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

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