For excellence in his career, Dr. Geertsma has been the recipient of a number of honors and accolades over the years
RESCUE, CA, August 01, 2019 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Robert H. Geertsma, PhD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Geertsma celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Geertsma is a medical school administrator who for 30 years, also worked as a clinical psychologist, researcher and educator in that setting. After receiving his Ph.D. and completing two years of internship iii the Veterans Administration, he began an academic medical career in 1956 as an instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. In addition to clinical work he utilized 16 mm films of initial interviews of psychiatric patients to evaluate medical students' abilities to interpret patient's interview behavior, as well as to investigate practicing psychotherapists' agreement on patient interview behavior. His partner in this research was Robert J. Stoller, M.D. Also, he investigated medical students' various characterizations and attitudes toward mentally ill patients (who did not have symptoms of physical illness). For more than a year while he was at UCLA Dr. Geertsma was a consultant to the Santa Monica probation department where he established a group therapy program to help juvenile probationers with their behavioral problems while their parents attended a concurrent group to help with parenting and relevant family issues.
In 1962, Dr. Geertsma became an associate professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Medical Communication at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Shortly after his arrival he was made Chairman of the Department of Medical Communication. Dr. Geertsma's research there utilized recording equipment (the only tape recorders available at that time were the type that were beginning to be used in commercial television studios) to investigate patient self observation and to record emergency room patient care, to be subsequently employed for training ER personnel. For two years Dr. Geertsma was a consultant for the Board of Medical Examiners, based in Philadelphia, PA.
In 1969, Dr. Geertsma received professorships at the University of Rochester in the medical school's Departments of Psychiatry and in the School of Education. He was also appointed Chairman of the Department of Medical Communication. He spent the next eighteen years at UR doing administrative work as well as pursuing research and development projects. During this period he created and oversaw a program for entering medical students (on a volunteer basis) to take responsibility and to manage, with guidance, their learning in the basic sciences during the first two medical school years, i.e., by guided self-instruction rather than the traditional methods of lectures and demonstrations. Dr. Geertsma also played a key role in creating a nurse practitioners program in the Department of Pediatrics.
As head of the Minority Affairs Committee he was asked by the Dean of the medical school to work to substantially increase the number of entering minority students, which was done, and later resulted in his accepting responsibility for arranging and overseeing the first two years of basic science teaching for the minority students. This program was a success, as all the minority students were awarded the M.D. degree.
While at UR, Dr. Geertsma was appointed to and served for two five year terms on the New York State Psychology Board. Dr. Geertsma's final project there was to create a Masters Degree program for residents in the clinical departments who desired careers in medical academia, in order to give them the requisite research skills.
Geertsma, whose wife was the daughter of Japanese parents, developed an interest in the Japanese language and culture, which then extended to the Mandarin language and Chinese culture and traditional medicine. Later, he led two groups of American doctors (as part of the Citizen Ambassadors program established by President Eisenhower) to tour medical facilities in The Peoples Republic of China, meet their peers there and give talks on medical subjects. A further offshoot of these interests was his participation in the translation and publication of a translation of some parts of tenth century and older Chinese medical books, most of which are no longer extant.
Dr. Geertsma is a diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology and was elected as a fellow to the American Academy of Clinical Psychology. He has previously been showcased in "Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare," "Who's Who Among Human Services Professionals" and "Who's Who in America."
Dr. Geertsma's wife died in 2012, after 55 years of marriage. Dr. Geertsma has three children, two grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, Dr. Geertsma has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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