IHS Employee Selected as 2005 Clinical Physician of the Year
James M. Galloway, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C., senior cardiologist for the Indian Health Service (IHS), has been selected as the 2005 Clinical Physician of the Year by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Physicians Professional Advisory Committee for his remarkable dedication and innovation in improving the delivery of cardiovascular care to American Indians and Alaska Natives. This award recognizes Dr. Galloway’s work in national health initiatives such as the American College of Cardiology – American Diabetes Association’s “Make the Link” Program, an educational and public health approach focusing on the link between diabetes and heart disease.
Dr. Galloway holds the rank of captain in the USPHS and serves as senior cardiologist for the IHS and as director of the IHS National Native American Cardiology Program (NNACP) in Phoenix, Arizona. As the senior cardiologist for the IHS, he provides leadership, dedication, and vision in the delivery of high-quality cardiology health care at the primary care and subspecialty levels. As Director of the IHS NNACP, Dr. Galloway provides oversight and cardiac care to American Indians in Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, as well as in parts of California and New Mexico. Dr. Galloway also serves under dual appointments as an associate professor of clinical medicine and associate professor of public health in the College of Public Health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.
In 1992, Dr. Galloway initiated and successfully developed a collaborative cardiovascular program in the Southwest that is focused on improving the health and health care of American Indians and Alaska Natives. This program has been extremely successful in improving the quality of cardiovascular care as well as clinical outcomes and cost savings. Dr. Galloway has also opened a branch of the NNACP in Flagstaff, Arizona, to provide higher quality and more accessible care to the large numbers of American Indians in the northern part of the state.
Dr. Galloway is a respected teacher and lecturer with a dual focus on the prevention of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors, as well as heart disease among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Dr. Galloway has published multiple articles, abstracts, and book chapters, and a book entitled Primary Care of Native American Patients: Diagnosis, Therapy, and Epidemiology.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Galloway has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Secretary of Health and Human Services Award for Distinguished Service from Secretary Shalala in 2000 and again in 2004 from Secretary Thompson. Dr. Galloway’s accomplishments have also been recognized by his peers in their selection of him as one of the “Best Doctors in America,” an honor given to only the top 4 percent of subspecialists nationwide. He was also awarded the prestigious Arizona Healthcare and Hospital Association’s 2001 Salisbury Award for his dedication, leadership, and outstanding contributions to the health of the people of Arizona.
Dr. Galloway was also recently selected by U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona to represent the USPHS as the Governor for the American College of Cardiology and by Arizona Governor Napolitano to be a member of the Arizona Governor’s Council on Health, Physical Fitness, and Sports. He has been awarded several PHS medals, including the Commendation Medal, and has received two cherished awards from American Indian Tribes he has served.
NOTICE TO EDITORS: For additional information on this subject, please contact the IHS Public Affairs Office at 301-443-3593. Additional information about the IHS is available at http://www.ihs.gov and http://info.ihs.gov.
