During his high
school years at Hackensack High School, Dr. Martin Blechman volunteered
at Hackensack Hospital, developing the skills he would use as
a medic in WWII and in forty-two years of private practice while
on the staff at Hackensack University Medical Center.
After undergraduate studies at George Washington University,
he earned a Masters Degree in Tropical Medicine at the School
of Public Health at Columbia University. He remained on their
faculty as an instructor in tropical medicine until his retirement.
He became chief of the Diabetes Section at Hackensack, establishing
the first in-patient diabetes unit in the state.
Dr. Blechman initiated a yearly community presentation in Hackensack
entitled "Living Well with Diabetes". He was also a
member of the faculty at UMDNJ in Newark, a consultant in tropical
medicine at Pascack Valley Hospital and Valley Hospital. He served
on the boards of the Garden State Association of Diabetes Educators,
the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators and the
Camp Nejeda Foundation.
He was the first President of the American Diabetes Association,
New Jersey Affiliate, serving two terms, remaining on the Executive
Board. He was also a member of many organizations including the
AACE, ACP and AMA and, most recently, has become active in the
New Jersey Diabetes Council and the Bergen County Volunteer Medical
Initiative.
Dr. Blechman co-founded the Diabetes Foundation nearly 20 years
ago. Always concerned with education, under his guidance DFI
has presented 62 free bi-monthly public education meetings. His
vision for the organization has guided and inspired his colleagues.
Dr. Blechman's lifelong dedication to his own patients, as well
as to an indigent population of diabetics he didn't even know,
is a model that all of us can learn from and follow.
Diabetes Foundation, Inc.
1-800-633-3160
fax: 201-444-5580
Diabetes.Foundation@Verizon.net
