Winter 2008/2009 - University of Utah - School of Medicine

Fall/Winter 2008/2009
Illuminations
Awards
The Magazine for the University of Utah School of Medicine Alumni and Friends
Volume 4 Number 1
Alumni News
Penicillin
Education
Student
Life
White Coat Ceremony

Illuminations
The Magazine for the University of Utah School of Medicine Alumni and Friends
Editor
Kristin Wann Gorang
Photography
University Medical Graphics
Illuminations
is published by the
University of Utah
School of Medicine
Alumni Relations Office
For editorial information or
corrections, call (801) 585-3818
Send address changes to:
Illuminations
Office of Alumni Relations
540 South Arapeen Drive, Suite 125
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108-1298
kristin.gorang@hsc.utah.edu
School of Medicine
Alumni Relations Staff
Kristin Wann Gorang, Director
Melanie Osterud, Associate Director
Baljit Kaur, Office Assistant
What’s Inside
1 Message from the Dean
2 Alumni President’s Message
3 Penicillin, Miracle Drug
of the Century, Herald of
a New Era
University of Utah School of Medicine Alumni Association
Board of Directors
Mark A. Johnston, M.D. 1990, President
Fred F. Langeland, M.D., 1976, Past President
C. Hilmon Castle, M.D. 1957, House Staff, Vice President
Robert O. Hoffman, M.D., 1981, Secretary
Lewis J. Barton, M.D., 1964
Randall Walter Burt, M.D., 1974
Christine A. Cheng, M.D. 1997, House Staff
Ali K. Choucair, M.D., 1984, House Staff
Dale G. Johnson, M.D., 1956
August ‘Larry’ Jung, M.D., 1961
Ronald M. Larkin, M.D., 1975
Kirk M. Neuberger, M.D., 1963
Ronald J. Ruff, M.D., 1981
Kent M. Samuelson, M.D., 1971
David N. Sundwall, M.D., 1969
Hugh D. Voorhees, M.D., 1972
Catherine J. Wheeler, M.D., 1991 House Staff
H. James Williams, M.D., 1969
Ex-Officio:
Medical Student Representatives: Stephen Warner, Associate VP
Lindsay Wilson, MSIV
of Health Sciences for Development
Ben Johnson, MSIV
and Alumni Relations
Jerry Chidester, MSII
David Bjorkman, Dean, M.D.,
Nick Kroll, MSII
M.S.P.H., 1980
Kristin Wann Gorang, Director
If you would like to submit a story
idea about medicine or know of an
alumnus/a who has had something
remarkable occur in their life, or has
made an outstanding contribution to
medicine/society please submit the
updates on line at http://app.medicine.
utah.edu/SOMAlumni/index.htm by
attaching them to the image link, or
email kristin.gorang@hsc.utah.edu.
6 News Notebook
10 Alumni Weekend 2008
• Awards Ceremony
• Alumni Events
14 Distinguished Awards
15 Student Life
• Twain,Thailand and
Tuberculosis
• White Coat Ceremony
17 Becoming a Ballard Scholar
18 Alumni Board Welcomes
New Members
Bookmark our Web site:
www.medicine.utah.edu/alumni
To opt-out of Illuminations mailings email:
kristin.gorang@hsc.utah.edu
20 Alumni Notebook
• Highlights
• News
25 In Memorium
25 Giving Corner
Dean David Bjorkman, M.D., M.S.P.H., 1980
This would be a first for the medical
school, and is not good news for the
state at a time when Utah already ranks
44th in the nation for physician supply.
We have cut expenditures in every
way that we can, including significant
decreases in funding for our academic
departments. Unfortunately this is
not enough. If we are not able to get
replacement funds for the lost Federal
Medicaid funding, we will not have
enough available monies to pay for
all the faculty time that is required to
teach 102 students per year, compromising
our ability to provide the quality
of education we demand. Tuition
hikes are likely. This creates additional
financial hardship for our students
who already carry excessive debt by the
time of graduation. The average debt
for our graduates is $132,170. While
tuition will increase, our intention is
to keep the tuition rate at the U in the
middle of the pack compared to public
medical schools in the country. We are
doing our best to deal with this fiscal
crisis and I will continue to keep you
abreast of happenings in future communications
from our office.
On a brighter note, our School
of Medicine continues to enjoy a great
demand among prospective students.
This year’s entering class of 102 came
from a pool of 1,336 individuals, 889
men and 447 women. There were 458
applicants from Utah, with 108 from
Message from the Dean
I am beginning to believe that change is one of the few
constants you can count on in today’s world. Last year at this time I
was writing you to share our hopes for expanding our medical school
class by thirty students; today, due to state budget cuts and the impact
of slashes in Federal Medicaid funding we are forced to consider the
possibility of cutting back on the size of our 2009 incoming class.
Idaho and 770 from other states and
countries. Our entering class of 102
students is made up of 81 Utah residents,
nine Idaho students and twelve
students from other states or countries.
Our overall entering average GPA
remains high at 3.65, with an average
MCAT composite of 30. Eight of our
entering students have earned Master’s
degrees and three have Doctorate
degrees. Once again we feel we have a
class of talented and committed people
who are going to make a difference in
medicine in the future.
In This Issue of Illuminations
This year the School of Medicine
Alumni Association inaugurated a
Half-Century Club luncheon at Senior
Vice President of Health Science’s
Lorris Betz’s home. Out of that illustrious
meeting of our 1957 and earlier
alumni came the idea for our lead
article for Illuminations. Speaking with
graduates who started practicing medicine
before the discovery of penicillin
or the polio vaccine reaffirmed the
huge impact of medical discoveries on
world health during the past century.
In this edition of Illuminations George
G. Jackson, M.D. ’47 writes how the
serendipitous discovery of penicillin
changed disease outcome for the
second half of the 20th century.
The fall Alumni and Community
Medical Weekend was memorable,
from the Awards Banquet Thursday
evening, celebrating the class of 1958
and Harmon Eyre, M.D. ’66 and
The Spencer F. Eccles family as the
Distinguished Award recipients, to a
successful football game against UNLV!
The weekend’s Continuing
Medical Education conferenc brought
together an illustrious group of experts
who spoke on health care reform. Their
program is archived for future viewing
on the Alumni Association Web
site at: http://medicine.utah.edu/
alumni/reunions/2008%20CME.
htm The News Notebook section will
update you on recent happenings at the
School of Medicine, and the Alumni
Notebook will catch you up on fellow
graduates’ activities and successes.
I would personally like to thank
all of you for your continued interest
and support of the School of Medicine.
Looking to the future I am confident,
in spite of the financial challenges
ahead of us, we will continue to provide
the quality medical education that
you knew and now cherish.
Best wishes for the New Year,
David J. Bjorkman, M.D., M.S.P.H.
Dean, School of Medicine
1

Mark A. Johnston, M.D., 1990
I recall thinking that each of these
individuals had directly helped literally
thousands of patients during their
careers and that the cumulative service
of this one medical school class was truly
remarkable. In a time when language
is characterized by hyperbole and style
seems often to be more important than
substance, witnessing this ceremony was
both an inspiration and a reminder of
the importance of committing oneself to
activities of true value.
Organizations, like individuals,
face decisions about their priorities and
commitments. Alumni associations in
particular must be concerned about
whether their activities meaningfully
serve the needs of alumni, students and
their institution.
Being asked in 1990 by Dean
Samuelson to serve on the newly formed
Alumni Board for the School of
2
Alumni President’s Message
It was my great pleasure this past September to attend
the awards ceremony honoring the University of Utah School of
Medicine graduates from the Class of 1958. It was wonderful to hear
a recounting of the professional and personal accomplishments of these
50-year graduates.
Medicine, I have had a special opportunity
over nearly 20 years to witness
the commitments and priorities of
the University of Utah SOM Alumni
Association and to gauge its growth. In
the earliest days, there were no full-time
staff members, no student programs,
no alumni services, no CME programs,
no Web site and no regular newsletter
to connect alumni. There was, however,
a vision that the Association should be
committed to creating specific services.
There was also a remarkable succession
of physicians who volunteered their
time to bring about the many programs
and resources that now characterize the
organization.
With an ongoing commitment to
improving the programs and services
provided by the Alumni Association, a
strategic planning initiative was begun
in early 2008. A variety of new programs
and program enhancements are
in the offing including an expansion of
web services to connect alumni with
classmates, streaming of CME and
Grand Rounds programs, and an expansion
of the HOST program for students
to connect them with Alumni through-
out the nation. We are also considering
programs to improve our connection
and service to house staff who train at
the University of Utah.
As always, we encourage your
contact with us and any suggestions
you have on how we might better serve
our mission to support the School of
Medicine, alumni, faculty and students.
Mark A. Johnston, M.D., 1990
President, Alumni Board
University of Utah School of Medicine
jmresearch@qwest.net
Penicillin, Miracle Drug of the
Century, Herald of a New Era
George Gee Jackson, M.D. ‘47, Professor of Medicine Emeritus
INTRODUCTION
The Twentieth Century was a period of
remarkable progress in medical education,
knowledge, objective diagnosis
and miracle products and procedures
that completely changed the nature of
hospitals and the practice of medicine.
First and paramount among them was
the discovery of penicillin, christened
in the press as the miracle drug of the
century. The achievement was paramount
as a force changing the discipline
of medicine because it immediately
salvaged innumerable lives by the cure
of prevalent acute and chronic infectious
diseases. In addition, its development,
which initiated discovery of the series
of natural molecules with antibiotic
activity, enabled some of the most miraculous
landmark achievements of the
latter half of the 20th Century—organ
transplantation, insertion of synthetic
joints and prostheses, invasive diagnostic
and radical surgical procedures, immunosuppressive
chemotherapy, selective
gene replacement, in vitro tissue, organ
cultures and others.
Coupled with the carryover contributions
from the 19th century—ether
anesthesia, opiates, foxglove and early
vaccines, and turn of the Century,
X-ray images, the art of medical practice
progressively transitioned to the art and
science of medicine. The discovery of
penicillin was the herald of things to
follow. The accessible house call physician
and large charity hospitals with
a high proportion of beds for people
with infections transitioned to a more
science based discipline, specialization
and smaller private hospitals. Life
expectancy increased dramatically and
concomitantly diseases associated with
aging—cancer, type 2 diabetes, and
chronic degenerative diseases increased
proportionately. Accuracy of diagnosis,
vastly better understanding of pathophysiology
and increasing ability to intervene
with specific treatment validated
in double blind clinical investigations
characterized the changes. Many believe
the last half of the 20th Century was
the golden age of medicine; combining
the art of the personal, caring, compassionate,
wise physician counselor with
time to spend with the patient and the
knowledge and technology developed in
the science of medicine.
THE SERENDIPIDITY
OF DISCOVERY BY THE
PREPARED MIND
In 1928 Sir Alexander Fleming was a
47 year old physician lecturer of Scotch
birth working at St. Mary’s Medical
School of London University. His research
focus was on the properties of the
staphylococcus and the effects of natural
products of the body that inhibited
and/or killed it. Of particular interest
was the cellular production of lysozyme.
Agar plates were seeded with a lawn
of hemolytic Staphylococcus aureus and
its growth, or lack thereof, observed in
relation to exposure to various products.
Sir Fleming was not known to keep
an overly tidy lab; a fortuitous feature in
the discovery of penicillin. Returning
from a long holiday many petri plates
used in a forgotten experiment were
found to be contaminated with mold.
They were discarded to be disinfected.
However, it is reported that some of
them were retrieved for a discussion of
his work with a visitor to the laboratory.
The lack of bacterial growth around a
contaminating mold on one or more
of the plates was the observation that
piqued the curiosity of an inquisitive
3

mind and subsequently led to a miracle
drug and a Nobel Prize. The mold was
determined to be from the Penicillium
genus. Thus started the work that
characterized penicillin and the effects
on medicine that followed.
Fleming’s work was published
in 1929. It attracted little attention
for about a decade. He continued his
laboratory studies, but never considered
the antibiotic effect of the mold as an
opportunity for drug development. The
small amount produced by the mold,
problems of its recovery and purification
appeared to him, quite correctly in
his station, to limit its potential use in
therapeutics of human infections.
FROM SCIENTIFIC
CURIOSITY TO APPLICATION
DURING WARTIME
Following a hiatus of nearly a decade,
two other scientists, Ernst Chain
and Howard Florey, working entirely
independently in another London
institution, became interested in further
scientific study of penicillin. Chain, a
chemist, developed methods to isolate
and concentrate penicillin and with
Florey, a physician with pharmacologic
interests, began observations of
the pharmacology of penicillin. With
the background of World War II they
carried on the work with the engagement
of microbiologists in the US
Department of Agriculture who sorted
out and developed high penicillin producing
strains of Penicillium. Following
the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December
7, 1941, the US and UK governments
collaborated in developing systems for
mass production of penicillin. At the
end of World War II enough penicillin
was made in medicinal form to treat
wounded soldiers of all allied forces.
As with Fleming the fame that
came to Chain and Florey was not the
result of a determined goal to develop
the laboratory curiosity into a practical
drug, but the opportunity to extend
scientific investigation of an interesting
biologic phenomenon. The end result
of the interest and endeavors of these
astute, but ordinary biologic scientists
following their academic curiosity, gifted
the world the miracle drug of the 20th
Century to the benefit of all mankind.
INTRODUCTION OF
PENICILLIN INTO CLINICAL USE
In 1945 I received my M.D. from the
University of Utah and an appointment
for internship on the Harvard Services
of the Boston City Hospital. The supply
of penicillin had reached the level
to satisfy the military need and was being
released for clinical trials in civilian
practice. Chester Keefer, a professor
of Medicine at Boston University School
of Medicine, known for his interest
and knowledge of infectious diseases,
was appointed as “penicillin czar”.
All petitions for its clinical use and
the protocol for doing so were cleared
through Dr. Keefer.
At the Boston City Hospital,
Maxwell Finland, my mentor, was
a recognized leader in infectious
diseases and an expert in research
on pneumococcal pneumonia. My
work with him and the early treatment
of civilian cases led to my first
scientific publication and shaped
the destiny of my career path.
The sterile vial of penicillin
was not the soft white
crystalline powder any recent
physician would see, but a
solid hard brown rock. Its solution in
saline or glucose solution was not rapid,
but possible. When later knowledge
became available it was learned that the
early preparations were composed of a
group of isomers and racemic penicillin
molecules, one of which was penicillin
G, the form that became the standard
penicillin. Intramuscular injection
of 10,000 units (one unit being the
amount to inhibit growth of a sensitive
strain of Staphylococcus aureus) was the
usual regimen. Patients with pneumococcal
pneumonia, Osler’s, “Captain
of the Men of Death”, often with the
complication of bacteremia were among
the early patients to receive treatment.
The history of untreated pneumococcal
pneumonia was if the patient survived
for about a week, the time required
for production of natural antibodies
to appear, the patient would undergo
a “crisis” with defervescence, but often
with sequellae of empyema, meningitis
or metastatic abscess formation. Movies
of the time often played out this medical
drama. Penicillin was indeed a miracle
drug for the patients and their physicians,
as those treated with it usually
recovered clinically in 24-48 hours and
had a remarkable reduction in complicating
sequellae.
Frequent daily doses were necessary
because penicillin was cleared from the
blood stream with each single passage
through the kidneys. Thus the half-life
of the drug (the time for elimination of
50% of the dose) was only a couple of
hours. In the very early days with the
scarcity of the precious drug, urine
of treated patients was sometime
saved in order to
recrystallize
penicillin
from
Benzylpenicillin
model
the urine, which was as rich a source as
the liquor from the Penicillium growth.
Designation of penicillin as a
miracle drug was applied and justified
again in its mechanism of antibacterial
action In the chemotherapy of bacterial
infections drugs were sought that had
a favorable differential ratio of toxicity
for bacteria and host cells.The penicillin
binding protein was not present in any
host cells. This mechanism of action
endowed the drug with its miraculous
toxicity ratio of all against the bacteria
and none for host cells.
RESULTS AND EXPECTATIONS
In the early part of the 20th Century,
the fatality rate from pneumococcal
pneumonia was estimated to be about
40%. Specific antiserum and sulfonamides
reduced it substantially, but it
remained a principal cause of death.
Within a decade, the results of treatment
with penicillin erased fear of the
disease, permitted treatment without
hospitalization and eliminated it as a
significant cause of death. A decline in
empyema, chronic bronchiectasis, lung
abscess, purulent sinusitis and other sites
of local respiratory infection followed.
Other infections caused by organisms
of somewhat less susceptibility to
penicillin were treated successfully
as doses of millions of units replaced
the initial use of a few thousand.
Decreased frequency, severity and
fatality across the spectrum of the most
common severe bacterial infections
became an accepted expectation. .
When penicillin was introduced
in 1945, fatalities from rheumatic
fever in the United States
exceeded 2,000
per year. Within 25 years, with a much
larger population, there were fewer than
100 recorded fatalities; today the fatality
rate is less than 1 per 300,000 population.
The reduction in the prevalence of
acute rheumatic fever since the introduction
of penicillin is estimated at
99.9% with an equally dramatic decline
in rheumatic heart disease and
other sequellae.
Treponema pallidum, the cause
of syphilis is among the most sensitive of
microorganism to penicillin. Treatment
of acute, congenital and neurosyphilis
with penicillin yielded impressive cures
in each of these syndromes. Latency,
failed case detection and social behavior
regarding sexually transmitted diseases,
including gonorrhea, have combined to
restrict the efficacy of effective treatment
to eradicate or more completely diminish
their prevalence. A side effect of this
success is a cavalier loss of fear of acquiring
infection which has permitted cyclic
increases in infection rates to continue.
Unfortunately human behavior is the
first trump people have exercised
in defeating the potential benefits
of the miracle means of treatment
and prevention of infections with
susceptible bacteria.
IRRATIONAL EUPHORIA
With recognition of all its miraculous
properties and the emergent capability
of fermentation chemists began to
produce large amounts of pure penicillin
cheaply, and the expansion in world
wide use of penicillin proceeded
at a whirlwind rate. Indications
for its use were broadened to
include any whimper of
justification for treatment
or prophylaxis
of suspected bacterial
infection.
Within a quarter
century after the introduction
of penicillin, more
than 90% of people in the
developed countries ofthe
world had received one or
more courses of penicillin;
it was found in sewer
samples from urban
areas and in up to
10% of dairy milk
samples, illustrating
the spread of its use in veterinary
medicine. Confidence in the drug was
so high that even the placebo effect led
some to the belief that in unknown
ways penicillin was “just good for you”.
The trend was an unquenchable social
phenomenon with ineffectual academic
restraints; some academic leaders even
declared victory over infectious diseases,
disbanding the academic specialty from
their faculties. “Why take time in a
crowded program and claim space in a
building …for a field of medicine presently
regarded as having only historical
interest?” This quotation from Rene
Dubos in 1954 captured the irrationality
of the euphoria that had penetrated
academia and was prevalent in all of the
society during the last half of the twentieth
century.
The fictional term, “antibiotic last
rites”, captured the universality of confidence
in miraculous results of antibiotic
treatment. The interaction of medical
practice and human desire for perpetual
health and longevity has shown it has
consequences and lessons to be learned
for application to the advances of the
21st Century.
The short sighted detriment of
the social attitudes of the period was
effective in diminishing vigilance in
the epidemiology of infectious diseases,
and slowing acquisition of academic
knowledge of primary host pathophysiology
in susceptibility and immunity
to infections of various types. With the
high expectations that chemotherapy
was sufficient to control infectious
diseases the well developed state public
health departments which informed
and served the public in control of
community epidemics were dismantled
and fiscally starved to a shadow of their
earlier prominence. Fear and need for
preparations for continuing epidemics
and pandemics is once again being realized
and expressed.
Perhaps the most severe ultimate
cost of the irrational euphoria ignited
by penicillin and its antibiotic sequitors,
was prophylaxis and trial and error
therapy, and a utopian aim to have
broad antibiotic regimens that would
prevent and/or cure the entire spectrum
of human infections. It set the stage for
the emergence of penicillin resistance
and sequentially more extensive and
complete resistance to other antibiotics
that followed. That is the yield being
harvested in the present era.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
The antibiotic story of the 21st Century
will not have the aura nor realize the
fullness of the benefits, at least not with
the same drugs, that were so miraculously
effective during the golden last half of
the 20th Century. It is likely that new
and perhaps equally miraculous chemotherapeutic
agents can be developed
using the advanced knowledge gained
about the sophisticated molecular biology
of bacteria, viruses and fungi and
new capabilities in microbial genetics
and combinatorial chemistry. The
expectations and accepted patterns of
their use will need to be more specifically
directed and general use against a
broad spectrum of targets limited, if the
medical profession and public learned
the lessons from use of the miracle
drug that heralded the 20th Century
era--penicillin.
4 5

