Paul Wakim, DO
Pacifica Orthopedics
Dr. Wakim was born in the village of Dlebta, Kisrwan. He was second in the line of nine children born of Emile Joseph Wakim and Claire Schoucair Wakim. He and his family lived in Beirut, but passed the summers in Dlebta at their family home.
In August of '65, at age 19, he emigrated to Fresno, California where he enrolled at California State University-Fresno. He met his wife Connie, several years later at the International House for foreign and American students, where he was serving as president. They were married on June 10, 1968.
The couple moved to Kansas City, Missouri, for medical school at the University of Health Sciences. Following graduation they moved to Pontiac, Michigan for a year of internship and then to Wichita, Kansas for residency in orthopedic surgery. Dr. Wakim opened his first orthopedic practice, Bone & Joint Clinic in Wichita.
In July, 1984, they and their three children, Emile, Nicole and Chris, moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where he assumed the role of Director of Medical Education at Corpus Christi Orthopedic Hospital, while continuing his own private orthopedic practice.
In July, 1991, the family moved back to California, settling in Huntington Beach, where he opened his Pacifica Orthopedics practice. His son Emile, also an orthopedic surgeon, joined his practice in 2006.
Throughout his medical career, Dr. Wakim has served as president of county and state associations in Kansas, Texas and California, as well as an appointment by Governor Pete Wilson to serve on the Industrial Medical Council for the State of California. He is the past president of the American Lebanese Medical Association, and presently serves under the appointment of Governor Arnold Scharzenegger as Vice President of the Osteopathic Board of Medical Examiners.
Dr. Wakim has been actively involved with the House of Lebanon project since its inception. He also participates in various Lebanese organizations such as the Cedars Rotary International, the Los Angeles-Beirut Sister Cities organization and the American Lebanese Medical Association (ALMA).
His private joy is his grandchildren, Saisha, Gabrielle, Audrey and a baby boy on the way!