In 1994, the AMA-YPS instituted the community service award for exemplary projects completed by young physicians. The award is intended not just to recognize young physicians for their fine work, but also to raise public awareness of community involvement by young physicians. One or more awards are given each year, with the AMA-YPS Governing Council reviewing all nominations and making the selection(s). Award winners include:
Additional details and a nomination form for the AMA-YPS Community Service Award.
2007 Joseph E. Cangas, MD, Randolph B. Capone, MD, Britt H. Hatfield, MD, MPH, Rahul Jandial, MD
2006 Eric J. Gertner, MD, MPH, Steven J. Hudson, MD, JD, Sanjay R. Parikh, MD
2005 Richard Pan, MD, MPH, Adnan I. Qureshi, MD
2004 Devdutta Sangvai, MD, MBA
2003 Diana E. Ramos, MD
2002 Arthur Apolinario, MD, Jugta Kahai, MD, FAAP
2001 Adam Gordon, MD, MPH
2000 Marc W. Thorpe, MD
1999 Lisa Perry-Gilkes, MD/San Bernadino County Young Physicians Section, Kirsti Dyer, MD
1998 Jeffrey A. Niezgoda, MD, Anthony D. So, MD
1997 Jasjit Ahluwalia, MD, Ellis M. Arjmand, MD, Hans Hansen, MD, Beulette Hooks, MD
1996 Thomas Pressly, MD
1995 Baretta Casey, MD, Bruce Spurlock, MD, Constance Barone, MD, David Jimenez, MD, Judd Moul, MD, Albert R. Munn, MD
1994 Pablo Rodriguez, MD, Medical Society of DC Young Physicians Section
2007 Community Service Awards
Award winner Joseph E. Cangas, MD
Joseph E. Cangas, MD
Helmets First!
Columbia, IL
Dr. Cangas started Helmets First! in 2004 “to promote the safety of children by providing helmets and helmet education, as well as rewarding those who wear a helmet, so that they may grow to be healthy, productive members of society.” Helmets First! encourages bicycle helmet usage by education, giving away free helmets, and rewarding children seen wearing a helmet. Over 2,600 children have seen the presentation. Over 900 helmets have been given away, and over 100 children have received rewards for wearing a helmet. Local law enforcement agencies have assisted in implementing the program.
Web site: http://www.helmetsfirst.com.
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Award winner Randolph B. Capone, MD
Randolph B. Capone, MD
Greater Baltimore Cleft Lip & Palate Team
Baltimore, MD
The Greater Baltimore Cleft Lip & Palate Team is a multidisciplinary medical team of 20 people dedicated to providing guidance and healthcare (often free) to individuals and families affected by congenital facial anomalies. Founded in November 2004, the team is comprised of providers from pediatrics, plastic surgery, oral surgery, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, neonatology, anesthesiology, genetics, dentistry, audiology, speech language pathology, social work, nursing, and nutrition. The Team is truly an amalgam of healthcare, since some members are full time academicians at either Johns Hopkins Hospital or The University of Maryland, while others are private practitioners. In just over two years, the Team has helped some 50 children and families.
Britt H. Hatfield, MD, MPH
World Trade Center Health Effects Treatment Program
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York, NY
Britt H. Hatfield, MD, MPH, is heavily involved in the World Trade Center Health Effects Treatment Program, which provides medical care to the firefighters, police officers, first responders and volunteers who worked at ground zero following the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001. He was instrumental in securing a federal grant to support the program. He also serves on the faculty at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, where he trains medical students and residents in the field of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Dr. Hatfield completed his residency at Harvard University, and he is certified as an Occupational Medicine specialist by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
Rahul Jandial, MD
International Neurosurgical Outreach
San Diego, CA
International Neurosurgical Children’s Association (INCA) identifies hospitals in need of neurosurgical support and provides them with needed equipment and the training necessary for its optimal use for the care of poor children. INCA aims to help institutions in developing nations attain a level of care offered routinely in industrialized nations. The program brings together dedicated neurosurgeons associated with international charity hospitals with neurosurgeons from American academic institutions willing to teach current neurosurgical practices to the identified surgeons in need. INCA believes that no child should receive “second rate” pediatric brain surgery, and further hopes to renovate children’s charity hospitals is an attainable goal. By educating and equipping, our efforts will perpetuate through the work of local neurosurgeons affecting every poor child who may one day need brain surgery. The outreach has been underway for four years.
