UNC surgery professor named Distinguished Service Member

The Association of American Medical Colleges has named UNC surgery professor Dr. George Sheldon a Distinguished Service Member.

Sheldon, Zack D. Owens distinguished professor and former chair of surgery in UNC’s School of Medicine, received the honor during a recent meeting of the AAMC’s Council of Academic Societies.

The AAMC awards the Distinguished Service Member title to those who have been actively involved in the affairs of the association as chair of one of its councils or member of one of its administrative boards and who have made significant contributions to the association’s committees or task forces.

Sheldon, a former chair of the AAMC as well as the Council of Academic Societies, was a significant contributor to AAMC efforts in graduate medical education, physician work force and relationships with department chairs, said Kathleen Turner, the AAMC vice president who oversees the award.

He was the first surgeon who was not a medical school dean to be AAMC chair since 1879. Sheldon also has served as president of the American College of Surgeons, chairman of the American Board of Surgery and president of the American Surgical Association.

He served as chair of UNC’s department of surgery for 17 years, from 1984 to 2001, and remains an active member of the department’s faculty. The author of more than 300 articles and book chapters, Sheldon has held editorial board appointments at 10 national peer-reviewed medical journals.

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UNC physician receives award for excellence in teaching

Dr. Cherri Hobgood, an assistant professor in UNC’s School of Medicine, has received this year’s Excellence in Teaching Award from the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association.

The EMRA, a nonprofit organization serving resident physicians training in emergency medicine, honored Hobgood as an outstanding faculty member who has distinguished herself as a role model and mentor for residents.

The award includes a plaque presented to Hobgood and a $1,000 donation in her name to the Emergency Medicine Foundation of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

Hobgood is director of education in the department of emergency medicine at UNC. She served as EMRA president from October 1997 to October 1998. Previously, she was an officer for EMRA’s Representative Council.

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Institute on Aging sponsors event focusing on education, research and service at UNC

The UNC Institute on Aging, in collaboration with several UNC partners, will host an event Jan. 20 to celebrate aging and service.

The event, titled "The Aging Exchange: Education, Research and Service," will be held at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel located off U.S. 15-501 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event is free to the public.

Those who wish to attend should RSVP by Jan. 12 to (919) 966-9444.

The event also will honor Dr. Elizabeth Mutran, former director of the institute’s Center on Minority Aging. Mutran will deliver a distinguished lecture titled "Health and Self-Concept: Cause and Effect in Older Family and Work Roles."

For more information on the program, please call (919) 966-9444 or click on http://www.aging.unc.edu/events/agingexchange/.

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Note: To download a photo of Sheldon, click on http://www.unchealthcare.org/images/sheldon.jpg. To download a photo of Hobgood, click on http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/hobgood_cherri.jpg

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu