Managing Chronic Pain Honoring a Distinguished Loved One

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PROFILES IN GIVING
Honoring a Distinguished Loved One
After his graduation from UVM in 1951, and from the College of Medicine in 1954, Lucien Côté went on to a prominent
career in neurology, focusing particularly on treatments for Parkinson’s disease at New York Presbyterian Hospital in
New York City. Now a professor emeritus of neurology at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Côté
(center above with his wife, Joanne, and Dean Frederick Morin at this year’s Medical Reunion) has been honored with
the new Lucien Côté Endowed Scholarship at UVM. Dr. Côté’s daughter, Gabrielle Côté Crandall, and son-in-law Roger
Crandall (both undergraduate alumni of UVM) established the $100,000 Medical Alumni Association challenge
scholarship to honor Dr. Côté’s 55th medical reunion in 2009.
Managing
Chronic Pain
Magdalena Naylor, M.D., Ph.D.,
finds out where it hurts,
and what makes it stop
AL S O F E A T U R E D :
For more information about how you can
support the College of Medicine please
contact the Medical Development and
Alumni Relations Office.
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Medical Development & Alumni Relations Office
(802) 656-4014 | [email protected]
www.med.uvm.edu/giving
❯ There’s No Place like Medical Home
❯
A New Heart for the Medical Campus
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From the Dean
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College News
A new class of medical students, a newly refurbished auditorium,
stem cell researchers from around the world, and more.
33
Hall A
34
President’s Corner
35
Class Notes
37
Development News
45
Obituaries
46
Reunion ’09
12
A New Heart of the College
For more than 40 years, the courtyard at the center of the
Given Building has provided the members of the UVM
community a place to rest and reflect, a place to gather and,
for several years, a place to temporarily house the medical
library. Now, after a little more than a year’s construction,
the Courtyard at Given is a vital new heart of the campus.
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Home Sweet Medical Home
Vermont is helping to change the face of primary care
with a new model that makes a medical practice the home
for all the patient’s needs.
By Sona Iyengar
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Where Does it Hurt?
Some patients with chronic pain wonder: Is it all in my head?
UVM clinician and researcher Magdalena Naylor, M.D.,
Ph.D., explores the central nervous system to help these
patients by using the mind to treat the body.
By Lynda Majarian
26
On the cover: Magdalena Naylor, M.D., Ph.D., at UVM’s research MRI facility.
Photograph by Mario Morgado.
FROM THE DEAN
As the fall semester begins, we welcome the newest
medical and graduate students to a campus that has
not only a new look, but a new function. People are
by far the most important element in maintaining an
outstanding academic medical center such as ours, but
being smart and creative with the bricks and mortar
can go a long way in helping our people — the faculty,
students, and staff of this College of Medicine — reach
their full potential.
I believe “smart” and “creative” are two words that can
definitely be applied to the latest addition to the medical
campus, the Courtyard at Given, which I had the privilege
of helping to open in July. As you’ll see in this issue, the
courtyard has been transformed into a light-filled space
that welcomes everyone into the very heart of Given, and gives a our medical
students and alumni a newly unified home at the center of the College.
Just as importantly, the new campus space creates a home for our Center
for Clinical and Translational Science and the Vermont Cancer Center, and is
allowing us to grow our research laboratory space within the Given building.
As you’ll see in our article on Dr. Magdalena Naylor’s innovative pain research,
that work has real and lasting benefits that transform patients’ lives for the
better every day. Research at the College of Medicine has grown at a healthy rate
over the last two years, I am proud to report, even in the face of the national
trend toward decreased research funding. Our researchers have been bucking
this trend, and have just recently garnered a significant amount of additional
research dollars through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
At our medical reunion this summer, I was struck by how many times
alumni who’d been gone from campus for ten years or more remarked on the
beautiful transformation of our surroundings, and a large part of the thanks for
that must go to John Evans, Ph.D., who has overseen so many of our projects,
to President Fogel for his continued support, and to our alumni who have
supported these projects.
As we strive to create an innovative, efficient home for the members of our
campus community, members of that community, as you’ll read in these pages,
are engaged in creating an innovative medical home for all patients — an effort
with our partners at Fletcher Allen to increase the breadth and quality of patient
care. All of us who call Vermont our home can be proud that through this and
many other efforts our state is helping to lead the nation in developing better
ways to care for patients.
Frederick C. Morin III, M.D.
Dean, University of Vermont College of Medicine
Magazine Honors
UCDA Design Competitions; Excellence in Illustration (2008)
AAMC-GIA Robert G. Fenley Writing Award of Excellence (2008)
AAMC-GIA Award of Distinction; External Publications (2007)
AAMC-GIA Award of Distinction; External Publications (2006)
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Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
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College News
FALL 2009
Editor
Edward Neuert
Assistant Dean for
Communications & Planning
Carole Whitaker
Assistant Dean for Development
& Alumni Relations
Rick Blount
Contributing Writers
Jennifer Nachbur
Assistant
Aliza Mansolino-Gault
Art Director
Steve Wetherby, Scuola Group
University Of Vermont
College Of Medicine
Dean
Frederick C. Morin III, M.D.
Senior Associate Dean for
Medical Education
William Jeffries, Ph.D.
Senior Associate Dean for
Clinical Affairs
Paul Taheri, M.D.
Senior Associate Dean
for Research
Ira Bernstein, M.D.
Senior Associate Dean for
Finance & Administration
Brian L. Cote
Editorial Advisors
Marilyn J. Cipolla, Ph.D.’97
Christopher S. Francklyn, Ph.D.
James C. Hebert, M.D.’77
Russell Tracy, Ph.D.
Vermont Medicine is published three times
a year by the University of Vermont College
of Medicine. Articles may be reprinted with
permission of the editor. Please send address
changes, alumni class notes, letters to the
editor, and other correspondence to:
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Alumni Office, Given Building,
89 Beaumont Ave., Burlington, VT 05405
Telephone: (802) 656-4014
Letters specifically to the editor may be
e-mailed to: [email protected]
UVM Celebrates Opening
of the Courtyard at Given
UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel and College of
Medicine Dean Frederick C. Morin, M.D., celebrated the
opening of the Courtyard at Given — a building featuring
two interconnected four-story wings located within the
College of Medicine’s Given building — at an Open House
held July 29. Fogel, Morin, and John N. Evans, Ph.D.,
senior advisor to President Fogel, provided remarks at the
event, which was attended by local architects, contractors
and engineers involved in the building project, as well as
UVM College of Medicine staff, faculty and students.
Launched in June 2008, the Courtyard at Given
project adds nearly 31,000 square feet of space to the
College of Medicine, all built with the highest standards of
energy conservation in mind. During the month of July,
more than 100 people were moved into the Courtyard in
five phases.
For more on the Courtyard at Given, see the story on page 12.
College of Medicine
Welcomes Class of 2013
A former cartoon caricature artist, smokejumper trainee
and a choreographer are among the newest members of the
University of Vermont College of Medicine, who began
their medical school training with a week of orientation on
August 10.
The Class of 2013 includes 59 women and 55 men.
Twenty-three students are Vermonters; others hail from
22 states and four international countries and speak 12
languages other than English.
In addition to welcomes from the Dean, Office of
Admissions and Office of Student Affairs, presentations on
financial services and debt management and picking up
their personal tablets to access the online curriculum, the
first-year students' first day of orientation also included
their first patient interaction. Tuesday through Friday of
orientation week featured sessions on professionalism,
leadership, team-building, the College's award-winning
integrated electronic learning technology (COMET), an
overview of the medical curriculum and a global health
discussion, concluding with a pizza and lawn party on
the Chittenden-Buckham-Wills green.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
President Fogel speaks to assembled students, faculty, and staff at the
July 29 Courtyard at Given celebration.
Facts About the UVM College of Medicine Class of 2013:
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I n a year when UVM has attracted its largest and most diverse
entering class ever, medical first-years hail from five different
countries, 23 states, and speak 13 native languages.
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The median student age is 24.78
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Students have a median undergraduate GPA of 3.69
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S tudents’ undergraduate majors include such areas as Microbiology,
Psychology, Film & Television, English, Women’s and Gender Studies,
Economics and Mechanical Engineering
Students picnicked on the campus, and first-years got down to the
business of learning to use their tablet computers.
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COLLEGE NEWS
Pinckney is Named
2009 Frymoyer Scholar
The ability to communicate compassion — which entails
both sympathizing with another person’s pain or distress
and desiring to alleviate it — is a critical skill for health
care providers. Richard Pinckney, M.D., M.P.H., assistant
professor of medicine, was recently named the 2009
Frymoyer Scholar in recognition of his proposal to develop
and deliver a series of workshops to teach clinicians how to
enhance the development of this skill.
In addition to practicing as an internist, Pinckney is
actively involved in medical education, teaching several
medical statistics courses in the graduate college, as well
as teaching empathy and motivational interviewing to
medical students, co-directing the Vermont Academic
Detailing Program, and directing the Program in Wise
Prescribing. He received the College of Medicine’s Leonard
Tow Humanism in Medicine award from the Arnold P.
Gold Foundation in 2005.
According to Pinckney, it can be relatively easy to
connect with patients in low-pressure situations, but
deterrents such as time limits, competing responsibilities,
patient emotions, and stigmatized conditions, such as
substance abuse or chronic pain, may challenge clinicians’
ability to maintain these connections.
Research Milestones
Stapleton’s NEJM Study
Looks at In-Hospital
CPR in Elderly
Richard Pinckney, M.D., M.P.H.
Pinckney, who joined the UVM/Fletcher Allen
faculty in 1997, received his medical degree from the State
University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine
and served an internal medicine internship, residency
and General Internal Medicine fellowship at the former
Medical Center Hospital of Vermont and UVM. In 2000,
he earned a Master’s degree in Public Health from the
Harvard School of Public Health.
The Frymoyer Scholars program is an investment in
outstanding medical education and promotes teaching
that emphasizes the art of patient care. The program is
supported by The John and Nan Frymoyer Fund for
Medical Education.
Second-year students inaugurated the renovated Carpenter Auditorium with their first class this year. Speaking at the opening were Assoc. Dean
Scott Waterman, M.D., Senior Assoc. Dean William Jeffries, Ph.D., Dean Morin, and Interim Provost Jane Knodell, Ph.D.
Newly Renovated Carpenter Auditorium Opens
Second-year medical students were welcomed back to
campus in the new and improved Carpenter Auditorium
on August 10. The renovated space features 260 new
seats, new work tables, new wiring with power and data
at each seat, new acoustics and a whole new look and
feel. Carpenter’s original seating and décor had remained
virtually unchanged since the hall was built in 1968
and named for entrepreneur and philanthropist Harlan
Carpenter. At the welcome event, Dean Morin thanked
alumnus Thomas Sullivan, M.D.’66 for his generous gift
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that supported the project, in addition to funding from
the University. A retired radiologist from Etna, N.H.,
Sullivan's generosity was recognized last March when the
Medical Education Center’s Case Method Classroom was
renamed the Sullivan Classroom. Morin also applauded the
University of Vermont administration’s recognition of the
need for another state-of-the-art lecture hall on the health
sciences campus. Also speaking at the opening were UVM
Interim Provost Jane Knodell, Ph.D., and new Senior
Associate Dean for Education William Jeffries, Ph.D.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
When an elderly patient suffers
cardiac arrest in the hospital, does
cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) help extend the individual’s
life? Patients and their clinicians may
change their decisions on this topic
Renee Stapleton, M.D.
based on new findings reported in the
July 2 New England Journal of Medicine. Using Medicare data,
researchers, including senior study author Renee Stapleton,
M.D., assistant professor of medicine, investigated trends in CPR
incidence and in survival after CPR over a 14-year timeframe.
According to Stapleton and colleagues, survival following
hospital CPR procedures did not significantly change survival
rates between 1992 and 2005.
Althoff Examines
Anesthesia and Kids’
Learning Disabilities
A recent study of identical twins
in the journal Twin Research and
Human Genetics, found that medical
problems early in life, rather than
the neurotoxic effects of anesthesia,
are likely linked to an individual’s risk
Robert Althoff, M.D., Ph.D.
for developing learning disabilities.
Robert Althoff, M.D., Ph.D., director of behavioral genetics
at UVM’s Vermont Center for Children, Youth & Families, along
with colleagues Meike Bartels and Dorret Boomsma from
VU University in the Netherlands, examined the relationship
between anesthesia exposure and cognitive performance, but
controlled for genetic association by using a sample of 1,143
identical Dutch twin pairs.
Johnson Presents at
RSNA Annual Meeting
Alisa Johnson, M.D.’06 presented
a session at the Radiological Society
of North America (RSNA) Annual
Meeting in Chicago in December,
titled “Feasibility of 3 Tesla MR with
Parallel Imaging in the Evaluation of
Acute Abdominal Pain in Children.”
Alisa Johnson, M.D.’06
UVM co-authors included Trevor
Andrews, Ph.D., Jay Gonyea, Janice Gallant, M.D.’89, Timothy
Higgins, M.D., and Steven Braff, M.D. They studied the feasibility
of abdominal 3 Tesla MR imaging, including 16 element coil
and parallel imaging in the evaluation of pediatric patients with
acute abdominal pain, and determined that its use can provide a
diagnostic alternative to sonography and CT in the evaluation of
acute abdominal pain in the pediatric population.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
Krag Assesses Sentinel Node
Surgical Training
Training methods for surgeons who perform
breast cancer sentinel lymph node resection
were found to be effective in almost 97%
of surgeons assessed, according to a new
study published online August 24 in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The
randomized National Surgical Adjuvant
David N. Krag, M.D.
Breast and Bowel Project B-32 trial is
evaluating whether sentinel lymph
node resection can achieve the same outcomes as axillary
lymph node resection — the surgical procedure designed to
maximize breast cancer survival, provide regional control, and
determine cancer stage — but with fewer side effects. In this
study, Professor of Surgery David N. Krag, M.D., and colleagues
assessed the effectiveness of three training methods for the
sentinel node resection, as well as overall protocol compliance
and their relationship to technical outcomes.
