Richmond Academy of Medicine presents Distinguished Service Award to VCU physician

By Malorie Burkett

The Richmond Academy of Medicine recently presented Mary Ann Turner, M.D., vice chair of faculty in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine’s Department of Radiology, with the 2006 Distinguished Service Award for Academic Medicine.

The Distinguished Service Awards are presented to academy members who have shown leadership initiative and promise. Turner received the award for excellence in teaching, patient care and leadership among peers.

“I am truly honored and very grateful to accept the Richmond Academy of Medicine 2006 Distinguished Service Award for Academic Medicine,” said Turner. “Whatever service I may have been able to offer over the years has been balanced by the rewards of practicing academic medicine and the satisfaction and gratification that has come from serving the profession.”

Turner has spent 30 years in academic medicine and has been a member of the Richmond Academy of Medicine her entire career. Turner is an active member of the American College of Radiology, serving as a counselor for Virginia. She also is on the board of directors of the Virginia chapter of the American College of Radiology.

Some of her other achievements include a 1996 fellowship award in the American College of Radiology for outstanding service to the profession, and her service for many years on the Governor's Radiation Advisory Board. Turner currently serves on the MCV Physicians board of directors.

“After all these years, I still think medicine is the most interesting, challenging, stimulating and rewarding of professions,” she said. “I believe all of us who practice medicine have the responsibility to give back, not only to our patients but to our students, trainees and colleagues, and to our professional organizations, such as the Richmond Academy of Medicine. These organizations are so important in doing the work that keeps our profession vital.”

The Richmond Academy of Medicine also presented Distinguished Service Awards to Harold E. Binhammer, M.D., a retired family practice physician who received the award for exemplary global volunteerism, and Carolyn E. Thomas, M.D., a pathologist with Commonwealth Laboratory Consultants, who was honored for visionary leadership in support of local and state medical societies.

The Richmond Academy of Medicine was created in 1821 for local physicians committed to promoting the science and practice of medicine and surgery.