The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) recently recognized Diane T. Pace, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, NCMP, FAANP, associate professor and director of special programs in the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Nursing, with the NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner of the Year Award during the recent NAMS 27th Annual Meeting held in Orlando, Florida.
The NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner of the Year Award is presented to a current NAMS certified menopause practitioner who exemplifies outstanding work in the field and for their patients.
“I’m very honored and blessed to be recognized by my colleagues as the NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner of the Year,” said Dr. Pace. “I am among the few nurse practitioners in this multiprofessional organization, and it is truly an honor to receive this recognition from the premier organization of education and research for the health of women at midlife and beyond.”
Dr. Pace, who has been a nurse practitioner since 1976, joined NAMS in 1996, shortly after she began work on her dissertation. She was among the first to receive the NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner credentials in 2002— taking the exam the second time it was ever offered. She also served as past president of the organization from 2012-2013, and was the first nurse practitioner to serve in this leadership role.
As a member of NAMS, she has made significant contributions toward the health of women during midlife and after. Dr. Pace is currently serving on an expert panel developing the NAMS 2016 Hormonal Therapy Position Statement, and also served as contributor to NAMS’ textbook, “Menopause Practice: A Clinician’s Guide.”
Through a collaboration with NAMS, Dr. Pace was involved in the testing of a free mobile app called MenoPro and the publication of the supporting algorithm in the “Journal of Menopause.” Released in 2014, MenoPro allows patients and clinicians to work together in shared decision making. The app helps clinicians stratify the risks and benefits in prescribing hormone therapy and features pros and cons of hormone versus nonhormone therapy options. It has many features which assist clinicians and women to manage menopausal symptoms.
“Menopause is not a disease,” said Dr. Pace. “If a woman reaches 51, the average age of spontaneous menopause, she will experience this normal physiological event and spend on average a third of her life in this period of her life. However there are changes that occur due to decreased estrogen and aging. NAMS helps women obtain answers to navigate the changes that occur at midlife and beyond and find providers who are certified or specialized in menopausal clinical practice. The organization disseminates the highest level of evidence-based clinical data and research focused on issues occurring during this time in a woman’s life to clinicians, researchers, and educators.”