Solomon Authors Medical
Imaging and Kidney
Damage Paper
Kidney injury that can arise after
undergoing certain medical imaging
procedures increases a patient’s risk of
having a stroke or heart attack over the
next year or two, according to a study
appearing in the current issue of the
Richard Solomon, M.D.
Clinical Journal of the American Society
Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that seemingly minor
and reversible kidney damage from these common clinical
procedures could be a serious health threat. To investigate
the issue, Richard Solomon, M.D., professor of medicine and
director of nephrology at Fletcher Allen Health Care, and his
colleagues studied 294 patients with kidney disease who were
exposed to contrast agents during cardiac angiography.
Grunberg Studies Relief of
Chemotherapy Side-Effects
Vermont Cancer Center physicianresearcher Steven Grunberg,
M.D., professor of medicine and
medical oncologist at Fletcher Allen
Health Care, was lead author of an
international study published in the
May 11 online edition of The Lancet
Steven Grunberg, M.D.
Oncology, which reported that the
addition of a novel drug therapy, casopitant mesylate, to a
conventional two-drug therapy, causes a significant reduction
in one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatment:
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
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COLLEGE NEWS
Electronic Health Record Goes Live at Fletcher Allen
Fletcher Allen Health Care successfully completed the first
phase of its electronic health record (EHR) project this
summer, joining a small number (only 1.5%) of health
care facilities nationwide that have implemented such a
comprehensive computer system for patient care. The EHR
system, called PRISM (Patient Record and Information
Systems Management), is now live in Fletcher Allen’s
inpatient areas, pharmacy, Emergency Department, and
some hospital outpatient areas on the Medical Center
Campus in Burlington, as well as the Walk-In Care Center
and inpatient rehabilitation service at the Fanny Allen
Campus in Colchester. Fletcher Allen providers and staff
are now using the system to record all vital patient medical
information and to administer medications.
PRISM is essentially a computer system that replaces
paper medical records, charts and other items with a
single electronic file for each patient. Health care experts
believe EHRs will improve the quality, safety and efficiency
of patient care by centralizing all medical information
for each patient in one place, where all providers can
see it at the same time from different clinical locations,
thereby helping to coordinate care. The system also alerts
providers to drug allergies or contraindications with patient
Notables
medications, making them instantly aware of potential
problems. With an EHR system, medical staff are also
expected to spend less time doing paperwork and tracking
down charts, x-rays, MRIs and other information that is
essential for providing timely care.
“The new PRISM system is a major step forward in
patient care,” said John Brumsted, M.D., UVM professor
of obstetrics and gynecology and Fletcher Allen’s chief
quality officer. “The improvements in safety, efficiency
and coordination of care will enhance quality and the
overall patient experience. This is the future of health
care, and I’m proud Fletcher Allen is bringing this leading
edge technology to our community,” he added. The next
phase of the project will expand PRISM to the oncology
department and will introduce a secure, web-based portal
called “My Chart,” which will allow patients to view parts
of their health record, schedule appointments, request
medication renewals and research medical conditions. The
second phase also involves developing a data warehouse
for reporting and analysis, to be completed by December
2009. The final stage of implementation, which will be
completed by the end of 2010, focuses on ambulatory
service areas and patient scheduling.
Evans Named Senior Advisor to
UVM President Fogel
University of Vermont President
Daniel Mark Fogel and Interim
Provost Jane Knodell have appointed former
dean John N. Evans, Ph.D., professor of
molecular physiology and biophysics at the
College of Medicine, to the position of senior
advisor to the president.
Evans, who has held numerous leadership
positions at the University of Vermont, including
dean of the College of Medicine, will be working John N. Evans, Ph.D.
with the Vice President for Research to identify
and capture commercialization opportunities for faculty, student,
and staff inventions and innovation and to build a network of UVM
alumni and friends who can be advisors and/or partners in UVM’s
commercialization efforts. He will also be working with the Vice
Presidents for Research and for Development and Alumni Relations
to enhance UVM’s corporate and foundation relations.
Lunde Named Buttles Professor
Looking Back: Alumni Voices
Vermont Medicine’s origins lie in the four-page, tabloidsized UVM College of Medicine Alumni Newsletter, which
began publication in 1952. The oldest known surviving
copy of this newsletter, the issue of July 1958, contains
news of the beginnings of what would become the
Given complex and notes the large percentage of alumni
supporters of the school — two topics that continue to be
relevant more than 50 years later. The 1958 newsletter also
contains class notes from alumni as far back as the Class
of 1889.
By the mid-1960s, the newsletter had grown into
Hall A, an eye-catching square publication produced by
its founding editor, John E. Mazuzan, M.D.’54. Hall A
continued for more than 30 years and is still the title of the
alumni section of this publication.
The pages are yellowed and fragile now, but much
of the news found on the pages of some of the older
publications produced by and for alumni of the College of
Medicine seems like it could be printed anew today with
but a few small changes.
Tristin Adie, R.N., uses the new PRISM electronic health record system at Fletcher Allen Health Care.
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David Seaver
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
John Lunde, M.D.’80, associate professor
of pathology and medicine, has been named
the recipient of the Buttles Professorship in
Pathology for 2009–2014. Established in
1984 to honor the late Ernest Hiram Buttles,
M.D. 1908, who served as chair of pathology
and bacteriology from 1921 to 1946, the
professorship recognizes a pathology faculty
member for their commitment to and excellence
in the teaching of pathology.
John Lunde, M.D.’80
New OVHA Medical Director
Joins UVM
On August 11, Susan W. Besio, Ph.D., Director
of the Office of Vermont Health Access (OVHA)
of the State of Vermont Agency of Human
Services, announced that Michael C. Farber,
M.D., was named Medical Director for OVHA,
the organization that administers the state’s
Medicaid programs. Farber, who is board
certified in internal medicine, will also join
the University of Vermont College of Medicine
Michael C. Farber, M.D.
faculty as assistant professor of medicine. He
will begin his new role on October 1, 2009.
Farber currently serves as Medicaid Medical Director and
Medical Policy Chief for California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) Managed
Care Division in the California Department of Health Care Services,
a position he has held since 2006.
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3 Questions
for Polly Parsons, M.D.
COLLEGE NEWS
Student Profile
Medicine is a Family Thing
for Jessica Bordley ’10
“I grew up with medicine all around me, really,” says
fourth-year medical student Jessica Bordley, “So I’m not
surprised that this is what I’ve eventually come to do.” A
native of Cooperstown, N.Y., Jessica grew up with parents
who are both physicians. “My parents really loved their
work,” she says. “And from as far back as I can remember,
health care was always a big topic around the house, and
around the dinner table.”
Perhaps because it was always so prevalent, Jessica
explored other interests for several years before finding
her way back to health care. At Middlebury College she
majored in music and computer science, and then did a
stint with AmeriCorps in Nevada, working with the largely
non-English speaking population of workers who support
the resort communities in the Lake Tahoe region. She then
worked in arts presentation at the Glimmerglass Opera in
her hometown of Cooperstown, and at the Boulder Music
Festival in Colorado.
But the idea of a career in medicine slowly grew in her
mind, and she enrolled in the Post-Bac Pre Med program
at UVM. She entered the College of Medicine in the fall
of 2006. Since then, Jessica has become an integral part
of her class, and was selected by them to serve as the class
representative on the Advancement Committee, a group of
Polly Parsons, M.D., is the E.L. Amidon Professor and Chair of the
Department of Medicine at the College of Medicine, and is also the
Physician Leader of Medicine at Fletcher Allen Health Care. Parsons is
past president of the Fletcher Allen medical staff, and has been named one
of America’s Top Doctors multiple times. She was honored with the 2006
Elizabeth A. Rich, M.D. Award from the American Thoracic Society.
Fourth-year medical student Jessica Bordley comes from a family
of physicians.
faculty and elected students who help guide medical students
in need of advice and counsel. “I was truly honored to be
chosen for this committee,” she says. “I’m grateful to my
fellow students, and I’m glad to be able to help people find
ways to succeed when they’re having problems.”
Ahead for Jessica in her fourth year are rotations
in Haiti, as well as at the Palliative Care Center and in
Hematology/Oncology, and interviewing for a residency
in Internal Medicine. Throughout all these activities she
can always count on a sympathetic ear from her younger
brother, Jamie, who is also a fourth-year medical student
— at Columbia University in New York. “Medicine really
does run in our family,” she says.
Lung Scientists Attend UVM Cell Therapies Conference
One-hundred-fifteen invited attendees fill the Sullivan
Classroom in the College’s Medical Education Center
for a session of the third international cell therapies
conference, held at the College in July.
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In late July, the College of Medicine hosted “Stem Cells and Cell Therapies in Lung Biology
and Diseases,” the third biannual international conference to be held at UVM since the
inaugural meeting in 2005.
The conference’s 115 invited attendees included world leaders in the field of lung
biology and lung disease treatment. The goal of the meeting was to provide opportunities
for debate and discussion on cutting-edge research, as well as to address research and
funding priorities set by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and several non-profit
respiratory disease associations and foundations.
Serving as conference co-chairs were Daniel Weiss, M.D., Ph.D., UVM associate
professor of medicine, and Darwin Prockop, M.D., Ph.D., director, Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Scott &
White Hospital. The conference was funded in part by the NIH’s National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute, with additional support from the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation,
American Thoracic Society, Alpha-1 Foundation, Emory Center for Respiratory Health
at the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University, LAM Treatment Alliance,
the College of Medicine, the Vermont Lung Center and Fletcher Allen Health Care.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
1
have been some of the
Q: What
most interesting challenges
involved in serving as Chair of
Medicine?
A: The challenges in academic
medicine are always keeping the
balance between the clinical, research
and education missions, and making
sure all three are on track. When you
have two institutions that are tightly
linked, like we do with UVM and
Fletcher Allen, you have additional
opportunities and challenges to
manage. In the Department, we’re
also working on how to increase the
number of students who choose to
go into internal medicine. It’s where
the most research in any College of
Medicine is done, where the majority
of teaching is done, and where you
see a variety of clinical care — it’s
very expansive. This will become a
big issue for those of us who are
going to need doctors in the future,
and it’s also a challenge nationally.
And as we look ahead to what’s going
to happen with health care reform,
I think we’re in a very good position
to anticipate whatever’s going to
come. In academic medicine we’re
pretty used to protocolized, evidencebased medicine, so in some way
we are much more prepared to try
new things.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
2
Q: As
chair, how do you successfully
balance the demands of running
of a major clinical service with
building a strong and successful
academic department?
A: We recruit faculty who want
to be in an academic environment,
and who are skilled at teaching,
research or both in addition to
being outstanding clinicians. We
have really been able to build a great
team — we’ve built on themes,
we’ve built where there have been
clinical needs, sometimes we recruit
a strong faculty member who fit
easily into our matrix. In the last five
years our clinical productivity has
really increased — we’ve developed
multidisciplinary clinics, new clinical
programs, and outreach in new
places. The really nice thing is, at the
same time, people are publishing and
getting into the high-impact journals.
We had five New England Journal of
Medicine papers in the same period of
time, two in Science last year. Grant
funding is also up, and people are
moving nicely from mentored awards
to independent R01 funding. Our
faculty are on all the study sections,
have leadership roles at the national
societies, serving on editorial boards,
and giving talks at prominent places.
There’s a good understanding of how
important all the pieces are.
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Polly Parsons, M.D.
Q: You are one of only a few
female chairs of Medicine in
the country. Given that position,
what are your thoughts on
increasing the opportunities
for women as leaders in
academic medicine?
A: Along with my female colleagues
nationally, I am aware that there are
a lot of reasons that women aren’t
division chiefs and chairs. The piece
that I didn’t realize still existed is that
too many women don’t think they
can be chairs, and that was a surprise.
I can understand saying, “I don’t want
the job,” but for them to think that
they couldn’t have the job is really
unfortunate.
In Medicine, we’ve recruited
37 new faculty members in the last
five years, and of the most recent
recruitments almost half are women.
And we haven’t done that selectively,
we’ve picked the best candidate for
the job. We’ve had a lot of women
apply; I think this is an attractive
place for women to work. We also
need to rethink the way you get
promoted and the time to promotion,
which I know that Dean Morin
is looking at for the College of
Medicine, so that academic medicine
is more appealing and doable.
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COLLEGE NEWS
Kirkpatrick Receives Award to
Examine Dengue Fever Vaccines
Previously eradicated
in the United States,
dengue fever is currently
among the most
important re-emerging
Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D.
infectious diseases in
the world. Between 50 and 100 million cases of the disease
— marked by high fever and severe back and muscle pain —
occur annually in tropical and subtropical areas throughout
the world.
Caused by four types of dengue virus and transmitted
through the bite of specific species of mosquitoes, dengue
fever has returned as both a domestic and global threat
over the past few decades, putting an estimated 2.5 billion
persons at risk of infection. Experts point to trends, such
as global urbanization, increased air travel and even global
warming as the potential underlying causes of dengue’s
reintroduction to such locations as Puerto Rico, Hawaii and
along the U.S./Mexico border.
Beth Kirkpatrick, M.D., associate professor of medicine
and an infectious disease specialist at Fletcher Allen Health
Care, has received funding from the
National Institutes of Health (NIH),
which has designated the development
of effective vaccines against dengue fever a
priority. She recently received a $4.4 million, five-year grant
from the NIH and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of
Public Health to examine new vaccines against the disease.
The new research will be led by Kirkpatrick, with
support from infectious disease colleague Kristen Pierce,
M.D.’03, assistant professor of medicine, through the Vaccine
Testing Center at UVM. Clinical studies will be performed at
the University’s General Clinical Research Center.
Kirkpatrick, who joined UVM in 1999 and started
the Vaccine Testing group in 2001, has studied several
infectious disease vaccines over the past ten years, including
campylobacter, anthrax and typhoid (her extensive typhoid
vaccine trial was featured in the summer 2008 Vermont
Medicine). “The mosquitoes that spread dengue viruses are
now present in 28 U.S. states, not including Vermont,” said
Kirkpatrick, who notes that the infection cannot be spread
from person to person.
Kirkpatrick’s study will help people at risk of catching dengue fever, such as these patients in the Roque Saenz Pena Hospital in Argentina.
10
V E R M O N T
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Top: Mario Morgado; above, © Ricardo Ceppi/Corbis
Lung and Microbiology
Experts Team with
Engineering on
NASA Study
A cross-disciplinary group
of UVM researchers will
study the genetic behavior
of “micronauts” — bacteria
responsible for astronauts’ illnesses in
space — with support from one of two new grants from the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Scientists believe that, in space, the gene expression
profile of these bacteria changes and they become more
able to invade and infect a human. The rigors of spaceflight
and zero gravity conditions suppress astronauts’ immune
systems, making them more vulnerable to infection. With
manned long-term space travel becoming one of NASA’s
directives, understanding the impact of the pathogens that
threaten astronaut health is critical.
While previous research on microgravity-grown foodborne pathogens has been conducted, this new study, led
by Jane Hill, Ph.D., assistant professor of engineering, is
the first to use lung cells and mass spectrometry technology.
Funded by a $750,000 grant, the research team will examine
two different bacteria grown in a device that simulates the
same type of microgravity environment found in a spaceship
during a long-term mission. The group will investigate
the virulence of known lung pathogens — Pseudomonas
aeruginosa and Haemophilus influenza — directly as well
as via the impact of these bacteria on human lung cells.
Matthew Poynter, Ph.D., associate professor
of medicine, will coordinate the testing of how the
“micronauts” affect lung epithelial cells, with support from
Vermont Lung Center colleagues and pulmonologists
Daniel Weiss, M.D., associate professor of medicine, and
Laurie Whittaker, M.D., assistant professor of medicine.
“We don’t know how lung epithelial cells will respond
to microgravity-grown bacteria,” said Poynter. “The
immune response could be inadequate to properly control
the infection or it could be so robust that the astronaut
suffers collateral damage of a magnitude sufficient to
compromise the mission.”
The study will incorporate new mass spectrometry
technology being advanced in Hill’s lab with the support of
Britt Holmen, Ph.D., associate professor of engineering, to
detect the presence of the bacteria. Matthew Wargo, Ph.D.,
assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics,
who specializes in Pseudomonas, will assist Hill with work in
the Microarray Facility.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
Notables
Cooper Named Master of American
College of Rheumatology
Sheldon Cooper, M.D., Professor of Medicine
and Chief of Rheumatology, has been
named a Master of the American College of
Rheumatology. Recognition as a Master of
the American College of Rheumatology is one
of the highest honors the College bestows.
The designation of Master is conferred on
College members, age 65 or older, who have
made outstanding contributions to the field of
Sheldon Cooper, M.D.
rheumatology through scholarly achievement
and/or service to their patients, students, and profession. This honor
is usually bestowed upon no more than 15 members per year. The
award will be formally presented to Cooper at the group’s annual
meeting in Philadelphia in October.
James Named American Cancer
Society New England Board Member
Ted James, M.D., Vermont Cancer Center
(VCC) member and assistant professor of
surgery, was elected recently to the American
Cancer Society’s New England Division Board
of Directors. A surgical oncologist at Fletcher
Allen Health Care, James has worked with the
organization’s Vermont office on initiatives
aimed at improving access to health care for the
state’s uninsured and underinsured populations.
Ted James, M.D.
“Dr. James has been a valuable resource in
our advocacy efforts in Vermont,” said Kelly Stoddard, director of
Government Relations & Advocacy at the American Cancer Society.
“He has a deep understanding of the disparities existing in access to
health care, and his expertise enabled us to work more effectively
with lawmakers and volunteers on this issue.” James replaces
Richard Branda, M.D., interim director of the Vermont Cancer
Center, who has served on the board since 2003.
Bates Publishes Book on
Lung Mechanics
Jason H.T. Bates, Ph.D., D.Sc., professor of
medicine and a Vermont Lung Center scientist
who specializes in lung mechanics and the
development of instruments that mimic and
measure lung function in the lab, has organized
his wealth of expertise in a new educational
textbook. Titled Lung Mechanics: An Inverse
Modeling Approach, the book was published
this summer by Cambridge University Press.
Bates is a principal investigator on two National
Institutes of Health R01 grants relating to
mouse models of lung disease and an R33 grant
on systems biology.
F A L L
Jason H.T. Bates,
Ph.D., D.Sc.
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photography by Mario Morgado
a new
heart
of the
college
O
n July 29, the campus community celebrated the latest addition to the medical campus at UVM, at the
formal opening of the new Courtyard at Given — an innovative project that adds much-needed space
to the College. Under the courtyard’s transparent roof — added in 2002 when the space became the
temporary home for the Dana Medical Library — a new heart of the medical complex has risen: two four-story
structures, connected to each other and to the Given Building by glassed-in bridges, that now house all of the College’s
operations for student services, admissions, alumni and development, and other key offices. Upper floors are occupied
by administrators of the Vermont Cancer Center, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science, the UVM Center on
Aging, and departmental offices. Centralizing these offices has the added benefit of allowing the College to reclaim
thousands of square feet of valuable laboratory space in the Given Building.
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▲
The Courtyard at Given was designed
by the Montpelier firm Black River Design Architects.
Black River, and Engelberth Construction, the main
contractor, faced the daunting task of building what
was described as a “ship in a bottle.” All construction
materials, including poured concrete, cranes, lifts, and
other equipment were brought in through an eight-foot
opening created in the exterior wall of Given, and traveled
through a seven-foot wide corridor into the courtyard
space. Construction was further planned to cause minimal
disruption, with work taking place only in the afternoons
and evenings. Instead of jack-hammering the existing
concrete slab left from the temporary library, the material
was sawed into three-foot squares and carried out for
recycling. (Approximately 80 percent of construction and
demolition waste on the project was diverted from landfill.)
The finished building is designed to conform with Silver
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
specifications — 90 percent of exterior walls are glass,
allowing daylight into interior spaces, and lighting
is infrared and motion-sensor triggered, for maximum
energy efficiency. VM
The Given courtyard
appears behind two
men seated in the old
Austin Lounge.
▲ The Courtyard at Given (above, right) mirrors some of the details of the older structure (above, left).
Fifty Years of Medical Campus Growth and Change
▲ A 1956 brochure featured the
original six-story design for a
new College of Medicine home,
and noted the estimated $7
million cost of the structure.
In the late 1950s, the College of Medicine
embarked on an ambitious plan to greatly
increase and modernize its space for
education and research, with the planning
and fundraising for the Medical Alumni and
Given Buildings. Built on former open land
on the far eastern edge of main campus, the
building was at that time the largest and
most expensive building on campus, and
was built after the most ambitious fundraising campaign in UVM’s history raised
the $8.7 million (in 1960 dollars) needed to
V E R M O N T
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of part of what would be the north sector
of Given, and finally the full Given Building,
finished in 1968 and named in honor of
the family foundation whose $2 million
gift — the largest ever received by UVM at
that time — had been key to the project’s
completion. Both Medical Alumni, which
was razed in 2002 for the building of the
Medical Education Center, and Given had
open courtyards — Given’s can be seen at
right beyond the two gentlemen seated in
the former Austin Lounge. Today, with the
addition of the Health Science Research
Facility, completed in 2001, and the
Colchester Research Facility finished
earlier this year, the College of Medicine’s
physical space totals more than 560,000
square feet.
▼ A n aerial view of the medical
campus in 1969.
▲ An aerial view of
today’s academic
medical center.
The small Medical Alumni
courtyard circa 1959.
▲
14
▲
The 1962 architectural rendering for
Given as it was completed in 1968.
complete the project. The building, designed
by the New York firm of Skidmore, Owings,
and Merrill, went through various changes
(it was originally a six-story structure).
The final building plan had three stages,
the construction of Medical Alumni, which
was dedicated in 1959, the second-phase
“Medical Science Building,” which consisted
15
Fa c t s A b o u t T h e
C o u r t ya r d a t G i v e n
▲
▲
▲
Infrared and motion
sensors allow the
Courtyard to use 48%
less energy for lighting
than a conventionally
designed building.
▲
▲
T he building is registered
with the U.S. Green Building
Council and awaiting
confirmation for Silver
LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental
Design) certification for new
construction.
▲
O
ver 17,000 square
feet of glass was used in
the buildings.
▲
▲
M
oveable interior walls,
and a raised floor system
increase energy efficiency
and allow flexibility for
easy reconfiguration of
office spaces.
D
uring one of the stages
of construction there
were 14 lifts being
used inside the Courtyard
simultaneously.
T here are 12 bridges
connecting the 2 new
buildings to each other and
to the Given building.
T he 4 ducts in the corners
of the courtyard supply fresh
air to the atrium in the case
of a fire. The smoke-filled air
is discharged through the
roof through exhaust fans
located between the new
skylights.
T he building has 160
tons of structural steel
made of 90 percent
recycled content.
Like building a large “ship in a bottle,”
every tool and piece of material in the
Courtyard’s construction entered
through a 7-foot wide corridor
in the side of Given.
▲ The Courtyard’s central location makes it an ideal home for the offices of medical education and students services (above, center).
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Rita Pinard’s health and health care improved when her physician’s practice became a medical home.
Vermont is helping to change the face of primary care with
a new model that makes a medical practice the home for all a
patient’s needs. Clinicians and researchers from the College
of Medicine are playing integral roles in these efforts.
t was a cold day in January when Rita Pinard’s doctor told her
what she didn’t want to hear. “You have diabetes,” Pinard recalls
her saying. “If your numbers don’t go down in three months,
we’ll need to start you on medication.” Pinard, 57, of St. Johnsbury, was
close to tears at the news. She had been told she was pre-diabetic in the
past, but somehow that fact had never really sunk in. Fortunately for
Pinard, her diagnosis coincided with a transformation in the way care
is delivered in her community. Her physician’s practice was recently
recognized as a patient-centered medical home — a model of care
by Sona Iyengar
|
photography by Raj Chawla
designed to provide seamless coordination of services.
A meeting of the St. Johnsbury Community Care Team.
Whatever they’re
coming in for, we
have two agendas:
what they came in
for and then there’s
always our agenda,
which is ‘OK, are
you caught up on
everything?’
—D
ana Kraus, M.D.
St. Johnsbury Family Health Center
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As the health care reform debate rages
on Capitol Hill, the face of primary
care is changing in the hills of Vermont,
with physicians’ practices adopting a
model of care known as medical homes.
The effort is part of a larger health reform
initiative called the Vermont Blueprint
for Health — a public-private partnership
seeking to improve health and the health
care system in the state. The goal is to help people with
chronic conditions and those at risk for chronic conditions
manage their own health — and reduce the soaring health
care costs associated with chronic illness.
Clinicians and researchers at the University of
Vermont College of Medicine play an integral role in these
efforts, helping physicians’ practices secure medical home
recognition from the National Committee on Quality
Assurance and, most importantly, evaluating the success
and effectiveness of Blueprint programs. Faculty members
and staff have helped plan and guide the Blueprint, fueled
in part by a desire to improve the quality of care and
make primary care careers more attractive in the wake of a
looming workforce shortage.
All of this work is drawing national attention, as
officials from other states seek to learn from Vermont’s
experience. U.S. Representative Peter Welch, D-Vt.,
recently incorporated ideas and solutions from the
Blueprint into national health care reform legislation,
including language promoting medical homes.
“Vermont is one of the states at the forefront of thinking
about how to make this happen on the ground,” said
Enrique Martinez Vidal, vice president of AcademyHealth
and director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s
State Coverage Initiatives project. Martinez Vidal recently
brought teams from five states to Vermont to learn about
the Blueprint and observe medical homes in action.
What is a
Medical
Home?
The security of home
In 2008, the National Committee
Throughout the country, physicians’ practices are
increasingly turning to the medical home model as they
look to reform their health care systems. To become
a patient-centered medical home, a practice must
meet standards set by the National Committee on
Quality Assurance. They are measured on nine aspects
of care, including issues such as appointment access,
communication, patient tracking and registry functions,
patient self-management support, electronic prescribing
and performance reporting and improvement.
Becoming a medical home not only helps improve
the quality of care — it also increases payment to the
physician’s practice. Once they achieve patient-centered
medical home status, selected practices in three Blueprint
Integrated Pilot communities receive an enhanced provider
payment to offset their increased costs. These funds are
distributed on a per-patient per-month basis through a
multi-insurer partnership composed of the major private
insurance companies operating in Vermont and the
Vermont Medicaid program. The Federal Medicare is not
yet a member. Practices that become patient-centered
medical homes make use of additional staff, including
behavioral health specialists and chronic care coordinators
— usually a registered nurse who works closely with
patients to coordinate their care among self-management,
community programs, primary care, and specialty care.
Being a medical home means applying preventative
care to the whole population of patients, not just those
with chronic problems, says Dana Kraus, M.D., a family
practitioner who works at St. Johnsbury Family Health
Center, one of seven patient-centered medical homes in
Vermont. “It’s putting in place reminder systems to capture
patients so that we’re making sure that they get everything.”
For example, if a patient comes in with a stubbed toe,
the doctor might also check to make sure they have had
a regular pap smear or mammogram — or that they are
caught up on their tetanus shot.
“Whatever they’re coming in for, we have two
agendas: what they came in for and then there’s always our
agenda, which is ‘OK, are you caught up on everything?’”
