Six Physicians Honored by Minnesota Medical Association

September 30, 2020

Six physicians were honored with MMA awards as part of this year’s virtual Annual Conference. Each year, the MMA honors those in medicine for going above and beyond.

Distinguished Service Award
David Thorson, MD, received the MMA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, for his years of service to the association and to medicine. Thorson has served as chair of the MMA Board of Trustees from 2009 to 2014, and as president in 2015. He is also a former president of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, and has been named a Minneapolis/Saint Paul magazine Top Doctor seven times. He has also served as the team physician for the Saint Paul Saints, the United States Ski Team, the United States Freestyle Team, Mahtomedi High School, and the Twin Cities Marathon. Thorson is a family physician based in White Bear Lake.

President’s Awards
Heather Bell, MD, Kurt DeVine, MD, Ruth Lynfield, MD, and John Hick, MD, received the MMA’s President’s Award, which recognizes those who have given much of their free time to help improve the association.  
For the past few years, Bell and DeVine have been major advocates for appropriate opioid prescribing programs as well as the expansion of medication assisted treatment accessibility throughout Minnesota, primarily in the vastly underserved rural communities where access previously was nonexistent. Earlier this year, they pivoted to focus on the pandemic, hosting a series of noon-time webinars to help Minnesota physicians stay educated on COVID-19.

Lynfield, who currently serves as the state epidemiologist and medical director with the Minnesota Department of Health, has been a crucial player in developing the state’s guidance on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hick, board-certified in Emergency Medicine and Emergency Medical Services, currently serves as deputy chief medical director for Hennepin EMS and medical director for emergency preparedness at HCMC. He has been a leader on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

COPIC/MMA Foundation Humanitarian Award
Thomas Schrup, MD, received the COPIC/MMA Foundation Humanitarian Award which recognizes MMA members who go above and beyond to help address the health care needs of underserved populations in Minnesota. Schrup volunteers at Pathways-4-Youth, a drop-in center in St. Cloud that caters to 16- to 23-year-old youth, many of whom are unstably housed or homeless. Schrup also serves as the medical director for the St. Joseph Volunteer Fire Department.  

About the Minnesota Medical Association
The Minnesota Medical Association is a non-profit professional association representing physicians, residents and medical students. With more than 10,000 members, the MMA is dedicated to being the indispensable and unified voice of physicians for advancing the practice of medicine, the profession and patient health.