With 50 to 100 e-mails a day clogging her inbox, Pam Whitten was surprised when she opened an e-mail from the American Medical Women's Association that she thought was spam.

Instead, the associate professor of telecommunication, information studies and media learned that she was a Local Legend from Michigan.

"I was honored and humbled," Whitten said.

Changing the Face of Medicine: Local Legends honors women physicians through the National Library of Medicine and the American Medical Women's Association. Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, nominated Whitten for the award.

Although the members of Congress make nominations, they take recommendations from others.

"Her colleagues highly recommended her," Rogers said.

Along with teaching telecommunication classes, Whitten does research in telemedicine. She explained that telemedicine uses technology to enhance access to health services over a distance.

One of her new projects involves visiting four nursing homes in Michigan and equipping them with wireless tablet computers so residents can have real-time video counseling with doctors at a different location.

Whitten also has worked on creating a diabetes Web site for people of low literacy. She said that much information is online only, yet a huge percentage of the population cannot read very well.

"She's doing powerful things in medicine," Rogers said. "The direction of her work is changing the lives of many."