The Vermont Medical Society (VMS) held its 201st Annual Meeting at the Equinox Resort in Manchester, Vt., on October 24 and 25, 2014. One of the highlights of the meeting, which was co-sponsored by the University of Vermont College of Medicine, was the evening awards banquet, at which attendees heard a keynote presentation by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and the society honored four health professionals who have each made a unique contribution to improving the state’s health care system.
David Little, M.D., professor of family medicine, received the VMS Physician of the Year Award. Little was recognized for the exemplary and respectful care he has given to his many patients and families and serving as a role model within the physician community. The VMS stated that Little is “respected by his colleagues and beloved by his patients for his caring and compassionate style of delivering high quality care.” A member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, Little’s clinical focus is in the area of continuing care for patients and families. His specialties include office and home consultations for acute and chronic medical conditions and prevention care, as well as home visits. Little is a recipient of the Vermont Family Physician of the Year Award, as well as the UVM College of Medicine Alumni Association’s Service to Medicine and Community Award.
Class of 2016 medical students Tara Higgins and Whitney Thomas, M.A., were each recognized with a VMS Foundation Scholarship of $5,000. Offered through the VMS Education and Research Foundation (VMSERF), the scholarship is awarded annually to medical students who are committed to practicing medicine in Vermont and caring for Vermonters. The scholarship program, created by Mildred Reardon, M.D., UVM professor emerita of medicine, was created to encourage young doctors to return to Vermont after completing their residency training. Reardon was instrumental in forming the Vermont Medical Society Education and Research Foundation.
Both Higgins, a native of Jeffersonville, Vt., and Thomas, who grew up in Brandon, Vt., are passionate about maternal and child health and plan to pursue residencies in obstetrics and gynecology following graduation.
Class of 2016 medical student Higgins, a Bates College undergraduate alumna, was a co-leader of the 2013 UVM College of Medicine Marathon Team and is part of the Students for Reproductive Justice Student Interest Group. A certified domestic violence advocate, she served as a writing tutor, literacy advocate and research assistant in the UVM Departments of Psychiatry and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and coauthored several study publications prior to attending medical school.
Also a Bates College undergraduate alumna, Thomas has been involved in teaching elementary school students about their bodies through the College’s SmileDocs program, as well as teaching local Somali and Somali-Bantu women about prenatal health and pregnancy through the WeCare program. She worked at a National Institutes of Health lab studying pediatric bipolar disorder and completed an M.A. degree in medical sciences at Boston University School of Medicine, where she served as a tutor in the Department of Physiology and helped organize a Sarcoma Awareness event prior to joining the UVM College of Medicine’s Class of 2016.
In addition to welcoming remarks from VMS President Daniel Walsh, M.D., and UVM College of Medicine Dean Frederick C. Morin III, M.D., attendees at the VMS Annual Meeting heard presentations from several UVM physicians, including Stanley Shapiro, M.D., clinical assistant professor of medicine and Rutland Regional Medical Center cardiologist; Wendy Davis, M.D., professor of pediatrics and associate director of the National Improvement Partnership Network in the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program; and Peter Casson, M.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences.
Also during the meeting, VMS members elected UVM's James Hebert, M.D., Mackay-Page Professor of Surgery, and Wendy Davis, M.D., professor of pediatrics and associate director of the National Improvement Partnership Network, Vermont Child Health Improvement Program, as president-elect and vice president, respectively.