News Notebook
Reynolds Foundation Grant Helps U
Strengthen Geriatric Training and Care
A report from the Institute of Medicine
published in April 2008, “Retooling for
an Aging America: Building the Health
Care Workforce” highlights the critical
deficiency in healthcare providers with
the training needed to provide care for
older people. “As the population of older
adults grows to comprise approximately
20 percent of the U.S. population, they
will face a health care workforce that
is too small and critically unprepared
to meet their health needs.” The 7,000
geriatricians in the United States will not
be able to meet these demands and older
people will receive the majority of
their care from the 220,000 primary
care physicians.
In response to these projections
the University of Utah School of
Medicine launched an innovative program,
“Advancing Geriatric Education
Through Quality Improvement” or “AGE
QI” in 2006. The program is aimed at
Geoffrey Tabin, M.D., Honored With American Academy of
Ophthalmology 2008 Outstanding Humanitarian Service Award
John A. Moran Eye Center
Ophthalmologist Dr. Geoffrey
Tabin received the Outstanding
Humanitarian Service Award at the
American Academy of Ophthalmology
(AAO) meeting in Atlanta, Georgia
this past November. The Outstanding
Humanitarian Service Award was created
to recognize individuals involved
in humanitarian projects, including
participation in charitable activities,
care to the indigent and community
service. Out of a membership of more
than 27,000 ophthalmologists, Dr.
Tabin is one of only two physicians to
receive this prestigious award for 2008.
Dr. Tabin serves as the Director
of the Division of International
Ophthalmology at the John A. Moran
Eye Center, University of Utah in Salt
Lake City, Utah. He is a specialist in
6
helping primary care physicians in the
state provide higher quality care for their
older patients. The school is now using
AGS QI, which is based on an initiative
originally developed through the
Michigan Geriatric Education Center
to help more than two dozen clinical
practices in Utah upgrade care
for their aging patients.
The program is funded by a grant
awarded to the SOM by the Donald
W. Reynolds Foundation “Aging and
Quality of Life” program. Mark A.
Supiano, M.D., professor and chief
of geriatrics and executive director of
the U of U Center on Aging, is principal
investigator for the $2 million grant
that supports comprehensive projects
designed to strengthen geriatrics training
for medical students, residents and
practicing physicians.
Through the onsite educational
program, a Utah medical school geriatrics
corneal disease and refractive surgery.
He is currently conducting international
ophthalmology missions as
part of the United Nations Millennial
Villages Project in Bonsaao, Ghana,
where he and Moran ophthalmologists
Paul Bernstein, Alan Crandall, and Bob
Hoffman, and a team of health care
specialists, recently examined 4,600
people and performed
159 surgeries in a very
remote and logistically
difficult area.
Dr. Tabin also
founded the Himalayan
Cataract Project in
1994, with Dr. Sanduk
Ruit, a native of Nepal.
Since the founding
of the project, Drs.
Tabin and Ruit have
faculty member and a geriatric nurse
educator work with the entire staff in
a given primary care practice presenting
a 2-hour geriatrics review, then help
the staff develop, complete and
analyze the outcomes of a quality
improvement project focused on a
common geriatric condition.
Because more than a third of older
people fall each year and many experience
significant complications resulting
from fall-related injury, all ten University
Health Care Community Clinics are
participating in AGE QI and are directing
their QI efforts by conducting a fall
prevention program. The fall prevention
program systematically screens all
Community Clinic patients age 65 years
and older to identify those at risk for falling.
They then conduct an evaluation to
identify strategies – such as home safety
assessments or exercise programs – to
decrease this risk.
directly restored sight to over 65,000
people. This year in Nepal alone more
than 120,000 people will have their
sight restored, due in large part to the
extraordinary efforts of the Himalayan
Cataract Project. Drs. Tabin and Ruit
are working to develop other international
eye care programs in India,
North Korea and other areas of Africa.
Geoffrey Tabin, M.D., in Nepal
Kathy Pedersen, MPAS, PA-C
Appointed to the Board of
Directors of the Global Health
Education Consortium
University of Utah Physician Assistant
Program faculty member, Kathy
Pedersen, MPAS, PA-C has been appointed
to the Global Health Education
Consortium (GHEC) Board of Directors
for a term of 2 years. PA educators have
been involved in GHEC for the past 10
years. The mission of GHEC is to foster
international health medical education in
curriculum, clinical training, career development,
and international education
policy. GHEC addresses health needs,
human rights, and global workforce
issues. Over 70 North American medical
schools are represented in the GHEC.
Ms. Pedersen’s background and
interest area is studying, facilitating and
cataloging the global development of
physician assistants. “I have an interest
in learning about the different processes,
educational models, and intended outcomes
of physician assistant (PA) education
outside the United States.” She is
also interested
in fostering
international
health medical
education in curriculum,
clinical
training, career
development,
and international
education policy.
She has been
on the faculty of
the Utah Physician
Assistant Program
for 20 years, facilitated global electives
in Papua New Guinea and Thailand,
and has helped to host delegations from
these countries, in addition to Russia and
Ghana. She also has served on international
committees of the American
Academy of Physician Assistants
and Physician Assistant Education
Association (PAEA) for the past 10 years.
Utah Biomedical Informatics Department
to Partner with University of Texas at Brownsville
University of Utah’s nationally
recognized doctoral program in
Biomedical Informatics received
a grant of $975,000 from the
National Institutes of Health to
foster a new partnership with
their program and the University
of Texas at Brownsville (UTB).
This bridging partnership will:
1. Provide an interactive Master’s Program
between UTB and the U of U which
would adequately prepare minority
students having an interest in the field
of biomedical informatics for acceptance
to the U of U BMI Ph.D. program;
2. Provide mechanisms for acceptance
and funding by the U of U BMI
Department for bridging students who
satisfy the Ph.D. entrance requirements;
3. Closely monitor students’ progress and
provide activities as needed to fill gaps
and promote their success in the
program; and
4. Provide an effective and measurable
News Notebook
Kathy Pederson and PA student Kelly Keller in Kikori Village
in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea.
She authored the PAEA White Paper
on “International Physician Assistant
Education”. Her Masters work included
A Survey of International Activities of
United States Physician Assistant Programs.
The PAEA International Activities
Committee has continued using this
survey yearly since she conducted the
original survey in 2003.
means of evaluating the success of
the program.
Biomedical Informatics is a relatively
new field of study, but it is growing very
rapidly. It is now viewed as essential,
not only to the delivery of high quality
healthcare, but also to the advancement
of all the biomedical sciences. Although
most students and many faculty members
at institutions of higher learning are still
unfamiliar with the field of Biomedical
Informatics, it offers many challenges for
research, creativity and career opportunities
for individuals at the doctoral level.
7

News Notebook
Nanomedicine at the U: The Dawn of a New Era
What if doctors could search out and
destroy the very first cancer cells that
would otherwise have caused a tumor to
develop in the body? What if a broken
part of a cell could be removed and
replaced with a miniature biological
machine? What if pumps the size of
molecules could be implanted to deliver
life-saving medicines precisely when and
where they are needed? These scenarios
may sound unbelievable, but they are
the long-term goals of the evolving field
of Nanomedicine, which we anticipate
will yield groundbreaking medical benefits
within the next decade.
Nanomedicine refers to highly
specific medical intervention at the
molecular scale for curing disease or
repairing damaged tissues. A nanometer
is one-billionth of a meter, too small to
be seen with a conventional microscope.
Biological molecules and man-made
materials and devices function at sizes of
100 nanometers or less.
In collaboration with scientists
and physicians worldwide, Dr. Margit
M. Janát-Amsbury, M.D., Ph.D. and
her colleagues are seeking solutions for
the delivery of nanomolecules for the
diagnosis and treatment of many conditions,
including ovarian cancer. This
work requires a detailed understanding
of cellular structures in order to repair,
treat or build novel “nano” structures
that can safely operate inside the body.
Dr. Janát-Amsbury trained clinically
in Germany and the Netherlands. Her
focus lies on women’s health with special
interest in gynecologic cancers. She
joined the Department of Obstetrics
and Gynecology at the University of
Utah after initiating the first clinical
trial at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston, Texas, in which a nanoscale,
polymeric delivery system delivered an
immunomodulating agent to patients
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
(DFPM) Teaches the Teachers in Ghana
The DFPM’s Physician Assistant
Program (UPAP) has collaborated for
two years with Ghana, to bring continuing
medical education to their physician
assistants. In Ghana, physician assistants
(PAs) are called ‘medical assistants’ and
developed 40 years ago to meet the
primary care needs of underserved
populations.
Ghana is a country of 22 million
people with only 2000 physicians and
500 medical assistants; the country has
long suffered from a ”brain drain” where
roughly 2 of every 3 M.D.s trained in
Ghana emigrates to work in the United
States or Europe. This leaves over 70%
of primary care services in the hands of
medical assistants. Clinics are located in
remote areas with non-existent Internet
8
access. Clinicians practicing in these areas
have difficulty updating their continuing
medical education. The focus of
the Ghana Clinical Medicine Service
Experience is to improve the education of
medical assistants.
This effort has been carried out in
conjunction with the Ghanaian Ministry
of Health, the KNUST Medical School,
and the Kintampo Rural Health Training
School where medical assistants receive
their education. A ‘teaching the teachers’
approach was determined to be the most
effective model to bring sustainable educational
support to the Ghanaian health
care system. UPAP faculty and students
host a 4-day CME conference during the
two-week trip. Recordings of the classes
are provided to faculty and practicing
medical assistants for dissemination to
their colleagues.
suffering from recurrent ovarian cancer.
Within her first year she has applied for
funding from the NIH (pending) and
received funding from the University
based on her collaborative efforts with
researchers from various basic science
fields including pharmaceutical chemistry
and bioengineering.
Fostering these interdisciplinary
collaborations strengthens the USTAR
Nanotechnology Institute and Center
for Nanomedicine here at the University
of Utah. It is widely anticipated that
Utah’s programs in nanomedicine will
result in new diagnostic tools and engineered
nanoscale structures designed
specifically for treatment of a number
of conditions including ovarian cancer,
as well as train the next generation of
scientists and clinicians.
This service experience has included
more than 25 volunteer Utah M.D.s and
PAs specializing in Family Medicine,
OB/Gyn, Infectious Disease, Internal
Medicine, Gastroenterology, Pediatrics,
Dermatology, and Emergency Medicine.
Over 500 Ghanaian faculty and medical
assistants have attended the seminars
scheduled every summer semester.
In 2009, Utah students and faculty
will participate in a Women’s Health
Initiative designed to bring preventive
health care to rural communities.
Training in cancer screening will be
provided to the medical assistants with
follow-up on outcomes planned in one
year. If you are interested in learning
more about this global health experience,
contact Nadia Miniclier M.S., P.A.-C
at 585-3050.
Learning Day at University Community Clinics Goes National
Care by Design model in use at Centerville Clinic
Organizations across the country have
sent over 240 healthcare professionals
to University Health Care Community
Clinics to learn how patient-centered
care is delivered through their Care by
Design (CBD) model. Professionals
from Loyola University Health System,
Wellspan Medical Group, Mayo Clinic
Two Wyoming counties and one in
Idaho have been added to the National
Children’s Study (NCS), the largest
investigation ever undertaken to assess
the effects of environmental and genetic
factors on child and human health in the
United States.
The 25-year, national study began
in 2005 when seven vanguard centers,
including Salt Lake County, were named
to launch the effort. The University of
Utah Department of Pediatrics, with the
support of Primary Children’s Medical
Center, was awarded the contract.
Edward B. Clark, M.D., chair of pediatrics
and medical director of PCMC, was
named principal investigator for the Salt
Lake County Vanguard Center.
In October 2008 Uinta and Lincoln
Counties in Wyoming and Bear Lake
County, Idaho were named among 39
and Cedars-Sinai
Medical Group are
just a few of the
47 organizations
participating in the
two-day training
program called
Learning Day.
Community
Clinics created and
started implementing
the CBD model
in 2004, now called
the “Utah model”
by some people
outside the state.
This model, characterized
by appropriate
access, a care team, and planned
care, integrates acute, chronic, and preventive
care into a unified system. This
redesign of primary care utilizes the
skills of well-trained medical assistants
to enhance the patient experience while
improving the efficiency and effectiveness
of the physician.
new study locations. The three counties
join Cache County, which was awarded
in 2007, as part of the study center
administered by the NCS team in the
Department of Pediatrics.
Authorized by the Children’s Health
Act of 2000, the National Children’s
Study is being conducted by a consortium
of federal agencies, including
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human
Development and the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences,
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
The National Children’s Study will
follow a representative sample of 100,000
children from before birth to age 21.
Study volunteers will be recruited
throughout the United States, from rural,
News Notebook
“Due to our redesign efforts,
Community Clinics is now positioned
to play a significant role in the national
Patient-Centered Medical Home
(PCMH) movement that is sweeping
the country,” states Michael K. Magill,
M.D., executive medical director of
Community Clinics. “Recreating the
delivery of primary care is critical to
improving health and reducing health
care costs.”
Marlene J. Egger, Ph.D., with the
Department of Family and Preventive
Medicine, was recently granted the
F. Marian Bishop award to examine
how well the CBD model succeeds as
a strategy to meet the national criteria
for the PCMH. Areas to be evaluated
will include patient access, information
systems, coordination of care, and
performance reporting.
If you are interested in finding out
more about Learning Day visit healthcare.utah.edu/primarycare/learning.
National Children’s Study Adds Counties in
Wyoming and Idaho to University of Utah’s Vanguard Center
urban, and suburban areas, from all
income and educational levels, and from
all racial groups. The study will investigate
factors influencing the development
of such conditions as autism, cerebral
palsy, learning disabilities, birth defects,
diabetes, asthma, and obesity.
Within just a few years, the study
will provide information on disorders of
pregnancy and birth, and because women
will be recruited before they give birth,
and in some instances even before they
become pregnant, the study will provide
insight into the causes and contributors
of preterm birth. Fully operational,
the study is expected to include up to
50 study centers in the planned 105
study locations throughout the United
States, according to Clark. “The National
Children’s Study will benefit the nation’s
children for generations,” Clark said.
9

