News & Events

Department of Family & Community Medicine Celebrates a Special Anniversary

The University of Maryland School of Medicine has one of the oldest family medicine residency programs in the United States. The Department of Family & Community Medicine celebrated their residency's 35^th anniversary the weekend of November 9-11 with a variety of activities, including a lecture and the second annual residents reunion.

Things kicked off November 9^th with the Bronushas Lecture, named for Ipolitas Benedict Bronushas, M.D. It was given by C. Earl Hill, M.D., Class of 1960, a staunch supporter of family medicine and a professor in the department for 23 years. It was exactly 35 years ago to the day that Dr. Hill first joined the department, and, appropriately enough, "he talked about the history of family medicine, not only here in Maryland but in general," said David Stewart, MD, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine. "And for those of you who missed it, we're probably going to call on Earl to publish it."

To acknowledge Dr. Hill's many contributions to the department, Dr. Stewart also presented him with the Bronushas statue, which features a doctor and child. "We truly would not be what we are today without the vision that you and some of the people in your era had about family medicine," praised Dr. Stewart when presenting the statue. "We think it's important that you know that. We hope that you will continue to be involved with us and help us strive to accomplish our vision to be better and better."

"It was a wonderful time and a significant time in the origins of family medicine," Dr. Hill said of his days at the School of Medicine. "I thank you for asking me to do this lecture, because I started reviewing things and thinking about the past, and I thought, 'I was there for all this.' There's a good side and a bad side to that, isn't there? It [was] a whole new era, I believe. And one thing you have to have is belief. It will be your most valuable asset as you move forward. Please don't forget that."

By his own count, Dr. Hill taught about 270 residents during his years at the School of Medicine. Many of them showed up at the Intercontinental Harbor Court Hotel on Saturday November 10 to reconnect with him and other friends, classmates and mentors. The most popular part of the evening was a looping slideshow of family medicine residents and medical students from the 1970s through today. Attendees cringed at the hairstyles they once considered stylish, tried to remember the name of the guy standing next to them in the photo, and shared memories from their training years.

Sunday was a day for learning, with continuing education seminars on adolescent medicine and female athletes, among other topics. The weekend wrapped up with a presentation on "The Business of Family Medicine" by Kenneth Zonies, M.D., MBA, Founder and Managing Partner, Atlantic Medical Administrative Services, LLC.