July 12, 2002

The Thomas S. Durant, MD, Golf Tournament was held June 17 at the Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, Mass., to honor the beloved MGH physician who died last year.

The tournament raised more than $65,000 for the Thomas S. Durant Fellowship for Refugee Medicine program, which will sponsor health care professionals to serve refugee populations and victims of complex humanitarian disasters. The fellowship recently was started to honor Durant, who served the MGH as assistant director for more than 30 years.

The golf tournament was launched five years ago by Bill Reilly, a friend of Durant's, to raise money for a variety of charities. Last month's event was the first year that all money was donated to the newly established fellowship.

This year's tournament featured more than 110 players, including MGHers: Peter Slavin, MD, chairman and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization; W. Gerald Austen, MD, MGH surgeon-in-chief emeritus; Charles Sanders, MD, former general director of the MGH; and Laurence Ronan, MD, of MGH Internal Medicine Associates and director of the Durant Fellowship.

Durant had traveled to some of the world's most forlorn places during his life to bring food, supplies and medical expertise to refugees in war ravaged countries such as Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia and Rwanda.

The MGH created the Durant Fellowship to honor and celebrate Dr. Durant's unique spirit of service to those less fortunate around the globe," says Ronan. "Dr. Durant was an important member of the MGH family whose humanitarian efforts made us all very proud."

The tournament also featured a raffle and auction that benefited the fellowship. Auction items donated by Boston-area community leaders included a dinner at Locke-Ober with chef Lydia Shire, autographed Red Sox baseballs, a therapeutic massage and a nutrition and fitness program.

At the tournament, Ronan announced a gift of an additional $50,000 to the fellowship from Tom O'Donnell and Mark Holland of Loomis Sayles, Inc.

From left:  Slavin, Austen and Sanders