2008
Alumni
Weekend
Connecting With U
10
1968
Back Row (left to right): Bruce
McIff, Nathaniel Matolo, Curt
Kaesche, Edward Heyes, Richard
Wallin, Andrew Grose
Front Row (left to right): Bruce
Irvine, Reed Heywood, Jon Ord,
Lawrence Astle, Jon Lloyd
Class of 1958
Class of 1968
1958
Class of 1963
Back Row (Left to Right): Glenn L. Johnston, Clayton R.
Gabbert, Ward H. Hedges, Richard M. Hebertson, John
E. Meyers, Herbert B. Spencer, Harry L. Gibbons
Front Row (Left to Right): C. Gary Loosli, Barry A.
Clothier, Arthur F. Budge, James O. Mason, Joseph M.
Heath, Joseph H. Nelson, E. Ute Knowlton
1963
Back Row (left to right): Kent Pomeroy,
A. Mason Redd, Donald Reay,
Thomas Caine, Robert Duncan Wallace,
Robert Gibbons
Front Row (left to right): Alvin Cobabe,
Kirk Neuberger, Joseph Knight, Walker
Ashcraft, Kenny Ashby
1988
Class of 1978
LeeLee Colter; Peter Novak;
Tim Wolfe: Eric Vanderhooft;
Sheryll Vanderhooft; John
Hardy; Michael Measom: Bart
Johansen; Teresa Ota;
Ivan Flint; Ken Nielson;
Steve Roberts; Bryan Timmins;
Brian Heaton: Dan Hammon;
Lisa Burton; Craig Foley
1978
Class of 1993
Paul Larsen;
Robert Christiansen;
Eliot Brinton;
Kristina Hindert;
Garner Meads;
Brent Jackson;
Jeffrey Labrum;
Michael Lahey;
Jeffrey Mathews
Class of 1988
1993
David Sabir,; Jay Clark;
Neil Callister; Wendell
Johnson; Sheila Garvey;
Matthew Hughes; Trent
Jones; Ryan Evans;
Richard VanLeeuwen
11

Class
2003
of 1998
2008 Alumni Weekend
Robert H. Ballard, M.D. ‘44,
Alumni Association President
Mark Johnston, M.D. ‘90,
Awards
and Alumni Relation Director
Kristin Wann Gorang
12
Nicole Lynd Draper, Jennifer Holmes,
Jon Martin, Ryan Stewart, Rebecca
Hendryx, Robert Christensen
Medical Alumni
Awards Banquet
1998
Back Row (left to right): Carmen Arkansas
Nations, Ed Peterson, Raphael
Allred, Jim Reynolds, Michael Martineau,
Michael Pingree, Tom Clark,
Chris Jones and Trent Holmberg.
Front Row (left to right): Trena
Bonde, Gina Cox, Marc Johnson,
Sarah Maulden, Stephanie Carney,
Janell Jager, Brian Fukushima,
Tammy Park Fukishima, Jennifer
Brinton, Mark Sheffield.
Class of 1958 Honorees
Class of 2003
Stephen Warner, Associate V.P. of
Health Sciences Development and
Alumni, Tom Caine, M.D. ‘63,
and Richard Boyer, M.D. ‘73.
Alumni Weekend
The Alumni Weekend 2008 continues to expand to include not
only M.D. graduates of the School of Medicine, but also former
house staff graduates, other School of Medicine graduates, and
community medical members. This year celebrated the 16th
year the Alumni Association has hosted an Awards Banquet,
celebrating the 50-year classes’ achievements and recognizing a
Distinguished Service member and Distinguished Alumni member
of the school. These awardees are nominated by their peers
and voted upon by the Alumni Association board each year.
(See page 24 for 2009 nomination information).
Greg Poulsen, Sr. Vice President, IHC presents
Health Reform Issues.
Education
CME Audience listened intently to topic “Health Care
in Crisis: History, Challenges, and Opportunities.
Panelist Jay Jarvis, M.D. ‘82,
speaks as Greg Poulsen and
Jay Jacobsen, M.D., listen.
Continuing
Virgil Parker, M.D. ‘57, and Carol Fay at CME conference
Friday morning eight different School of Medicine departments
sponsored breakfasts and programs for alumni followed by a
“State of the School” address by Dean David Bjorkman. Friday
night 220 alumni closed down Little America as they celebrated
their reunions, laughing, reminiscing and renewing friendships.
Saturday the annual CME conference drew over 100 attendees
from both alumni and the greater community as the topic Health
Care in Crisis: History, Challenges and Opportunities was presented.
That presentation is currently available on the SOM Alumni
Association web site www.medicine.utah.edu/alumni.
Saturday ended with a tailgating party at the Alumni House and
a 42-21 football victory over UNLV. We encourage many of you
to make plans now to attend the 2009 Alumni and Community
Weekend on September 24-26.

