Career Pulse

Charest Board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Care

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Shawn Charest of Mercy Medical Center has earned board certification in Hospice and Palliative Care from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

This designation indicates that Charest has successfully met ABIM requirements by completing graduate medical education fellowship training, demonstrating clinical competence in patient care, meeting licensure and procedural requirements, and passing the certification exam in Hospice and Palliative Care. Board certification in Hospice and Palliative Care is a new specialty qualification offered by ABIM for the first time in 2008.

Charest is a hospitalist with Mercy Internal Medicine Service, one of the oldest and most well-established hospitalist groups in the country. He has developed innovative palliative care services at Mercy Medical Center, as well as other health systems within Catholic Health East. Charest also serves as the medical director of Mercy Hospice.

Dr. Charest received his bachelor’s degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and his medical degree from the University of Vermont in Burlington. He is also board-certified in internal medicine.

ABIM is a nonprofit, independent evaluation organization that strives to enhance the quality of health care by certifying internists and subspecialists who demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for excellent patient care.

Pettus Joins Team at Hillcrest Family Health

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Health Systems announced the appointment of Dr. Mark C. Pettus, a board-certified internal medicine physician with more than 20 years of experience, to the physician staff of Hillcrest Family Health.

Pettus is providing integrative holistic primary care, or what’s called personalized medicine, and is teamed at Hillcrest Family Health with Drs. Christopher Trancynger, Rebecca Caine, and Muhammad Gul.

“Personalized medicine is a young but rapidly advancing field of health care that is informed by each person’s unique clinical, genomic, and environmental information,” said Pettus. “Because these factors are different for every person, the nature of diseases — including their onset, their course, and how they might respond to drugs or other interventions — is as individual as the people who have them.”

He has a long history of service in the Berkshires, dating to 1988 when he first joined the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center. He has previously served as chief of staff, associate chair of the Department of Medicine, and director of ambulatory medical education for the Internal Medicine Residency program at BMC.

Pettus received his medical degree from UMass Medical School and completed his residency training at Harvard Medical School. He was fellowship-trained in Nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is the author of two books, The Savvy Patient: The Ultimate Advocate for Quality Health Care and It’s All in Your Head: Change Your Mind, Change Your Health.

For an appointment with Dr. Pettus or one of his colleagues at Hillcrest Family Health, call (413) 499-2051.

Erian Joins BMC Renal Dialysis Unit

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Medical Center announced the appointment of Dr. Hani F. Erian to the hospital’s medical staff and to the physician staff of the Berkshire Health Systems Kidney Disease & Hypertension Center.

Erian, a nephrologist, joins Drs. David Albert, David Henner, Stephen Nelson, and Henry Rose in providing nephrology services to patients from throughout the Berkshire region from their practice located at the Renal Dialysis Unit at BMC.

Board-certified in Nephrology and Internal Medicine, Erian is fellowship-trained in Nephrology from Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. He received his medical degree from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, and completed his residency training at Beth Israel Medical Center.

For an appointment with Erian or one of his colleagues, ask a physician for a referral or call (413) 447-2764.