Above and beyond

National Physicians Week: Learn about 10 inspiring DOs who are doing great things

As the nation recognizes physicians, read about DOs who are killing it all year long.

Traditionally celebrated on March 30, National Doctors Day was initially conceived by a physician’s wife to honor the contributions of the nation’s physicians. Last year, the advocacy group Physicians Working Together led a campaign to extend National Doctors Day to a whole week, recognized March 25-31 this year, during which the group is offering an online conference.

Celebrate National Physicians Week by learning about 10 DOs who are doing big things in medicine and in their communities all year long:

Italo Subbarao, DO, demonstrates the HiRO (Health Integrated Rescue Operations) ambulance drone. Dr. Subbarao specializes in domestic and international disaster response and is currently the chief operating officer and senior associate dean at William Carey University.

Italo Subbarao, DO, developed an ambulance drone to provide emergency assistance in disaster situations when help can’t quickly reach victims. Major media outlets, including CNN, PBS and USA Today, have covered Dr. Subbarao’s drone. Learn more.

Kristin Devor, DO, recently started her own medical practice based on exercise and nutrition. Here’s how she did it.

Tyree Winters, DO, a pediatric obesity specialist, makes fitness fun by leading hip-hop dance classes for his patients and others in his community. “I decided I wanted to do a dance class for kids,” he said. “So we moved the chairs out of the way in the waiting room and we started with current music and dances that were not difficult so kids could catch on.”

Participants in the Community Health and Social Services Center's healthy lifestyle boot camp, organized by Richard Bryce, DO, pause during their walk along the Detroit River.

Richard Bryce, DO, led a healthy lifestyle boot camp to combat obesity and raise nutritional awareness in Detroit youth. He also prescribes fresh fruits and vegetables to his patients from his Detroit clinic’s farmers market, an act that earned him the Advanced Primary Care Practice Award from the the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative last year.

Stacey Pierce-Talsma, DO, MS (back of room, center), leads students in a group yoga practice during a new yoga and anatomy elective course at TUCOM.

Stacey Pierce-Talsma, DO, MS, has made studying anatomy more fun by introducing a yoga-and-anatomy class at Touro University California College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo. The class also teaches students how to use yoga for stress relief. Learn more and read a Q&A with Dr. Pierce-Talsma on why she chose academic medicine.

Roozehra Khan, DO, is a neurocritical care specialist and advocate for women in medicine. She runs the website The Female Doc and describes how she got into neurocritical care here.

Alan Janssen, DO, is on a mission to educate health care professionals about human trafficking. He helped develop the Human Trafficking Victim Identification Toolkit for Physicians and Other Medical Professionals.

Shayna Mancuso, DO, an ob-gyn, developed the first-ever emergency response system for obstetrics at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois, where she serves as an obstetrics and gynecology hospitalist and health systems clinician.

Dr. Ballard teaches and practices at Augusta (Georgia) University.

Jedidiah Ballard, DO, the 2016 Ultimate Men’s Health Guy, is an emergency medicine physician and former Army Ranger who also works with Smile Train, a charity that helps fix cleft lips and palates in children.

Ingrid Carter, DO (right), examines a patient in Uganda while Kelsea Sandefur, OMS III, assists and another student observes. Dr. Carter has helped lead global health care teams in Uganda, Haiti, Ghana and India.

Ingrid Carter, DO, has helped lead medical mission trips to Uganda, Haiti, Ghana and India. In this article, she offers advice on how students can finance their own medical mission trips.

2 comments

  1. Michael R.Young ,DO

    All the articles highlighting the efforts by DO’s to help in their communities & development of new ways to help patients are truely inspirational! Keep up the good work everyone.

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