Distinguished AlumnI AWARD
Distinguished
School of Medicine
Distinguished Awards 2008
The first major gift to the University of
Utah Health Sciences from the Spencer
Stoddard Eccles family was a generous
bequest given in 1965 to construct
the Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences
Library. This original family gift was
followed up with annual contributions
to the library from the Spencer
Fox Eccles and Nancy Eccles Hayward
families, that resulted in an endowment
that has been used to support the
collection, introduce technology and
provide seed money for innovative projects
and programs.
In 1975, the Eccles families
provided a gift to the hospital for the
construction of the Hope Fox Eccles
Clinical Library and have made annual
gifts to support an endowment. More
recently the Nancy Eccles Hayward
Harmon Eyre, M.D. recently retired as
Chief Medical Officer and Executive
Vice President for Research and Cancer
Control Science at the American Cancer
Society. As an American Cancer Society
volunteer for over 22 years and National
President in 1988, he has been instrumental
in developing the Society’s
priorities, including efforts to decrease
smoking, improve diet, detect cancer at
the earliest stage, and provide the critical
support cancer patients need. Dr.
Eyre guided efforts to enhance and focus
the Society’s research program,
upgraded its advocacy capacity, and
Family donated
$100,000 to provide
an endowment for the
library’s Open Reserve
Collection, which
includes core health
sciences textbooks.
In 2005 the family
continued its generous
support for the Health
Sciences in Utah by
Spencer and Cleone
making a personal
gift of $7 million to
provide major funding
for the Spencer F. and Cleone P. Eccles
Health Sciences Education Building.
This facility provided much needed
classrooms, labs, and training facilities
for the medical school and for all
Sr. V.P. of Health Sciences, Lorris A. Betz, M.D., Dean David Bjorkman, M.D.,
and Harmon J. Eyre, M.D. ‘66
14
SERVICE AWARD
oncentrated community cancer
control efforts in areas where they
were most effective.
Previously he had a successful
academic career as a medical oncologist
at the University of Utah, where
he served as Associate Chairman of
Internal Medicine and Deputy Director
of the Huntsman Cancer Institute. He
has been recognized for his service to
numerous professional societies, government
groups, and voluntary health
agencies in the United States
and abroad.
Spencer F. Eccles family representing the Spencer Stoddard & Hope Fox Eccles Family
other students in health sciences
specialties. This state-of-the-art building
has greatly benefited the training
of the next generation of health care
providers for Utah.
Distinguished
Alumni Award
This award is presented
annually to a graduate
of the School of Medicine
who exemplifies the practice
of medicine. Achievement
is recognized through excellence
in clinical practice,
academic activities and
research accomplishments.
Distinguished
Service Award
This award recognizes
individuals, both alumni
and non-alumni, who
have made outstanding
contributions to the school,
the community, and the
practice of medicine.
Awards
Student Life
Twain, Thailand, and Tuberculosis
By Anne Bennett (MSIV)
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry,
and narrow-mindedness . . . Broad, wholesome,
charitable views of men and things
cannot be acquired by vegetating in one
little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
Such words written by acclaimed American
author, Mark Twain have also proven their
relevance in the study and practice of
medicine. “Broad, wholesome, charitable
views of men” is what is needed today
for success in the medical profession
and frequently “prejudice, bigotry, and
narrow-mindedness” is still the platform
upon which resistance to progress is
launched. Many of the international programs
at the University of Utah, including
The Thailand International Elective (TIE5),
are founded on these ideas and strive to
instill training in medical open-mindedness
in their participants.
The director of TIE5, Dr. Han Kim,
repeatedly reminded me and the other
traveling students that his objective was to
make us uncomfortable. While he certainly
succeeded, he never told us that in our
discomfort we would come to love with a
first hand knowledge the complexity of the
human experience that makes medicine
so rewarding.
Thailand was the full-blown production
of the script
that is required
reading for all first
and second year
medical students.
Our trip brought
questions and
discussions to the
statistics of social
medicine, faces
to the viruses of
microbiology, and
an urgency to the
understanding and
appreciation of
pharmacology. In
Thailand the facts
of medical school
came alive in real
Author at Thai orphanage
world presentations.
The implications of lifestyle
related illness was
made poignantly clear
during a stroll through
the Red Light district
in downtown Bangkok
where STDs are being
traded like baseball cards
in elementary school.
Our visit to the AIDS
hospice became a devas- AIDS Hospice
tating, yet unforgettable
pictorial encyclopedia of the opportunist
infections inflicting the victims of this viral
assault. The experience of cachexia, which
meant little to me as a two-dimensional
word in a microbiology syllabus, is now
burned into my brain as the very definition
of suffering. Diseases which I had deemed
only of historical significance were brought
to the forefront of my concern as I learned
how to diagnose leprosy in a young woman
standing frightened in the clinic.
The gurgle of expectorated sputum, the
crackling of fibrotic lungs, and the droning
monotony of an ongoing Buddhist prayer
have become my new association with
Tuberculosis; my previously learned triad
of fever, night sweats, and weight loss now
seems somewhat
less impressionable.
Diseases became
more significant
because of their
devastation and, I
realized, cannot be
fully understood in
a context devoid of
their implications on
an individual body
and soul. Our days
in Thailand provided
this context.
Our trip to
Thailand presented
us with an understanding
of the
depth of the public
health challenges facing today’s population,
but the Thais were determined not to leave
us without solutions. It was inspiring to observe
a unique health care system from the
legislative, theoretical, religious, and clinical
angles. The Thais have structured their
health care system on ideals of individual
responsibility, equality, and efficiency, while
relying on a vast network of community
volunteers who educate, test, and advise
their neighbors. Our month in Thailand
was shaped by countless bus rides in which
issues such as those mentioned above were
discussed and debated regarding their value,
relevance, and relation to the United States
health care system. In many cases we were
able to see the problems and possible solutions
of the American health care system in
a new light.
TIE5 was not a month of comfort and
ease. It was a time to explore the foundations
of our future professions and the
systems in which we will operate. It was
a time to feel sad, angry, grossed-out and
uncomfortably sticky from sweat, but also
a time to feel inspired by individuals and
their personal triumphs. Just as Mark Twain
implicated travel as a means of overcoming
narrow-mindedness, so too can medicine
open our minds and our hearts–but only if
we embrace the vulnerability, humility and
awkwardness of the situations in which it
may place us. Our experience in Thailand
helped us to do just that.
15

Student Life
The Cloak of Compassion-2008 White Coat Ceremony
n August 22 the seats of Kingsbury Hall on
the campus of the University of Utah filled
with proud family members and friends as the 102
members of the Class of 2012 were initiated into the
profession of medicine by being cloaked with a medical
white coat. 2008 marked the 12th year that the
University of Utah’s School of Medicine has celebrated
this event. Richard Sperry, M.D., Ph.D., Associate
Vice President of Health Sciences, and Director of the
Governor Scott M. Matheson Center for Health Care
Studies gave the keynote address, focusing on how
the increased technology of medicine should never
overshadow the importance of the caring tradition of
medicine and the ability to see each patient as a fellow
human being. Students recited the Hippocratic Oath,
publicly acknowledging their new responsibilities and
their willingness to assume the obligations of their
new profession. Dr. Fred Langeland, M.D., outgoing
President of the Alumni Association, presented
each incoming student with a Littman III Cardiac
Stethoscope given to them as a personal gift from a
White Coat Ceremony
medical school alumnus/a.
Richard Sperry, M.D., Ph.D. addresses White Coat recipients
Class of 2012 prepares to recite hippocratic oath
O
BECOMING A BALLARD SCHOLAR
2007 Ballard Scholars Griffin Jardine, and Mitchael Steorts with
Robert H. Ballard M.D. ‘44
n the Fall of 2008 the second two
Robert H. Ballard and Dorothy
Cannon Ballard scholars for the
University of Utah School of Medicine
were named. This award, generously
endowed by Robert H. Ballard, M.D. ’44 in
2007 is given to the two most outstanding
candidates of each incoming medical school
class based on grades, test scores, research,
and service to the greater community.
This year’s recipients were Michael S.
Enslow and Christopher “Todd” Sower.
Michael graduated from the University
of Utah with a B.S. in Health Promotion
and Education with a minor in Chemistry.
Along with his school work he volunteered
for the Special Olympics, served as
an emergency room and nursing home
volunteer and as a football coach for Alta
High School. He was a group coordinator
and health educator in La Paz, Bolivia,
raising over $20,000 and soliciting donated
medical supplies for the trip. His research
has included studying familial resemblance
in body composition in Tongan-Americans
and testing ventricular assist devices in calves
with the hope of being able to use them in
people in the future.
Christopher “Todd” Sower graduated
with a B.S. in Human Development and
Family Studies and a minor in Chemistry
from the University of Utah. As an undergraduate
he received a Colleen Cluff Caputo
Honor Scholarship and served as a teaching
assistant. He spent time as an emergency
Ballard
Scholars
room volunteer, tutored inmates at the Salt
Lake County Jail and taught basic first aid
to 5th graders through the American Red
Cross. He volunteered at Primary Children’s
Hospital and researched echocardiographic
measurements of pulmonary regurgitation.
We welcome them to this prestigious
group of scholars and look forward to their
future accomplishments.
In the year and a half that has passed
since the first two Ballard scholars began
medical school they have taken the opportunity
to reflect on what receiving the Ballard
Scholarship meant to them. Griffin Jardine,
MSII wrote:
“I feel overwhelmed when I think of
how much this scholarship has helped my
family this past year. My wife and I had
our first child the week before my first year
of medical school started. Our financial
situation changed dramatically in the course
of that week – I stopped working completely
in order to focus on school and my
wife significantly cut back on her hours to
take care of our daughter. This scholarship
made all the difference during that stage of
transition. We have been able to focus on
the things that are most important to us
without being burdened or distracted by excessive
debt. This will continue throughout
our lives because my medical school loans
won’t dictate my career choice. I have also
felt empowered this past year to try to live
up to Dr. Ballard’s legacy because of how he
has benefited me and my family. Having
my education funded by this incredible act
of kindness has been inspiring. Among the
many legacies Dr. Ballard has left throughout
his career, this endowed scholarship is a
tribute to his generosity. It will impact the
course of my entire career and life. Thank
you Dr. Ballard.”
Mitchael Steorts, MSII wrote:
“Receiving the Robert H. Ballard
and Dorothy Cannon Ballard Endowed
Scholarship has already significantly
impacted my medical school education. It
has made me a better student by pushing
me to ‘live up’ to the honor of receiving this
scholarship. My wife and I feel less stress
about the financial aspect of medical school,
and because of this, I have been able to focus
less on finances and more on course work.
However, I strongly feel that the greatest
impact this scholarship will have on me and
my family will not be fully realized for years
to come. The one thing I don’t think I really
understood before starting medical school is
just how many options there are for practicing
medicine. It seems to me that there is a
field of medicine as broad or specific as any
physician’s interests. However, with the cost
of medical school, it is all too often the case
that debt repayment becomes a driving force
when selecting a career path. I am profoundly
grateful for this scholarship because
it ensures that the only factor influencing
the field of medicine I practice in will be my
personal desires.”
Incoming students Carlos Casamalhuapa, Joseph Cho, Heather Dr. Bjorkman cloaking Roberto E. Montenegro
16 Wark, Roberto E. Montenegro, and Marie Flores
17
I

