National Education Award to be Named for USU Professor

By Sharon Holland

Uniformed Services University (USU) professor Dr. Louis Pangaro is used to seeing his name in lights, being recognized for actively participating in dozens of plays as an actor in local Washington, D.C., area theater. Now, however, his name will adorn an award that recognizes his expertise in medical education nationwide.   

Dr. Louis Pangaro will be honored for his contributions to Medical 
Education through a new Alliance for Clinical Education award named
in his honor. (Photo credit: Tom Balfour, USU)

The Alliance for Clinical Education (ACE) has established the “Louis N. Pangaro Medical Educator Award” that will be given to faculty members whose focus has been on the clinical education of medical students. The award will recognize sustained contributions to building inter-clerkship collaboration beyond the recipient’s own specialty.  

ACE is the coordinating council for eight departmentally-based, clinical clerkship education organizations, including the Association for Surgical Education, the Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry, the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine, Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine, the Consortium of Clerkship Directors in Neurology, the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics, and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.  

Pangaro, who has been teaching medical students for more than four decades, was a founding member and past president of ACE, which was established in 1992 to enhance clinical instruction of medical students. He introduced the Reporter-Interpreter- Manager-Educator, or “RIME” developmental framework to define expectations of students and residents. RIME is now actively used in medical schools throughout the nation. He has also served as the president of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine. He is a prolific author of medical education articles, having published more than 100, many in the area of assessment, and he has served on the editorial boards of Academic Medicine and Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 

Pangaro received the AAMC Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award in 2005 and the John P. Hubbard Award from the National Board of Medical Examiners for excellence in the field of evaluation in medicine in 2018, among other awards. 

“Dr. Pangaro is a pioneer and leader in Medical Education both nationally and internationally. His development of a core language of assessment was groundbreaking and continues to drive the evolution of medical student education and training,” said Dr. Brian Reamy, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs for USU’s F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine.  

“Dr. Pangaro is a pillar of our USU School of Medicine community who led the Department of Medicine as its chair, and the School of Medicine as acting Dean,” said Dr. Eric Elster, Dean, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine.  “He is one of the key architects of our current curriculum.”

The Alliance for Clinical Education has named a new national award for USU professor Dr. Louis Pangaro. The first Louis N. Pangaro Medical Educator Award will be
presented in 2023. (Photo courtesy of National Board of Medical Examiners)

“The Alliance for Clinical Education has brought together all the country’s core clerkships organizations to strengthen the inter-departmental collaboration that gets students ready for GME. The clinical clerkships are the heart of the med school curriculum, and I had the joy of being close to the students as their medicine clerkship director here at USU for 15 years,” said Pangaro. “It’s a privilege to have the ACE education award named for me.” 

The first Louis N. Pangaro Medical Educator Award will be presented in fall 2023.