A faculty member from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in Springfield was honored at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in November in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Peralta, assistant professor of general surgery, was honored as one of the 40 national finalists for the 2005 Humanism in Medicine Award, presented by the AAMC through support of the Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative. The award singles out faculty physicians who are positive and caring role models and physicians who students would like to emulate as they advance the ideals of humanism in medicine including compassion, understanding and partnership. The nominations are made by medical students.

Peralta was nominated by SIU medical students who said that she, as a surgical oncologist and researcher, "has demonstrated qualities of caring, courage and commitment while treating patients, and who, most importantly, has inspired me to always be a compassionate and dedicated physician myself….She is an inspiring teacher and clinician who treats her students and patients with the utmost respect. She is compassionate, courageous and committed to making the world a better place by working hard to find a cure for each and every patient, either in the operating room or the research lab."

Peralta joined the SIU faculty in 2000 after completing a three-year fellowship in surgical oncology at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif. She completed her general surgery residency at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle (1997). Peralta earned her medical degree at the University of California College of Medicine in Irvine (1992) and her bachelor's at the University of California in Berkley (1987).

- 30 -