Photo by: Paul Martens
Richard B. Kohler
Professor of Medicine and of, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School
of Medicine, IUPUI
| "I believe that he is considered
the most knowledgeable individual in the School of Medicine
in the area of residency training." |
| —David Crabb, chair, Department
of Medicine |
|
After medical school, as future doctors contemplate their next
few years as resident physicians, they hope to be guided in that
experience by skillful and gifted educators.
For residents specializing in internal medicine, Richard Kohler
fulfills those hopes.
Kohler has been the residency program director for the Department
of Medicine for a decade. He has been described by David Crabb,
chair of the department, as "the consummate internist, firmly
evidence-based in his medical decisions and in his approach to the
training of residents and students."
Dean D. Craig Brater of the School of Medicine said that Kohler
"in essence, is a true role model of all that is good about
our profession."
Kohler inspires such descriptions with his record of building close
connections with the residents, while simultaneously reshaping their
training program to produce superior physicians. According to one
associate, Kohler is compassionate, while clearly expressing his
high expectations of residents taking a scholarly and evidence-based
approach to patient care.
Kohler learned long ago that this technique yields in-depth understanding
of medical conditions by his residents. "I try to stay current
on my knowledge of problems predictably encountered on the wards
and also to understand them in sufficient detail to challenge even
the more experienced residents," Kohler said. He recalls that
during his own residency in the early 1970s, "my best teachers
could always ask a question that I could not answer."
To ensure that the IU Department of Medicine lives up to the best
in teaching, Kohler has overseen the revision of the department's
curriculum. One addition is an 18-month series of noon conferences
organized by Kohler and staffed by contributors he has recruited
from the divisions of his department and others on campus.
Kohler has also reorganized virtually every system for tracking
the internal medicine residents' progress. Beyond his own department,
Kohler has lent his talents to the formidable task of revising the
entire School of Medicine's curriculum. Kohler also has been
a strong advocate for encouraging residents to pursue careers in
research and academic medicine and each year has encouraged several
residents to follow a research path.
The esteem in which Kohler is held in his department was evident
when his colleagues nominated him for the prestigious Parker J.
Palmer Courage to Teach Award of the Accreditation Council for Graduate
Medical Education (he was a national finalist). It was evident,
also, at the internal medicine residents' 2001 graduation banquet,
when Kohler's students gave him a standing ovation.
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