For Release: January 31, 2007
Contact: DMS Communications 603-650-1492
Dartmouth Physician Joins US Health Panel
HANOVER, NH—A Dartmouth Medical School family physician was named to the US Preventive Services Task Force, the nation's leading panel for prevention and primary care. Dr. Allen Dietrich, professor of community and family medicine at DMS, joined the expert health care panel this month.
Dr. Allen Dietrich
His appointment was announced by Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which supports the task force.
Dietrich is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Initiative on Depression and Primary Care. He is also associate director for population sciences for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
The task force is the leading independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care. It conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of a broad range of clinical preventive services, including screening, counseling and preventive medications.
Task Force recommendations, considered the gold standard for clinical preventive services, have included screening for obesity, prostate and cervical cancer, and abdominal aortic aneurysm, as well as use of aspirin to prevent heart disease, vitamins to prevent cancer and heart disease, and hormone therapy. More information about the task force is at http:// www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov.
-DMS-