Kraus says.
for Quality Assurance, a non-profit
organization dedicated to improving health care quality,
released standards for developing patient-centered medical
homes. These standards are based on principles developed by
the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of
Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Osteopathic Association and others.
A patient-centered medical home is a model of care
based on strengthening the doctor-patient relationship and
providing seamless coordination of care — with a strong
emphasis on preventative medicine. The patient is encouraged
to become an active partner in his or her care, and work
towards self-management of his or her illness.
Patient-centered medical homes use health registries,
advanced information technology and health information
exchange to ensure that patients receive the indicated care
when and where they need it. Practices that achieve patientcentered medical home recognition may receive enhanced
provider payments. To be recognized as medical homes,
practices must meet nine standards which include:
Access and Communication
Patient tracking and registry functions
Care management
Patient self-management support
Electronic prescribing
Test tracking
Referrals tracking
Performance reporting and improvement
Advanced electronic communications
Each standard has multiple elements; practices are scored
depending on how well they comply with these elements.
For more information about medical homes, visit:
www.ncqa.org and www.pcpcc.net
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Patient-centered medical homes in Vermont have
access to a web tracking clinical tool called DocSite
that lets them run reports on populations of patients.
For example, at Aesculapius Medical Center in South
Burlington, a practice of Fletcher Allen Health Care and a
patient-centered medical home, clinicians use DocSite to
identify patients with diabetes who are overdue for testing,
or patients who are due for a colonoscopy. Those patients
are then typically contacted by mail.
“When you send out that first letter that says we really
care about you, we believe that prevention is the key to
having a long and happy life, they enjoy that,” says Clinical
Assistant Professor of Medicine Jennifer Gilwee, M.D.’97,
medical director of the practice. The key is preventing
illness down the road, Gilwee says. “What I do now may
prevent a heart attack in 10 to 15 years.”
A natural partner
An Ingredient of Healthier Living
Shauna Brittell is a chronic care community health worker
who is part of the Community Care Team shown on page 20.
Part of her role under the medical home effort is to educate
patients and their families to make better choices in
circumstances that will affect their health. On one July
afternoon she accompanied Christina, mother of a
small child and wife of a person who has asthma and
is at a risk for diabetes, through the family’s weekly
food shopping at the supermarket in Lyndonville.
Shauna turns the shopping trip into an educational
experience as she helps Christina plan a healthier diet
for her husband and the whole family.
22
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
As physicians and patients begin to experience new ways
of delivering care, researchers at the Vermont Child
Health Improvement Program (VCHIP) at the College
of Medicine are conducting thorough evaluations to
determine if the changes are working.
Julie Krulewitz, Ph.D., a researcher with VCHIP,
works on evaluating patient-centered medical homes in
Vermont, as well as evaluating other Blueprint projects.
She is responsible for analyzing whether or not physicians’
practices are complying with the standards to become
patient-centered medical homes. She also helps Vermont
practices apply for recognition as medical homes with the
National Committee on Quality Assurance. Krulewitz
travels to physician practices across the state, reviewing
medical records and asking questions: Are patients able to
see their assigned primary care provider? Does the practice
have a 24-hour service to answer questions? Do patients
have a primary care provider? Data Krulewitz gathers
directly inform the work of the Blueprint in developing
new strategies for improvements and assessing the
effectiveness of current efforts.
Because of its research and evaluative expertise,
UVM brings an important set of skills to the table, says
Judith Shaw, EdD., R.N., M.P.H., executive director
of VCHIP and one of the early planners of the
Blueprint for Health. “We’re playing the role of
evaluator. That sort of completes the picture,”
Shaw says.
UVM is a natural partner in health
care reform in other ways as well, particularly
as it pertains to the health care workforce. As
a leader in primary care education — UVM was
recently ranked sixth in the nation for primary care
education by U.S. News & World Report — the university
has a vested interest in finding a model for primary
care practice that is satisfying for people and attractive
to graduating students, says Charles MacLean, M.D.,
interim associate dean for primary care, who serves on the
Blueprint’s Executive Committee and on a Primary Care
Workgroup that advises the Blueprint.
“There’s a lot of attention being paid to primary care
right now, particularly as regards the patient-centered
medical home, and part of it is coming out of a sense of a
looming crisis in workforce,” MacLean notes.
Wrapping care around the patient
Vermont’s health reform efforts are already helping to make
primary physicians’ jobs more satisfying, say those involved
with the Blueprint.
One of the unique aspects of the Blueprint Integrated
Pilots is the creation of Community Care Teams — groups
of health professionals that offer a wide range of services
not typically provided in the doctor’s office. Services can
include diet and nutrition counseling, tobacco cessation,
mental health services, social
service referrals, payment
assistance, home visits
and others. Primary care
physicians can refer patients
to these teams.
Through the Blueprint,
pilot communities, with
financial assistance from the insurance companies and
the state, are creating these teams up front as a part of the
infrastructure of delivering primary care — something no
other state is currently doing, says Lisa Dulsky Watkins,
M.D., assistant director of the Blueprint at the Vermont
Department of Health. To date, two Community Care
Teams have been formed in the state — one in Chittenden
County and one in St. Johnsbury — with a third one
planned for Central Vermont.
The team makes a huge difference in how primary
care physicians practice medicine, says Pam Smart, who
coordinates the St. Johnsbury Community Care Team.
“The whole purpose is to lighten the load of the primary
Clinical Assistant Professor Jennifer Gilwee, M.D.’97, feels being a part of a medical home allows her to practice better preventive medicine.
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care provider as well as provide quality care to folks that
keeps them healthier and less likely to need the services of
the hospital,” Smart says.
Smart recounts many instances of patients being
helped by the team, most notably that of a 20-year-old
woman who was near death in the ICU with asthma.
The woman, who had lost her job and her health insurance
and couldn’t afford her medications, had been in the
hospital more than twelve times in ten months. The team
was able to help her get her medications, quit smoking
and eventually get a new job, Smart says. “We were able to
wrap services around her.”
Having the team has made a
big difference to Dr. Kraus of St.
Johnsbury Family Health Center.
“When I first came here 10 years ago,
I almost didn’t dare ask people about
smoking, because they would say yes
they’re interested in stopping smoking and
I’d be like ‘OK, now what?’ Now, every person who comes
in gets asked their smoking status,” she says. “Because I
have help, I can expand what I’m able to ask.”
Dr. Gilwee also has seen a positive change in her role.
“I feel now I’m more bolstered if somebody says ‘yes I’m
ready to make a change,’” she says. “You’re not hand-onthe-doorknob feeling guilty. Now I can say, ‘Great, we have
this Community Care Team I’m going to refer you to and
they’re going to help you.’ It’s rewarding — I
feel like we are making people healthier.”
Approximately 600 patients have
been referred to the Chittenden
County team since it launched in
October 2008, Gilwee says.
Jim and Jean Frei of Essex
are among those patients; they were
referred with the goal of losing weight
and improving diet and exercise. The
Freis started working one-on-one with
Pam Farnham, R.N., coordinator of the
Chittenden County Community Care Team. Since then,
Jim, 76, has lost 20 pounds and Jean, 71, has lost 15 pounds.
This summer, Jim planted a vegetable garden for
the first time in years and the couple traveled to Ireland
with their two daughters and grandchildren — a trip
The Vermont Blueprint for Health
The state of Vermont launched the Blueprint for Health in
2003 with the initial goal of focusing on obesity-related
disease. The Blueprint is a statewide plan designed to reduce
the health and economic impact of the most common chronic
conditions and focus on their prevention.
In 2006, the Blueprint was given further focus and
Chittenden County
Aesculapius Medical Center, a practice of Fletcher
Allen Health Care, South Burlington (15,774 patients)
Eugene Moore, M.D., private practice, Burlington
(1,800 patients)
written into law as the state’s plan for changing health care
delivery. Further legislation in 2007 directed the Blueprint
to work on establishing medical homes. In 2008, the state
Caledonia Internal Medicine, a practice of
communities to participate based on a competitive process.
Northern Counties Health Care, St. Johnsbury (2,011
Participating practices were given the infrastructure and
patients)
financial incentives to operate a patient-centered medical
Concord Health Center, a practice of Northern
Counties Health Care, Concord (2,183 patients)
financial reform, the creation of Community Care Teams,
community activation and prevention, the use of health
information technology and multi-dimensional evaluation.
24
Currently, there are two pilot projects operating in the
— Jennifer Gilwee, M.D.’97
Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine,
Medical Director of Aesculapius
Medical Center
St. Johnsbury
launched the Blueprint Integrated Pilot Program and selected
home. Major components of the pilot program include
. . . if somebody
says ‘Yes I’m ready
to make a change,’
You’re not handon-the-doorknob
feeling guilty . . .
Now I can say,
‘Great, we have this
Community Care
Team I’m going to
refer you to and
they’re going to
help you.’
Corner Medical, a practice of Northeastern Regional
Vermont Hospital, Lyndonville (14,500 patients)
Danville Health Center, a practice of Northern
state — in Chittenden County and St. Johnsbury. A third pilot
Counties Health Care, Danville (3,088 patients)
is planned for Central Vermont. The following practices are
St. Johnsbury Family Health Center, a practice
currently participating and have been recognized as patient-
of Northern Counties Health Care, St. Johnsbury
centered medical homes:
(2,822 patients)
Source: Vermont Blueprint for Health’s 2008 Annual Report. More information can be found at: http://healthvermont.gov/
they previously felt they didn’t have the stamina to do.
“The thing that makes me happiest is I see him interested
in former interests that he had let go,” Jean says of her
husband. “It just worked out great.”
Rita Pinard of St. Johnsbury can’t say enough about
her local Community Care Team. In six months, she
lost 30 pounds, is eating healthier and is on her way to
getting her diabetes under control. To Pam Smart of the
St. Johnsbury Community Care Team and many others
involved in the Blueprint, the changes taking place in
Vermont simply make sense.
“It is more cost effective. It increases the quality of care.
The providers are happier. Why wouldn’t we want to do
this?” Smart says. “It’s all about caring for people.” VM
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?
by Lynda Majarian
Magdalena Naylor, M.D., Ph.D.,
Jay Gonyea, and Trevor Andrews, Ph.D.,
at UVM’s functional MRI research unit.
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
photography by Mario Morgado
Where Does it Hurt?
UVM clinician and researcher Magdalena
Naylor, M.D., Ph.D., explores the central
nervous system to help patients with chronic
pain. Her work has shed new light on how
the brain deals with pain, and points to ways
to use the mind to treat the body.
26
|
W
hen Jeff Toon met Magdalena Naylor,
M.D., Ph.D., he was using a wheelchair
and suffering from so much chronic pain
he couldn’t turn the pages in a book.
Today, he is able to bike, sail, swim, and pursue a second
undergraduate degree in engineering. Lee Rosenberg, a
former nurse, now very rarely takes medication for a
chronic pain condition.
“When I think of these people,” says Naylor, a
professor of psychiatry, “I get goose bumps.” For 13 years,
Naylor has been using cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
to help patients manage — and reduce — chronic sensory
and emotional pain that stems from sources including back
problems, arthritis, migraine headaches, chronic fatigue,
and fibromyalgia. Her groundbreaking work on the use
of CBT in pain management was published in the journal
Pain in 2008.
Naylor’s approach begins with a two-hour evaluation
of each new patient, followed by 11 weeks of cognitive
behavioral group therapy focusing on techniques in
meditation, mindfulness, coping skills, self care, exercise,
and how to recognize stress factors, which can range from
forgetfulness and teeth grinding to “catastrophizing,” or
imagining worst case scenarios. Groups comprise seven
to ten people — one group is made up of patients solely
suffering from back pain — and participants, on average,
have experienced chronic pain for about 11 years.
“We treat the whole person,” says Naylor of the
activities at her UVM/Fletcher Allen MindBody Medicine
Research Clinic. That entails a complex approach to
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internal and external stressors that includes letting go of
anger about having pain. “Our patients have both sensory
and emotional aspects to their pain, and they may also
have high stress levels, depression, obesity and insomnia.
Our focus is on health — not just physical pain. It’s about
making lifestyle changes, and teaching strategies to support
and maintain change. I’ve seen many patients decrease and
control pain while regaining confidence, motivation, and
hope.”
A typical group session emphasizes an overview
of a particular coping skill and classroom exercises to
demonstrate and practice that skill. “We have a ninety-one
year old patient who sometimes leads us in yoga exercises,”
Naylor attests. One result of the group therapy sessions
is that patients’ medications may be adjusted — not only
those for pain, but for a host of other ailments. Another is
their ability to live fuller, more physically active lives.
“The sessions are not about people talking about their
pain — they are instruction-based,” says Naylor’s assistant
Michael Krauthamer. For patients, making the transition to
living with chronic pain is the most challenging aspect of
the program,” he says, “and learning how to imbue life with
meaning again.”
“We’re not only changing behavior,” Naylor says,
“we’re also changing the function of the brain.” Her
research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows
that exaggerated responses in the amygdala to pain and
provocative emotional stimuli normalized after 11 weeks
of cognitive behavior therapy. (The amygdala plays an
important role in motivation and emotional behavior.) In
addition, she demonstrated decreased activation in the
primary somatosensory cortex, and increased activation
in the prefrontal cortex. CBT may increase cortical
suppression of amygdala and/or somatosensory cortex
activity and this may be related to the reduction and
experience of pain.
But how to sustain these changes over time? The
answer was TIVR, or the Therapeutic Interactive Voice
Response relapse prevention program. It works like this:
for four months after cognitive behavior therapy ends,
patients call in daily and hear a pre-recorded message that
asks them 21 questions about how they are feeling and
which coping mechanisms they are using. If prompted, the
system will give a review of a particular coping skill for
the patient to follow. Every month, each patient receives
a recorded, personalized message from Naylor. After four
months of TIVR, patients showed improved results, while
pain worsened in the control group that had received only
cognitive behavior therapy. Patients are free to continue
using TIVR after the study period ends, but they no longer
receive the personalized monthly response from Naylor.
