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Several pictures of doctors who are featured on the Local Legends web site

MEET LOCAL LEGEND: Dorothy Lane, M.D.

Picture of Dorothy Lane

Dorothy Lane, M.D.

“I was inspired by my father, who was a physician and wonderful role model. His office was in our home, so medicine was a part of my daily life from early childhood, and patients were a part of our extended family. As a matter of fact, you could say that medicine is a family condition, since my brother, husband, son and daughter-in-law are also physicians!”

NOMINATING CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Timothy H. Bishop

“DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER, TEACHER AND MENTOR”

BIOGRAPHY

Dorothy Lane is Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education, Distinguished Service Professor, and Vice Chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook School of Medicine, where she also has been Director of the Stony Brook Residency in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health since its inception in 1982.

Nationally prominent for her distinguished work in many different areas of medicine, Lane has the distinction of being the only person to be elected as President or Chair of the country's three major preventive medicine organizations: the American College of Preventive Medicine, the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Rep. Timothy Bishop (D-NY-1) nominated Lane to be a Local Legend of Medicine, citing her as "exceptionally qualified and most deserving of this prestigious honor." Bishop also commended her for fostering the development of young academicians and investigators by "involving them in her research projects and appointing them to leadership positions."

A 1961 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar College, she received her M.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, her M.P.H. from Columbia University School of Public Health and Administrative Medicine, and completed a residency in Preventive Medicine (Public Health) with the New York City Department of Health. Board certified in Preventive Medicine and in Family Practice, she is a fellow of the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Physicians, and belongs to the American Association of Public Health Physicians and the American Medical Association.

She has been involved in medical student teaching in preventive medicine first at the New York University School of Medicine and then at SUNY at Stony Brook. Her scholarly activities have focused on the testing of community-based public and physician interventions to increase the use of preventive services and the development of competency-based education in preventive medicine.

Well known for her scientific research in cancer control and women's health, Lane was one of the first to identify barriers to breast cancer screening and to relate mammography utilization to theories of health behavior. This work contributed to the national research agenda and led to the increased use of mammography and breast palpation for the early detection of breast cancer. She is the Principal Investigator of the NIH Women's Health Initiative Clinical Center at Stony Brook, one of only 40 such centers nationally and the only one on Long Island. The Initiative is a landmark study of the major causes of mortality among post-menopausal women.

Lane is widely recognized for her scholarly contributions and expertise in continuing medical education and was elected by the American Board of Medical Specialties as a member of the Accredited Council for Continuing Medical Education, the national accrediting boy for Continuing Medical Education (CME) providers, beginning in 2001. Under her leadership as Associate Dean for CME since 1986, Stony Brook has maintained its full accreditation and annually provides more than 1200 hours of CME to thousands of physicians.

MILESTONES

1971

Appointed Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook

1982

Appointed Residency Program Director in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook

1998

Chair, American Board of Preventive Medicine

BORN

1940

MEDICAL SCHOOL

College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University

SPECIALTY

Public Health


Sub Specialty

Epidemiology

LOCATION

New York