Internal Medicine, Stress
Medicine, Fibromyalgia
Born during the Second World War, Dr N. Lee Smith grew up in
Ogden, Utah. Having an early love of science and mathematics, he
majored in Nuclear Engineering and then Medical Biology at the
University of Utah, and then received his medical degree (M.D.) from
the University of California, San Francisco. After his residency in
Internal Medicine at the University of Utah Medical Center, and
board certification in Internal Medicine, he developed a
subspecialty in Behavioral Medicine. This field explores the
interface between mental and physical health, and creates effective
ways of treating stress-related physical illness. Some of his
research studies at the University of Utah have found over half of
general medicine patients have such "mind-body" disorders. Much of
Dr. Smith's research has focuses on how mental stress presents
itself physically, how it affects medical treatment outcomes, and
how to diagnose and treat these disorders in a general medical
setting. In 1996, he received a Citation Paper Award from the
American Psychosomatic Society for a report on some of this work. He
has chaired many conferences dealing with these issues, and
co-authored a textbook entitled Mind-Body Health: The Effects of
Attitudes, Emotions and Relationships (San Francisco, Benjamin
Cummings, 2001). Other particular medical interests have included
the patient-physician relationship preventive cardiology, as well as
pain, fatigue, and sleep problems. Dr. Smith recently helped
organize the Center for Interdisciplinary Medicine at the Health
South Rehabilitation Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Smith was a full-time faculty member at the University of
Utah School of Medicine for many years, where he has practiced
general internal medicine and created the Stress Medicine Clinic. He
is currently the Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine there. He
has also practiced primary care medicine privately, at the Pentagon,
and while serving in Korea. In Korea, Dr. Smith had the opportunity
to experience a fascinating world of medicine when he opened a free
clinic for indigent Korean villagers. He has been a Clinical
Teaching Attending Physician and has taught physical diagnosis at
several Salt Lake City hospitals. During that time, he received the
University of Utah Organization of Student Representatives Teaching
Award. Dr. Smith has also had the opportunity to speak at several
national medical conferences, and has chaired the Continuing Medical
Education Advisory Board for The Academy for Healthcare Education in
New York City.
Dr. Smith served for several years as a Quality Assurance
Coordinator for the Division of General Internal Medicine at the
University of Utah. In the 1980s, he also served as Vice Chairman of
the Department of Internal Medicine and as Chairman of both the
General Internal Medicine/Primary Task Force and the Behavioral and
Stress Medicine Task Force at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City.
Dr. Smith is married with five children. His interests include
music, history, philosophy, and the beauty of the earth.
