One of my proudest moments was being a co-recipient of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) National Innovative Program Award in April, 2006; awarded at the Spring STFM Conference in San Francisco, CA. This award was a direct outcome of the activities accomplished for a Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Predoctoral Training Grant in Family Medicine, for which I was the lead author.
In order to teach one cannot stop learning. I am grateful to all of the students I have taught and the colleagues, with whom I’ve worked, during the past 35 years at UT. I have been privileged to learn, and continue to learn, from all of them.
One of my proudest moments was being told the medical oncology fellows at MD Anderson had selected me for the Mentor Award, which honors the faculty member who has provided the most significant mentorship to them over the past year. These young men and women are highly motivated and intelligent and vibrant; it has been such a pleasure working with them. I was very touched they felt that I had impacted their lives in such a positive way.
Proudest moment of my career? Being invited to introduce team-based learning to a group of medical educators in Kochi Medical School in Japan, and afterwards having them so pleased with the method that they sought out a publisher to translate a book I co-edited, "Team Based Learning in Health Professions Education" into Japanese.
There have been several events over my career that have given me pleasure, and one of those moments relates to being the recipient of the Renaissance Award from UT medical students in 1996 for my participation in the development, implementation and evaluation of the new problem-based curriculum. This was an unexpected honor for me and touched me because it came from the students.
Working with learners across the continuum is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of my career. Sharing educational scholarship with colleagues and reading the med-ed literature keeps me excited about the future of our work.
My proudest moments of my career as a clinician-educator and scholar of pediatric medicine occur when I see how my students ("my kids") have grown and developed into confident, compassionate and outstanding individuals and physicians in so many incredible ways, and I know that I have been a part of making that possible.