Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine’s inaugural medical education lecture honors the late Richard C. Vari

Catherine Doss

28 Sep 2022

Man with glasses sits listening attentively, holding a tablet with scribbled notes. Notes are scribbled on a white board behind him. — The late Richard C. Vari facilitates a problem-based learning group at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in 2017. Vari designed the problem-based learning curriculum in which medical students learn basic sciences through real-life patient cases. The inaugural Richard C. Vari Endowed Lecture will take place on Oct. 27.

“When Dr. Vari would start to talk, everybody would listen because they knew it was going to be important. He wanted us to come away with a thorough understanding. He had a passion for it.”

Michael Gallagher, a 2017 graduate of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM), summed up what many students felt about Richard C. Vari, the school’s founding curriculum dean who became the senior dean for academic affairs. Vari passed away from complications of ALS in June.

As a way of honoring Vari and his legacy, the school established an annually endowed lectureship to feature an internationally renowned innovator in medical education as part of TEACH Education Day. TEACH is the Teaching Excellence Academy for Collaborative Healthcare that promotes learning excellence at VTCSOM, Carilion Clinic, and Radford University Carilion by creating a community of educators and fostering their development as teachers, learners, and education researchers.

VTCSOM will host the inaugural Richard C. Vari Endowed Lecture at noon Oct. 27 at 2 Riverside Circle in Roanoke. Louis Pangaro, a professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, will present “What Does Physiology Teach Us About Assessment and Evaluation?” Pangaro will explore ways to foster independence in medical students and how the process can be effectively observed and measured physiologically. Due to the special nature of this event, in-person participation is strongly encouraged.

Pangaro earned his medical degree and completed his residency in internal medicine along with a fellowship in endocrinology at Georgetown University. He was a research fellow in endocrinology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and joined the Uniformed Services University in 1978. In 1998, he was appointed professor with tenure. Pangaro’s scholarly work is in the evaluation of the competence of medical trainees and he has published more than 100 articles relating to medical education.

If you wish to attend virtually, follow the Zoom link.

Beginning at 4 p.m. Oct. 27, there will be a poster session, select podium presentations, and an announcement of the 2022 annual TEACH award winners at the medical school.

Thanks to the generosity of those who knew and loved Vari, VTCSOM is more than halfway toward its fundraising goal for the endowed lectureship. To date, more than $150,000 has been raised.

Contribute to the endowment.

“Rick had a lovely personality and humanistic nature,” said VTCSOM Dean Lee Learman. “He was a master educator, innovator, leader, and bridge builder. The Vari Lecture will honor his legacy by featuring an inspiring international thought leader in medical education for years to come.”