he is an Associate Clinical Professor in the Division of Occupational Medicine and the Department of Internal Medicine. In this capacity, he teaches medical students, residents, and fellows, as well as nurses and nurse practitioners in his areas of expertise. He continues to write and lecture on various subjects involving head trauma, neurological fitness for duty, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, toxic neuropathy, and solvents and metals and their neurological consequences. He has also submitted numerous articles and book chapters to peer-reviewed journals and textbooks.
- Other affiliations include being the Medical Director for CID Management Services, a utilization review company based in Southern California, as well as Travelers Insurance, where he was the Medical Director of a disability and workers’ compensation division.
- He is an active member of the Western Occupational and Environmental Medicine Association (WOHC), the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), the American Academy of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM), the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), and the Movement Disorder Society.
- In 2012, he was acknowledged for his years of service and scientific contributions to his specialty by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine as a Fellow (FACOEM).
- Dr. Rutchik continues to keep his medical licenses active in New York and Massachusetts and frequently visits the East Coast for professional and personal reasons. In 2013, he was granted medical licenses in New Mexico and Idaho.
- In 2013, Dr. Rutchik was promoted to Associate Clinical Professor at UCSF in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Occupational Medicine.
- In 2016, Dr. Rutchik was acknowledged for his years of service and scientific contributions to his specialty by the American Academy of Neurology as a Fellow (FAAN).
- In 2017, Dr Rutchik was recertified by the ABPN in neurology.
- In 2024, Dr Rutchik was promoted to Full Professor at the UCSF Dept of MEdicine in the Division of Occupational, Environmental and Climate Medicine.
- As of 2025, Dr Rutchik has completed continuing education requirements for ABPN and ABPM and remains Board Certified in both Neurology and Occupational Medicine.
- Printable Version of Curriculum Vitae
All professional correspondence: 35 Miller Ave #331, Mill Valley, CA 94941 Office Telephone: (415) 381-3133 Office Fax: (415) 381-3131