Medical students name Peter Apel Research Mentor of the Year
Students at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine have named Peter Apel, associate professor of orthopaedic surgery, the 2024 Research Mentor of the Year. He received the award at this year’s Student Research Symposium.
In nominating Apel, students consistently described him as someone who views research not just as a hobby or career but as an integral part of his life.
“Research is about truth-seeking,” Apel said. “I do research because I’m trying to determine the way the world is. That can be contagious. If it can be taught, then others can learn to truth seek as well.”
Apel’s leadership skills are evident in the expansion of his research lab, which in just a few years, has grown from one full-time research staff member to nine and has consistently attracted medical students who choose to pursue their required research in the Apel lab.
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine is one of only a few medical schools in the country that incorporates a mandatory rigorous, multiyear research project in its curriculum as one of its key value domains. Fourth-year students present their comprehensive projects at the annual symposium.
Since 2020, 12 of Apel’s publications have credited medical students as co-authors.
“Part of what I do as an academic physician is to influence the lives of young learners and future doctors and impart on them some of the skills they need to be successful lifelong learners,” Apel said. “To discover knowledge about the world is not intuitive. We have to be taught, and I feel like it’s my duty to do that for those who will follow me.”
Through his mentorship, Apel embodies the medical school's identity of scientist physician.
“Dr. Apel has that rare but invaluable ability to hold his trainees to the highest possible standards in terms of research rigor and quality in a way that supports their confidence and growth constructively,” said Leslie LaConte, the medical school's associate dean for research. “His students know that any critique of their research comes with the intention to set them up for future success. He shapes the way our students approach their thinking as clinicians.”
In nominating Apel, students said, “He has the unique ability to build cohesive and high-functioning teams and is tirelessly committed to medical students and his passion for research.”
Another student said, “Dr. Apel offers insights that illustrate how research can be both challenging and rewarding. His attention to detail in research is the most impressive part of being a medical student mentee of Dr. Apel’s.”
“Doing research teaches young doctors to not be out for the reward,” Apel said. “Good intentions or good ideas don’t always turn into results. I tell my students, ‘Research is real life, and failures, regardless of what they are, make the successes ever so much sweeter.’”
Apel’s clinical interests include pediatric and adult hand surgery and microsurgery for reconstruction. He was recently recognized on national news for his innovative surgery with a pediatric patient with a traumatic injury. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, his medical degree from Loyola University, and his Ph.D. from Wake Forest University.
