Medicine

Mets earns top educator honors with SEA/Duke Award

Dr. Berend Mets, Eric A. Walker Professor and chairman of anesthesiology at Penn State Hershey, has earned top educator honors by receiving the Society for Education in Anesthesia SEA/Duke Award.

The award acknowledges Mets’s career-long commitment to teaching and to the advancement of anesthesiology-related education for medical students, residents and faculty. The award was presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting in early October.

The SEA/Duke Award was created in 1996 through a gift from the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University. The purpose of the award is to recognize physician-leaders who have had a long commitment to teaching and have made significant contributions to the advancement of education and teaching in anesthesia. The award is also accompanied by a $5,000 grant.

Mets has been actively engaged in education throughout his career. He is not only a dedicated teacher and instructor, but has mentored and developed the careers of many students and young physicians. He has served as president for the SEA, the Society of Academic Anesthesia Associations and the Association of Academic Anesthesia Chairs. He is an elected member of the Association of University Anesthesiologists and serves on the executive committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiology. Mets is an active member of the ASA and has served on the Committee on Residents and Medical Students, the Committee on Academic Anesthesia and the Committee on Global Humanitarian Outreach.  

In each of his leadership roles, Mets has focused on creating opportunities for young physicians to foster and develop academic careers in education. He has actively supported programs for faculty development and, as a department chair, created pathways for academic promotion based on education initiatives.

In part, the citation read: "The contributions of Dr. Berend Mets deserve special consideration, in part because of the broad impact his mentorship and support has had on so many, but also because he was willing to take on the challenge of creating a focus of excellence in education at a time when others saw only peer reviewed publication as a legitimate academic endeavor. He had a vision for graduate medical education that was ahead of its time and has spent a large part of his career promoting the recognition of contributions in the advancement of education in anesthesiology."

Presenting the award to Dr. Berend Mets, is current President of the Society for Education in Anesthesia Dr. Steve Kimatian. Kimatian -- a former student, resident and faculty member at Penn State Hershey -- is now chairman of pediatric anesthesia at Cleveland Clinic. Credit: Penn StateCreative Commons

Last Updated January 9, 2015

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