Rod Parry

from 2018 Honors Ceremony Magazine

Anne Rieck McFarland

PROFESSIONAL | MEDICAL

Sioux Falls, SD

Medical Education Trailblazer

When Dr. Rodney Parry retired in 2012 from his position as Dean of the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine and Vice President of the university’s division of health affairs, many leading officials in the state’s health care community expressed their admiration and gratefulness for his steadfast and skillful service.

Fred Slunecka, COO of Avera Health, lauded Dr. Parry’s contributions to health care. “Thanks to Dr. Parry’s leadership and vision,” said Slunecka, “South Dakota is producing medical school graduates who will serve the state for many years.” “Dr. Parry’s lasting impact in the region is his dedication to medical education,” explained Dave Link, former Senior Executive Vice President of Sanford Health. Charles Hart, M.D., former President and CEO of Regional Health in Rapid City, added this perspective: “Dr. Parry brought the medical school into the 21st century. He showed the state and the state legislature how important the medical school is to South Dakota.”

Dr. Parry’s profound impact on improving health care in South Dakota spanned more than 40 years as a physician-practitioner, scientist, teacher and leader of medical organizations, including, most notably, the state’s only medical school.

After earning a degree in pharmacy from South Dakota State University, Rodney Parry graduated in 1967 from the University of South Dakota’s two-year medical program (the program

became an M.D. degree-granting program in 1974). Parry then completed his M.D. degree at the University of Wisconsin followed by a residency and fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. In 1976 Dr. Parry began a practice in pulmonology in Sioux Falls, and he immediately affiliated himself with USD’s medical school as an assistant professor.

As a physician Dr. Parry distinguished himself for his skills, knowledge and compassion. One of South Dakota’s first pulmonologists, Dr. Parry’s work on cystic fibrosis inspired him to help launch and direct South Dakota’s Cystic Fibrosis Center. He also conceived innovative clinical programs such as South Dakota’s first pulmonary rehabilitation program and its first sleep laboratory, as well as new treatment options for patients. His research into respiratory diseases and the genetics of asthma aided patients and was published in leading journals.

Among his investigations was the relationship of lung disease and rural lifestyles, including treating farmers and Hutterites in South Dakota. To increase fellowship, Dr. Parry visited Hutterite colonies frequently, overnighting and sharing meals with colony families. One local Hutterite leader fondly recalled Parry’s genuine interest and friendship, and Parry’s wife, Ruth, noted that her husband grew a beard to demonstrate respect for his new friends. His relationships with Hutterites led to formalized cultural diversity experiences for USD’s medical students, an enrichment and colony visitation program that continues to be offered by the medical school to its students.

It was under Dr. Parry’s leadership that USD’s medical school established unique and beneficial educational programs that enabled the institution to become one of the nation’s leading producers of rural physicians. Parry also helped create highly relevant and pragmatic curriculum changes that attracted the attention of medical schools across the country, led efforts to build a leading-edge simulation center at the medical school’s Sioux Falls campus, and expanded the school’s scholarship endowment tenfold. All of these pursuits were undertaken to improve opportunities for South Dakotans' interested in receiving a premier medical education in their home state and to fulfill the health care needs of South Dakota residents. Dr. Parry’s successes were noted by the national medical education community. This resulted in his appointment as chair of the American Medical Association’s medical school section.

It can be acknowledged that Dr. Parry’s thoughtful, sustainable stewardship and bold vision elevated USD’s medical school to nationally recognized stature and reputation. It is a standing of prominence that endures to this day, and continues to benefit the state of South Dakota.

As a teacher, Dr. Parry influenced several generations of physicians and medical professionals. He received

numerous awards for that aspect of his life, including the Chester McVay Award for teaching and research, the Anton Hyden Award for service as a distinguished professor, and the American College of Physicians Teacher of the Year Award.

His volunteer work extended to community organizations such as the Red Cross, YWCA, United Way, American Cancer Society, and the South Dakota Lung Association.

In 2014, he was named a Master of the American College of Physicians, an honor reserved for the country’s pre-eminent physician-leaders.

Colleagues portray Dr. Parry as humble, highly collaborative, bright and hard-working; traits that seem to logically characterize and follow the evolution of a self-described shy farm kid who grew up near Canistota, South Dakota. Those are Parry’s words, and he uses them to describe not only his boyhood and the man he became, but also a strong attachment to his home region and a desire to make the world he knows best — the source of his roots — a better place. Those who worked with him and for him would agree. They’d also say he had succeeded.

NOMINATED BY MARY NETTLEMAN