Congratulations to Dartmouth General Hospital radiologist and Foundation board member Dr. Carla Pittman for receiving a prestigious honour from Mount Allison University. The Grace Annie Lockhart Pin was created, as the university states, to recognize women “whose lives and work demonstrate impact, service, innovation, and leadership – as trailblazers in their fields, community builders, advocates, mentors and changemakers.”
“I feel very privileged to be in the company of all these great people,” says Dr. Pittman. “It means a lot. Mount A was really important to me.”
Carla Pittman grew up in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and set off to Mount Allison at the age of 17.
“It was my first time away from home, coming from smalltown Newfoundland,” says Dr. Pittman. “It was a great small school, very personalized and you knew your professors.”
Dr. Pittman always thought medicine could be in her future.
“I went to Mount A with the idea I was going to be a doctor but I had no idea what that really meant,” says Dr. Pittman. “Initially I thought I might go into research, and I actually got a research grant when I graduated. The university exposed me to other things I could do.”
She graduated with a BSc Honours in Psychology and Biology in 1991, before earning her medical degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland and completing her radiology residency and a Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology.
Dr. Pittman joined Dartmouth General Hospital as a clinical radiologist in 2000, and has held leadership roles at the hospital, including President of the Medical Staff Association. and Chief of Diagnostic Imaging. Dr. Pittman has also had a major impact at the hospital through her work with the Foundation, where she co-chaired the Above and Beyond Campaign helping to raise more than $13.7 million to expand surgical capacity and modernize diagnostic imaging facilities. Her leadership of the physicians’ giving campaign achieved 100 percent participation.
“Dartmouth General is very close to my heart and it parallels Mount Allison,” says Dr. Pittman. “We have this culture, where everybody knows everybody and we all support each other. It was like that at Mount A and that’s what I enjoy about Dartmouth General is that culture of support and innovation and being able to do things quickly because people work together really well. I’m passionate about Dartmouth General.”
The Grace Annie Lockhart Sesquicentennial Pin at Mount Allison is named after the first woman in the British Empire to earn a university degree, in 1875. Recipients and their families will gather together for a ceremony in Sackville, New Brunswick on May 10th. The Mount Allison tradition continues in Dr. Pittman’s family. She will be joined at that event by her daughter, who graduated from the university last year, and her son, who is in his second year.
Congratulations Dr. Carla Pittman on this much deserved honour from all of us at the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation!
