Students from the UAB School of Medicine have named 23 faculty and three clinical departments winners of the 2014 Argus Awards.The Argus Awards, created in 1996 to recognize faculty members, give medical students the chance to honor their mentors, professors, courses and course directors for outstanding service to medical education. Faculty members are nominated by course evaluations, and students vote to select award winners in each category.
A ceremony to honor Argus Award recipients and nominees will be held at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, 2014 in the Children’s Harbor Building, 1600 6th Ave. South.
“Both the medical students and faculty make it a pleasure to participate in Fundamentals I. I consider it both an honor and a privilege to teach a subject I enjoy to a body of students who are so highly motivated and receptive,” says Martin Young, Ph.D, associate professor of Medicine and 2014 Argus Award winner for Best Educator in Fundamentals 1. “The other faculty members involved in Fundamentals I, including the course directors, are an outstanding group of professionals that I greatly admire. Being chosen to be an Argus Award recipient is like icing on the cake.”
“In my teaching, I aspire to not only pass knowledge down but to inspire a lifetime of learning,” says Shawn Galin, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine. Galin, who has been honored with Argus Awards in years past, was named winner of three 2014 Argus Awards: Caduceus Club Award for Excellence in Preclinical Education, Best Educator in the Endocrine Module and Best MS2 Organ Module, along with Hussein Abdullatif, M.D., as course directors for the endocrine module.
“I always remember that these students represent our future and that drives my passion for their education. Receiving recognition is indeed an honor and it is humbling to be held in such high regard by the students,” Galin says.
The Department of Pediatrics was honored as the Best Clinical Department in Birmingham. Obstetrics and Gynecology was named the Best Clinical Department in Tuscaloosa, and the Department of Medicine was named Best Clinical Department in Huntsville.
Winners of the 2014 Argus Awards are:
- Best Introductory Module — Fundamentals 2 directors Peter Anderson, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor of Pathology and Ken Waites,M.D., professor of Pathology
- Best Introductory Module Directors — Laura Cotlin, Ph.D., associate professor of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, and Nathaniel Robin, M.D., professor of Genetics
- Best Educator; Patient, Doctor, Society — Hughes Evans, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Pediatrics
- Best Educator, Fundamentals 1 — Martin Young, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Fundamentals 2 — Ken Waites, M.D., professor of Pathology
- Best MS1 Organ Module — Cardiovascular directors Harish Doppalapudi, M.D., associate professor of Medicine, and Silvio Litovsky, M.D., associate professor of Pathology
- Best MS1 Organ Module Directors — Renal module directors Mark Bevensee, Ph.D., associate professor of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology; and Vineeta Kumar, M.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Cardiovascular Module — Harish Doppalapudi, M.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Pulmonary Module — James Johnson, M.D., professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Gastrointestinal Module — Brendan McGuire, M.D., professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Renal Module — Ashita Tolwani, M.D., professor of Medicine
- Best MS2 Organ Module — Endocrine directors Shawn Galin, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine, and Hussein Abdullatif, M.D., professor of Pediatrics
- Best Educator, Musculoskeletal and Skin Module — Will Brooks, Ph.D., assistant professor of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology
- Best Educator, Neurosciences Module — Vinita Yalamanchili, M.D., assistant professor of Psychiatry
- Best Educator, Hematology Oncology Module — Thomas Wang, M.D., associate professor of Surgery
- Best Educator, Endocrine Module — Shawn Galin, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Best Educator, Reproductive Module — Chere’ Stewart, M.D., assistant professor in Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Caduceus Club Award for Excellence in Preclinical Education — Shawn Galin, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Caduceus Club Award for Best Clinical Instructor, Birmingham — Hussein Abdullatif, M.D., professor of Pediatrics
- Best Clinical Educator, Huntsville — Farrah Ibrahim, M.D., associate professor of Medicine
- Best Clinical Educator, Tuscaloosa — Joe Wallace, M.D., adjunct associate professor of Medical Education