Alumni Highlights
Alumni board
welcomes new members
A native of Beirut, Lebanon, Dr.
Choucair started his undergraduate education
in Germany and graduated Magna
Cum Laude in Biochemistry from Rice
University, where he was the recipient
of the National Science Foundation
stipend for undergraduate research in
Biochemistry. He earned his M.D from
the University of Calgary School of
Medicine (1976-1979), and completed
training in Internal Medicine (University
of Calgary 1979-1981), Neurology
(University of Utah 1981-84), and
Neuro-oncology (University of California
San Francisco’s Brain Tumor Research
Center 1984-86).
As a founding member of the
Society for Neuro-oncology he currently
serves on its International Outreach
and Award committees. He was on the
faculty of the Marshfield Clinic for 15
years where he founded the Cancer
Dr. Cheng is a
board certified
plastic and
reconstructive
surgeon in private
practice.
She is originally
from Kansas
and attended
the University
of Kansas on a music scholarship
(violin), obtaining a B.A. in Human
Biology. She then attended Duke
University Medical School, graduating
in 1990, and followed this with five
Pain Program as well as the Division of
Neuro-oncology, which he chaired until
his resignation in December 2000 to
return to Utah. He is currently adjunct
Professor of Medicine and Neurosurgery
at the University of Utah, an Associate
Member of the Division of Medical
Ethics and Humanities, on the faculty
for the Cultural Competence and
Mutual Respect in Healthcare course
for the Health Sciences, and on the
teaching faculty for the combined
Internal Medicine residency training
program at Intermountain Medical
Center. Dr Choucair serves as the
Medical Director for Neuro-oncology at
Intermountain Healthcare.
As a physician citizen of the State
of Utah and a graduate from one of its
training programs, Dr. Choucair believes
in having ownership in supporting the
mission of the University of Utah SOM,
Ali K. Choucair, M.D.
years with the Duke Department of
General Surgery Residency Program.
She moved to Utah, having matched
for a plastic surgery fellowship at the
University of Utah, finishing that
program in 1997.
Currently, she is completing a
four-year membership of the Lakeview
Hospital Board of Trustees, is a UMA
delegate for the Utah State Plastic
Surgical Society, is a Fellow of the
American College of Surgeons, and a
member of the American Society of
Plastic Surgeons.
Her interests also include her
Alumni Notebook
especially
when it comes
to medical
education. He
believes it is
an important
responsibility
to invest in
the education
of our
graduates
both inside and outside the classroom.
Having the privilege to serve on the
SOM Alumni Board is an opportunity to
pay back for the indebtedness of having
a life generously blessed and shaped by
so many dedicated teachers in Lebanon,
Germany, Canada, and the United States.
It is part of our mission to maintain our
students’ connectivity to the mission of
the SOM, to be our ambassadors to the
greater community.
‘84 House Staff
family, pickup soccer, hiking, running,
biking, cooking, books and movies.
Plastic surgery has been a wonderful
opportunity to meet outstanding
patients, work with skilled colleagues
and realize a lifelong dream.
Dr. Cheng feels that being a
board member of the University of
Utah SOM Alumni Association is
a privilege and an opportunity to
work with some of the true leaders in
medicine. She hopes experience gained
from her private practice and other
professional activities will contribute
to Alumni board goals.
Christine A. Cheng, M.D. ‘97 House Staff
H. James Williams, M.D. ‘69
As a native of Salt Lake City, Dr.
James Williams (Jim) received his
undergraduate and medical school
education from the University
of Utah (’69). He completed
his residency training in internal
medicine at Duke University in
North Carolina before returning
to the University of Utah School
of Medicine as the chief medical
resident. Following two years of
service in the U.S. Army at Fort
Riley, Kansas, he returned to the
University of Utah for training
in Rheumatology and to join the
faculty at the medical school.
In addition to his practice as a
rheumatologist, he was involved
in clinical research and also
served as associate chairman of
the Department of Medicine
and chief of the Division of
Rheumatology. He was the
program director for the internal
medicine training program for 14
years. He has also served as the
governor for the Utah Chapter
of the American College of
Physicians. He retired as a professor
in 2004 when he was called
to preside over the Denmark
Copenhagen Mission for his
church but returned to part-time
practice at the University of Utah
Medical Center in 2007. He and
his wife Janet have seven children
and 12 grandchildren. This is his
second stint on the Alumni Board
and he hopes to continue the high
quality of the CME conference on
Alumni weekend.
Alumni Notebook
Dale G. Johnson, M.D. ‘56
Dale G. Johnson,
M.D. joined the
surgery faculty
at Utah in 1971,
following recruitment
from faculty
positions at
the University of
Pennsylvania and
the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia, (CHOP).
A native of Salt Lake, Dr. Johnson
graduated with Utah’s medical class
of 1956. General surgical training
at the Massachusetts General Hospital
was followed by three years of research
at the Walter Reed Army Institute
and the U. of Pennsylvania’s Harrison
Department. Dr. C. Everett Koop
sponsored additional fellowship training
in pediatric surgery followed
by promotion to faculty associate
at CHOP.
Dr. Sundwall
feels honored
to serve on
the SOM,
especially
because he
never felt
quite worthy
to even
have been
admitted to
the school in the first place. During
his student days he never would have
guessed he’d have had this opportunity.
Dr. Sundwall completed his Family
Medicine internship and residency at
Harvard teaching hospitals in Boston
and found that he had received a very
fine medical education at the U of U
and could certainly hold his own with
peers trained in prestigious schools
Dr. Johnson stepped down
as Surgeon-in-Chief at Primary
Children’s Medical Center in 2002,
retired from active surgical practice in
2006, and currently enjoys Emeritus
Faculty status. Career highlights
include presidencies of the American
Pediatric Surgical Association and
the Pacific Association of Pediatric
Surgeons along with membership
in 25 professional organizations
including The American Surgical
Association. Visiting professorships
have involved multiple institutions
in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and
the United States.
Dr. Johnson is anxious to
help in developing more efficient
methods for communication between
medical alumni along with improved
access to ongoing developments at
the Medical School. Dr. Johnson
believes such class and school ties
are important for maintaining
physician identity.
throughout the country. He returned
to Utah, and had two relatively brief
stints on the faculty of the School of
Medicine (1975-77, and 1978-80) but
maintained his ties with the school
and to his knowledge holds a world
record, for the longest continuous
“leave of absence” ever granted a medical
school faculty! He kept his position
as an Associate Professor, tenure track,
in the Department of Family and
Preventive Medicine, from 1981 until
2004, when he returned to Utah and
regained active status. He is proud of
our school, and knows of its reputation
nationally and the contributions
it has made to our state and the
Intermountain West. Dr. Sundwall
hopes to lend support for its continued
success and an expanded role in
medical education.
David N. Sundwall, M.D. ‘69
18
19

Alumni Highlights
School of Medicine Health Care Heroes Named
Every fall Utah Business
magazine names community
health care heroes in seven
categories, Lifetime Achievement,
Health Care Provider-Physician
Health Care Provider-Non-
Physician, Volunteer, Community
Outreach, Administrative
Excellence and Corporate
Achievement. This year four M.D.
graduates from the University of
Utah School of Medicine were
recognized for their achievement.
Lifetime Achievement
Scott D. Williams, M.D.,’82, M.P.H., ‘89
Scott Williams, M.D. has spent 23 years
working in every sector of health care.
Currently he is Chief Medical Officer of
HCA’s MountainStar Division and was
formerly an executive director of the Utah
Department of Health. He has spent his
career focusing on improving preventive
health care services to patients, stating,
“If we focus resources at the early end
of health care problems, we’ll prevent
people from having more complications
and improve their health now. They
won’t need as much treatment down
the road, which saves money later on
too.” He focuses on the dissemination of
electronic health records (EHR) which
updates patient records and reminds physicians
when preventive services are due
Weber Medical Society names
Lyle Archibald, M.D. ’71 Doctor of the Year
Lyle Archibald, M.D. has practiced as
a surgeon in Ogden, Utah since 1976,
performing approximately 25,000 surgical
procedures and played a major role
in developing the McKay-Dee Hospital
trauma program. He has also served on
the Utah State trauma task force, was chief
for individual patients.
Community Outreach
Tamara Lewis, M.D., ‘89
With one in four Utah children overweight
and nearly one in ten obese, the
threat of early onset diabetes and other
problems associated with overweight is creating
a crisis in healthcare among today’s
youth. Tamara Lewis, M.D., her associate
Pauline Williams, and Intermountain
Healthcare decided to educate adolescents
by directing LiVe, a public education
campaign aimed at kids ages 11 to 15,
with the goal of making eating healthy and
staying active cool for kids. The program
uses television, radio, and print ads,
outdoor public service announcements,
and an interactive Web site (intermountainlive.org)
to reach out to kids. In 2008
a high-energy school assembly program
explaining how to make healthy choices
was shown at 75 junior high schools across
Utah, with plans to increase the number to
reach more than 30,000 Utah students in
the next few years.
Robert B. Clark, M.D. ‘82
In 1990 Robert Clark became involved
with the Neonatal Resuscitation Program,
a low-tech and highly effective program
used by doctors and midwives on babies
who can’t breathe at birth. In 1991 Dr.
Clark obtained a Thrasher grant, which
helped spread the program not only
throughout the U.S., but also to China,
Vietnam, Russia and Indonesia, where it
has influenced health initiatives, programs
of surgery at McKay-Dee Hospital and
chairman of McKay-Dee’s medical staff.
He is a member of the American College
of Surgeons, Southwest Surgical Society,
Ogden Surgical Society, the American
Society of Breast Diseases and the Utah
State Medical Association and is currently
Alumni Notebook
and outreach efforts. “Whether at home or
abroad, the health needs of people always
exceed the resources available for their
care,” Clark says. “At home, I have been
privileged to follow many of my patients
from their birth through childhood,
adolescence, adulthood, marriage and the
birth of their children. Overseas, I have
been privileged to help establish systems
that allow large numbers of newborns to
have a healthy start on life, and hopefully
attain the same goals.”
Health Care Provider-Physician
Scott Albert Leckman, M.D. ‘83
Scott Leckman was recognized not
only for his role improving the quality
and safety of patient care at St. Mark’s
Hospital, but also for his extensive volunteer
efforts around the world. He served
for a month aboard the USNS Mercy
providing medical relief for survivors of
the 2004 tsunami in northern Sumatra,
Indonesia and for years has been involved
with RESULTS, a grassroots citizens’
lobby group dedicated to ending hunger.
Serving on the board of directors of
RESULTS has taken him to Bangladesh,
India, Pakistan, El Salvador and Capitol
Hill to work on hunger issues. In 2001
he assisted in initiating the Health Access
Project which has provided nearly $2
million in donated health care to qualified
individuals through a network of 600
physicians and nine hospitals affiliated
with the project.
the medical director for the surgical clinical
program at Intermountain Healthcare.
In 2008 he was recognized as the Weber
County Doctor of the Year by the Weber
Medical Society for all of his contributions
to the community.
Rita Leavell, M.D. ’81 featured in USAID Health News
Dr. Rita Leavell of Abt Associates, Inc.
was recognized in the Women Making a
Difference spotlight in USAID Health for
her work in Jordan to improve the early
detection of breast cancer, the second
leading cause of death for women in that
country. A pediatrician with an MBA,
Dr. Leavell has worked in international
health for 22 years, 17 of which were
focused on using the private sector to
achieve sustainable health goals.
Lonnie Paulos, M.D. ’73
creates Andrew-Paulos
Research and Education
Institute
Many individuals
in Utah know
orthopaedist
Lonnie Paulos and
his research and
clinical expertise on
the knee. He has
worked on more
than 100 studies
in orthopaedic research and holds 20
U.S. patents, the majority being bracing
devices and procedures for the knee.
He received national attention for his
work on the left knee of Carson Palmer,
the former Heisman Trophy winner and
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback, in 2006.
He is now the newest big name to join the
Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics and
Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Fla. He
is partnering with Andrews to create the
Andrews-Paulos Research and Education
Institute at the Andrews Institute.
Under Dr. Leavell’s leadership as
project director, the United States Agency
for International Development’s (USAID)
Abt Associates-led Jordan Private Sector
Project for Women’s Health (PSP Jordan)
helped establish the Jordan Breast Cancer
Program. Its five-year goal is to detect
at least 70 percent of breast cancer cases
in the early, curable stages. The program
encourages all women to regularly have
clinical exams and women ages 40 to 60
to receive annual mammograms.
Through her leadership Dr. Leavell
has been instrumental in fostering partnerships
with PSP Jordan. She worked
with the King Hussein Cancer Center, the
King Hussein Cancer Foundation and the
Ministry of Health (MOH) to launch the
Pink Ribbon communication campaign
that informed women and health officials
that “early detection of breast cancer saves
lives.” From this partnership was born a
draft plan for the nation and the Jordan
How often does it occur that you
deliver a baby and over 30-years
later that baby takes over your
practice when you retire? That
is what
happened
to Norman
Fawson,
M.D. ’66 and
Curtis Carter,
M.D. ’03.
In 1975 Dr.
Fawson delivered
Curtis
Carter at the
St. George
Clinic; now,
33-years later Dr. Fawson found
in Dr. Carter a perfect fit for
Alumni Notebook
Breast Cancer Program. Community
health workers from PSP Jordan’s doorto-door
outreach program have met more
than 770,000 women ages 15 to 60 to inform
them about breast cancer and teach
them how to perform self-exams. They
also communicated through TV and radio
spots, brochures, and posters, encouraging
women to see their doctors and check for
breast cancer.
In October 2007, just one year after
the launch of the Pink Ribbon Breast
Cancer Campaign, local initiatives were
expanded to enhance its effectiveness.
During the initiative, more than 31,000
women received checkups for breast cancer,
a remarkable increase from the 12,000
women who had them in 2006. In addition
hotline calls increased tenfold over
2006, with four times as many women
willing to have a mammogram.
Recruiting from Past Deliveries
Curtis Carter, M.D. ‘03
and Norman Fawson M.D. ‘66
someone to replace him. “I’m sure
it happens, but personally I don’t
know of anybody else,” Carter
says of replacing the doctor who
delivered
him. With his
practice
in good hands
Fawson now
plans to
work at the
St. George
Doctors’
Volunteer
Clinic, teach
violin and
viola for the
school district, and take care
of his apple orchard.
20 21

