Where healing meets heat: New AOA president shares how he became a grill master

You may know Robert G.G. Piccinini, DO, D. FACN, as the new president of the AOA or as an active member of numerous osteopathic organizations, including the American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists (ACONP), the Michigan Osteopathic Association (MOA) and the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners (NBOME), among others.

You may know him as a deeply committed osteopathic psychiatrist or as a longtime clinical faculty member at the A.T. Still University Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM).

But do you know him as a grill master and maker of artisan grill rubs?

BBQ beginnings

Outside of medicine, Dr. Piccinini discovered through his love of family (both birth and osteopathic) that healing can come in many flavors—and his is spicy and smoked.

In 2013, after his father passed away, Dr. Piccinini had a powerful realization: “What don’t I know? What am I missing? Who can I become? How can I engage more fully with life?” During his frequent visits to his family cottage in Michigan, the Italian American Dr. Piccinini noticed his brother and brother-in-law did all the cooking, and he wanted to help out in the kitchen. As Dr. Piccinini puts it, “In an Italian family, things happen in the kitchen,” and food represents love, togetherness and comfort.

At the next AOA House of Delegates meeting, Dr. Piccinini sought out Michael Weiting, DO, and Ray Stowers, DO, fellow osteopathic physicians and members of his osteopathic family. Drs. Weiting and Stowers were already barbeque gurus, and Dr. Piccinini asked for pointers on barbeque. This simple question evolved into four hours of talking about barbeque, rub, smoking, smokers and, of course, meats. And that was just the start.

The doctor is in (the smokehouse)

Armed with a little PK Grill/Smoker, Dr. Piccinini calls his first smoke “edible.” But over time, he continued to progress, both in skill and in the size of his smoker. He took classes to improve his barbecuing abilities and discovered a particular passion for brisket—which, as many barbeque connoisseurs know, can either be the toughest piece of meat or a transcendent experience.

But what is the smoke without the rub? That is how you really add flavor to the meat, according to Dr. Piccinini. He started making his own rubs, combinations of spices that are applied to the meat before they are smoked. Dr. Piccinini enjoyed coming up with new flavor profiles for different meats, and testing them on his families, both biological and osteopathic, frequently sending his combos to Drs. Weiting and Stowers for taste testing. Dr. Piccinini has created rubs for beef, poultry and even veggies, and, of course, he has an “original” flavor that started it all.

Before long, he was smoking meat every weekend at the Michigan cottage, sharing the smoky love with his family. Following catering “gigs” with the MOA and the AOA, Dr. Piccinini was invited by Eugene Oliveri, DO, to cater his granddaughter’s rehearsal dinner for her wedding.

Dr. Bob’s second calling

Dr. Piccinini, or “Dr. Bob” if he is smoking, appreciates the immediate feedback he gets from someone enjoying his meal. “Putting my food down in front of someone and having them enjoy it really charges my batteries,” said Dr. Piccinini.

While those rubs may be for sale one day (“Perhaps they will be my Chapter 2,” Dr. Piccinini said) he’s currently engaged in a yearlong gig for catering of a different kind: to the needs of the nearly 200,000 osteopathic physicians and osteopathic medical students in the U.S.

Either way, the smoker is ready.

Related reading:

Meet the AOA’s 129th President, Robert G.G. Piccinini, DO, D.FACN

Minding the gap: A year of listening, leading and lifting up the osteopathic medical profession