28
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
Donna Bruno of Charlotte, Vt., was in Naylor’s
therapy group followed by TIVR and three years later
continues using the relapse prevention program daily. “It’s
a good reminder about how I’m coping with what’s going
on with new things in my life,” she says. “It prompts me
to ask where my behavior is at.” Bruno was originally
diagnosed with a hand injury in 1996 and had hand
surgery but “wasn’t healing appropriately.” She broke the
other hand, “and things kept snowballing,” she recalls.
She subsequently developed Complex Regional Pain
Syndromes, also known as CRPS, in all four limbs. CRPS
is a condition that occurs when there is prolonged pain,
usually in the area of a previously injured arm or leg,
“
We’re not only
changing behavior …
we’re also changing the
function of the brain.
— Magdalena Naylor, M.D.
”
At left and above, Dr. Naylor prepares for a weekly group therapy session
using cognitive behaviorial therapy to help manage chronic pain.
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“We treat the whole person,” says Dr. Naylor. “Our focus in on health, not just physical pain.”
but it can develop anywhere in the body. It is associated
with tissue swelling and an increased sensitivity to touch.
Naylor’s program, says Bruno, “taught me different coping
mechanisms and gave me different ways to look at the
pain. It’s not a quick fix, but over time it taught me how to
change the way my brain thinks about things.”
After her group therapy ended, Rosenberg called TIVR
daily for six months, until she felt she had mastered the
techniques, but continued to call occasionally to refresh
her memory. “I liked having the availability of a therapist
at the drop of a hat,” she says, noting that “I didn’t realize
the state of tension I was in all day long.” She especially
likes using Naylor’s visualization exercises (“It sounds hokey
but it works,” she notes) and mini-relaxation techniques —
exercises that can be accomplished in less than five minutes.
Through group therapy and TIVR, she has been able to
reduce what was about five hours a day of chronic pain to
“almost nothing,” and learned to avoid negative self-talk.
30
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
“She puts the science together with cognitive
techniques and really gets results,” says Rosenberg of
Naylor’s approach. “It’s always easier to pop a pill, and you
may have no pain but become addicted and sleep all day. I
could really see people changing in group therapy, and not
just their pain.” For many, the camaraderie in the group
sessions and being with others who share their problems is
another component to getting well. “You also learn that it’s
not such a big deal to take a little bit of time for yourself,”
says Rosenberg, whose son matriculated to the College of
Medicine in August.
q
If there are skeptics to this mind-body approach to
managing chronic pain, their numbers are dwindling. The
National Institutes of Health (NIH) have funded Naylor’s
MindBody Medicine Research Clinic, and currently
provide over $3 million for her neuroimaging research
and the TIVR relapse prevention program. She is awaiting
an NIH funding decision on her proposal for a study of
MRI and treatment response in chronic pain. Naylor is
also receiving more referrals from physicians, not only in
primary care but also specialists in orthopedics, hepatitis
and obstetrics and gynecology.
“Dr. Magdalena Naylor is using both functional MR
(fMRI) and diffusion tensor MR imaging (MRDTI) to
elucidate the neural pathways of pain. Functional MR looks
at cortical response while MRDTI looks at the white matter
fiber tracts, which are the connections between cortical
areas of the brain. Fletcher Allen Health Care has a team
of neuroradiologists who are experts in this technology,”
says Fletcher Allen radiologist and Associate Professor of
Radiology and MRI Director Christopher G. Filippi, M.D.
“Using fMRI and MRDTI will enable Dr. Naylor to better
understand the brain’s response to chronic pain and how it
affects the limbic system and amygdala as well as the white
matter fiber tracts that transmit this information to different
areas of the brain. Her research is groundbreaking.”
“Physicians like to see somatic images, and this is hard
science,” Naylor explains.
Some patients initially question whether the mindbody approach to pain management will help them. “They
know their pain is physical, so they may ask, ‘What am I
doing talking to a psychiatrist?’” Naylor says. “They wonder,
‘Is the pain all in my head?’” The answer is: yes and no. “It’s
all in the central nervous system,” Naylor explains.
Jeff Toon’s problems started with a knee injury and
spiraled into a psychological problem caused conversion
disorder, which can both manifest as pain and amplify
existing pain. After being bedridden for more than a year,
his life is “more normal than I ever thought it would be,”
he says. The meditation tools he acquired during group
therapy “were a wonderful escape from the harsh realities
of my situation and provided me with my most peaceful,
restful moments,” he recalls. Further, Naylor’s coping
techniques helped him “get to the crux of the problem,” he
says, though he still works with a private psychologist to
maintain his current active lifestyle.
Naylor, who in addition to her M.D. degree holds
a doctorate in cardiovascular physiology from Warsaw
Medical Academy and specialty in psychiatry from Duke
University, can understand pain from both sides — she
suffers from chronic lower back pain as the result of a car
accident six years ago, which she mollifies with her own
pain relief techniques. She credits a New York Times article
she read about 13 years ago with sparking her interest
in mind-body science. The article concerned research
suggesting that depressed patients were more likely to
develop cardiovascular disease. From there was born her
idea that “we can use the mind to treat the body.”
“
The program taught
me how to change the
way my brain thinks
about things.
”
— patient Donna Bruno
M.D./Ph.D. student Matthew LeComte works with Dr. Naylor on her
research into the human brain’s response to chronic pain.
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Just Relax…
Magdalena Naylor’s relaxation exercises — part of
her cognitive behavior therapy program — don’t
only benefit people with chronic pain. Professional
athletes and actors use them to reduce performance
anxiety, and anyone experiencing tension and who
has five minutes to spare can do a mini-relaxation
exercise. Here’s how:
1
2
3
4
Take a deep breath; as you breathe out, imagine all
the tension in your body and mind leaving through
this breath.
Take a moment to tense all the muscles you can at once.
Then take a deep breath and slowly breathe out, letting
all the tension go. Repeat this mini-relaxation until you
have reduced the tension.
Take an inventory of body tension in your familiar stress
points. For example, is there stress in your neck or upper
back? If you find there is, pretend you can direct the
breath into that area of tension. As you breathe out,
feel the tension release.
Count to 10 taking a slow, deep breath. Hold the breath
for one count. Then breathe out slowly, again as you
count to 10.
What’s next for Naylor? “My main objective is to
find a test to use as a biomarker to individualize treatment
for different types of chronic pain,” Naylor says with
conviction. In a sort of “one stop shopping” for pain relief,
she hopes to be able to determine which patients will do
best with specific types of therapy.
Her current projects include a pilot program that uses
music instead of group therapy to manage chronic pain.
Healthy patients (UVM students serve as the volunteers)
enter an MRI facility and listen to “chill-inducing” music
— be it Bach or the Black Eyed Peas — of their own
choosing, while mildly painful stimuli, in the form of
thermal heat, are applied. Naylor hypothesizes that the
music may activate the reward centers in the brain and
reduce the perception of pain. The program was developed
through the Honors College thesis of UVM student
Hayley Perelman and a collaboration with John Mantegna,
a UVM music department faculty member.
Another project is a budding collaboration between
Naylor and a Buddhist monk for mindfulness based
treatment of pain. The monk is currently teaching
mindfulness to adolescents, which seems to be helping
them to improve their performance in school.
“Dr. Naylor has managed to do two very important
things at once,” says Robert Pierattini, M.D., professor
and chair of psychiatry at the College of Medicine and
psychiatry physician leader at Fletcher Allen. “She helps
patients to develop personal skills and strengths to manage
their own symptoms. In addition, through rigorous
research, she has demonstrated that her psychotherapeutic
interventions are effective. Using functional neuroimaging,
she has begun to investigate the impact of coping skills
training on the neurobiology of chronic pain. Research of
this kind is critical and will help patients and clinicians
choose the best treatments for pain.”
“What we’re doing isn’t just research, it’s a community
service,” Naylor says. Perhaps it’s that humanitarian
approach to science that has helped to land her on the
list of America’s Top Psychiatrists since 2004 and the Best
Doctors in America since 2001. “We underestimate the
number of people in chronic pain,” Naylor sums up, “but
they don’t need to suffer.” VM
The positive experiences of group therapy (a session of which Dr. Naylor
prepares to lead at left) are later sustained using an innovative daily
telephone session with a voice response system.
32
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
President’s Corner
34
Class Notes
35
Development News
37
Obituaries
45
Reunion ’09
46
HALL A
In 1905, when the College of Medicine completed its third home at the corner
of Prospect and Pearl streets in Burlington, the main lecture room was named
Hall A. For the next 63 years, students such as the members of the Class of
1955 (shown above listening to the legendary Prof. Ellsworth Amidon, M.D.’32)
spent much of their time in the hall. Today’s students take in lectures in the
Sullivan Classroom or in the recently renovated Carpenter Auditorium, but
the College’s educational mission of inspiring a lifetime of learning in the
service of the patient remains the same. The Hall A magazine section is a
meeting place in print for all former students of the College of Medicine.
Bottom: Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
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HALL A
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
There have been many transitions in the practice of
medicine in the 48 years since my high heels sunk into the
wet grass on the green with my medical diploma in hand.
One of the most apparent is also one of the most obvious:
at commencement in 1962 I was the only female receiving
a medical degree. Today, as the Class of 2013 begins their
studies, more than half will be women, both at UVM
and throughout the nation.
As these students settle in, few will realize just how
much has changed in the campus they now inhabit. My
class photo from 1962 shows just 37 graduates clustered
around Dean Slater on the steps of the old College of
Medicine building at the corner of Pearl and North
Prospect streets. Fortunately, back then the College’s
leadership prudently recognized the impending wave of growth that would
sweep the medical profession. They developed an ambitious plan to build a new
medical campus atop the eastern side of UVM’s main campus, near the hospital
then known as Mary Fletcher. Thanks to an incredible level of support from
alumni and other donors, the Medical Alumni-Given complex rose in pieces
beginning in 1958, and ten years later reached completion.
Of course, “completion” is a relative term. Class sizes have steadily increased
to meet the health care needs of Vermont and the nation, medical research
has surged, new curricula have replaced the old, and the medical campus has
evolved to meet these changes. At reunion time, returning alumni are often heard
remarking on the number of physical changes that have taken place in just the last
ten years. The most recent of these improvements is the new Courtyard at Given,
which is shown in this issue — a four-story structure that innovatively adapts the
old courtyard space into a vital new “heart” of the College, a place where all the
daily needs of students and alumni can be addressed, and a space that allows the
College’s research and patient care missions to continue to grow.
Also this fall, students will find a newly refurbished Carpenter Auditorium
that has been brought up to 21st century educational standards. This project was
made possible through the generosity of Thomas Sullivan, Class of 1966, whose
support of the College was recognized by the renaming of the main lecture hall
in the Medical Education Center. As things change, it is heartening to see that
among what remains the same is the commitment of the College’s graduates to
the fostering of the next generation of physicians, especially through scholarship
and other financial support given to the College of Medicine Fund. We may be a
small medical school, but our percentage of all alumni support is among the very
best in the nation. I invite you, if you’re not already a part of this effort, to make
your own “new beginning” by joining us today.
Ruth Andrea Seeler, M.D.’62
Medical Alumni Association President
University of Vermont
College of Medicine
development &
alumni relations office
Assistant Dean
Rick Blount
Development Operations Manager
Ginger Lubkowitz
Director, Major Gifts
Manon O’Connor
Director, Medical Annual Giving
Sarah Keblin
Director, Medical Alumni Relations
Cristin Gildea
Director of Medical Corporate &
Foundation Relations
Michael Healy
Development Analyst
Travis Morrison
Assistants
Jane Aspinall
Ben Fuller
James Gilbert
University of Vermont
Medical Alumni
Association
alumni executive committee
Officers (Two-Year Terms):
President
Ruth A. Seeler, M.D.’62 (2009–2011)
President-Elect
James C. Hebert, M.D.’77 (2009–2011)
Treasurer
Paul B. Stanilonis, M.D.’65 (2009–2011)
Secretary
Mark Pasanen, M.D.’92 (2009–2011)
Executive Secretary
John Tampas, M.D.’54 (ongoing)
Members-At-Large (6-Year Terms):
Mark Allegretta, Ph.D.’90 (2003–2010)
Naomi R. Leeds, M.D.’00, M.P.H. (2004–2010)
H. James Wallace III, M.D.’88 (2004–2010)
Suzanne R. Parker, M.D.’73 (2008–2010)
Carleton R. Haines, M.D.’43 (2006–2012)
Jacqueline A. Noonan, M.D.’54 (2006–2012)
Betsy Sussman, M.D.’81 (2007–2012)
Don P. Chan, M.D.’76 (2009–2014)
Leslie S. Kerzner, M.D.’95 (2009–2014)
Frederick Mandell, M.D.’64 (2009–2014)
M.D. Class Notes
If you have news to share, please contact your class agent or the Medical
Development and Alumni Relations office at [email protected]
or (802) 656-4014. If your email address has changed, please send it
to [email protected].