Alumni Notebook
1945
A. Hamer
Reiser, Jr.
BA, M.D.
Dr. Reiser has
been a specialist in
internal medicine
for more than 60 years, retiring from
full-time practice in Salt Lake City
in 1987. Since 1990 he has provided
medical services for missionaries of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints and continues to maintain his license
in order to make pro bono publico
house calls for those in need. He and his
wife, Betty Jo, also served for years as
volunteers at the Utah State Prison and
received the Salt Lake County Medical
Society Auxiliary’s Distinguished
Physician Award. In 2008 he received
the University of Utah’s Emeritus
Alumni Board Merit of Honor Award
for his distinguished service to
the University, his profession,
and the community.
1958
Maurice G.
Baker, M.D.
Dr. Baker
practices family
medicine and is
currently working
at St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City,
Utah. He has also served as a mission
president for the LDS church. He is
happily married to his lovely wife
Laura Baker.
Eugene L. Bellin, M.D.
Dr. Bellin loves playing violin and
feeding people at the Bowery Mission
in New York City. In the past he
worked with International Physicians
for the Prevention of Nuclear War
(which won the Nobel Prize for peace
in 1990). He was also a member of
the Innocence Project of the Cardozo
Law School in NYC and helped 180
innocent people get off of death row
through the use of DNA testing.
Kay H.
Blacker, M.D.
Dr. Blacker
served for many
years as the
Chairman of
the Department of Psychiatry at the
University of California, Davis School
of Medicine. He is now semi-retired.
Alumni News
Due to the large response from alumni, this edition of Illuminations is
featuring alumni highlights submitted by members of the classes of 1945
through 1969. The Spring/Summer 2009 edition will feature
submissions from the classes of 1970’s to 2008. You may go on-line
at http://medicine.utah.edu/alumni to view all submissions.
Arthur F.
Budge, M.D.
Dr. Budge retired
in 1990. He
spends his spare
time gardening,
fishing and traveling. He was President
of the Ogden Surgical-Medical Society
in 1987. He is also active in the LDS
Church and Boy Scouts of America,
having been registered in the Boy
Scouts for over 36 years.
Barry A.
Clothier, M.D.
Dr. Clothier retired
in December
of 2008. He is
looking forward
to spending his spare time bird watching
and writing a book on medical
mnemonics. He taught part time
at Scottsdale Family Practice
Residency Program.
Rodger K. Farr, M.D.
Dr. Farr retired in 2006. He is a
Distinguished Life Fellow and a
Gold Medal recipient of the American
Psychiatry Association and the founder
of Skid Row Clinic for the homeless
mentally ill in Los Angeles. He still
enjoys teaching and finds gardening
relaxing in his spare time.
Clayton R.
Gabbert, M.D.
Dr. Gabbert
retired in 1998
from practicing
Orthopedic
Surgery. Since retirement his interests
have included trap shooting, golf,
bridge, walking and trading commodities.
He also likes observing and naming
wild flowers. He is in “Who’s Who
in the West” and has been honored
with a Mosby Book Award.
Harry L.
Gibbons, M.D.
Dr. Gibbons
is semi-retired
and still serving
as a consultant
in Aerospace Medicine. He was the
Director of Salt Lake County Health
Department for 22 years. Dr. Gibbons
has been awarded two international
awards for achievements in aerospace.
He has received many honors for his
service to medicine, including the
Distinguished Alumnus Award from
the University of Utah School of
Medicine in 1998.
Joseph M.
Heath, M.D.
Dr. Heath was
very active in his
family medicine
specialty his
entire career. He was President of the
Utah Academy of Family Practice from
1974-1975 and was an active lobbyist
for establishing and funding the Family
Practice Residency at the University of
Utah; plus served on the Department
of Family and Community Medicine
faculty. He has been on three missions
to Brazil with his wife and likes fishing
and traveling.
Richard M
Hebertson,
M.D.
Dr. Hebertson
was involved in
the University
of Utah OB/Gyn department and
the Residency Training Program in
OB/Gyn at LDS Hospital much of
his professional life. He introduced
fetal monitoring at LDS Hospital and
co-developed the fetal monitoring
system that is currently used in the
IHC system. He has been married for
56 years and has five children, twentythree
grandchildren and thirteen great
grandchildren. Besides being a volunteer
in the LDS Church he likes writing
poetry, painting, traveling, gardening
and spending time with his family.
Ward H.
Hedges, M.D.
Dr. Hedges
retired from
the practice
of Psychiatry
in 1997. He has nine children and
fourteen grandchildren. He is a fly
fishing instructor and enjoys studying
botany. Along with psychiatry his
professional interests included ENT
and Dermatology.
Glenn L.
Johnston, M.D.
Dr. Johnston
is recipient
of the 1996
Norman S. Anderson, M.D. Award for
distinguished service to community
mental health. After his retirement Dr.
Johnston moved to Montana and built
a new home on an 700-acre ranch near
Kalispell. He has been very active with
management of the farm and timberland
and is involved in projects to preserve
and enhance a wildlife sanctuary
along one mile of the Flathead River.
He was honored with the Audubon
Conservation Achievement Award in
2008 for his conservation efforts.
E. Ute
Knowlton, M.D.
Dr. Knowlton
retired in 1996
and is enjoying
his time with
eight children and twenty- nine
grandchildren.
C. Gary
Loosli, M.D.
Dr. Loosli is retired
and spends
his spare time
coaching square
dancing, teaching high school tennis,
competing in senior track and field,
playing pickleball and horseshoes and
hunting and fishing.
Harold Markowitz, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Markowitz retired from laboratory
medicine and medical research in
1985. He has been married to Peggy
Markowitz for 55 years and has four
children. Two became physicians and
all are in some area of medicine. For
the past twelve years Dr. Markowtiz has
been in poor health, but continues to
dearly love his family.
James O.
Mason, M.D.
Dr. Mason spent
most of his career
in the service of
public health. He
was the head of the Utah Department
of Health, served with the United States
Public Health Service and was a member
of the World Health Organization
Executive Board. Besides spending
time with his wife Marie, children,
grandchildren and great grandchildren,
Dr. Mason likes family history research,
gardening, reading and traveling.
John E.
Meyers, M.D.
Dr. Meyers practiced
Aviation
Medicine in the
airforce as a flight
surgeon since 1960, until he retired in
1989; he currently works for NASA.
Dr. Meyers considers work as his hobby
and raising three successful children
as one of his biggest achievements. He
felt the training he received at the U
of U Medical School prepared him to
practice medicine as well, if not better
than, any school in the country.
Stanley N.
Mogerman,
M.D.
Dr. Mogerman
has been happily
married for
fifty-two years
to Barbara, who he met his freshman
year at the U and married his junior
year. They have three daughters and six
grandchildren. He and Barbara enjoy
ballroom dancing and make every
attempt to go dancing as often as they
can fit it in. They also enjoy cruising
and have been on twenty-eight
cruises so far!
Joseph H.
Nelson, M.D.
Dr. Nelson retired
in 1998. He has
six children and
twenty-six grandchildren.
He has been honored with a
Medal of Commendation from the US
Army and was the Utah Doctor of the
Year and President of the Logan, Utah
Kiwanis Club. His hobbies are woodworking
and pen making. He served
a medical mission to Ukraine from
1998 to 2001.
Ronald F. Read, M.D.
Dr. Read worked for over 30 years as a
staff psychiatrist at Community Mental
Health in San Diego. Music has always
been an important part of Dr. Read’s
life. For over 50 years, he was a tenor
soloist and a member of various choirs,
performing in numerous productions
and programs. He was also the publisher
of the San Diego Seagull, a newspaper
committed to the interest of members
of the LDS Church in San Diego
for 18 years.
Lawrence E.
Reichmann,
M.D.
Dr. Reichmann
retired in 1992.
He has four
wonderful children. He is a Diplomat
in the America Board of Anesthesiology
and enjoys studying family history in his
free time.
James G.
Smith, M.D.
Dr. Smith served
as Chief of the
Department of
OB/GYN at
Kaiser Hospital/Permanente Medical
Group in Vallejo California for 17 years,
in which time it grew from three to 14
doctors, plus four nurse practitioners and
one nurse mid-wife. He also established
a rotating residency in OB/GYN with
Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield and the
Contra Costa County General Hospital
in Martinez, California. He served as
an LDS Area Medical Advisor in Chile
for 18 months supervising medical care
for 1800 Missionaries throughout eight
missions in Chile.
Herbert B.
Spencer, M.D.
Dr. Spencer still
assists his partners
in surgery once a
week, but is “almost”
retired. He served as the mission
president for the LDS church in Sweden
and as a regional representative of the
Council of the Twelve. He has survived
three coronary by-pass procedures starting
in 1980 but continues to be active
working and adopting seven children,
currently ages four to nineteen, whose
mothers are meth addicts.
John Robert Stewart, M.D.
Dr. Stewart recently retired from the
University of Utah where he taught radiation
oncology for decades. He was involved
in the planning for the Huntsman
Cancer Center at the University and
currently serves as a “Spirit of Caring”
volunteer at LDS hospital. Dr. Stewart’s
wife Ann died in April 2006 after over
fifty years of marriage.
22 23
1963
Walker J.
Ashcraft, M.D.
Dr. Ashcraft is the
Medical Director
of Hospice and
a member of the
Board of Trustees at the Marcus Daly
Hospital in Montana.
Michael S.
Clement, M.D.
Dr. Clement is
the author of the
book Children at
Health Risk and an
editor of ten other books on preparing
for passing board exams. He is a medical
photographer and has work displayed
in numerous textbooks. He is also a
consultant to the Arizona Prenatal Trust,
Maternal and Child Health with the
Arizona Department of Health Services.
Robert B.
Gibbons, M.D.
Dr. Gibbons is
a Master in the
American College
of Physicians,
a Clinical Professor of Medicine at
the University of Colorado School of
Medicine and the Chairman of Medicine
at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in
Denver. He has also served as Treasurer
of the American College of Physicians,
President of the Rocky Mountain
Rheumatism Society, and Governor of
the Colorado Chapter of the American
College of Physicians.
Kendrick O.
Morrison, M.D.
Dr. Morrison is
married and has
five children and
17 grandchildren.
He retired as Chairman of the
Department of Surgery at Cottonwood
Hospital in Murray, Utah. He has served
a medical mission for the LDS Church
and has a private pilot license, flying a
single-engine twin instrument plane.
www.medicine.utah.edu/alumni
Kent L.
Pomeroy, M.D.
Dr. Pomeroy lives
in Scottsdale,
Arizona and
practices
Orthopedic and Rehabilitation and Pain
Management Medicine. He lost his first
wife Brenda, in September 2005 from
metastatic breast cancer and recently
remarried another wonderful redhead,
who is keeping him young since she was
born two years after he graduated from
medical school! He is listed in Who’s
Who in America, Who’s Who in the World,
Who’s Who in the West, Who’s Who in
Science and Engineering and Who’s Who
in Medicine.
Donald T.
Reay, M.D.
Dr. Reay is
recently retired
as chief medical
examiner in
Seattle – King County, WA. He is also
an emeritus professor of pathology at the
University of Washington.
A. Mason
Redd, M.D.
Dr. Redd worked
as a Psychiatry
faculty member
at the University
of Utah following his residency training
until he retired in 1999. He and his wife,
Karen, then served an LDS mission as
Area Medical Advisors in the Asia North
Area for a year and a half and had a
great experience traveling around that
area caring for missionaries. They will
celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2009
and hope to gather their seven children
and seventeen grandchildren together for
a party and a family picture.
Paul Sondrup,
M.D.
Dr. Sondrup lives
in Virginia where
he is retired as
President and
CEO of Professional Resource Services.
Otto S. Shill Jr., M.D.
Dr. Shill retired from Otolaryngology
in 1995 and lives in Mesa, Arizona. He
presided over the Florida Jacksonville
Mission from1995-1998 and has served
two other medical missions.