2006 Community Service Awards
Eric J. Gertner, MD, MPH
Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Health Services Task Force in East Central Pennsylvania (C.L.A.S.)
Allentown, PA
C.L.A.S. Task Force in East Central Pennsylvania developed a task force to ensure all low-English proficiency (LEP) patients would receive access to qualified, trained interpretation services at our region’s eight hospital systems.
Guidelines were created to ensure optimal care for non-English speaking patients. These include recommending that health care organizations allow patients to communicate with caregivers in their preferred language and that staff undergo training to learn how to effectively treat patients who speak languages other than English or hail from other cultures. In addition, the agreement calls on providers to offer patient information in the languages most commonly spoken in the health care organization’s coverage area.
Steven J. Hudson, MD, JD
Lifetime community service commitment
Laurel Eye Clinic
DuBois, PA
Dr. Hudson has made a significant commitment to community service over his lifetime. He has been active with programs to help young pregnant women, to provide eye care services to the indigent locally and internationally, and to offer pro bono legal services to nonprofit corporations and individuals. He also is a volunteer for the American Red Cross and provides relief to victims of disasters. All those who supported his nomination cited his selflessness and desire to improve his community and society. Two recent projects highlight his involvement and dedication:
Days following the Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Hudson took time off from his busy ophthalmology practice, and packed his van with medical supplies, bottled water, bedding, and extra gasoline, and drove from Central Pennsylvania through the devastation to Baton Rouge. He volunteered in an acute care unit and treated hundreds of victims with a wide range of severe medical problems, including lacerations, infections, dehydration and stress. After addressing the immediate medical needs of the people of New Orleans, he shifted his attention to the legal needs of the people of coastal Mississippi. He assisted victims of Hurricane Katrina with their insurance claims, tax questions, and other legal needs under the Mississippi Bar’s Disaster Legal Assistance Program. He has volunteered his time and skills in many other capacities to improve the lives of others.
Sanjay R. Parikh, MD
Cochlear Implantation: A gift of hearing for the under-served deaf children in the Bronx
Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Bronx, NY
This is a family-centered multi-disciplinary team with members from otolaryngology, audiology, speech pathology, pediatric genetics, child life services, and social work. This unique multi-lingual program offers under-serviced families of the Bronx the opportunity to explore state of the art hearing rehabilitation for their deaf children. Cochlear Implantation is a surgical procedure where placement of an electronic device with the inner ear facilitates direct stimulation of the cochlea and hearing.
Richard Pan, MD, MPH
Sacramennto, California
Communities and Physicians Together
Communities and Physicians Together (CPT) is a collaboration between UC Davis and community organizations to teach pediatric residents how to build effective partnerships with community organizations. Established in 1999 by Dr. Richard Pan, CPT has taught over fifty residents to be community leaders. Many residency graduates remain active in their community.
In CPT, community organizations and physicians use Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) to identify community strengths and priorities. Residents are assigned to a neighborhood and are given a two week block rotation each year of residency to, in the first year, learn about the resources in their community, and in the second and third years, implement and evaluate a community project in partnership with a community organization. CPT provides a Project Workbook to guide residents in the program and six resident conferences on ABCD. The project also provides training to community members on teaching, project evaluation, medical culture, and ABCD.
Adnan I. Qureshi, MD
Bergen, New Jersey
Stroke in Hispanic and African American Regional Population (SHARP)
In Newark, half of the population has no medical insurance and the mortality associated with stroke in the community was one of highest in the country. Dr. Qureshi developed a stroke program in the New Jersey Medical School that provided a community based intervention to improve the quality of treatment and care in a multiethnic community. Under his leadership, extensive education programs involving radio and television interviews, newspaper articles, lectures to local primary care and emergency department physicians were initiated. The center participated in several of the community events hosted by American Heart Association, provided free screening sessions, and worked diligently with the Congressional Black Caucus and Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities to reduce the burden of heart disease and stroke among African Americans. Within two years of implementation, the community of Newark became a national role model for treatment of stroke. The stroke program was the rated best in the United States by University Healthsystems consortium for administrating acute stroke treatment and largest improvement in quality of care over 5 years.
