December 20, 2006                                          

SIU Surgeon Receives National Humanism Honor

A faculty member at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine was honored at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) this fall in Seattle.   

Dr. John R. Fisk, professor of orthopaedic surgery in Springfield, was honored as one of the 53 national finalists for the 2006 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 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.

Fisk was nominated by SIU medical students who said that as a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon, he demonstrates character and personal integrity and has inspired them to be committed and compassionate.  “He daily demonstrates great sensitivity and compassion for each of his patients…and that he deals with very difficult issues on a daily basis, but addresses each pediatric orthopaedic patient’s individuals needs….He regularly goes beyond the call of duty to give these children everything he can to better their lives.”  They also pointed to his outreach efforts as he maintains outreach clinics throughout downstate Illinois.

Fisk joined SIU’s faculty in 1990.  He previously served as director of the children's amputee clinic at Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children in Chicago and was director of the scoliosis clinic in DuPage County for the University of Illinois' Department of Services for Crippled Children.  Fisk completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Minnesota (1974).  He earned his medical degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo (1969) and his bachelor's at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa (1965).  He is board certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and serves as vice president of the international Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, having been involved in medical outreach and teaching in Guatemala, Cambodia, Korea, Togo, El Salvador, Viet Nam, Slovenia and Tanzania.  He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corp in Korea for two years and previously was president of the Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics.