Teach. Train. Treasure.
With the wit and sarcasm he was known to use in the classroom, retired Pitt Med professor Paul Rogers jokes about his newest role and title:
“I’m enrolled in French classes at a local college, and my title is ‘senior auditor,’” he says with a wry smile. “Now isn’t that offensive.”
But Rogers, an MD who retired in 2014 from the School of Medicine as the Ake N. Grenvik Professor of Critical Care Medicine, is happy to be a student again. He wants to speak the language more fluently the next time he visits France, a favorite destination.
Not able to completely divorce himself from the role of educator, though, Rogers continues to teach third- and fourth-year students at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine Asheville campus, near his home. And he has started to consider his legacy.
Rogers says he owes his success to the opportunities Pitt Med gave him. So he and his husband, Robert Barry, have established the Paul Leeds Rogers and Robert James Barry Medical Student Scholarship Fund, which leaves a large bequest and will also make some funds available for underrepresented students during his lifetime.
“The most important thing we can invest in is these young physicians’ academic careers,” Rogers says. “I want to do that in Pittsburgh because everything I have been able to achieve has been because of what Pittsburgh gave me.”
Barry, whose background is in law enforcement, says, “We wanted to contribute to the education of future physicians.”
Rogers, who trained under legendary clinicians and educators Ake Grenvik and Peter Winter, accumulated numerous honors, largely for his influence in simulation-based education. Some highlights include being recognized with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the Golden Apple Award (nine times) and being named critical care medicine faculty of the year (10 times). His former colleagues say his influence on students can’t be overstated.
“Paul was the master of being able to push people to the edges of their thoughts,” says Paul Phrampus, an MD and director of the Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research. “He would also share the mistakes he made as a young doctor and incorporate that into his teaching. I think that’s why he excelled as a simulation-based educator.”
Says Derek Angus, an MD, MPH Distinguished Professor and chair of critical care medicine, “He was arguably one of the most treasured and respected teachers the School of Medicine has ever had.