2004 Community Service Awards
Devdutta Sangvai, MD, MBA
Durham, North Carolina
TROSA Clinic
TROSA Clinic is a volunteer staffed medical clinic in Durham, NC run by Dr. Sangvai that serves the 300 residents of TROSA (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers). It is a local, non-profit residential vocational rehabilitation program for substance abusers. Many of TROSA residents choose a therapeutic community over jail. Previously, residents in the program had limited access to routine health care outside of the local community health center and urgent/emergency care. Through Dr. Sangvai’s efforts, along with support from his employer and fellow physicians, the clinic has developed unique community partnerships that allow for residents of TROSA to receive sustainable primary and preventive care.
Diana E. Ramos, MD
Los Angeles, California
Women's Health Mobile Outreach Program
A mobile van providing comprehensive health exams (including pap testing, clinical breast exams and screening for cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes) was created in response to the increasing closure of several health centers in Los Angeles County. Many women were left without access to health care.
The mobile van goes out to underserved and indigent areas throughout Los Angeles County. The program was started in May 2002 and is still continuing. So far, over 400 women have received free medical screening along with arrangement for follow-up.
The program was created through a joint effort of the Department of Health Services, funded by an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer. The success of the project has been acknowledged by several of the board of supervisors from Los Angeles County.
Arthur Apolinario, MD
Clinton, NC
U Care, Inc. Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Program
Arthur Apolinario, MD has always advocated for domestic violence and sexual assault victims in his rural community - where abuses are reaching an epidemic level. After joining the U Care board in 2000, Dr. Apolinario has raised public awareness in a community where abuse is considered a taboo subject. He advocates on behalf of his abuse victims by offering medical treatment, allowing abuse counselors to meet with victims at the emergency room and educating other healthcare workers to the signs of abuse. From participating in community events to attending services for victims who have not survived their abuse, Dr. Apolinario visibly stands up for his conviction that domestic abuse and sexual assault should be eradicated in his community.
Jugta Kahai, MD, FAAP
Oak Island, NC
A.W.A.K.E.N.
(A Working Alliance for Kids with Exceptional Needs)
When Jugta Kahai, MD arrived in Oak Island, NC, she discovered that the community had a large number of "special needs" children whose families were forced to drive several hours to receive standard medical care. Soon after arriving, Dr. Kahai founded A.W.A.K.E.N. (A Working Alliance for Kids with Exceptional Needs), a program designed to provide financial and emotional support for families caring for "special needs" children who could not otherwise afford treatment. Over the past two years, Dr. Kahai has raised thousands of dollars and provided assistance to families throughout the community. In addition, Dr. Kahai funds free immunization clinics for the indigent population and provides healthcare to any child, regardless of insurance status.
Adam Gordon, MD, MPH
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
The Salvation Army Detoxification Program Health Services and Health Care Professions Mentorship
For the past several years, Adam Gordon, MD volunteers his time and uses his medical training to provide direct, free, medical care to homeless citizens. As volunteer Medical Director of the Salvation Army Detoxification Program, Dr. Gordon not only provides compassionate care to homeless adults participating in this program, he also serves as a mentor and teacher by providing communications and relationship building skills to the next generation of healthcare providers and volunteers.
The Salvation Army Public Inebraite Program is a state-licensed, medically monitored inpatient non-hospital detoxification program. More than 500 individuals a year are helped through this program.
Dr. Gordon sets the example of what community service should through his dedication to the program and the people it serves.
Marc W. Thorpe, MD
Jacksonville, Florida
"The Springfield Clinic -- Free Care to Uninsured and Underinsured Adults in Jacksonville, Florida"
In 1996, Marc Thorpe, MD, established The Springfield Clinic (formerly LaVilla Medical Clinic) in Jacksonville, Florida. The project was initially begun under the auspices of the Duval County Medical Society, but needed personal attention. Dr. Thorpe began working with the county society and several local community groups to refine the clinic and eventually helped to redesign and move the entire operation to its new location.
