The Amputee Coalition recently announce the recipients of the Burgess Award, which recognizes professionals serving the limb loss community.
Cindy Poorman, MSPT, of Aurora, Col., and Joseph Webster, MD, of Sandusky, Ohio are this year’s recipients.
The recipients were announced at the Amputee Coalition National Conference.
“We are so pleased to announce these two award winners who have dedicated their professional careers to the field of limb loss,” Susan Stout, president & CEO of the Amputee Coalition, said in a press release. “For many years, the Amputee Coalition has worked with both Ms. Poorman and Dr. Webster on a variety of projects, studies and task forces. We are sincerely grateful for the leadership, tireless service, research and medical care they have provided to the limb loss community.”
Both recipients received a $1,000 check, which they donated back to the Amputee Coalition. The money paid travel expenses for amputees attending the National Conference for the first time.
Poorman is a rehabilitation planning specialist and amputation program manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Rehabilitation Program Office in Denver, Col.
Poorman holds a bachelor’s degree from East Stroudsburg University and a master’s degree from Arcadia University.
Webster is a staff physician at Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center and an associate professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, both Richmond, Va. He is the national director of the VA Amputation System of Care, a member of the multidisciplinary Preventing Amputations in Veterans Everywhere (PAVE) program and a National Oversight Committee Member. He serves as a member of the Department of Defense Tri-Services Hand Transplantation Advisory Board. He is a graduate of East Carolina University and received his medical degree from the University of North Carolina.
Previous recipients of the Burgess Award include: John Bowker, MD; Doug Smith, MD; Dudley Childress, PhD; Bob Gailey, PhD, PT; and Mary Novotny, RN.
Named after Ernest Martin Burgess, MD, the award “is given to honor the lifetime achievements of a professional whose work has had a significant and lasting impact on the lives of people with limb loss.”
Burgess, a former University of Washington professor, worked to advance prosthetic rehabilitation with contributions to surgery, rehabilitation and O&P practice. He is credited with creation of the “Seattle Foot,” a software program called the “Shape Maker,” a landmark text on immediate post-surgical fittings and the popularization of the long posterior flap surgical technique, according to the release.
Reference: amputee-coalition.org.
