Millennium Magazine_4th Ed

254 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine S ince childhood, Dr. Estherina Shems wanted to attend medical school and become a doctor. Growing up in Haifa, Israel, she strived to challenge the stigma of being a woman during a time when men were dominant. She immigrated to theUnited States in 1950 topursue formal education and achieved a Bachelor of Science, graduating cum laude from the University of Lynchburg in 1954. From there, she attended the Woman’s Medical College in Pennsylvania and earned an MD in 1958. Progressing onward with her career, Dr. Shems was a rotating intern at Lankenau Medical Center in Philadelphia before completing a fellowship in adult psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. For the following two years, she was a child psychiatry affiliate at the Child Study Center of Philadelphia before moving onto an assistant instructor position in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and then at the Irving Schwartz Institute for Children and Youth. From 1964 to 1981, she subsequently served in various staff and administration positions at the Philadelphia Psychiatric Center while also serving as a clinical associate in psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Concluding her career in 2002, she served as a consultant for early intervention programs at Community Council Health Systems for 21 years. Dr. Shems is a distinguished life member of the American Psychiatric Association, life member and committee and task force member of the American Medical Women’s Association, and former vice president of the North America chapter of the Medical Women’s International Association. She is a fellow of the American Orthopsychiatric Association and College of Physicians of Philadelphia, having also earned an honorary DSc from the University of Lynchburg. Dr. Shems was honored with the Bertha Van Hoosen MD Award from the American Medical Women’s Association. Likewise, she has been recognized by the University of Lynchburg with the T. Gibson Hobbs Outstanding Alumni Award, the Distinguished Alumni Award and the Richard H. Thornton Award for Excellence. Notably, she was named to Outstanding Young Women of America and Outstanding Young Women of Pennsylvania. ESTHERINA SHEMS, MD CHILD PSYCHIATRIST (RETIRED) Community Council Health Systems Wynnewood, PA HEALTH AND WELLNESS Millennium Magazine Featured Listee