The Clinic’s mission is to provide free care to uninsured and underinsured adults in downtown Jacksonville. Initially, patients came from the Help Center, a drug treatment program, but as the word spread, more inner city adults came to trust and depend on the Clinic. The Springfield Clinic provides cutting edge technology to its patients, a population who might not otherwise receive medical treatment at all.
Dr. Thorpe coordinated all aspects necessary to make this clinic operational, including coordinating faculty and resident time from the Mayo Clinic Residency Program, resources from retired physicians in the community, and resources from pharmaceutical companies to provide medication for the patients.
Lisa Perry-Gilkes, MD
San Bernardino County Young Physicians Committee
Colton, California
The San Bernardino County Medical Society’s Young Physicians Committee participated in the Links, Inc. Walk-A-Thon & Health Fair entitled, "Project Walking Fete: Make Health a Habit." Participants began the program with a warm-up, followed by the walk-a-thon. YPS members took blood pressure measurements and provided various health handouts. Wallet-size cards to list medications were distributed to participants, and and educational videos were available.
This project had four goals:
Promote participation in lifetime physical activity among the African American population
Encourage adults to participate in advocacy efforts supporting teaching of the importance of lifetime physical activity to children and youth
Institutionalize exercise into community health and wellness program
Encourage the community to reach at-risk African-American populations with health and wellness messages.
The impetus for the project is the continuing incidence of illness among African Americans that could be prevented through healthful lifestyles, including physical activity. The county public health department has identified African-Americans as an at-risk population.
This combined effort of young physicians and a national service organization exhibits awareness of community needs and outreach. Through this project in which the YPS has participated for the past two years, it has interfaced with the community and effected a change on the county’s health. The San Bernardino County YPS plans this to be an ongoing project.
Kirsti Dyer, MD
Lafayette, California
Journey of Hearts: A Healing Place in CyberSpaceand The Medical Oasis
Doctor Kirsti Dyer has conceived, developed and maintains multiple websites that deal with grief and loss.
"Journey of Hearts" is for the general public and is a diverse site. It details resources for those dealing with grief and loss, includes check-lists for depression, discusses suicide prevention, and offers access to poems, songs and articles dealing with topics such as these. How-to suggestions for helping others cope are also included.
The Medical Oasis website is a resource for medical students, physicians and other health professionals. The site is a support system for health professionals that acts as an aid in dealing with personal experiences such as the death of a patient or in helping a grieving family. There is also a section that helps the medical student deal with coming to terms with the emotions that may be encountered in gross anatomy when dissecting a cadaver. It includes other topics such as "Being a Physician," medicine today, transitional medicine, complementary/ alternative medicine, medical links and other resources.
Both sides have received numerous awards for the services they offer. The content and format is varied and user-friendly.
Dr. Dyer’s websites fill a void in cyberspace and are excellent examples of compassion and diversity. The sites are available worldwide at no cost, and represent a labor of love.
Jeffrey A. Niezgoda, MD
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Association of Bladder Exstrophy Children (ABC)
Seven years ago, Dr. Niezgoda founded the Association of Bladder Exstrophy Children (ABC), the development and progress of which has been a commitment on his part for the last seven years. The birth defect of bladder exstrophy affects one in 40,000 children. Prior to his efforts, there was no support or other resource for parents whose children were born with this condition. Dr. Niezgoda singlehandedly set up a data base for the Association so that addresses and phone numbers could be shared by parents with this condition throughout the world. This comprehensive data base enabled parents to contact not only each other, but experts throughout the world to help them find the best source of care for their child. Living with Bladder Exstrophy is a 276-page book that addresses the medical, psychosocial and emotional aspects of bladder exstrophy. As managing editor, Dr. Niezgoda coordinated the project and secured a grant from the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation to fund the project. Since its completion in February 1997, over 1000 copies have been sent to individuals and families living with bladder exstrophy as well as the medical professionals who serve them. The grant also enabled the ABC to send to send a copy to every children’s hospital.
