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AARC Congress 2014 Gazette for Tuesday, Dec. 9

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Congratulations, 2014 Awards Winners!

The following top performers in the AARC, NBRC, and CoARC received awards during this morning’s Awards Ceremony. Please join us in congratulating them on their well-deserved honors.

  • Jimmy A. Young Medal: Charles G. Durbin Jr. MD
  • NBRC/AMP William W. Burgin Jr. MD and Robert M. Lawrence MD Education Recognition Award: Christina Rocks
  • William F. Miller MD Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Janelle Gardiner MS RRT AE-C
  • NBRC/AMP Gareth B. Gish MS RRT Memorial Postgraduate Education Recognition Award: Sherry Whiteman BS RRT
  • Morton B. Duggan, Jr., Memorial Education Recognition Award: Amelia Andrews
  • Jimmy A. Young Memorial Education Recognition Award: Tori Theobalt
  • Charles W. Serby COPD Research Fellowship: Kim Bennion MHS BSRT RRT CHC
  • Monaghan/Trudell Fellowship for Aerosol Technique Development: Kari Armstrong
  • Philips Respironics Fellowship in Non-Invasive Respiratory Care: Zachary Gantt RRT
  • Philips Respironics Fellowship in Mechanical Ventilation: Sigurd Aarrestad MD
  • CareFusion Fellowship for Neonatal and Pediatric Therapists: Howard Stein MD
  • Forrest M. Bird Lifetime Scientific Achievement Award: John J. Marini MD
  • Dr. Charles H. Hudson Award for Cardiopulmonary Public Health: Stanton A. Glantz PhD
  • Thomas L. Petty MD Invacare Award for Excellence in Home Respiratory Care: Angela King RRT-NPS RPFT
  • Mike West MBA RRT Patient Education Achievement Award: Timothy Op’t Holt RRT AE-C FAARC
  • NBRC/AMP H. Frederick Helmholz Jr. MD Educational Research Grant: Kathy S. Myers Moss MEd RRT-ACCS
  • Ikaria Best Paper Award by Best First Author: Edward D Shepherd MD
  • Dr. Allen DeVilbiss Best Paper Award: Daniel F Fisher MSc RRT
  • Draeger Literary Award: Azadeh Bojmehrani PhD MSc Eng
  • Albert H. Andrews Jr MD Memorial Award: Thomas M. Fuhrman MD FCCM FCCP
  • Dr. Ralph L Kendall Outstanding Site Visitor Award: Diane Flatland MS RRT-NPS CPFT RCP LP
  • Héctor León Garza MD Achievement Award for Excellence in International Respiratory Care: Dean R Hess PhD RRT FAARC
  • International Fellows: Rania El-Farrash MD, Chulee Jones PhD PT, Yang Liu MD, Nicolas Roux PT
  • Specialty Practitioners of the Year: Adult Acute Care, Hui-Qing Ge (Grace) MS RRT; Continuing Care/Rehabilitation, Susan Pfanner CRT LRCP; Diagnostics, Ann Wilson BS RRT RPFT AE-C; Education, Helen Sorenson MA RRT FAARC; Long Term Care, Zachary Gantt RRT; Management, Allen Wentworth MEd RRT FAARC; Neonatal-Pediatrics Karl Kaminski BSRT RRT-NPS; Sleep, Bernadette White MS RRT RPSGT; Surface & Air Transport, Jennifer Watts BS RRT-NPS C-NPT
  • Zenith Awards: Draeger, CareFusion, Teleflex, Masimo, Covidien, ResMed
  • Honorary Membership: Edna Fiore
  • Life Membership: Debra J Fox MBA RRT-NPS FAARC
  • AARC Fellows: Jenni L Raake RRT-NPS FAARC, Raymond Pisani BS RRT-NPS FAARC, Gene Andrews BS RRT FAARC, Denise M Johnson MA RRT FAARC, Michael Scott Gibbons BS RRT NRP FAARC, Floyd E Boyer BS RRT RCP FAARC, Douglas M Pursley MEd RRT-ACCS FAARC, Joe Dwan MSEd RRT-ACCS RRT-NPS RRT-SDS CPFT RPSGT FAARC, Lon W Keim MD FACP FACCP FAARC, Sue Ciarlariello MBA RRT-NPS CMTE RCP FAARC, John A Rutkowski MBA MPA RRT FAARC, Eileen M Censullo MBA RRT FAARC, Georgianna G Sergakis PhD RRT FAARC, Shane Keene DHSc RRT-NPS CPFT RPSGT FAARC, Jonathan Brady Scott MS RRT-ACCS FAARC, Carl W Willoughby RRT RCP FAARC

Zenith Awards go to top performers

The AARC was pleased to bestow its annual Zenith Awards on the following companies: Draeger, CareFusion, Teleflex, Masimo, Covidien, and ResMed.

All of these companies were selected based on the quality of their products, accessibility of their sales staff, responsiveness, service record, truth in advertising, and support of the respiratory care profession.

16 members inducted as AARC Fellows

The AARC recognized these 16 members with the prestigious “Fellow of the American Association for Respiratory Care” designation during today’s Awards Ceremony:

  • Jenni L. Raake RRT-NPS FAARC
  • Raymond Pisani BS RRT-NPS FAARC
  • Gene Andrews BS RRT FAARC
  • Denise M. Johnson MA RRT FAARC
  • Michael Scott Gibbons BS RRT NRP FAARC
  • Floyd E. Boyer BS RRT RCP FAARC
  • Douglas M. Pursley MEd RRT-ACCS FAARC
  • Joe Dwan MSEd RRT-ACCS RRT-NPS RRT-SDS CPFT-SDS RPSGT FAARC
  • Lon W. Keim MD FACP FACCP FAARC
  • Sue Ciarlariello MBA RRT-NPS CMTE RCP FAARC
  • John A. Rutkowski MBA MPA RRT FAARC
  • Eileen M. Censullo MBA RRT FAARC
  • Georgianna G. Sergakis PhD RRT FAARC
  • Shane Keene DHSc RRT-NPS CPFT RPSGT FAARC
  • Jonathan Brady Scott MS RRT-ACCS FAARC
  • Carl W. Willoughby RRT RCP FAARC

All of these members have excelled in their respective fields, and we thank them for the value they have added to our profession.

2014 Jimmy A. Young Medalist “has our back”

As a kid growing up in Berwyn Heights, MD, back in the 1950s and 1960s, Charles Durbin MD FAARC loved the great outdoors and looked up to his father, who was a veterinarian researcher at a nearby FDA facility. But his father didn’t want him to become a vet — he thought “human doctor” was a better aspiration for his son. So when it came time to enroll in college, our 2014 Jimmy A. Young Medalist spent 2 years at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, PA, and then applied for and was accepted into the 5-year medical school program at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD.

When his father unexpectedly passed away during his second year at Hopkins, however, the younger Durbin suffered what he called a “crisis of purpose.” “I really didn’t want to be a doctor — I was in med school because my dad wasn’t a ‘doctor,’” he recalls now. “With him being gone and having not seen any role-model physicians whom I admired, I decided to drop out of medicine and become a biology teacher.”

Finding his passion

Luckily for medicine and respiratory care both, that never happened. Dr. Durbin’s dean explained why dropping out would not be a wise choice (he’d lose credits, and it would take him even longer to graduate with just a bachelor’s in biology). He persevered instead, ultimately finding the specialty that was right for him — anesthesiology. “I saw anesthesia could kindle my passion,” says Dr. Durbin; and all these years later, he says it’s still doing just that. “Anesthesia has been the perfect fit for me. I use my mechanical skills and my brain.”

Anesthesiology proved to be his pathway into respiratory care as well when, as a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Virginia (UVa) in Charlottesville, he got involved in a new program at the medical center. “UVa had recruited an anesthesiologist-intensivist to start an ICU program,” explains Dr. Durbin. “He recruited me to be the third member of the surgical ICU team, and I was assigned to help with respiratory care teaching at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC).” Not long after, he also became the medical director for the department at UVa.

Legendary support

His support of respiratory therapists both at PVCC and UVa is legendary. According to Bill Dubbs MEd MHA RRT FAARC, who came on board as department director, Dr. Durbin not only offered the typical support expected of a good medical director, he went above and beyond to help therapists grow their scope of practice. “It was Charlie’s research skills and keen interest in quality improvement that initially contributed substantially to the growth and development of those respiratory therapists and that department,” says Dubbs.

Among his most significant contributions were mentoring the therapists who published the landmark paper published in RESPIRATORY CARE in the late 1980s on the value of therapist-driven protocols and his own co-authorship of 2 papers that found respiratory issues were the most common reasons for readmission to an ICU and the addition of respiratory therapists to the team could reduce mortality among those patients. “These concepts are recognized today as supporting the development of rapid response teams and contributing to improving patient outcomes,” says Dr. Durbin.

Long list of service

It was only natural that Dr. Durbin’s commitment to respiratory care extend to the AARC, and over the years he’s served the Association in more capacities than we can mention here. He spent many years on the AARC Congress Program Committee, helping to ensure top-quality educational sessions for respiratory professionals and has always been there to lend a hand to beginning researchers preparing their first OPEN FORUM presentations. His work with our RESPIRATORY CARE journal, where he currently serves as associate editor, has helped guide the publication to its current stature as a key peer-reviewed publication in the field.

Along the way, he’s played an instrumental role in our 2015 and Beyond project as well, which is setting the stage for future development of the profession. “My contributions to the 2015 and Beyond project, which will bring the RT profession to parity with others on the health care team, will be my legacy contribution,” says the physician.

Everyday words and actions

But for the therapists who have worked with him over the years, it’s his unwavering support of their day-in, day-out responsibilities that has really set Dr. Durbin apart from the crowd. Says Patricia Doorley MS RRT FAARC, therapy services coordinator with pulmonary diagnostics and respiratory therapy services for the UVa Health System, “I believe Dr. Durbin’s value can best be found in the thousands of small, and sometimes seemingly insignificant, things he has done over the years... by his everyday words and actions, he has demonstrated to all of us that the work we do and our professional pursuits are important and valued.”

Read more about Dr. Durbin and his amazing career in your October issue of AARC Times.

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