1943
1949
Francis Arnold Caccavo
James Arthur Bulen
(M.D. Dec. 1943)
51 Thibault Parkway
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-3841
[email protected]
4198 North Longvalley Rd.
Hernando, FL 34442
(352) 746-4513
[email protected]
Carleton R. Haines
32 Fairmount Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-0040
[email protected]
Joseph C. Foley
(M.D. Dec. 1943)
88 Mountain View Road
Williston, VT 05495
(802) 878-3115
Harry M. Rowe
(M.D. March 1943)
65 Main Street
P.O. Box 755
Wells River, VT 05081
(802) 757-2325
[email protected]
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
24 Worthley Road
Topsham, VT 05076
(802) 439-5816
[email protected]
October 10, 2009
Alumni Executive Committee Fall Meeting
UVM Campus
1950
October 11–15, 2009
American College of Surgeons
Annual Clinical Congress, Chicago, IL
’1 0
October 17–20, 2009
AAP American Academy of Pediatrics, Washington, DC
8256 Nice Way
Sarasota, FL 34238
(941) 926-8126
357 Weybridge Street
Middlebury, VT 05753
(802) 388-1555
December 1, 2009
RSNA Radiological Society of North America
Chicago, IL
1951
1945
r e u n i on
Edward S. Sherwood
Simon Dorfman
Wilton W. Covey
’1 0
Robert E. O’Brien
414 Thayer Beach Road
Colchester, VT 05446
(802) 862-0394
[email protected]
H. Gordon Page
June 11–13, 2010
UVM Medical Reunion 2010
Edward W. Jenkins
7460 South Pittsburg Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74136
(918) 492-7960
1953
Richard N. Fabricius
9 East Terrace
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 864-7086
17 Fairview Road
Old Bennington, VT 05201
(802) 442-4224
1947
1954
George H. Bray
John E. Mazuzan Jr.
110 Brookside Road
New Britain, CT 06052
1948
S. James Baum
Andy Duback, UVM Med Photo
Avram Kraft, M.D.’64 speaks at Reunion ’09
October 10, 2009
Medical Student Family Day
UVM Campus
r e u n i on
1944
1790 Fairfield Beach Road
Fairfield, CT 06430
(203) 255-1013
[email protected]
34
Upcoming Events
366 South Cove Road
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 864-5039
[email protected]
Alumni and students share their thoughts at Reunion ’09
F or u pdates on e v ents see :
www.med.uvm.edu/alumni
1955
r e u n i on
’1 0
Marshall G. London
102 Summit Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 864-4927
[email protected]
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1956
Development News
M.D. CLASS NOTES
HALL A
Ira H. Gessner
1306 Northwest 31st Street
Gainesville, FL 32605
(352) 378-1820
[email protected]
More Support from a
Grateful Alumnus
Valery Worth Yandow writes: “I
continue with various volunteer pursuits,
the Medical Society, “Turning Point,” and
supervision in the outpatient department
at the Brattleboro Retreat. My five
children and seven grandchildren are a
great source of support and joy.”
1957
50th Reunion: CLASS OF
1960
r e u n i on
Larry Coletti
1959
John Mesch “had an enjoyable (though
’1 0
Marvin A. Nierenberg
34 Gulliver Circle
Norwich, CT 06360
(860) 887-1450
[email protected]
Samford Bloomberg reports: “I am still
working, part-time, as a psychiatrist and
have been since I finished my residency in
Michigan in 1961, and will always admire
and honor my classmates.”
1958
Peter Ames Goodhue
Stamford Gynecology, P.C.
70 Mill River Street
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 359-3340
1959
15 West 81st Street
New York, NY 10024
(212) 874-6484
[email protected]
Melvyn H. Wolk
Clinton Street
P.O. Box 772
Waverly, PA 18471
(570) 563-2215
[email protected]
Carol and Richard M. Narkewicz are
“loving our new condo at Shell Point
(Fort Myers, Fla.). We recently made
contact with our classmate, John Fenning,
still the best Orthopod in Fort Myers.
We attend the “Narkewicz Visiting
Professorship” each June at UVM.”
1961
Jay E. Selcow
Wilfrid L. Fortin
27 Reservoir Road
Bloomfield, CT 06002
(860) 243-1359
[email protected]
17 Chapman Street
Nashua, NH 03060
(603) 882-6202
[email protected]
brief ) visit to UVM during Homecoming
weekend in October…including a tour of
the campus and attendance at a reception.
I’m still practicing but unlike you stillfull-timers, at an easy pace, only about 15
hours per week, and somehow keeping
busy otherwise.”
1962
Ruth Andrea Seeler
2431 North Orchard
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 472-3432
[email protected]
1963
P.O. Box 607
Colchester, VT 05446
(802) 865-9390
[email protected]
229 Champlain Drive
Plattsburgh, NY 12901
(518) 561-8991
Arnold Kerzner says “Hi to my great
Anthony P. Belmont
211 Youngs Point Road
Wiscasset, ME 04578
(207) 882-6228
[email protected]
Robert Wheelock retired from his
36
V E R M O N T
1964
M E D I C I N E
Waltham, Mass., practice in March 2007
and moved to: 1901 Cox Neck Road,
Chester, MD 21619.
All class photos: Andy Duback, UVM Med Photo
Perelmans Support VCC
Charlotte and Arthur Perelman, M.D.’52 are committed to
continuing their generous support of the Vermont Cancer
Center (VCC). The Perelmans have already established a
generous estate gift — an irrevocable life insurance trust.
They have now made a commitment for additional funding
to support the VCC with a recent committment of $50,000.
The Ireland family’s commitment to the work of David Krag,
M.D. comes from their first-hand experience with cancer, and
the compassionate care rendered by Dr. Krag. In 1990 Scott
Ireland was diagnosed with melanoma, a type of skin cancer
caused by over-exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Over
the next few years, Scott and his wife, Kim, developed a close
relationship with Dr. Krag as Scott underwent the treatment,
including sentinel-node biopsy, that has left him cancer-free
today. The Irelands have continued their support of Dr. Krag’s
work with their latest gift of $140,000 through the S.D. Ireland
Cancer Research Fund.
H. Alan Walker
classmates of ’62 and ’63. Nothing like
work you love (and a 46-year marriage
to Joan Powell UVM ’63) to keep
you young, vibrant, creative and an
inspirational grampy to my beautiful
Elana and Adriana — who will attend
UVM Med School (someday) as did their
mother Leslie (class of 1995).”
After Clifford Herman’s death in 2007, one of his former
colleagues in surgery at the University of Washington
remembered him as “a champion of the little guy to the
very end, a brave warrior, a kind doctor, a wise mentor, and
a wonderful friend.” Many people Dr. Herman encountered
over the years in his service to medicine and to his country in
the U.S. Navy agreed wholeheartedly with this description.
Now a group of Dr. Herman’s classmates from the College
of Medicine, his family, including his widow, Wendy, and his
friends from the Navy and medical practice have honored
him and his class with the establishment of the Clifford M.
Herman Class of ’59 Scholarship, an endowed scholarship
that will provide student funding in perpetuity.
The Ireland Tradition
John J. Murray
1964
CLASS OF
The generous financial support
of Thomas Sullivan, M.D.’66 was
honored this spring with the
renaming of the large classroom
in the Medical Education Center.
Dr. Sullivan is a retired radiologist
from Etna, N.H., who proudly
recalls his years serving
Vermonters at every hospital in
the state, and is grateful to the
Thomas Sullivan, M.D.’66
College for preparing him for his
career. “It didn’t cost me a penny
to go there, what with scholarships and all, so I thought it
would be nice to give something back,” he told Vermont
Medicine last spring. Dr. Sullivan’s previous gifts to the
College’s Dean’s Fund were used to help fund the recent
renovations to Carpenter Auditorium. This summer,
Dr. Sullivan continued his extraordinary generosity with
another substantial gift to the Dean’s Fund, which will
allow the College to fulfill plans for important educational
initiatives such as the new Simulation Center.
Scholarship Honors Clifford Herman, M.D.’59
Dean Morin receives the Reunion class gift check from
Jay Selcow, M.D.’59.
Exceptional Reunion Giving
Jay Selcow, M.D.’59 has given many gifts to the College of
Medicine over the years, including great amounts of his time
as a class agent, and an officer and president of the Alumni
Executive Committee. But certainly one of the biggest gifts
he’s ever presented was the ceremonial check he handed
to Dean Morin at his 50th Reunion this June. That check
symbolized the more than $520,000 raised by all reunion
classes in the past year.
Raj Chawla, UVM Med Photo
Scott and Kim Ireland
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1965
r e u n i on
’1 0
HALL A
M.D. CLASS NOTES
97 Quechee Road
Hartland, VT 05048
(802) 436-2138
[email protected]
574 US Route 4 East
Rutland Town, VT 05701
(802) 775-4671
[email protected]
Robert George Sellig
31 Overlook Drive
Queensbury, NY 12804
(518) 793-7914
[email protected]
G. Millard Simmons
3165 Grass Marsh Drive
Mount Pleasant, SC 29466
[email protected]
Leonard Swinyer is “still working
and loving it. No plans for full time
retirement, but have slowed down to
allow more time for travel. Thalia and I
have a staff of 31 for clinical practice and
research facility. Life is good!”
CLASS OF
1967
John F. Dick II
P.O. Box 60
Salisbury, VT 05769
(802) 352-6625
C.M. Terrien, Jr. reports: “Daughter
Paige Terrien Church (Class of 1999)
is at the Women’s College Hospital,
Toronto, Ontario. Our son, Chris
Terrien III (class of 2003) is finishing
Fletcher Allen Surgical Residency, heading
to Yale for a Cardiothoracic Surgery as of
July 1, 2009.
1968
David Jay Keller
4 Deer Run
Mendon, VT 05701
(802) 773-2620
[email protected]
Timothy John Terrien
14 Deerfield Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 862-8395
Todd Gladstone
[email protected]
James Betts has been a loyal and dedicated volunteer for UVM for more
than twenty years. He is a class officer in both his undergraduate class
of 1969 and his medical school class of 1973 and has served in leadership
roles, as either chair or co-chair, on the Reunion Gift Committees for both
classes. Dr. Betts’ work on behalf of his alma mater was recognized with
the Distinguished Service Award from the UVM Alumni Association at
UVM’s undergraduate reunion in June. Dr. Betts has served as interim chair
of UVM’s Planned Giving Committee and in the campaign planning study
that preceded the University’s six-year, comprehensive Campaign for the
University of Vermont, during which he took a leadership role as a member
of the National Campaign Steering Committee. He is currently surgeonin-chief, senior vice-president for surgical services, and director of trauma
services at Children’s Hospital and Research Center at Oakland, California,
and is a member of the university’s Board of Trustees.
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
2009–2010 Conferences
483 Lakewood Drive
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 628-0221
[email protected]
1969
Betts Honored by Alumni Association
38
James M. Betts
Philip L. Cohen
Joseph H. Vargas III
1966
Continuing Medical Education
715 Harbor Road
Alameda, CA 94502
(510) 523-1920
[email protected]
George A. Little
David Hirsch writes: “Enjoying full
time Nephrology again — this time in
Cleveland, Miss. This is in the “Delta”
or the Mississippi we all hear about in
the North. Lots of pathology (obesity,
hypertension, diabetes, etc.), and the
opportunity to do much good. Also
now receiving consultations from the
Cleveland Clinic.”
1973
Nelson H. Sturgis III is “still working
full-time at Sumpter Family Health Center.
Enjoying three grandchildren, spend
weekends in our townhouse in Leland,
N.C. Mary Jean working part-time.”
1969
Susan Pitman Lowenthal
200 Kennedy Drive
Torrington, CT 06790
(860) 597-8996
[email protected]
Frederick Cramer has started a new
business, the San Francisco Institute for
Hyperbaric Medicine. Their website is
www.sfhbo.com.
1970
r e u n i on
’1 0
Raymond Joseph Anton
1521 General Knox Road
Russell, MA 01071
(413) 568-8659
[email protected]
David Bronson sends his greetings to
the Class of ’73. “I’m still in Cleveland,
where I chair the Medicine Institute at
Cleveland Clinic. I serve on the Board
of Regents of the American College
of Physicians and as a commissioner
on The Joint Commission. Kids are
everywhere — three sons working in Asia,
one daughter is an N.P. at Dartmouth
Hitchcock, another is a P.A. in N.C., and
the youngest is a third-year med student
in Chicago. Kathy is Dean of Admissions
and Student Affairs at our med school.
[email protected]
1974
Douglas M. Eddy
5 Tanbark Road
Windham, NH 03087
(603) 434-2164
[email protected]
Cajsa Schumacher
78 Euclid Avenue
Albany, NY 12203
[email protected]
r e u n i on
24 Lorena Road
Winchester, MA 01890
(781) 729-7568
[email protected]
Emergency Medicine Update
February 3–6, 2010
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
The 23rd Annual Imaging Seminar
September 25–27, 2009
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
19th Annual Current Concepts &
Controversies in Surgery
February 4–6, 2010
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
The 7th Annual Northern New England
Critical Care Conference
October 21–24, 2009
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
Primary Care Behavior Health Conference
November 16, 2009
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center
Burlington, Vt.
Child Psychiatry for the
Primary Care Clinician
November 17, 2009
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center
Burlington, Vt.
21st Annual Eastern Winter Dermatology
Conference
January 15–18, 2010
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
15th Annual Vermont Perspectives
in Anesthesia
March 3–6, 2010
Stoweflake Conference Center
Stowe, Vt.
F or information contact :
University of Vermont
Continuing Medical Education
128 Lakeside Avenue Suite 100
Burlington, VT 05405
(802) 656-2292
http://cme.uvm.edu
College of Medicine alumni receive a special 10% discount
on all UVM Continuing Medical Education conferences.
1975
John F. Beamis Jr.
Primary Care Sports Medicine Conference
September 23–25, 2009
Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center
Burlington, Vt.
’1 0
Ellen Andrews
195 Midland Road
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(910) 295-6464
[email protected]
1971
Wayne E. Pasanen
117 Osgood Street
North Andover, MA 01845
(978) 681-9393
[email protected]
1972
F. Farrell Collins Jr.
205 Page Road
Pinehurst, NC 28374
(910) 295-2429
1976
Don P. Chan
Cardiac Associates of New Hampshire
Suite 103
246 Pleasant Street
Concord, NH 03301
(603) 224-6070
[email protected]
Bob Backus will be going to Monday-
Don McGuirk has just retired. “Keeping
myself busy by writing two books and
planning a tenth wedding anniversary trip
to the Greek Isles.”
Sally McCay, UVM Photo
Tuesday-Thursday practice only (except
home calls anytime) as of Jan 1, 2010.
He reports that he is “now doing mostly
geriatrics since I am one.”
CLASS OF
1974
F A L L
2 0 0 9
39
1980
r e u n i on
1992
’1 0
Mark Eliot Pasanen
1234 Spear Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 865-3281
[email protected]
Richard Nicholas Hubbell
HALL A
80 Summit Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-5551
[email protected]
1993
1981
Joanne Taplin Romeyn
22 Patterson Lane
Durham, CT 06422
(860) 349-6941
Craig Wendell Gage
M.D. CLASS NOTES
CLASS OF
2415 Victoria Gardens
Tampa, FL 33609
[email protected]
1979
Eric Reines practices with the Program of
John Ambrosino is “still in Pennsylvania
All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
in Beverly, Mass. He writes: “PACE is
great! House calls, teamwork, complex
psychiatric medical cases. Learning Spanish.
Home for dinner. How’s it going for you?”
as chief of vascular services of Excella
Health. Miss you all!”
Peter Wilk reports: “A surprising turn
of events in my life: I’ve almost entirely
closed my psychiatric practice in order to
move to Washington, D.C., to become
executive director of Physicians for
Social Responsibility (PSR). As many
of you know, I’ve been deeply engaged
as an activist with PSR for many years.
With such great possibilities now within reach for substantial progress to be
made in reducing the threat to human
health posted by nuclear weapons and
climate change, I just had to embrace the
opportunity to serve in this capacity. I
very much appreciate the support many
of you have sent to PSR.”
Sarah Ann McCarty
1979
1018 Big Bend Road
Barboursville, WV 25504
(304) 691-1094
[email protected]
Sarah McCarty reports: “I am now living
and teaching at American University
of the Caribbean in St Maarten. Dave
is still at home and will be joining me
this summer on a sabbatical from Ohio
University. I am having great fun teaching
clinical skills here. We are always looking
for professors in the winter so if the snow
and ice get to you email me at smccarty@
aucmed.edu. I do hope to make the next
big reunion. I am really disappointed to
have missed this one.”
Mark A. Popovsky
22 Nauset Road
Sharon, MA 02067
(781) 784-8824
[email protected]
I found myself accepting the position of
interim CEO of our health system [at
Southwestern Vermont Health Care in
Bennington] in the midst of a financial
crisis. It is a humbling and exciting
opportunity.”
2 Ravine Parkway
Oneonta, NY 13820
(607) 433-1620
[email protected]
Anne Marie Massucco
15 Cedar Ledge Road
West Hartford, CT 06107
(860) 521-6120
[email protected]
1984
Richard C. Shumway
34 Coventry Lane
Avon, CT 06001
(860) 673-6629
[email protected]
r e u n i on
’1 0
Vito D. Imbasciani
1915 North Crescent Heights Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 656-1316
[email protected]
1986
Darrell Edward White
29123 Lincoln Road
Bay Village, OH 44140
(440) 892-4681
[email protected]
Greg DeCandia reports that he has been
practicing in Concord, N.H., for two
years now.
Cathleen Morrow writes: “After 15
years on faculty at a community based
residency program in Maine, I opted for
a new challenge and am now the predoctoral director at Dartmouth Medical
School in the Department of Community
& Family Medicine. It’s fun to be back
at medical school and I see lots of UVM
grads — they’re everywhere!”
H. James Wallace III
CLASS OF
1984
[email protected]
Veronica Mueller Rooks is chief of
1989
1988
Paul McLane Costello
M E D I C I N E
Diane M. Georgeson
1985
Please email [email protected]
if you’d like to serve as 1987 class agent.
1978
V E R M O N T
[email protected]
Brad Watson
1989
1987
Mark Novotny writes: “In March 2009
40
David and Sally Murdock
1983
1977
Essex Pediatrics, Ltd.
89 Main Street
Essex Junction, VT 05452
(802) 879-6556
1982
CLASS OF
Peter M. Nalin
13216 Griffin Run
Carmel, IN 46033
(317) 962-6656
[email protected]
Peter Nalin has been named interim
executive associate dean for educational
affairs at Indiana University School
of Medicine while a search is being
conducted. He currently serves in the role
of associate dean for graduate medical
education at IUSM. He was elected to
the board of directors of the Association
of Family Medicine Residency Directors
in 2002, and later served as its President.
He also began a six-year term of service
on the ACGME Institutional Review
Committee this July.
1990
r e u n i on
’1 0
Barbara Angelika Dill
120 Hazel Court
Norwood, NJ 07648
(201) 767-7778
[email protected]
Amy Burkhart Roberts writes: Bill
(Class of ’88) and I still live in Fairfield,
Vt. We have three children — Will, age
15, Clay, age 14, Leslie, age 13. We have
a very active family life, but would love
visits from friends, who find themselves in
the area, to share a slow cup of coffee and
reminisce.”
416 Martel Lane
St. George, VT 05495
(802) 872-8533
[email protected]
1991
Lawrence I. Wolk
15 Eagle Street
Cooperstown, NY 13326
[email protected]
5724 South Nome Street
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
(303) 771-1289
[email protected]
Pediatric Radiology at Tripler Army
Medical Center in Honolulu. She was
recently promoted to Colonel. Bob and
the girls (16, 13, 9) are all fine. “We
enjoyed our trip to Vermont for the 15th
reunion and a recent visit from Skip and
Erica Winters. Come visit!”
John Dewey
CLASS OF
1994
1994
Holliday Kane Rayfield
P.O. Box 819
Waitsfield, VT 05673
(802) 496-5667
[email protected]
1995
r e u n i on
’1 0
Allyson Miller Bolduc
252 Autumn Hill Road
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 863-4902
[email protected]
Leslie Kerzner is “enjoying life in and
around Boston. Still at MGH — great
schedule — and hoping to open a NICU
F A L L
2 0 0 9
41
follow-up program. Elana (9) and Adriana
(6) and Steve are still doing great!”
HALL A
Brooke Spencer moved to Denver this
summer. “Great group and busy practice.
Lots of changes. Life is good. Send me a
shout if you live there!”
1996
Anne Marie Valente
66 Winchester St., Apt. 503
Brookline, MA 02446
[email protected]
M.D. CLASS NOTES
Patricia Ann King, M.D., Ph.D.
832 South Prospect Street
Burlington, VT 05401
(802) 862-7705
[email protected]
William “Cam” Wallace reports: “I
spent a weekend getaway in Mammoth,
Calif., with Brian, George and Mazi
hiking and playing guitars. We had a great
time reminiscing about our days in Hall
A. Also practicing for Table 15 reunion
tour in 2011.”
1997
Julie Smail
390 Bridge St.
South Hamilton, MA 01982
(978) 468-1943
[email protected]
in Boston. Still practicing Interventional
radiology full time at Brigham and
Womens and accepted a position as
president of New England Society of
Interventional Radiology. My kids are
getting bigger now (Emma 6, Brendan
4, and Delaney 2) and are a ton of fun!
I am still in touch with Jodi Forwand
and we had an awesome girls surfing trip
in Mexico last fall. She is an Emergency
Medicine physician at Plattsburgh and
doing great living in Grand Isle. Email
[email protected].”
1999
11 Autumn Lane
Stratham, NH 03885
(603) 929-7555
[email protected]
Deanne Dixon Haag
4215 Pond Road
Sheldon, VT 05483
(802) 524-7528
Halleh Akbarnia
Michael Jim Lee
CLASS OF
2001
Ladan Farhoomand
1481 Regatta Road
Carlsbad, CA 92009
(626) 201-1998
[email protected]
Joel W. Keenan
Greenwich Hospital
Five Perryridge Road
Greenwich, CT 06830
[email protected]
1034 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10028
(212) 988-7788
[email protected]
Class agent JoAn Monaco recently collected
news from many members of her class, and
presents this wide-ranging update from the
Class of 2001:
71 Essex Lane
Irvine, CA 92620
[email protected]
Gretchen Gaida was featured in a very
interesting NECN.com news segment
on shared medical appointments. This
approach gives patients who would have
had individual doctor’s appointments
a group appointment where issues are
shared. Gretchen then provides valuable
lessons to the group based on what the
individual patients have shared and
questions that are asked. The group
appointment lasts 90 minutes and is
considered invaluable to patients in
attendance. Gretchen believes that
because many of the patients’ needs and
questions are addressed in a group setting,
her individual time with a patient allows
for better focus on a patient’s specific
issues which, in turn, facilitates a closer
doctor/patient relationship. This approach
is currently in place in Internal Medicine,
Cardiology, Geriatrics, Ob/Gyn to name a
few areas but by the end of next year, the
plan is to expand to more than two dozen
different specialties.
Matt Proctor writes that he and Kerry
have moved to The Dalles, Oregon and
are the proud parents to Harrison (4) and
Molly (1). Kerry is working part-time at
a local hospital and Matt is working full
time in Hood River and The Dalles, along
the Columbia River Gorge. They send
their regards to our classmates!
1999
V E R M O N T
’1 0
Jay Edmond Allard
1998
52 Garden St. Apt. 48
Cambridge, MA 02138
[email protected]
Greetings Classmates…back by popular
demand, another update on the latest
from our UVM friends and colleagues!
2000
r e u n i on
Naomi R. Leeds
JoAn Louise Monaco
Everett Jonathan Lamm
USNH Yokosuka
PSC 475 Box 1757
FPO, AP 96350
[email protected]
2011 Prairie Street
Glenview, IL 60025
(847) 998-0507
[email protected]
42
Susie Kiernan O’Horo writes: “All is well
M E D I C I N E
Alan Cook completed his trauma/critical
care fellowship in 2008 in Dallas and has
relocated to East Texas, where he is quite
busy as a general surgeon and trauma/
critical care specialist. Now that he’s back
in Texas, his need to wear cowboy boots
all the time has passed and he frequently
wears fishing waders or Chuck Taylors in
the trauma bay!
Adam Kanter is doing well in Pittsburgh,
where he was recently appointed to the
Executive Committee for the AANS/
CNS Spine Section. He is the Director of
the Minimally Invasive Spine Program at
UPMC. He reports that Jodi and the kids
are doing well but, sadly, did not report
that they have had more kids….just five.
Jared, Kamryn, Jeremy, Aliyah and Kyli as
well as Jodi and Adam are all doing great
in Pittsburgh!
Matt Heeren and Kristen Muir have
relocated to Davis, Calif., where Matt
is busy doing primary care pediatrics
in Vacaville and Kristen has developed
her own physical education curriculum
for Davis students. Ben is now 12 while
Isabella is 8 and Ethan is 6…where has
the time gone? Matt and Kristen manage
to sneak the time for many trips to Napa
and are enjoying life in Cali!
Karine Ekmeki Mouradian and her
husband Ara are doing very well in
beautiful L.A. Karine works full time as a
staff pediatrician while being a superstar
full-time mom to her handsome boys,
Alek and Ayk. Karine sends her regards to
everyone!
Emily June Ryan is doing very well in
Venice, Fla. Emily and Tim are proud
to report that their beautiful little girl,
June, is in kindergarten already! Emily
has had a recent small world experience.
The former Interim Dean for UVM, Dr.
John Fogarty, is now Dean at Florida
State University College of Medicine
where Emily helps train Family Medicine
residents. Emily has several Vermont
snowbird patients in her practice and
makes it back to Vt. yearly.
Kinjal Nanavati Sethuraman wrote that
she had a baby girl on May 14, 2009, and
named her Shanthi, which means peace
and tranquility.
Ted and Maria Daly are enjoying life in
N.H. with their handsome son Finnegan
who is now 16 months old and their dog
Mackenzie. Ted recently returned from
active duty in Kosovo and now works as
a diagnostic radiologist at the Manchester
Ed Neuert
V.A. He and Maria recently bought a
house in Amherst, N.H. and have been
keeping busy with Finn, who is truly a
handsome little guy! Ted would love to
hear from everyone: edwarddaly@yahoo.
com.
Nicole Rioux sends her regards from
Waterbury, Vt., where she is busy as a
rheumatologist and mom. She and Jake
are enjoying every minute of their time as
parents to their beautiful girls.
Lydia Grondin and her husband are
proud parents to a handsome little guy
named Sebastien Jules Binkerd, who
turned one in May. After receiving her
epidural, Lydia realized how much she
loves her job!
Liz McGowan and Andy are proud
parents to two beautiful baby girls. Lara
Nazgul is a bright-eyed two year old who
joined their family from Kazakhstan
in December of 2008 and Eve Qin
from China in July of 2009. Liz and
Andy are as happy as ever with their
little girls. Andy continues to work as
the business manager for his company,
American Ecotech and Liz is working at
Tufts Floating Hospital for Children as
the Director for the NICU Follow Up
Program. Congratulations on the safe
arrival of both of your little girls.
Clare and Marc Nespoli welcomed their
daughter Cate Elizabeth on June 8, 2008,
and are enjoying being parents to their
beautiful little girl.
Michael Healy Joins
Development Team
The latest addition to the College’s Medical
Development & Alumni Relations team is Michael
Healy, who in May began in the newly created role of
Director of Medical Corporate & Foundation Relations.
In this role, he will be responsible for the identification,
cultivation and philanthropic solicitation of foundations
and corporations for UVM’s College of Medicine. He
will primarily focus on fundraising from groups with
an interest in medical research and health education.
Michael has extensive development experience.
He comes to UVM from Vermont Law School, where
he was a senior member of the development team for
over six years, most recently serving as the Assistant
Vice President for Foundation and Corporate Relations.
Michael has a successful history of securing support
from foundations, corporations and government
entities, as well as individual donors, for a variety
of programs at Vermont Law and, previously, Mater
Christi School in Burlington.
Greg McCormick and Monica Fiorenza
also welcomed a beautiful baby girl,
Fiona, in March of 2009. They live in
Hinesburg, Vt. Greg is in private practice
in corneal and refractive surgery at
Ophthalmic Consultants of Vermont in
South Burlington and Monica works as
a pediatrician at Timber Lane Pediatrics.