Dr. Niezgoda’s work on behalf of children around the world with bladder exstrophy has not only affected the clinical care of children born with this condition but also has stimulated research both in the clinical and basic science field. Also, Dr. Niezgoda was instrumental in an NIH grant being awarded for the first International Bladder Exstrophy Symposium, which was held in Baltimore in April 1997. This meeting, under the aegis of the National Institutes of Health and the National Kidney Foundation, brought together clinicians and basic researchers from around the world to share their knowledge and science concerning the bladder exstrophy condition.
Anthony D. So, MD
Chevy Chase, Maryland
In the shadow of Philadelphia’s teaching hospitals are communities in need, a few blocks away but a culture apart. These neighborhoods of Southeast Asian refugees, alongside pockets of Korean and Chinese immigrants, speak little English and find navigating the American health care system difficult. Today, nearly one in five entering medical students are Asian Pacific American though few come from these neighborhoods. Bridging that gulf is the goal of the Asian American Health Care Network. Through community-based health fairs, the group sought to lower the barriers to care (cultural and linguistic), raise community awareness, and provide role models both for community youth and participating medical students. Beginning in 1989, while a resident, Dr. So began organizing these health fairs, and on returning to Philadelphia after fellowship, rekindled these efforts into a Network which still actively conducts health fairs.
As a health fair, the project itself had a measurable outcome with over 500 people served, 297 receiving hepatitis B immunization and 114 screened. From the cross-cultural training to the community-based partnerships, the project’s planning and implementation offered a model for replication. Out of the volunteer staff of over 120 students and faculty from five area medical schools emerged the Asian American Health Care Network.
Jasjit Ahluwalia, MD
Kansas City, Kansas
Smoking Cessation Project
The Smoking Cessation Project was begun by Dr. Ahluwalia in 1993. For the last four years, the Project has provided services to inner-city patients who are known to have the highest prevalence of smoking in the United States, up to 50%. Thus far, over 5,000 patients have been served. Patients who have successfully quit smoking act as spokespersons in the hospital, in teaching medical students and housestaff, in teaching public health students, and in speaking to the community. The Project blends both the education and teaching of patients and providers, the provision of clinical services, and a venue for research allowing the mentoring of young students and health professionals as well as other faculty members who conduct research on this vulnerable population. In 1996, the Project received funding for a program that emphasizes cultural sensitivity and provides literacy level appropriate materials for smoking cessation.
Eliis M. Arjmand, MD
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield Children’s Museum
The Springfield Children’s Museum was designed to serve the children and families of the community by providing imaginative, entertaining and participatory experiences in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities that encourage life-long learning, understanding and an appreciation for diverse cultures and points of view. This mission is fostered through a series of hands-on exhibits and programs all designed with the child in mind. The museum has an exhibit area devoted to health and nutrition, which focuses on wellness through nutrition, exercise and knowledge of one’s body. Children can explore the sensations of sight, hearing, touch and taste as they interact via a laser disc with parts of the body’s interior on a touch screen computer.
Hans Hansen, MD
Statesville, North Carolina
Open Door Clinic
The Open Door Clinic, a free clinic for medically underserved persons, was founded in 1992 by Dr. Hansen. Each week, he treats patients at Fifth Street Shelter Ministries, and if necessary, in his private office. The program began with him seeing about 20 patients each night; the numbers increased to as many as 40 patients per clinic night with a wide range of medical needs. To meet such growth, Dr. Hansen enlisted other physicians and community volunteers. A grant was obtained from the Kate B. Reynolds Foundation to build a badly needed 1,250 square foot facility. The clinic now utilizes local physicians, nurses, pharmacists, lab and x-ray technicians, and volunteers for the Tuesday and Thursday doctors’ clinic. Plans are in order for medical specialty clinics and a dental wing.
