University of Vermont College of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics William Raszka, M.D., received the Distinguished Service Award during the Vermont Medical Society’s 202nd Annual Meeting held November 6 to 7, 2015, in Stowe, Vt. In addition, UVM Professors James Hebert, M.D., Wendy Davis, M.D., and Mark Levine, M.D., were elected VMS president, president-elect and vice president respectively.
Raszka received the Distinguished Service Award – the highest award the Society can bestow upon one of its members – at a ceremony held November 7, 2015. The director of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service at the UVM Children’s Hospital, Raszka was recognized for his meritorious service in the science and art of medicine and outstanding contributions to the medical profession, its organizations, and the welfare of the public. Specifically, he was honored based on his outstanding work in both clinical medicine and medical education, as well as his profound influence on a generation of UVM medical students.
One of the early architects of the UVM College of Medicine’s Vermont Integrated Curriculum (VIC), Raszka has served as director of the “Attacks and Defenses” course in the Foundations level of the VIC since the curriculum’s launch in 2001. In addition, he has been director of the pediatrics clerkship for third-year medical students since 1996 and works closely with physicians in the UVM Medical Center’s pediatrics residency training program. His teaching skills have been recognized by medical students and residents alike, garnering numerous teaching awards, including Best Course Director, Clinical Teacher of the Year and the Golden Apple of Excellence in Teaching. The VMS award also honors Raszka’s clinical work as director of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Service at UVM Children’s Hospital, and consistent display of passion for his specialty and willingness to assist colleagues in the care of patients.
Raszka, who joined the UVM faculty in 1995, received his medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine. He completed a pediatric internship and residency at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, following which he did a pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md.
Hebert, who is now president of the VMS, is the Mackay-Page professor of surgery at the UVM College of Medicine and a UVM College of Medicine alumnus. A general surgeon at UVM Medical Center, he received a Distinguished Academic Achievement Award from the Medical Alumni Association at UVM in 2002, and in 2006 was the recipient of a Distinguished Service Award from the National Board of Medical Examiners. As president of VMS, Hebert will take a lead role in the Society’s public policy efforts in Montpelier and Washington, D.C. Priorities during the upcoming year will include efforts to ensure continued access to quality health care during Vermont’s on-going health care reform efforts, as well as collaboration between different specialty societies and physicians.
VMS members also elected Davis, a UVM professor of pediatrics, and Levine, a professor of medicine, as president-elect and vice president, respectively, at the Society’s Annual Meeting.
Davis serves as associate director of the National Improvement Partnership Network and is a senior faculty member in the Vermont Child Health Improvement Program. She served as Vermont’s health commissioner from 2008 to 2011, and is an American Academy of Pediatrics Fellow and the 2009 recipient of the Vermont Medical Society’s Distinguished Service Award.
Levine, a primary care internal medicine physician at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and the associate dean for graduate medical education at the UVM College of Medicine, has clinical and research expertise in health promotion and disease prevention, diagnostic problems, resident education and curriculum and teaching in the ambulatory setting. He was a 2014 finalist for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellowship Program.
About the Vermont Medical Society:
The Vermont Medical Society is the leading voice of physicians in the state and is dedicated to advancing the practice of medicine by advocating on behalf of Vermont’s doctors and the patients and communities they care for. The Society serves its 2,000 members through public policy advocacy on the state and federal levels, as well as by providing legal, administrative and educational support, producing a rich flow of news and information and offering member benefits that increase medical practice effectiveness and efficiency. Learn more about the VMS.