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NSMC cardiac surgeon honored by Essex South District Medical Society as 2012 Community Clinician of the Year
4/10/2012

Salem resident and North Shore Medical Center (NSMC) cardiac surgeon Thomas J. Vander Salm, M.D., has been honored as the 2012 Community Clinician of the Year by his physician peers of the Essex South District Medical Society.

The Community Clinician of the Year Award was established in 1998 by the Massachusetts Medical Society to recognize a physician from each of the Society’s 20 district medical societies who has made significant contributions to his or her patients and the community and who stands out as a leading advocate and caregiver. The Essex South District has nearly 700 physician members who work or live in the communities of southern Essex County. The award will be presented April 11 at the district’s annual meeting to be held at Tupper Manor at Endicott College in Beverly.

Board certified in surgery and thoracic surgery, Dr. Vander Salm is a cardiac surgeon at the NSMC Heart Center and also is a member of the medical staff of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Vander Salm helped launch the NSMC Heart Center in 2003, in collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital, bringing the most advanced cardiac care to the North Shore.

NSMC offers the only cardiac surgery program on the North Shore. Consumer Reports rated NSMC one of the top 50 hospitals in the US for heart surgery in 2009; and Thomson Reuters rated NSMC as one of the nations 100 Top Hospitals for cardiovascular care in 2010.

At NSMC, Dr. Vander Salm is a member of the Surgical Executive Committee and the Medical Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Medical Expert Advisory Committee of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.

Prior to joining NSMC, Dr. Vander Salm served as Professor of Surgery and Chief of the Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery Division at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and was Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. He remains on the faculty at the medical school and continues to serve as a consultant for the hospital and department of surgery.

A graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Dr. Vander Salm is a veteran of the United States Navy, having served as a surgeon on the USS Independence and on the staff of the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. He is a founding member of the Massachusetts Society of Thoracic Surgeons and was 2010-2011 president of the Northeast Cardiothoracic Surgical Society. He is currently a member of the Editorial Board and a manuscript reviewer for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

MassachusettsMedical Society:

The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 23,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. For more information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.