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Phil Smith, M.D. |
This past fall, the medical center presented Phil Smith, M.D., professor of infectious diseases at UNMC, with the “Physician of Distinction, Clinical Educator Recognition.”
The “Clinical Educator Recognition” is presented annually to a physician from a private setting who is recognized by his or her peers as one who promotes medical excellence through education. The educational format may be with students, residents, staff or patients, be it by the bedside, in the hallway or classroom.
Colleagues call Dr. Smith an ultimate educator who “raises the bar for all whom he teaches, leads and mentors.”
That is evident in his work at the medical center where Dr. Smith helped develop the biocontainment unit — one of only three in the country. The unit is equipped to safely care for anyone exposed to a contagious and dangerous disease such as the Ebola virus or SARS. The unit has been a focus for teaching preparedness in the region.
As medical director of the unit, Dr. Smith has earned immense respect from the medical staff, but also from the many dignitaries who have toured the unit such as Julie Gerberding, M.D., director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For Dr. Smith, teaching and medicine go hand in hand.
“The Nebraska Medical Center is a unique hospital because it has many remarkable clinicians who are also great teachers,” Dr. Smith said. “I feel that the bedside teaching of residents, students, fellows and nurses makes you a better clinician.”
Dr. Smith has served patients at The Nebraska Medical Center for 30 years after being hired in 1977 to develop the infection control program at Clarkson Hospital. He obtained his medical degree from the University of Chicago and completed his residency in internal medicine and in infectious disease at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He also is a prior winner of the Sir William Osler Teaching Award in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine.