Sam W. Banks, MD (1905-1990)
10th ABMS President 1963-1965
Dr. Banks had a long and distinguished history with the ABMS and the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery (ABOS).
Dr. Banks first became involved with ABOS in 1948 as an examiner. He was elected as Secretary of the Board in 1956, serving two terms until his retirement in 1962. Among the changes he made during his tenure, many were focused on requirements and examination reform. For example, preceptorships were eliminated as acceptable training. Candidates for examination could only be identified by number. Two examiners were assigned for each oral in the Part II examination and debriefing sessions became an integral part of the examination process.
Dr. Banks established consistency in Board affairs. He secured legal council and reorganized Board finances. Decisions affecting the Board and its diplomates could not be made without careful consideration by the who board.
Prior to his involvement with ABOS and following his internship and residency, Dr. Banks started private practice in Chicago for a few months before entering the Armed Forces in 1942. He became Chief of Orthopaedics at Ream General Hospital in Florida and later at Wakeman General Hospital at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. After the war, he returned to Chicago and private practice. He also served as an Associate at Northwestern University Medical School and as an attending surgeon at the Veterans Hospital in Hines, Illinois.
At the time of his appointment with ABMS, Dr. Banks was Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School and Attending Orthopaedic Surgeon, Chicago Memorial Hospital and Woodlawn Hospital.
Dr. Banks received his medical degree from the University of Chicago School of Medicine. He was certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery.
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John C. Beck, MD
16th ABMS President 1976-78
At the time of his appointment with ABMS, Dr. Beck was Director of the Clinical Scholar Program Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine.
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John A. Benson, Jr, MD
ABMS Distinguished Service Award Recipient 1992
Dr. Benson was the first President of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). A position he held for sixteen years until his retirement in September of 1991. During his tenure, his emphasis on standard-setting focused on maintaining the profession’s standards of excellence, improving the certification process through continued research and enhancing and evaluating the humanistic qualities of internists and subspecialists. Prior to becoming President, Dr. Benson served as Chairman of the ABIM Subspecialty Board on Gastroenterology, as well as ABIM Secretary-Treasurer.
Following his retirement from the ABIM, Dr. Benson served as Dean of the Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU) School of Medicine from 1991- 1993. As Dean and Professor Emeritus, he continued to teach medical students, and served on OHSU Center for Ethics in Health Care and the boards of two regional educational foundations.
Among his memberships and awards, he is past President of the American Gastroenterological Association, a Master of the American College of Physicians and receiver of its John Phillips Award, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
Since 2003, Dr. Benson is Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. There he teaches medical students, coordinated the reaccreditation of UNMC, and for the Nebraska Medical Association co-chairs the task force on health care reform.
Dr. Benson received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in its subspecialty of Gastroenterology.
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Robert J. Blendon, ScD
ABMS Public Member, 1988-1990
Robert J. Blendon is currently professor of health policy and political analysis at both the Harvard School of Public Health and the John F. Kennedy School of Government and has received outstanding teaching awards from both institutions. He has also received both the national Eisenberg award and the Mendelsohn award for excellence in mentoring.
Dr. Blendon directs the Harvard Opinion Research Program, which focuses on the better understanding of public knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about major domestic public policy issues. He also co-directs the Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey project, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and previously directed a project for National Public Radio and KFF on American attitudes toward health and social policy, which was cited by the National Journal as setting a new standard of public opinion surveys in broadcast journalism.
From 1987 to 1996, Dr. Blendon served as chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health and as the deputy director of the Harvard University Division of Health Policy Research and Education. Prior to his Harvard appointment, he was senior vice-president at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Blendon was senior editor of a three volume series The Future of American Health Care and is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a former member of the advisory committee to the director of the Center for Disease Control, and a former member of the editorial board of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Blendon is a graduate of Marietta College and received his master’s of business administration and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago and the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, respectively.
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Thomas H. Brem, MD (1910-1990)
ABMS President 1968-69
At the time of his election to ABMS, Dr. Brem was Head of the Department of Medicine, University of Southern California School of Medicine.
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L. Edward Bryant, Jr.
ABMS Public Member 2001 – present
Mr. Bryant’s expertise and passion for promoting quality in all aspects of healthcare has been an invaluable asset to ABMS.
He has represented healthcare providers and professionals since 1967. He founded the first Health Law Department in Chicago in 1979. That group today includes more than 65 lawyers in multiple firm offices, all of whom practice in the health industry.
Mr. Bryant’s legal work on behalf of the healthcare industry has emphasized the formation of integrated delivery systems, corporate reorganizations, mergers and consolidations, acquisitions and divestitures, diversification, hospital closures, joint ventures, managed care arrangements, medical groups and physician contracts, special risk audits, canon law compliance through use of civil law, patient care issues, medical staff privileges, academic affiliations and federal taxation of exempt and taxable organizations.
In addition to his service with ABMS, he has served as a national advisory council member of the National Institute for Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health.
Mr. Bryant has published and spoken widely within the health industry and to the Health Law Bar. He taught courses at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern and at the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. He was a founding member of both the Legal Advisory Committee to the Catholic Health Association and the Illinois Association of Hospital Attorneys.
His many honors include being named by the National Law Journal in 1985 as one of the outstanding health lawyers in the country, an honor also bestowed upon him in 1991 by the Illinois Legal Times and again in 1991 by the Chicago Lawyer. Chambers USA extended its prestigious #1 Rating to him in 2004 and 2005. He has also been selected by surveys of peers to the status of Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers in Illinois, the Leading Lawyers Network of Illinois (top 5%) and Illinois Super Lawyers. All five from the first date that these designations were made.
Mr. Bryant received both a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Juris Doctor from Northwestern University.
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Robin C. Buerki, MD (1892-1991)
4th ABMS President 1947-1950
Dr. Buerki was one of the founding members of the Advisory Board for Medical Specialties and has the distinct honor of attending every Assembly meeting until the time of his death.
Dr. Buerki served the healthcare field as a physician, hospital administrator and medical school dean. From 1923 to 1941 he was Superintendent of the former Wisconsin General Hospital and Bradley Children’s Hospital, and Executive of the medical school. He was President of the American Hospital Association in 1936. Four years later he acted as Director of Study of the Commission on Graduate Medical Education and later became Secretary-Treasurer of the Advisory Council on Medical Education, Licensure and Hospitals. Dr. Buerki served Henry Ford Hospital for 14 years. He founded what is now known as the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).
Dr. Buerki is recognized as the founding father of the Six Clinic Conference, a group of practice clinics and hospitals whose leaders meet annually to share ideas and concerns in healthcare. He was inducted into the Health Care Hall of Fame in 1989. He also has been honored by Blue Cross as a Pioneer in Medical Insurance.
Dr. Buerki received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. He was certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
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Louis A. Buie, MD (1890-1975)
ABMS Secretary-Treasurer 1948-1970
Between1949 and 1970, Dr. Buie was a member of the Advisory Board for Medical Specialties, serving as a member of the Committee on Standards and Examinations from 1953 to 1955 and as Secretary-Treasurer of the board from 1958 to 1970.
Dr. Buie entered the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine in 1917. After serving in the US Army between 1918 and 1919, he returned to Mayo as a consultant in 1919. Encouraged by Dr. William J. Mayo, he organized the Section on Proctology and was head of that section until he became a Senior Consultant in 1953. In addition, Dr. Buie was a Professor of Proctology in the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine.
Not only was Dr. Buie an internationally recognized teacher of Proctology and author of three textbooks on the specialty, he also designed several instruments and apparatuses for improving rectal examinations, including the sigmiodoschope, the proctoscopic table and biopsy forceps.
As one of the founders of the American Board of Proctology in 1934, Dr. Buie played a major role in the development of the specialty. He served on the Certifying Committee in Proctology of the American Board of Surgery from 1936 to 1949. When the American Board of Proctology achieved independent status, he was elected Secretary-Treasurer and served for five years (1949-1954). Similarly active in the American Proctologic Society, he was elected to membership in 1923 and served as president in 1927-28 and again in 1934-35. He was Chairman of the specialty section on Gastroenterology and Proctology of the American Medical Association (AMA) between 1936 and 1937 and was also a member of the Judicial Council of the AMA. In 1951, he was named Chairman of the AMA Council on Constitution and Bylaws. It was that Council which revised the AMA Code of Medical Ethics, an endeavor in which Dr. Buie played a major role, and for which he received national acclaim. He was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and also held Honorary Membership in the Royal Society of Medicine.
After retiring from practice in 1955, Dr. Buie helped establish the journal Diseases of the Colon and Rectum and served as its first editor from 1957-1967.
Dr. Buie received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina and medical degree from the University of Maryland. Dr. Buie was certified in Proctology during the first exam given by the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery on November 12, 1949.
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