Jane Dyer, PhD, MS, CNM, FNP, MBA, associate professor (clinical) and director of the Nurse Midwifery and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Utah College of Nursing has been formally inducted into the American College of Nurse Midwives as one of the 2010 new Fellows. Dr. Dyer was nominated for this honor by three longtime colleagues and was selected by the organization's Board of Governors for her sustained contributions to the midwifery profession for her outstanding achievements. The induction of Dr. Dyer and nine other nurse midwives took place during the Academy's 55th Annual Meeting in Washington, DC June 13, 2010.
A certified nurse midwife for more than 32 years, Dyer earned her bachelor of science degree from the University of Southern Maine and later completed several degrees at the University of Utah, including a doctor of philosophy degree in 2008. Through her leadership, the College of Nursing's Nurse Midwifery Program, the oldest, continuously existing program west of the Mississippi, has achieved and maintained a prestigious ranking of 8th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The program focuses on recruiting individuals from the Intermountain west who will return to their home communities to provide care to local women and families.
With a philosophy that one need not have to cross state lines in order to have "international experiences" of caring for women, Dr. Dyer has actively involved faculty and students in the lives of immigrants to Utah, while also building education and service experiences with women from around the world. "Jane's commitment to the underserved includes not just her patients but also future midwives from disadvantaged and rural backgrounds who struggle to achieve the goal of joining our ranks," says Patricia Murphy, CNM, DrPH, FACNM, professor and Annette Poulson Cumming Presidential Endowed Chair in Women's and Reproductive Health, who nominated Dr. Dyer for the honor. "She is with all women, and so models the spirit of midwifery to her colleagues, her students, and her associated professionals in the College of Nursing and around the state."
Fellowship in the American College of Nurse Midwives (FACNM) is an honor bestowed upon those midwives whose demonstrated leadership, clinical excellence, outstanding scholarship, and professional achievement have merited special recognition both within and outside the midwifery profession. In light of the vast wealth of expertise and collective wisdom represented within the body of Fellows, its mission is to serve the ACNM in a consultative and advisory capacity.