VIM Board of Trustees Elects Ellen B. Rowntree, MD

Ellen Rowntree, MD was elected to the Volunteers in Medicine Board of Trustees in March, 2013.  She has been volunteering as a psychiatrist at VIM for five years and currently chairs the Mental Health Team. She feels very committed to VIM and its mission and she hopes her experience in the clinic will inform her work with the Board and that her participation on the Board will complement her clinical work. She feels privileged to be able to make a contribution to the needs of the community in such a warm, respectful setting.

Ellen and her husband became second home owners in Sheffield in 1991 and moved there full time in 2003 when she retired from her private practice and clinical teaching in Westchester, NY and New York City.  At that time, she was an Associate Attending Psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College.  She was also a Lecturer in the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and Training and Supervising Analyst at the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Research and Training.  She received her MD from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, her psychiatric training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and her postgraduate psychoanalytic training at the Columbia Psychoanalytic Center.

Ellen has been involved in a number of community activities in the Berkshires, including time on the Boards of the Sheffield Land Trust and Gould Farm and time as a volunteer with Hospice Care in the Berkshires.  She and her husband, who passed away in August 2012, have two married children and three grandchildren.

Miss Hall’s School Volunteers

Fifteen year-old Pearl is a sophomore at Miss Hall’s School, a private college preparatory boarding and day school for girls in Pittsfield.  She’s participating in Horizons, a signature program for off-campus experiential learning, by volunteering at VIM Berkshires.

“I want to get experience in health care,” said Pearl.  “My goal is to study medicine and I hope that a career in optometry is in my future.”

Pearl, a native of Vietnam, was attracted to Miss Hall’s in part due to the Horizons program, which encourages students to volunteer and intern each week at local social service and cultural organizations, businesses, and professional offices.

Pearl spends every Thursday morning at VIM with one other classmate, primarily doing charting for the dental program and scanning records for the eye clinic.

“I’m happy to be able to provide administrative support,” said Pearl.  “I like to be busy and I value the contribution I’m making to the clinic, because I know it’s helping people.”

According to Horizons Program Director Alison Basdekis, all of Miss Halls’ students participate in Horizons. The mission of the program is to serve others, especially underserved populations.

“We have many students interested in health care,” said Ms. Basdekis, “During sophomore year, the girls look widely at the community to see where they can make a contribution.  During junior and senior years, they get more focused.  They’re not only providing service to vulnerable people, they’re learning about customer service and acquiring other skills for their future careers.”

Pearl is from Saigon and has already traveled widely.  She studied Chinese in Singapore and lived with a family in Oregon for six months while studying English.  She plans to stay in the area this summer to attend an academic program at Suffield Academy.

“I love the United States and I want to continue to study and eventually work here.”