Betty B. Thompson, M.D. Award - Your Help Needed

Sustaining and enhancing anesthesiology as a profession requires us to attract new members to the fold. Engaging, energizing and educating medical students plays a big role in meeting that goal.

In 2004, the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine (APOM) at OHSU, under the leadership of Jeffrey Kirsch, M.D., established the Betty B. Thompson, M.D. Award. Each year, the graduating resident who best demonstrates excellence in teaching medical students receives this honor. Dr. Thompson served on the faculty in APOM at OHSU for 27 years, during which she spent much time educating medical students.

Dr. Thompson and her husband John, also a physician, wish to create an endowment that will use the income to support a medical student’s travels on a medical mission to a developing country for a week or two. Like the Stevens Memorial Fund, which provides funding for anesthesia residents, the new fund would create new and exciting opportunities for medical students. Both Betty and John have traveled to Kenya five times to work in a mission hospital, finding the experience both “meaningful and satisfying.”

Now this is where the Thompsons need the help of the Oregon Society of Anesthesiologists. The OHSU Administration requires that a medical student traveling to a third world country under this program would need to work with a board-certified anesthesiologist. Dr. Dawn Dillman, who is the director for medical student education at APOM, has identified an opportunity for a trip to Peru in November, supporting a cardiac surgical team. Unfortunately, the timing cuts across two educational modules at OHSU, limiting interest.

Dr. Joanne Jene has correctly noted that a number of the OSA’s members participate in medical missions to developing countries. Engaging our members in this activity will increase the number and type of opportunities, provide an enhanced experience for our members, and will help sustain our profession. If you are participating in a medical mission trip, please consider having a medical student accompany you. Let Jeff Kirsch or Dawn Dillman know of your interest.