Internationally known trauma surgeon and University of Vermont College of Medicine Class of 1995 alumna Rochelle Dicker, M.D.,  presented both the Wennar Lecture and the Social Justice & Health Equity Lecture at UVM on Thursday, October 22, 2015.

The annual Wennar Lecture was delivered at Surgery Grand Rounds on October 22 from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. in Davis Auditorium in the Medical Education Center on level two of the UVM Medical Center.

Dicker also presented the Social Justice & Health Equity Lecture in the College of Medicine’s Medical Education Center at noon on October 22. The talk was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Dicker is an associate professor of surgery and anesthesia at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and co-directs the Center for Global Surgical Studies, which focuses on research and education to better address injury and surgical disease among low- and middle-income patients in other countries. She founded the UCSF Department of Surgery's Wraparound Project in 2005 with an aim to reduce recurring violent injury using hospital-based case workers to shepherd patients to risk-reduction resources and provide long-term follow-up care. These efforts, which have reduced the San Francisco injury recidivism rate from 16 percent to four percent, earned her a 2013 “Annual Heroes” award, as well as a UCSF Chancellor’s Award for Public Service. Dicker, who also serves as director of the San Francisco Injury Center, received a 2015 Service to Medicine and Community Award from the UVM College of Medicine’s Medical Alumni Association in recognition of her outstanding record of community service.

The annual Martin H. Wennar, M.D. Lectureship in Professionalism at UVM was established in 2009 to honor the late Martin Wennar, M.D., a former St. Albans surgeon and clinical associate professor of surgery at the University of Vermont College of Medicine. In addition to lectures, the fund supports related educational activities that encourage professionalism among physicians and other health professionals.

Learn more about the UVM College of Medicine Office of Diversity and Inclusion here.