Written by Kendra Carter
Gustavo (Tavo) Heudebert, M.D., a professor of Medicine and Medical Education and assistant dean of Graduate Medical Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine, has been elected by the American College of Physicians to mastership, one of the highest honors available to primary care physicians.
Mastership is conferred only on a select number of worthy candidates who are deemed distinguished through the practice of the specialty of internal medicine. According to the ACP, the ideal candidate possesses strength of character, integrity, bravery, perseverance, compassion, devotion and steadiness, as well as clinical competence. Emphasis is placed on service as a mentor, advocacy for quality in internal medicine, commitment to social justice, deep interest in people and the creation of communities of medicine.“
This is a huge honor for me, as few individuals are appointed to mastership by the American College of Physicians,” Heudebert said. “More importantly, it meant the world to know I was nominated by esteemed colleagues who are both current and former UAB faculty. It means a great deal to me professionally.”
“We are thrilled for Dr. Heudebert,” said Seth Landefeld, M.D., chair of the Department of Medicine. “This is an honor that is richly deserved. His election as a master in the American College of Physicians recognizes what we at UAB know so well — Tavo Heudebert is a leader for students and residents, a tireless advocate for patients, and a driving force for excellence in internal medicine and graduate medical education.”
“Having Dr. Heudebert on our faculty is a great honor for UAB, but it is also a point of pride for Alabama,” said Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “Dr. Heudebert, along with the scores of students and residents he has trained, represents the highest-quality medical education and medical care available anywhere in the world.”
Heudebert, vice chair for Medical Education in the Department of Medicine, came to UAB in 1995. A 1982 graduate of Cayetano Heredia University in Lima, Peru, Heudebert completed his internship and residency at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a general internal medicine fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. His research interest is in the measurement of educational productivity and the possibility of using an outcomes research approach to measure changes in graduate medical education on both educational and patient outcomes.
He was named assistant dean for Graduate Medical Education in 2006. He is also a co-leader of the new Undiagnosed Diseases Program at UAB, which will take on cases where a diagnosis has not been made despite extensive effort by referring physicians.
He will be presented mastership on April 10, 2014, at a convocation ceremony during the ACP annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.