Dr. Shutter Honored with Leonard Tow Humanism in M

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Dr. Shutter Honored with Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award

CINCINNATI - Lori Shutter, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Director of Neurocritical Care at The Neuroscience Institute at UC and University Hospital, is a 2008 recipient of the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, presented by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The award, granted to one faculty member and one graduating medical student at nearly 80 medical schools throughout the United States, recognizes the value of humanism in the delivery of care to patients and their families.

Dr. Shutter, who is also employed by the Mayfield Clinic, is a neurointensivist: a neurologist who specializes in the day-to-day care of critically ill patients.

The Arnold P. Gold Foundation, based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., states that the award is intended to honor a physician who:

Consistently demonstrates compassion and empathy in the delivery of care to patients;
Serves as a role model for students and colleagues;
Is approachable and accessible to students;
Welcomes opportunities for teaching and one-on-one mentorship with students;
Shows respect for everyone he or she comes in contact with;
Displays effective communication and listening skills and has good rapport with patients.

In nominating Dr. Shutter, Raj Narayan, MD, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, described her as "the most compassionate and empathetic physician whom I have ever had the pleasure of working with." Dr. Narayan praised Dr. Shutter for working long hours and for always taking time to talk to families whose loved one was hospitalized - often with a severe injury - in the neuroscience intensive care unit. "This is not glamorous work," Dr. Narayan wrote. "However, Dr. Shutter patiently does what needs to be done with compassion and empathy. Beyond all the hype that surrounds medicine these days, this is what our profession was meant to be."

The mission of the Arnold P. Gold Foundation is to perpetuate the tradition of the caring doctor by emphasizing the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient. The foundation was established in 1988 by Drs. Arnold and Sandra Gold, colleagues at the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in New York.

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The Mayfield Clinic is recognized as one of the nation's leading physician organizations for clinical care, education, and research of the spine and brain. With 20 neurosurgeons and two neurointensivists, Mayfield treats 20,000 patients from 35 states and 13 countries in a typical year. Mayfield's physicians have pioneered surgical procedures and instrumentation that have revolutionized the medical art of neurosurgery for brain tumors and neurovascular diseases and disorders.

The Neuroscience Institute, a regional center of excellence, is dedicated to patient care, research, education, and the development of new treatments for stroke, brain and spinal tumors, epilepsy, traumatic brain and spinal injury, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, disorders of the senses (swallowing, voice, hearing, pain, taste and smell), and psychiatric conditions (bipolar disorder, schiz ophrenia and depression).