Winter 01/02

Alumni News

1945
William C. Robertson, MD, is busy doing volunteer, house and yard work. He enjoys golfing (especially the occasional birdie), spending time with his wife and extended family, and reading one book a week. Dr. Robertson and his wife have three children; Bill Jr. practices orthopedics. They have eight grandchildren and one great-grandson. The couple lost their daughter Dorothy in a whitewater accident in 1999.

1950 Alumni Profile
Making house calls is not what makes Robert M. Abel, MD, unique. It's that he makes what some might call "cold calls" as he hops aboard his snowmobile and plows through northern Indiana winters to reach his patients wherever they might be.
The 77-year-old physician continues to deliver primary care - and lots of babies - in the Wakarusa community. To date he's personally delivered more than 9,000 infants, meaning he is well into delivering many families' third generations. In addition to his regular practice, Dr. Abel serves Wakarusa's Amish community as well as the two local high schools' football teams. As one might deduce, the energetic physician thrives on just four to five hours of sleep each night.
Dr. Abel's half-century of service has been recognized by his community in several ways. Most recently, Dr. Abel was named one of Elkhart County's "Top 10 Leaders of the 20th Century" for founding the Wakarusa Medical Clinic and contributing to rural medical practice. He's also a member of the Indiana Football Hall of Fame as well as the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame and has served on Indiana's 4-H Fair board of directors for more than 43 years.
At a recent reception the Wakarusa community held in his honor, Dr. Abel told the more than 600 attendees that he knows better than to retire. "I hope everyone can enjoy their life's profession as much as I have," he said. "I get up each morning looking forward to a day of medical practice."

1960
E.H. (Ned) Lamkin, Jr., MD, works with physicians and employers to recapture traditional values and rewards of practicing medicine. His wife Martha is the executive vice president of Corporate Advancement as a student loan grantor and facilitator. The couple resides in the Indianapolis area.

Malcolm D. Long, MD, is retired but enjoys volunteering at Oaks Academy and at a free medical clinic in Indianapolis. He has been on numerous overseas mission trips. Dr. Long has four children and four grandchildren.

Ralph Montgomery, MD, enjoys retirement in Scottsdale, Ariz. He has four sons, one of whom graduated from IUSM in 1990 and is now a pediatrician in Evansville, Ind. Two sons are in business together in Phoenix and the other son resides in Indiana.

Robert A. Ritchey, MD, is semi-retired but providing anesthesia services for two ophthalmologists two days a week. He and his wife are still happily married and have three sons.

Ron Scheeringa, MD, is in private practice with Indiana Medical Associates in Fort Wayne, Ind. He also is co-director of Lutheran Hospital's Transplant Program, and he served as the director of medical education at the hospital for 25 years. He and Bill Clark, MD, started the IMA partnership, which now numbers more than 50 physicians. Dr. Scheeringa's
son Dan is a psychiatrist. His son Mike graduated from IUSM and is on staff at Tulane University doing research on infant and child psychiatry. His daughter Pam,
a Ball State alumna, is married and has two children.

James Shumaker, MD, is a pediatrician in Paducah, Ky., where he has practiced for the past 30 years. His wife Camilla is his office manager and "social secretary." The couple's oldest son is a chemical engineering student at the University of Kentucky and their other two sons are in high school. Dr. Shumaker has two stepchildren.

Edward C. Wheeler, MD, is retired and enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, golfing and sorting out all the journals and books he has saved over the past 40 years. He also does volunteer work in his community of Carmel, Ind. His first wife Jane died in 1992, but Dr. Wheeler has since remarried to Anne Hastem. Dr. Wheeler's son Thomas and daughter-in-law Tammy are both physicians in Fort Wayne. His daughter Kristin, a tax attorney, is married and lives in Chicago.

1962
David Gerlin, MD, of Knoxville, Tenn., was the 2001 recipient of the Tennessee Medical Association's Outstanding Physician Award. He is the medical director of the Knoxville Eye Surgery Center and a retired colonel from the U.S. Army Reserves. He currently serves as a brigadier general in the Tennessee State Guard and commands its 3rd Brigade.

1965
Paul Baranko, MD, serves as director of pediatric hematology/oncology at the Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizona. He and his wife Dixie have three children. Their son
is an orthopedic surgeon.

John Bizal, MD, is still working in Evansville, Ind., but is spending more time traveling and flying. He is interested in military aircraft and currently owns a Stearman and a T-6. He also enjoys trying his hand at golf. Dr. Bizal's son John C. Bizal, MD, is in practice with him in a single-specialty group of six ENTs. His daughter Jane resides in Charleston, S.C., where she is a marketing director.

1970
Tom Browne, MD, continues to work in pulmonary medicine in Evansville, Ind. His wife, he writes, is truly his "better half." The couple has two "red-headed" daughters; one is a poet/writer/teacher and the otheris an assistant buyer for a major department store. Their son is an attorney.

Kenneth Button, MD, is chairman of pathology at Akron General Medical Center in Ohio.

