Brody School of Medicine’s Dr. Tom Irons Honored with Spirit Award

From ECU News Services

Dr. Thomas “Tom” Irons, a retired East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine professor whose lifetime commitment to rural health care earned him a place in the state of North Carolina’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine, was honored last month with the Spirit of Free and Charitable Clinics Award from the state association of the same name.

“If I’m ever recognized for anything, I would want it to be for helping the disadvantaged, those on the margins,” Irons said. “I’d rather have my name on the wall of a soup kitchen or a free clinic than on a tall building or a highway.”

Irons is revered for his enterprising work driving specialized care into unhoused populations, the underinsured and rural families. A pediatrician by training, Irons began educating future doctors at the Brody School of Medicine in 1981. He retired in 2022 as an associate vice chancellor for health sciences.

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