Greg and Monica are having fun with
their new addition.
Tae Song finished his vascular fellowship
at Stanford and took a job at Kaiser South
Bay in Harbor City, Calif., where he is
starting an endovascular program. Eileen
and the kids are all doing very well and
are excited to be in Long Beach together
after Tae’s commuting time during his
fellowship. Stanford tried hard to keep
Tae on staff, where he did remarkably
well, but Long Beach is home for the
Song Family. Eileen continues to send out
the most beautiful handmade Christmas
cards each year, which must take an entire
twelve months to create as they are truly
works of art!
Also in beautiful California, Ladan
Farhoomand is enjoying life in San
Diego. She is quite busy in her anesthesia
practice while finding the time to travel
the world and remodel her gorgeous
oceanfront home. Ladan sends her regards
to all of our classmates.
As for this author, JoAn Monaco…my
husband, Mike, and I are proud parents to
a cutie pie little girl named Caroline, who
is now six months old. After finishing
our fellowships, Mike recently started
as an assistant professor/staff urologic
oncologist at Robert Wood Johnson/
UMDNJ and I have started a solo plastic
and reconstructive surgery practice in
New York City (DrJoAnMonaco.com).
Becoming parents has been the greatest
joy and accomplishment in the world!
Thanks very much to all of you who
emailed for this column….it’s been a
pleasure to keep in touch with all of you!
F A L L
2 0 0 9
43
2002
Mariah McNamara is happy to
announce the birth of her second son,
Miles Cordell Ahern on April 9th! Email
[email protected].
HALL A
Jonathan Vinh Mai
15 Meadow Lane
Danville, PA 17821
(570) 275-4681
[email protected]
2003
Kerry Lee Landry
[email protected]
33 Clearwater Circle
Shelburne, VT 05482
(802) 985-1131
[email protected]
Maureen C. Sarle
Scott Goodrich
Mary O’Leary Ready
[email protected]
M.D. CLASS NOTES
Todd Bergland writes: “Glenna and I had
our first baby, Susie, on 08 May 2009.
She is incredible, and we are having a
great time adjusting to parenthood! We
will be moving to Whitefish, Montana
in August when I finish my active duty
Army commitment, and are looking
forward to settling down and raising
our little family there. Email Address:
[email protected].”
Kara Gasink Jolley (Formerly Kara
309 Barben Avenue
Watertown, NY 13601
[email protected]
2004
101 Wood Valley Corner
Durham, NC 27713
58 Chelsea Place
Williston, VT 05405
[email protected]
2007
Allison Collen
[email protected]
Scot Millay
[email protected]
2008
Jillian S. Sullivan
[email protected]
Steven D. Lefebvre
[email protected]
Townsen Gasink) reports; ”I married
Matthew Jolley on 6-14-08 in
Kennebunkport, Maine. We moved to
California in June 2008 for Matt to do
some more medical training at Stanford.
I am a pediatrician now working in a
small private practice in Redwood City
and moonlighting at an urgent care clinic
in San Mateo. We are enjoying kiting,
surfing, running and swimming when not
working. Life is good! Email Karagjolley@
gmail.com.”
2005
Ashley Zucker
’1 0
7649 Briarcrest Lane
Orange, CA 92869
[email protected]
2209 Albany Street
Durham, NC 27705
[email protected]
Julie A. Alosi
M E D I C I N E
Dr. Dow died on June 24, 2009, in
Orlando, Fla. He was 69. While studying
at UVM, he won the William Osler
Medal from the American Association for
the History of Medicine. He completed
his training at Lakeland General Hospital
and Hôtel de Montréal. In addition, he
served in the U.S. Air Force at Warner
Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. Dr.
Dow moved his family to Orlando in
1969, first joining an existing practice and
later establishing his own. He semi-retired
in 2004.
Thaddeus Stabholz, M.D.’53
Richard J. Parent
[email protected]
Sitting in his tent in occupied Germany in the waning days of World War II, Harry Rowe, M.D.’43
wrote to his wife Mary, who was stateside in Burlington, about the couple’s plans to set up
practice after the fighting was over in a central Vermont town: “Money is secondary, and service
and life with you and my family are primary.”
Now, 64 years after those words were written, Dr. Rowe has
collaborated on an autobiography, The Grass Grew Greener, published
this summer by the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum Press. The title of the book
stems from an incident that the doctor recalled for a profile that appeared
in the summer 2008 issue of Vermont Medicine, which occurred when he
was nine years old. A horse kicked him hard in the head, and his family
members found him unconscious and bleeding profusely by a pasture
fence. Dr. Rowe recovered, and has always maintained that that spot by
the pasture was visibly enriched by his hemoglobin.
Written with Vermont journalist Terry Hoffer, The Grass Grew Greener
sketches Dr. Rowe’s life of hard work, his struggle to achieve his medical education, and his deep
love for his wife of 62 years, Mary. It is a portrait of the Rowes’ service to medicine, but also their
dedicated service to the Vermont community. For information on purchasing a copy of the book,
call the Athenaeum Press at (802) 748-8291.
V E R M O N T
Dr. Bashaw died July 29, 2009, in
Shelburne, Vt. After receiving his M.D.
degree, he served his internship at Lynn
Hospital, Lynn, Mass. He was a member
of the Army Medical Corps in World War
II. Dr. Bashaw was a General Practitioner
in Dorset and Wallingford until 1970
when he became the first M.D. to be
Director of Rutland Regional Emergency
Services. He was the hospital’s Employee
Health Director until he retired in 1985.
[email protected]
A Life of Service Recalled
44
Thomas Wendell Dow, M.D.’65
Dr. Kemler died April 19, 2009, at his
home in Canton, Mass. He was 92. He
attended the University of Vermont,
where he received both his undergraduate
and medical degrees. After graduating
medical school, Dr. Kemler joined the
U.S. Army Medical Corps in 1944. After
the war he moved to Jamaica, Queens,
New York City, and had attending
privledges at several local hospitals. The
Kemlers moved to Old Westbury, N.Y., in
1959. Dr. Kemler retired in 1998.
21 Lindenwood Drive
South Burlington, VT 05403
[email protected]
Alyssa Wittenberg
Donald L. Bashaw, M.D.’42
Norman Kemler, M.D.’43
Mark Hunter
Salley G. Pels writes: “We welcomed our
first child, daughter Liliana Elizabeth, on
September 3rd 2008. [email protected]
r e u n i on
Obituaries
William C. Eward
Deborah Rabinowitz Abrams
Omar Khan
(919) 732-9876
[email protected]
2006
Shayne Lynn
Dr. Stabholz died on March 22, 2009.
He was born in Warsaw, Poland, in
October, 1916. Before the outbreak of
World War II, he attended the medical
school of the prestigious University of
Warsaw. However, the Nazi occupation
of Poland interrupted his studies. He
was incarcerated in the infamous Warsaw
Ghetto, and later in a series of five Nazi
death camps. He came to the U.S. in
1948, and was admitted to the College
of Medicine in 1949. After graduation
he and his family moved to Ohio, where
he was a general practitioner in Freemont
and Canton. He retired in 1994. In
1991 he published “Siedem Piekiet”
(Seven Hells), a detailed memoir of his
life during the
Holocaust. Dr.
Stabholz was the
subject of the
cover story of
the College of
Medicine’s Hall A
magazine in 1999.
Joseph C. Bass, M.D.’66
Dr. Bass died July 10, 2009, in Jupiter,
Fla. He was a native of Claremont, N.H.
He was a solo practitioner in obstetrics
and gynecology, first in Framingham,
Mass., and then at Baptist Hospital
and South Miami Hospital. He lived in
Jupiter since 1986.
Faculty
H. Lawrence McCrorey, Ph.D.
Dr. McCrorey died
in his home in
Grand Isle, Vt., on
August 23, 2009.
He was 82. Born
in Philadelphia,
he was raised in
Camden, N.J. He
earned a Bachelor
of Science in Biology and a Master of
Science in Zoology from Michigan State,
and a Masters and Doctorate degrees in
Physiology from the University of Illinois,
where he was subsequently appointed
to the physiology faculty. In 1966, Dr.
McCrorey joined UVM as assistant
professor of physiology, recruited by his
thesis advisor Norman Alpert, Ph.D.,
who had been named UVM’s new chair
of physiology and biophysics. As one of
only two black faculty members at UVM
in 1966, he spoke out regularly on the
racial injustices he encountered, and
was an active leader in addressing social
justice issues. He went on to earn several
prestigious teaching awards, including
receiving the College of Medicine Teacher
of the Year twice, the School of Nursing
Golden Apple Teaching Award twice,
and the Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in
Teaching Award. He also rose through
the academic ranks, becoming associate
professor in 1969 and full professor in
1973.In 1973, UVM President Edward
Andrews appointed Dr. McCrorey
associate vice president for academic affairs,
a position he held for four years, and he
served another year as acting vice president
during the transition of President Lattie
Coor. He was later dean of the School of
Allied Health Sciences from 1981 to 1993.
He was named professor emeritus in 1993,
and received an honorary degree from
UVM in 1994, when the University also
established the H. Lawrence McCrorey
Multicultural Library Collection and
Gallery in the Bailey/Howe Library.
Martin H. Wennar, M.D.
Dr. Wennar died on August 2, 2009, of
pancreatic cancer.
A resident of
Georgia Shore,
Vt., he was 66.
He received his
medical degree
from Albany
Medical College.
During the
Vietnam War, he served in the United
States Navy. He entered the private
practice of general surgery in St. Albans,
Vt., in 1976, and continued working full
time until his retirement in 2002. During
that time, he introduced gastrointestinal
endoscopy and minimally invasive surgery
to the Northwestern Medical Center and
was active in championing formalized
quality improvement. Dr. Wennar
founded and chaired the Northwestern
Medical Center Health Professions
Education Fund, which, since 1980, has
given scholarship aid to Franklin County
students entering health-related fields.
He was a Clinical Associate Professor of
Surgery at the College of Medicine and
had been active in the teaching of medical
students since 1996. In 2008, The Martin
H. Wennar Lectureship in Professionalism
was established at the College.
F A L L
2 0 0 9
45
09
Reunion ’09
reunion
Alumni from across seven
decades found old friends
and new surprises waiting
for them at their medical
alma mater.
The rainiest Vermont summer in many
years lay just ahead, but the hundreds
of College of Medicine alumni and
their families who gathered for
Reunion 2009 beginning on June 11
enjoyed three beautiful days getting
reacquainted with their old campus,
and dear friends. This year’s Medical
Alumni Association award winners
were feted at a dinner hosted by Dean
Morin at Burlington Country Club 1
the night before the official opening
of reunion. Among the winners were
Jacqueline Noonan, M.D.’54 [at right
in 1 ] who received the A. Bradley
Soule Award and Jonathan Glass,
M.D.’84, 2 who was one of three
awardees for distinguished academic
achievement. Attendees included
Burnett Rawson, M.D.’39 4 of Essex
Junction, Vt., who celebrated his 70th
reunion, and received one of three
Service to Medicine and Community
Awards presented at reunion. The
award recipients and the 50th reunion
Class of 1959 were the special guests
of the opening night reception 5 in
the Hoehl Gallery. Over the weekend
alumni recalled and visited with
classmates not seen for years 3 6
9 , experienced the life of the medical
student of today 7 8 , attended class
dinners 10 , a picnic on the campus 11
, and shared stories at Nostalgia Hour
12 13 .
If your class year
ends in a 5 or a 0,
mark your calendars
now for Reunion ’10
June 11–13, 2010
1
2
8
3
10
5
9
7
11
4
6
12
46
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
Andy Duback, UVM Med Photo
13
F A L L
2 0 0 9
47
August 6, 2009
10:54 a.m.
Elvis has not left the building. The King gazes out of a researcher’s office
at the new Courtyard at Given.
48
V E R M O N T
M E D I C I N E
the place where your medical career began.
Recall the good times. Renew old friendships.
Reconnect with faculty. Revisit
June 11–13
2010
1940, ’45, ’50, ’55, ’60,
’65, ’70, ’75, ’80, ’85, ’90, ’95, ’00 & ’05!
Attention Classes of
The UVM Medical Alumni Association invites you and your family to plan now
to join your classmates for Reunion 2010 — June 11–13, 2010. Come back to
Burlington and the UVM campus, your home during medical school. You may
have lost contact with your classmates and former teachers, but reunion will
give you the chance to reconnect, rekindle old friendships, check out favorite
places, talk with faculty, meet the medical students of today, and experience
first-hand the growth and evolution of your medical alma mater.
For more information, call the UVM Medical
Development & Alumni Relations Office at
(802) 656-4014 or email [email protected]
Events Include: Medical Education Today Session • Tours of the College, including the Medical Education Center
and new Courtyard Building • Alumni Awards and Reception • Medical Alumni Picnic • Nostalgia Hour • Class Receptions
Register today for your reunion! www.med.uvm.edu/alumni
New Spaces, New Opportunities
The new Courtyard at Given opened this summer, and with it comes unique opportunities to recognize the
philanthropy of alumni, faculty, staff and friends of the UVM College of Medicine. The new building, at the heart of
the medical school campus, connects many mission areas of the school — education, patient care, research and
community — and will serve as a consolidated location of all student, alumni, and
admissions services, and creates space for the Vermont Cancer Center and Center
for Clinical and Translational Science. Recognition for major financial support of these
combined mission areas through the Dean’s Fund is available through the naming of
architectural bridges and conference rooms in the new building.
For more information about these and other
naming opportunities, including naming
scholarships, please contact Manon O’Connor
(802) 656-4014 | [email protected]
University of Vermont College of Medicine
Medical Development & Alumni Relations Office
(802) 656-4014 | [email protected]
www.med.uvm.edu/giving