William J. Bremner Endowed Mentorship Awards

Recognizing that mentorship is critical to success across all phases of faculty’s careers in academic medicine, the Department of Medicine established the Mentorship Awards in 2015 honor faculty members for their contribution to the scientific, educational, and patient care mission of the department through exemplary mentorship.

Dr. William Bremner
This is unpublished

Two awards are given annually, one for Excellence in Mentorship of Physician/Scientists and one for Excellence in Mentorship of Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty. 

The endowment was created and the name changed in 2018 to commemorate and express appreciation to Dr. William Bremner for his legendary wisdom, vision, coaching and sponsorship that fostered countless trainees and faculty in pursuing their passion and in reaching their ultimate potential.

Criteria

  • Nominees should be at the associate professor or professor rank.
  • Nominees should have a track record of mentoring of faculty and trainees.
  • Nominees should be active faculty with a primary appointment in the Department of Medicine.

Timelines

Call for nominations in November, presented in early 2023.

NOMINATIONS

Award nominations may be submitted by any person with knowledge of the nominee’s mentoring capabilities. Nominations should be accompanied by up to 5 letters of support (1 page limit for each). Letters of support may be written by supervisors, faculty peers, current mentees or former mentees and should describe in some detail the items below with regard to the nominee:

Characteristics of a Physician/Scientist Mentor

  • Demonstrates a commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, personal and professional growth of mentees to help them function effectively and achieve measurable academic success
  • Respects mentee’s goals and helps the mentee work towards them
  • Provides instruction and actively guides the development of research skills (planning and conducting studies or experiments; successfully applying for grant funding; writing and publishing manuscripts) as well as other skills such as time management, professionalism, and organization
  • Provides guidance on establishing collaborative relationships with other researchers and actively helps the mentee to network amongst colleagues
  • Is supportive at a personal as well as a professional level; inspires and encourages
  • Demonstrates professional behavior, attitudes and/or leadership skills that aid mentees in achieving their goals, i.e. serves as role model
  • Is accessible for advice and assistance

Characteristics of a Clinician/Scholar or FTCF Mentor

  • Demonstrates a commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, personal and professional growth of mentees to help them function effectively and achieve measurable academic success
  • Respects mentee’s goals and helps the mentee work towards them
  • Provides instruction and actively guides the development of clinical skills when necessary (performing procedures; interacting with patients and/or their families; communication with other health care professionals) as well as other skills such as time management, professionalism, and organization
  • Provides feedback on teaching skills and instruction on developing teaching materials
  • Is supportive at a personal as well as a professional level; inspires and encourages
  • Advises mentees on scholarly activities, helping to identify a focus for those activities and helping to develop the skills necessary to be successful academically
  • Demonstrates professional behavior, attitudes and/or leadership skills that aid mentees in achieving their goals, i.e. serves as role model
  • Is accessible for advice and assistance

Additional Information

In addition to addressing the characteristics described above, letter writers should also specifically address the following in their letters:

  • Describe in detail how the mentor guided or supported the personal and/or career development of the mentees.
  • Identify measurable improvements or significant positive impacts the mentor has had on mentee’s personal or career development.
  • If applicable, describe in detail the impact on mentorship in your Division through institutional or administrative positions (e.g., Fellowship or Training Grant Director).

Past recipients

2022

  • Thomas Gallagher, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty
  • W. Conrad Liles, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists

2021

  • J. Randall Curtis, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists
  • Shireesha Dhanireddy, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty

2020

  • Jonathan Himmelfarb, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists
  • Stephanie Page, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty

2018/19

  • Edward Boyko, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists
  • Patricia Kritek, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty

2017

  • Kristina Crothers, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists
  • Joyce Wipf, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty

2016

  • Rosemarie Fernandez, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty
  • Oliver Press, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists

2015 

  • Matthew Golden, Excellence in Mentoring Physician/Scientists
  • Mark Tonelli, Excellence in Mentoring Clinician/Scholars or Full-Time Clinical Faculty