Bassam wins national award for distinguished service
Bassam Bassam, M.D., says direct care of patients with neuromuscular diseases is the best way to understand illnesses, motivate research, and advance the field of neurological medicine, while training future neurologists in academic and clinical settings.
By Shelbey Ernest
sernest@health.southalabama.edu
Bassam Bassam, M.D., a neuromuscular neurologist at USA Health, recently was unanimously voted the recipient of the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine’s 2023 Distinguished Physician Award.
The award was established to honor a member of the association who has provided distinguished service for a number of years as a clinician and/or educator and is an active member and supporter of the association, according to the AANEM.
“This prestigious award honors my extensive and distinguished education and scholarly contributions I have provided in the field of neuromuscular and electrodiagnostic medicine locally and nationally for decades,” Bassam said. “I am most proud of this award coming from the top national organization of my specialty. This award is one of my most cherished career accomplishments and recognitions in my field."
Bassam also says this award is an outstanding recognition for the University of South Alabama and the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine.
Direct care of patients with neuromuscular diseases, he noted, is the best way to understand illnesses, motivate research, and advance the field of neurological medicine, while training future neurologists in academic and clinical settings.
Bassam attended medical school at Aleppo University College of Medicine in Aleppo, Syria. After an internal medicine residency at Makassed General Hospital in Beirut, Lebanon, he moved to the U.S. for a neurology residency and neuromuscular disease and electromyography fellowship at Detroit Medical Center in Detroit, Michigan, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He joined USA Health in 1985 and currently serves as a professor of neurology at the Whiddon College of Medicine and as the director of the Neuromuscular Clinic & EMG Laboratory at USA Health.
He will be honored with the Distinguished Physician Award at the AANEM Annual Meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, in early November. He also has been invited to present a workshop on nerve conduction pitfalls at the meeting.
