Scott & White celebrates 80 years of teaching doctors
- Graduate Medical Education program one of oldest in Texas -

TEMPLE, Texas – Scott & White Memorial Hospital has honored some of the top doctors from around Central Texas and the U.S., who completed its renowned residency program – bringing the Scott & White approach to healthcare beyond Temple or even Texas.

During its recent 80th Anniversary of the graduate medical education program at Scott & White, officials recognized the contribution of both Scott & White and its education partner, the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, to the state of healthcare education and, ultimately, patient care.

“Our unique system of care has been passed down to hundreds of doctors who understand and practice our approach to patients that doesn’t end when a patient leaves this building or our clinics or hospitals,” said Dr. Donald Wesson, chief academic officer at Scott & White and vice dean of the Temple campus of the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

Wesson noted that one of the key issues facing healthcare professionals today is handoffs, the point at which a patient is transferred to another healthcare provider. At Scott & White, the handoff is seamless, with all healthcare professionals sharing the same electronic medical records, the same network in which to confer about a patient, and the same philosophy that patient health depends on a comprehensive approach. “Exposure to that optimum model makes for better medical training,” said Wesson.

This so called “integrated Model” has been touted nationally as the model for optimum and effective health care delivery in the U.S.

“It’s clear,” said Wesson, “that the integrated model is the future. And our residents are training for what medicine will be in the future.” Nearly 800 residents have gone through the Scott & White program since 2000, and thousands more during the program’s 80 year history.

Among the Scott & White physicians honored as distinguished alumni at the 80th anniversary celebration were:

Emergency medicine:

Timothy Stallard, M.D.

Christopher Colvin M.D.

Jos. Heidenreich M.D.

Urology:

Kristopher Wagner, M.D.

Belur Patel M.D.

Plastic surgery:

Robert Weber, M.D.

Psychiatry:

Phillip Antunes, M.D.

Ophthalmology:

Paul Dieckert, M.D.

Samuel Fulcher, M.D.

Family medicine:

Tiffany Berry, M.D.

Summer Fillmore, D.O.

Kyle Smith, M.D.

Dermatology:

Ronald Grimwood, M.D.

Radiology:

Gill Naul, M.D.

Orthopaedic surgery:

Robert Probe, M.D.

Scott & White’s graduate medical education program was accredited in 1928. Prior to that time, aspiring physicians apprenticed with local doctors, who taught them based not on a curriculum but on their own knowledge. Since that time, the program has graduated physicians who have fanned the state and national to provide some of the finest medical care available. “Our program, which Texans have come to know and trust for a century, is making its way into the nation, and I believe it has enhanced the quality of medical care wherever our former residents ultimately practice medicine,” said Wesson.

For more information, contact:

Scott Clark

Media and Public Relations

254-724-9724 or 254-724-3047

Pager: 254-762-1406

sdclark@swmail.sw.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 27, 2008