Alumni Notebook
D. Ray Thomas,
M.D.
Dr. Thomas
retired in 2002
from 36 years of
private practice
as a pediatrician
in Holladay, UT. He has a great wife,
seven children and 35 grandchildren.
He served a church assignment in the
Philippines from 2003 to 2006 and is
currently serving at the BYU Jerusalem
Center taking care of students.
1968
Elijah Reed Heywood, M.D.
Dr. Heywood retired as Chairman of the
OB-GYN department at Women and
Children’s Hospital in Charleston, W.V.
in 2002. His son took his place as the
residency program director and he occasionally
consults with the department
about educational issues. He went on
a three year mission as President of the
San Jose Mission for the LDS Church.
He is recovering from back surgery but is
getting around well with a cane.
Wayne “Curt” Kaesche, M.D.
Dr. Kaesche was a U.S. Navy Lt.
Commander from 1970 to 1972. He
was in private orthopedic practice
from 1976-2002 and also worked as
an Associate Clinical Professor at the
Oregon Health Sciences University.
Jon C.
Lloyd, M.D.
Dr Lloyd is a
Senior Clinical
Advisor at the
Plexus Institute in
Pennsylvania where he coordinates a 60hosptial
PD/MRSA prevention network.
From 2005-2007 he was the co-principal
investigator for a Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation grant supporting six beta
site hospitals in using Positive Deviance
(PD) to prevent MRSA healthcare
associated infections. Dr. Lloyd and
Jacqueline have been married for 46
years and have two children Hilary, age
35, and Hardy age 31.
Nathaniel M.
Matolo, M.D.
Dr. Matolo
officially retired
on December 31,
2007. However,
a month later,
he went back to work on a part-time
basis two or three days a week teaching
surgery residents and medical students at
the University of California Davis/
Sacramento VA Medical Center and San
Joaquin General Hospital. He belongs to
over 20 surgical and professional societies
and is widely published. He enjoys foreign
travel, golf, swimming and hiking
in the Sierras and around Lake Tahoe.
E. Bruce McIff, M.D.
Dr. McIff retired from neuro/interventional
radiology practice on June
30, 2008. In his long career he served
as President of the Utah Medical
Association from 1985-86 and was
selected as Utah Doctor of the Year in
1987. He is very grateful for an unbelievable
40 years in medicine.
Craig H. McQueen, M.D.
Dr. McQueen has had a busy and
fulfilling career in Orthopedics and
Sports Medicine. From 1973 to 1990
he served as a team physician for the
University of Utah and from 1980 to
2008 as the team physician for Highland
High School’s football and rugby teams.
He’s also worked with the Salt Lake
Trappers, Buzz, Stingers and Bees. He
was Chairman of the Sports Medicine
Committee of the United States Figure
Skating Association from 1998-2000
and the team physician to one Jr. World
and two World figure skating teams.
Anthony R.
Temple, M.D.
Dr. Temple has
spent his career in
pediatric clinical
pharmacology
and medical toxicology. He taught at the
University of Utah College of Medicine
for eight years, then worked for McNeil
Consumer Healthcare for 29 years. He
semi-retired in 2005 and moved from
Pennsylvania to St. George, UT in 2008.
He has been married to Mary K. since
the start medical school in 1964 and has
four children and seven grandchildren.
call for
Nominations
The University of Utah School
of Medicine Alumni Association
Distinguished Awards
The School of Medicine Alumni Association Board
invites you to nominate your colleagues and classmates
for consideration for the 2009 Distinguished
Alumni and Distinguished Service Awards. School
of Medicine alumni, faculty and staff, as well as
other professional colleagues, may submit nominations.
Complete nominations should include:
• A letter stating for which award you submit the
nomination, outlining in detail the nominee’s
qualifications.
• The nominee’s curriculum vitae, including
current address and phone number.
• Secondary letters or materials in support of the
nomination, if available.
Submit to: Kristin Wann Gorang, Director,
SOM Alumni Relations,
540 Arapeen Drive, Suite 125,
Salt Lake City, UT 84108.
E-mails are welcome at:
Kristin.gorang@hsc.utah.edu
Deadline: Postmarked February 28, 2009
A list of past awardees is available at:
www.medicine.utah.edu/alumni/network/
awards/index.htm
Distinguished Alumni Award
This award is presented annually to
a graduate of the School of Medicine who exemplifies
the practice of medicine. Achievement is recognized
through excellence in clinical practice, academic
activities and research accomplishments.
Distinguished Service Award
This award recognizes individuals, both alumni
and non-alumni, who have made outstanding c
ontributions to the school, the community, and the
practice of medicine.
Save The Date
Connecting with U
2009 Medical Alumni Weekend
September 24-26
Thursday, September 24
Awards Banquet and 50-Year Class Celebration
Friday, September 25
School of Medicine Department Events
Dean’s State of the School Address
Class Reunions: 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974, 1979,
1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004
Saturday, September 26
Continuing Medical Education Conference
Topic: Infectious Diseases
Tailgating Party at Alumni House
U of U Homecoming Football Game
versus Louisville Save
In Memoriam
The Date
Joseph R. Carlisle, M.D. M.D. 1951 15 Nov 02
Joe Lawrence Lara, M.D. M.D. 1976 02 Nov 08
John Hal Marsden, M.D. M.D. 1948 14 July 08
Charles C. Sorensen, M.D. M.D. 1968 03 Jan 08
We Want www.medicine.utah.edu/alumni
to Hear from You
Giving Corner
MAKING TAX-FREE LIFETIME
GIFTS FROM YOUR IRA
If you are 70 and ½ and required
to take your minimum
IRA distribution that you don’t
really need, it might be time
to consider what the recently
extended charitable IRA
legislation can do for you.
This legislation continues to allow
individuals aged 70 and ½
or older to make outright gifts
through direct transfers from
Jeff Paoletti
their IRAs to the University of
Utah without paying income tax on the distribution. You can
make gifts of up to $100,000 in 2008 and 2009. If you are able
to take advantage of this opportunity, you can improve your
overall tax situation while helping us continue to achieve our
vision for the future.
This opportunity applies only to IRAs and not other types of
retirement plans. Owners of ineligible plans, such as 403(b)s
and Keoghs have the option to roll over amounts into an IRA
and then make an eligible gift from that account.
You can make a direct transfer if:
1. You are 70 ½ or older on the day of the gift.
2. You make the gift on or before December 31, 2008
and December 31, 2009.
3. You transfer funds directly from an IRA.
4. Your transfer is to the University of Utah or other
qualified charities.
5. You can give $100,000 or less per year in 2008 and 2009.
(Your spouse also can give up to $100,000 from his or
her IRA if 70 and ½).
It is simple to do and creates a lasting legacy such as a named
endowed scholarship in the school of medicine. Call your IRA
administrator to make the transfer, or contact Jeff Paoletti,
Executive Director of Planned Giving at the University of Utah,
801-581-3726.
24 25

Welcome Class of 2012
540 South Arapeen Drive
Suite 125
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108-1298
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