Rev. Dr. Libby Nestor named Woman Physician of the Year

Photo credit: Dr. Gary Bubly

[Lifespan.org Press Release]

Elizabeth “Libby” Nestor, MD, MDIV, FACEP, an emergency medicine doctor at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital, has been named by the RI Women’s Medical Association (RIMWA) as the 2008 RIMWA Woman Physician of the Year. The award is given annually to a local female physician who has demonstrated excellence and a high level of commitment to medicine, family and the community.

Nestor was the first full-time female faculty member in the department of emergency medicine at Rhode Island Hospital. Prior to medical school at Northwestern University, Nestor received her master’s in divinity from Yale Divinity School. Today, she still practices as a minister at the Rhode Island Episcopal Church.

Nestor is well known for her mentorship to junior faculty, residents, and medical students. She received the Teaching Recognition Award from Brown Medical School in 2006 and the Teaching Excellence Award in 2008, volunteers her time for the Doctoring Program at Brown Medical School, acts as a faculty advisor for EM residents, gives lectures on ethics and serves on the Ethics Committee. She also has a role in interviewing incoming residents for the emergency medicine residency and serves as a National Oral Board Examiner for her specialty. Nestor, with three other EM physicians, has been the recipient of a Center of Excellence in Women’s Health Grant to study the effectiveness of training gender differences in emergency medicine residencies.

Nestor gave a speech entitled “The Intimate Science: 100 Years of Medical History in One RI Family” during the presentation ceremony in her honor of at the RIMWA annual meeting on May 5 at the Providence Marriott.