Constance Brinckerhoff, Ph.D., the Nathan Smith Professor of Medicine, has been named a master by the American College of Rheumatology. One of the organization's highest honors, mastership recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of rheumatology through scholarly achievement and service to students and the profession. See this issue's "Faculty Focus" for more on Brinckerhoff's career.

John Wennberg, M.D., M.P.H. (below), the Peggy Y. Thomson Professor of the Evaluative Clinical Sciences and director emeritus of the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and Elliott Fisher, M.D., M.P.H. (below), a professor of medicine and the director of the Center for Health Policy Research, were named to a new Working Group on Medicare Reform convened by the Century Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy research organization. The group, made up of prominent health-policy experts from around the country, will assess the state of Medicare and make recommendations to reform and strengthen the program. Dartmouth is the only institution represented more than once on the 11-member group.

William Hickey, M.D., a professor of pathology, was elected a governor of the College of American Pathologists.

Paula Schnurr, Ph.D., a research professor of psychiatry, received a Ladies' Home Journal Health Breakthrough Award, in recognition of her research on post-traumatic stress disorder in female military personnel.

A teaching tool called the Computer-assisted Learning in Pediatrics Program (CLIPP) was presented with the 2008 Academic Pediatrics Association's Outstanding Teaching Award. CLIPP was created by Leslie Fall, M.D. (at left), and Norman Berman, M.D. (below); both are associate professors of pediatrics. A web-based software program, CLIPP is designed to be used by thirdyear medical students during their pediatric clerkships. It is now used by more than 80 of the 129 U.S. medical schools.

Robert McLellan, M.D., an associate professor of medicine, received the 2008 Innovative Research Award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the Mountain and Plains Education and Research Center.

Gregory Tsongalis, Ph.D., an associate professor of pathology, was elected a member of the Council of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology.

Camilo Fadul, M.D., an associate professor of medicine, received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award from the Arnold P. Gold Foundation.

James Aubuchon, M.D., a professor of pathology, received the 2008 College of American Pathologists' Distinguished Service Award.

Matthew Reilley, a third-year DMS student, was named a 2008 Research Scholar by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the National Institutes of Health.

Amanda Thornton, a third-year DMS student (as well as a former editorial intern at Dartmouth Medicine), received honorable mention in the William Osler Medal essay contest, administered by the American Association for the History of Medicine. Her essay was titled "Coerced Care: Thomas Thistlewood's account of medical practice on sugar plantation slaves in colonial Jamaica, 1751-1786."

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center was included among the nation's top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine evaluated 5,453 hospitals all across the country, and only 170 (just over 3% of the total) made the top 50. Dartmouth-Hitchcock was included among the top 50 in three of the 16 specialties that were ranked—cancer; ear, nose, and throat medicine; and gynecology. This is the seventh year in a row that DHMC's Norris Cotton Cancer Center has appeared in the U.S. News ranking.

The DMS Family Medicine Interest Group received a Program of Excellence Award from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The group also won the award in 2007.