A Travel Grantee’s Experience in Making a Difference
By: Angela Perillo
December 8, 2017
Coming Together at CHEST 2017
During CHEST 2017 in Toronto, the CHEST community came together to experience a great annual meeting, networking and creating lasting relationships while sharing best practices and knowledge. With the help of a travel grant from the CHEST Foundation, one of those physicians was James Simmons, MD, a pulmonary and critical care fellow. This was his first medical conference, and it is because of your support as a Champion for Lung Health that Dr. Simmons was able to attend by receiving a NetWorks Challenge Travel Grant.
The Difference a Mentor Can Make
The CHEST Annual Meeting was unlike any other experience that Dr. Simmons ever had. While in Toronto, he was connected with his mentor, Champions Circle Life Member, Dr. Scott Manaker, with whom Dr. Simmons had an impactful conversation about his hopes and fears as he was about to leave the world of training and begin practicing.
Dr. Manaker not only talked to Dr. Simmons about his career but also about the curveballs that life, as a chest physician, throws at you. Dr. Manaker’s mentorship did not end with their interaction at CHEST but now continues monthly, providing a guiding light for Dr. Simmons. That mentorship connection is because of the generous and committed support of donors like you.
You Make the Difference
Dr. Simmons continued his first CHEST Annual Meeting experience with each day being filled with more excitement and learning than the one before. He was “bowled over by the sheer volume of meetings, presentations, talks, and panels available. My patients will surely appreciate my experience,” he said. Those experiences and the knowledge acquired through CHEST 2017 happen due to your support as a Champion for Lung Health.
As a CHEST Foundation NetWorks Challenge Travel Grant recipient, Dr. Simmons also volunteered his time at the Toronto Lung Health Experience and provided education and spirometry testing to visitors at the event. “I was amazed at the number of people who were interested in learning more about lung health. It was a breath of fresh air to see so many people participate.”
The Lung Health Experience had a wonderful atmosphere full of energy and excitement, providing a great example of how to engage the public in a health-related discourse. Dr. Simmons’ interactions with the public at the Lung Health Experience event were possible because of your support as a Champion for Lung Health.
You Champion Lung Health
Dr. Simmons’ CHEST 2017 encounter demonstrates the direct impact that your generous support can have on physicians, patients, and lung health. Your support today makes it possible for the next Dr. Simmons to receive a travel or research grant or to fund the Lung Health Experience in 2018. You believe in advancing the chest medicine professional community and the care for its patients and for that, thank you!
Be the Champion for Lung Health that physicians, patients, and families count on and make an impact today. You can be a champion and DONATE today through a new gift to the CHEST Foundation. We can only meet our goals for the health professionals, patients, and caregivers we serve with your much appreciated and essential support.
Thank you for all you do for the CHEST Foundation! Donate today by going to https://chestfoundation.org/donate/ or contact Angela Perillo, Director of Development & Foundation Operations, 224/521-9520, to discuss your giving options.