Beulette Hooks, MD
Buena Vista, Georgia
Marion County Outreach Program
The Marion County Outreach Program was developed in 1996. Its goal is to develop a "culture sensitive" preventative and primary care outreach program directed toward improving health care for the immigrant Guatemalan population. Its primary objectives are: 1) provide preventative and primary care for the population; 2) provide bilingual health professionals and/or supporting interpreters to promote an understanding of basic health care standards and practices; 3) provide health education as related to culture; 4) develop the outreach center as a clinical training site for students in the health professions to provide opportunities for cultural awareness of these vulnerable populations; and 5) provide outreach activities to the affected communications, including health fairs, school-based outreach activities, a women’s health clinic, referral information, identification of barriers to health care, and development of informational materials in Spanish and/or Mayan dialect.
Thomas Pressly, MD
Shreveport, Louisiana
Jambalaya Jubilee
Each year since 1993, Dr. Pressly has coordinated the Jambalaya Jubilee. This three-day retreat is a gathering of children with rheumatic diseases, their families, and a team of physicians, therapists, social workers, and counselors. It is a comprehensive educational and recreational program designed to equip the children with skills to enhance their lives and build their self-esteem, and to enable their parents to develop knowledge and coping skills for their child's illness.
From 1993 to 1995, nearly 200 families from 10 states have attended. The impact of the retreats on family coping has been objectively studied, and the results have been published in peer-reviewed journals of medical literature.
Dr. Pressly has been honored with the New Orleans-based Advocacy Center for the Elderly and Disabled's 1995 Professional Advocate Award. He is a Fellow of the American College of Rheumatology and the American College of Physicians, and a Member of the American Medical Association.
Baretta Casey, MD
Pikeville, Kentucky
In her first year of primary care practice in an underserved area of Kentucky, Dr. Casey developed and oversaw the implementation of a statewide program to address domestic violence. This program included an educational packet on the issue, which was sent to all physicians, emergency departments, primary and secondary schools, health departments, and day care centers in Kentucky. As a result of this initiative, a total of 12,000 packets were distributed, 40,000 brochures were ordered and Kentucky medical schools enhanced training for domestic violence awareness in their curricula.
Dr. Casey served on the Kentucky Attorney General's Task Force on Domestic Violence, and currently serves on the Kentucky General Assembly Legislative Task Force on Domestic Violence. She has been honored by the Kentucky Victims Coalition for outstanding service on the issue of domestic violence. Dr. Casey is an active member of the AMA National Coalition of Physicians against Family Violence, and a former member of the AMA Women in Medicine Advisory Panel.
Bruce Spurlock, MD
Sacramento, California
Dr. Spurlock was honored along with Cathy Lumb, Project Coordinator, for their work with the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program Health Education Department in the development of the "Don’t Buy the Lie" Anti-Smoking Billboard Contest. The project was sponsored and implemented in a Sacramento school district in 1994 and 1995. Ten middle schools participated in a poster contest to develop an anti-smoking billboard. Each school had administrative and educator support to include an anti-smoking curriculum around the poster contest. Local judging yielded five finalists from each school, and a committee of physicians, educators, and community leaders judged the 50 finalists to pick the top three winners.
The first place winner received a $1000 prize and display of the poster on 24 billboards for two months in the greater Sacramento area. Motorists provided over 350,000 impressions of the winning anti-smoking message each day for two months. A local printing service donated 10,000 calendars with the top finalist from each school's entry above the calendar months. The calendars were used for fund raising by the school district's substance abuse program. Students who participated in the contest stated that it had a significant impact on their decision not to smoke in the future. Teachers reported that they could easily incorporate a broader anti-smoking curriculum around the contest.
Constance Barone, MD and David Jimenez, MD
Columbia, Missouri
In 1994, Drs. Barone and Jimenez assembled and traveled with their team of speech pathologists, nurses, geneticists, and surgery residents to Manila. There they operated on seven children with encephaloceles, and 150 cleft lip and palate patients. In order to provide ongoing care for these patients, Drs. Barone and Jimenez established an exchange fellowship program with a neurosurgeon and plastic surgeon at the University of Missouri Hospital. Also as a result of their efforts, a collection program of recyclable surgical supplies was established.
During a second mission in 1995, 12 major craniofacial encephaloceles, and 100 cleft lip and palate patients received treatment. Through the fund raising efforts of Drs. Barone and Jimenez, $10,000 was given directly to the charity hospital. To address the educational needs of the local Philippine health care providers, several symposia were held on the management of these complex patients.
Judd Moul, MD
Washington, D.C.
In 1991, Dr. Moul, an Army physician and urologist, established a charter chapter of US TOO, a prostate cancer support group, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. Since then, he has built the chapter into the largest prostate cancer support group in the U.S., with over 1000 members, including four U.S. Senators.
The group holds quarterly educational seminars, publishes a widely-distributed newsletter, and runs a patient-counselor program. Their efforts provide prostate cancer education and patient support to hundreds of U.S. military health care beneficiaries. In addition, the group has a special outreach to African-American men, who make up 25% of the military patient population, and are particularly hard-hit with prostate cancer.
His nomination was submitted by David G. McLeod, MD, and Norman Rich, MD, of the Department of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, and supported by Senator William V. Roth, Jr.
Albert R. Munn, III, MD
Raleigh, North Carolina
Dr. Munn was honored for his contribution of time and effort in initiating and finding sponsorship for the ophthalmologic treatment of the poor and uninsured in Wake County, especially those patients with diabetes and AIDS. He created an indigent-focused ophthalmology clinic and arranged for Wake Medical Center to provide space, equipment, financial support, and nursing staff to establish the clinic for the underserved population. It is the only one of its kind in North Carolina, and accepts all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
Dr. Munn has paid out-of-pocket expenses without reimbursement for access to argon lasers to treat patients going blind from diabetic retinopathy. He also has recruited other physicians to participate in this mission. As an active member of the nonprofit Prevent Blindness North Carolina Foundation Board of Trustees, he donates time and equipment for projects such as screening poor migrant workers in Fuquay-Varina for correctable vision problems and participating in the annual glaucoma screenings at the state fair in Raleigh.
Dr. Munn established a liaison between Durham Technical College Opticians School, Glaxo Inc. Pharmaceuticals, and the Wake County Medical Free Clinic to supply glasses free of charge to indigent patients. He also donates the stipends from his continuing lecture series on diabetes, glaucoma, and eye diseases to the Prevent Blindness North Carolina Foundation. He also serves the North Carolina state legislature and the North Carolina Medical Society as "Doctor of the Day."
Pablo Rodriguez, MD
Warwick, Rhode Island
Dr. Rodriguez chairs the Rhode Island Minority Health Advisory Committee, which, among other activities, awards grants to agencies for minority community-based health promotion programs. In 1993, funds were awarded for projects addressing three priority areas identified by the committee:
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Prevention of violent and abusive behavior;
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Prevention of teen pregnancy; and
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Access to health care
Funds were raised through an excise tax on non-cigarette tobacco products. Projects included (1) an adolescent pregnancy prevention project targeting Southeast Asian girls; (2) a primary care project targeting African-American uninsured; and (3) a violence prevention initiative at the Rhode Island Training School and Adult Correctional Institute.
Dr. Rodriguez' leadership in conjunction with the Rhode Island Minority Health Advisory Committee and the Legislature enabled the state to build health promotion programs that embrace minority populations and empower communities to make them happen. His nomination was submitted by Rhode Island Director of Health Barbara A. DeBuono, MD, MPH, and supported by Governor Bruce Sundlun, U.S. Senator John H. Chafee, and U.S. Representatives Jack Reed and Ronald K. Machtley.
Young Physicians Section
Medical Society of the District of Columbia
The MSDC-YPS was granted the award for its Young Physicians' Health Fair Day. A dedicated team of young physicians led an unprecedented health fair day program at MacFarland Middle School in Washington, DC. Physicians, working in teams of two, visited all 25 classrooms of 7th and 8th graders at the school. Students identified topics of interest and asked questions about the challenges they face growing up (such as violence and AIDS). The teams of physicians eliminated many myths that adolescents sometimes have about going to the doctor. The event marked the first time MacFarland students received health care information in their classrooms.
The energy and success of this event resulted in members of the team being selected to lead a planning effort to develop a health care program in area schools. Efforts are also underway to expand the Health Fair to a quadrant of schools, working with a larger team of physicians and inviting parents and other community members to share in valuable discussions.
Content provided by: Young Physicians Section