Fall 2010 - Eastern Virginia Medical School

Shireen Kirk poses with her father, H. Desmond Hayes, MD, a pioneer ingeriatrics education at EVMS. Shireen and her husband, Bill, picturedbelow at right, created an endowed fund to honor Dr. Hayes.philanthropyHayes Endowmenthonors pioneer in geriatricsAs a longtime faculty member at EasternVirginia Medical School, H. Desmond Hayes, MD,played an instrumental role in shaping geriatriceducation and helped lay the groundwork for theGlennan Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology.Now, one of his children has created a $100,000endowment in his honor to benefit the center andmedical students interested in geriatrics.The H. Desmond Hayes, MD, ProfessorEmeritus Endowment, established by Dr. Hayes’daughter Shireen Kirk and her husband, Bill, willprovide copies of the comprehensive clinical guide“Geriatrics at Your Fingertips” to all third-yearmedical students, starting this fall. Earned interestfrom the endowment also will pay for a second-yearresident to attend the annual national conferenceof the American Geriatric Society and supportactivities of the student-run Geriatrics Club.The gift continues Dr. Hayes’ drive to attractmore physicians to geriatrics, a growing need as thepopulation ages and current doctors retire.“He has realized for years that we as a nationare having challenges bringing qualified studentsinto this field and into communities that desperatelyneed them,” says Connie L. Hedrick, director ofdevelopment at EVMS.Dr. Hayes joined EVMS as a faculty member infamily and community medicine in 1975. In 1990,he and John Franklin, MD, an internal medicineprofessor, spearheaded an effort to create two-weekclerkships in geriatrics for all fourth-year medicalstudents. That led to a geriatrics division withinthe Department of Internal Medicine and later tothe EVMS Glennan Center, which opened in 1996.Today, the center helps seniors across the region liveindependently for as long as possible.Dr. Hayes, now79 and still livingin Norfolk, says hehopes his daughter’sgift will help moreBill Kirk and his wife, Shireen,created the endowment inhonor of Shireen’s father.students see the benefits of a career in geriatrics.“Older patients bring incredible life experiencesand often pose tremendous medical challenges,”Dr. Hayes says. “It’s not a glamorous specialty, butit is mind-boggling how many people are goingto need care and how important their doctors aregoing to be.”Shireen Kirk was happy to collaborate with herfather on creating the endowment. “We are honoringhis passion for bettering this field of medicine, whichis becoming more and more important by the day,”Mrs. Kirk says. “We are so proud to continue thelegacy he began at EVMS.”PHILANTHROPYwww.evms.edu FALL 2010 39