Senate Resolution 8

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING DR. RICHARD J. "DICK" FIELD, JR., UPON BEING NAMED "MISSISSIPPI DOCTOR OF THE YEAR FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE" AT THE ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI STATE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION IN BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI.

WHEREAS, veteran Centreville, Mississippi physician Dr. Richard J. "Dick" Field, Jr., was named "Mississippi Doctor of the Year for Community Service" at the annual conference of the Mississippi State Medical Association in Biloxi; and

WHEREAS, the award is given to a doctor who has performed outstanding services for the community in which he lives and practices; and

WHEREAS, "Dr. Dick" was nominated by the Wilk-Amite Medical Society for his many community contributions for the betterment

of Wilkinson and Amite counties and Centreville; and

WHEREAS, Wilk-Amite Medical Society President Dr. David B. McGraw authored the nomination that resulted in Dr. Field receiving the award; and

WHEREAS, Dr. McGraw said that literally every aspect of Dr. Field's 48-year medical career has focused on serving his community in civic, educational and religious activities, as well as serving his medical community at home and around the country; and

WHEREAS, Dr. McGraw also commented that Dr. Field is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential spokesmen in America concerning rural surgery; and

WHEREAS, a Tulane University and Boston-trained surgeon, "Dr. Dick" chose to come home to rural Centreville to carry on what his father, Dr. Jennings Field, had started in The Field Clinic and Field Memorial Community Hospital; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Field was founder and first president of the Tulane Surgical Society in 1958, and has held the position of Clinical Professor of Surgery at Tulane and in other medical schools; and

WHEREAS, the Tulane Medical Alumni Association honored him with the C.D. Taylor President's Award for outstanding community service in 1994; and

WHEREAS, he established the First Athletic Injury Conference in Mississippi at Field Hospital in 1958 and played an integral role in establishing the policy of having physicians attend football games in Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, Chief of Surgery at Field Hospital, he has directed Field Clinic since 1965 and also instituted a rural medicine internship program at Field Hospital for senior medical students; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Field served as a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons and held numerous positions with the American College of Surgeons as well as other local, regional and national medical organizations; and

WHEREAS, he served on the Centreville Public School Board and helped establish Centreville Academy in 1969; and

Whereas, he has been an Elder of Thomson Memorial Presbyterian Church since 1970; and

WHEREAS, he served as president of the Centreville Chamber of Commerce several times in the past 40 years and organized the Downtown Development Association in 1999; and

WHEREAS, in 1996, then-Governor Kirk Fordice declared November 13th as "Dr. Richard J. Field, Jr. Day," and in 2003 the McComb Enterprise-Journal named Dr. Field its Citizen of the Year; and

WHEREAS, Field was also the subject of a 1999 biography, "The Hands and Heart of a Rural Surgeon," by Bob Pittman:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby congratulate and commend Dr. Richard J. "Dick" Field upon the occasion of his being named as "Mississippi Doctor of the Year for Community Service" by the Mississippi State Medical Association, and extend to him the thanks of the Mississippi Senate for the outstanding service he has rendered to his community, state and profession in his 48 years of practicing medicine.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to "Dr. Dick" Field, Jr. and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.