One of my proudest moments came in 1988 when I received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching from UTHSCSA.
The proudest moments of my career are many. They are found in the celebrations former students and I share when they call to report their career milestones and successes.
My proudest moment? I received the Minnie Steven’s Piper Professorship and was very humbled to think that I was selected as a Piper Professor from the many outstanding educators in Texas who were nominated for this distinction.
Certainly proud moments of my life in recent years were being accepted as a pianist competitor in the first Berlin Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in 2006 and in the Van Cliburn International Competition for Outstanding Amateurs in 2007. Both of those events were great fun.
The most life-changing events in my career as a medical ethicist, teacher and researcher have been the opportunity to interview remarkable physicians and nurses who were actively involved in resistance activities during the Nazi era. These included Dr. Ludwig Stabholz who helped set up an underground medical school in the Warsaw Ghetto, Sister Joan of Arc and Dr. Jack Brauns. They were among the many health professionals who risked their lives to save others in the face of massive brutality and murder.
Defining moments that most encapsulate my sense of achievement in basic research and education have tended to center around the graduation of Ph.D.. students from our laboratory, or students from other groups where I assisted in the Ph.D.. process. Better still has been learning of former students’ subsequent contributions, or those of former postdocs, in the world of academic science of alternative careers. It is always tremendously fun and rewarding to share in the excitement of graduate students or postdoctoral fellows upon learning of their major papers becoming accepted.
One of the most proudest moments of my career occurred in 2003 when I was invited to be one of the six members of the ACGME Nuclear Medicine RRC and subsequently the Chair of this committee (2006-2010). During my tenure as the RRC Chair, the committee completed a major revision of the training requirements for the nuclear medicine physician.
Being a teacher allows me to be a student forever. Nurses come to graduate education with a wealth of experience and a passion to improve patient care. The classroom provides a safe place for teachers and learners to exchange ideas, evaluate practice and research better ways to provide quality care.
One of my proudest moments was to have been selected as the recipient of the 2004 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award, the highest academic honor given to occupational therapists by the American Occupational Therapy Association. The title of my lecture, published in 2005, was: Embracing our ethos, reclaiming our heart.
My proudest moment was receiving the Piper Professorship in recognition of outstanding teaching.
Something that goes hand in hand with graduation is when the graduates come back years later and share their accomplishments. They are my legacy and it is very fulfilling to know that they are making their own contributions to health care.
I think my proudest moment was reading the hundreds of notes sent in from current and former students and residents when I was nominated for the President's Scholar Award in Teaching. I was very moved by all the kind, thoughtful and appreciative comments from those I had taught.
The proudest moment of my career was my first day as a full time educator. While I’ve spent the greatest portion of my academic career in administration, I always consider myself a teacher first and foremost.