Robert F. Ezell, MD, practices family medicine in Houston, Tex. His wife Shirley is dean of technology at the University of Houston. They have three daughters.

Alan Foster, MD, practices radiology in Syracuse, N.Y. He and his wife Lynne have a son
and a daughter.

Frank L. Hilton, MD, is a obstetrician/gynecologist with Women's Health Care, PC, in Evansville, Ind. His wife Barbara is a nurse who volunteers at an indigent care clinic. Dr. Hilton's daughter Jennifer is a teacher in Chicago, and his son Doug is a chemist in Indianapolis. His son Ryan graduated from law school last year. Son Nathan works in warehousing in Evansville.

Jay E. Noffsinger, MD, is professor of pediatrics, director of medical student education and chief of pediatric sports medicine at St. Louis School of Medicine. He is also the team physician for McKendree College and O'Fallon Township High School. Dr. Noffsinger and his wife Sharon have been married since 1967. He has three daughters: Jamie is an athletic trainer; Julie is a medical resident in pediatrics; and Jill is an elementary school teacher.

Stephen Pledger MD, has left his orthopedic practice of nearly 24 years to open a new practice specializing in the spine. His ultimate goal is to develop a spine institute. His new practice, Pledger Orthopedic & Spine Center, is located in Middletown, Ohio. He and his wife Mary have two daughters and one son.

David Roberts, MD, practices pediatrics in Putnam, Conn. His wife Nhi is a dental assistant. Their son Matt has his doctorate in chemistry and works for Nestle. Daughter Aileen is a teacher in Waco, Tex., and daughter Elizabeth attends Baylor University.

John Sherman, MD, is chairmanof the department of emergency medicine at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Edgewood, Ky. His wife Barbara is a retired nurse.

Kenneth Strawbridge, MD, practices with Pulmonary Associates and is on the clinical teaching faculty at IUSM. His son Kevin practices psychology and his son Andrew is in law school and earning a master's degree in environmental science. His daughters Katy and Amy are nine years old.

George Weis, MD, is in private practice in diagnostic radiology working with 25 radiologists. He has three daughters.

1980
Mary Ann Collins, MD, is a pediatrician and pediatric infectious disease consultant at Hope Children's Hospital and Christ Hospital and Medical Center; She and her husband have been married since before she started medical school. They have a son and a daughter.

Owen Slaughter, MD, is a medical director at the Bloomington Hospital Emergency Department in Bloomington, Ind. He also is a clinical associate professor of medicine at IU and a full-time emergency room physician. He and his wife Julie have five children.

Michael Williams, MD, practices family medicine at the North Webster Medical Clinic and is medical director of Kosciusko Community Hospital in Indiana. Dr. Williams has served as a citizen ambassador in a medical delegation to Russia and the Czech Republic. He also is part of a family partnership in River Bend Farm, where his family raises Scottish Highland cattle. Dr. Williams' wife Patricia is a medical practice management supervisor at Kosciusko Community Hospital and their daughter Christine is a student at Purdue
University.

1990
Alfred P. Bowles, MD, completed a general surgery residency at the University of Kansas and is now board certified in general surgery. Dr. Bowles is a consultant in injury biomechanics and crash reconstruction at the Biodynamic Research Corporation in San Antonio, Tex. He also practices general surgery at the U.S. Air Force Reserve Air Force Base in Lackland, Tex.

Michael R. Carter, MD, is a partner with Associated Anesthesiologists of Ft. Wayne, Ind. He and his wife Peg have four children - Justin, Matt, Nick and Sarah - who range in age from two to 10.

1990 Alumni Profile
Teresa Clawson, MD, learned she was pregnant just two weeks after receiving her medical school acceptance letter. When she began her studies, there was much concern about her exposure to formaldehyde in the anatomy lab. After conferring with the state toxicologist, the professors gave her the green light to wear a gas mask.
"I sounded like Darth Vader," she said. "My eerie persona didn't help my study partners when we worked together in the lab late at night!"
Today, Dr. Clawson is director of nurseries at a medical center in the small Virginia community of Winchester.
"No matter where I go, I encounter families of patients that I have cared for, who greet me warmly and proudly show off their babies," she said. "I have the fortune to have a profession that allows me to make a difference in people's lives."
To that end, Dr. Clawson said the most rewarding thing she does is to be part of the recovery of a critically ill infant. Daughter Jennifer's early exposure to medicine may yet pay off. The ninth grader wants to be a pediatrician.

1994
Maj. Catherine (Shideler) Winslow, MD, completed her fellowship training in microvascular and facial plastic surgery at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where she currently serves as chief of the facial plastic and reconstructive surgery section. She writes that her "most impressive feat to date" is the birth of her son Joshua last August.

1997
Dennis Beck, MD, and wife Brenda Langhorst Beck joyfully announce the birth of a daughter, Sydney Kay, born May 10, 2001. Sydney joins big sister Morgan, 3. Dr. Beck is a fourth-year orthopedic resident in Louisville, Ky.