BRITTINGHAM AWARD – Awarded to Michael Fowler, MD
The Thomas E. Brittingham Clinical Teaching Award was first given in 1990 in honor of Thomas E. Brittingham, an outstanding teacher and clinician. He graduated from Harvard Medical School, received his internship and residency at the New York Hospital and completed a fellowship in Hematology at Washington University. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1963. While at Vanderbilt, he shared the role of chief of service, interviewed and accepted applicants for internship, and directed the third-year medical clinical clerkship. He was described by his interns as the most careful and thoroughly fair man who always uncovered something new and important about their patients. This award distinguishes faculty teaching in the clinical years (both full and part-time) who are felt by fourth-year students to be exceptional teachers, mentors and role models.
DAVIES AWARD – Awarded to James Atkinson, MD, PhD
First given in 1984, the Davies Award is an avenue for recognizing excellence in teaching the basic sciences. The award is named in honor of its first recipient, Dr. Jack Davies, former professor of Cell Biology and chair of anatomy at Vanderbilt. Dr. Davies once said about teaching, "I want it to be fun. If it's not fun, it's no good. I think teaching is a gift...I learn something every time, every day." He had an outstanding artistic ability, and the uncanny ability to draw with both hands. This is given to a faculty member who works with students in the first two years.
JOHN JOHNSON AWARD - Awarded to Derek Riebau, MD
This award was founded in 2003 to honor Dr. John S. Johnson, a 1961 Vanderbilt Med. School graduate whose distinguished career of clinical excellence, teaching and service was cut short by the development of ALS. For the last nine years of his career, Dr. Johnson served as the Chief of Medicine at St. Thomas Hospital, a Vanderbilt School of Medicine appointment. He was a superb clinical educator, who received both the Hugh J. Morgan Teaching Award at Vanderbilt Medical Center and the T. Leonard Tow Humanism Award at Vanderbilt School of Medicine. However, of his many awards, the one in which he delighted most was the Vanderbilt Medical School Class of 2003’s inauguration of an annual mentorship award in his name, of which he was the first recipient. Today, the John S. Johnson Award honors a faculty member who demonstrates integrity, humility and honor in his or her practice and life. The Faculty Member honored with this award today is someone who, like Dr. Johnson, sets an example for students by living out the ideals presented in the professional oath.
LEONARD TOW HUMANISM IN MEDICINE AWARD – Awarded to Sandra Moutsios, MD
This award is given to recognize a faculty member for exemplifying outstanding humanism in medicine by their compassion and sensitivity in the delivery of care to patients and their families. Each winner is recognized at the graduation awards ceremony, receives a cash award of $1,000, and has his/her name engraved on a plaque provided by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation of New Jersey.