Norman D. Ferrari III, M.D., senior associate dean for student services and academic progress at the West Virginia University School of Medicine, recently received the 2010 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

The awards, first presented in 2006, recognize designated institutional officials who have demonstrated excellence in overseeing residency programs at their sponsoring institutions. These officials have authority and responsibility for all graduate medical education programs at a teaching hospital or other type of institution that sponsors residency programs.

To be eligible for the award, candidates must demonstrate excellence in key areas, including improving performance and innovation, strategic resource management, and in leadership, values and principles.

Ferrari was appointed to his current position in 2004. In this role, he is responsible for all physician medical education programs of the School of Medicine, including the M.D. degree admissions process, the development and implementation of the curriculum, student affairs, graduate medical education, continuing education and accreditation.

Ferrari said he is proud of the fact that during his time in the position, the number of residency programs offered by the School of Medicine has increased. WVU has 40 ACGME accredited residency programs and 17 additional programs.

“We are the largest sponsor of graduate medical education in the state of West Virginia,” he said. “The more residency training we can provide, the better it is for the state.”

To obtain a license to practice medicine, doctors must complete some sort of graduate medical education. WVU is the only site in the state where residency programs in more than 25 specialties like radiology and anesthesia are offered. “If we weren’t sponsoring those programs, there would be no place in the state to go for that training,” Ferrari said.

In addition to his deanship, Ferrari is a professor of pediatrics and internal medicine. He joined the WVU faculty in 1986 following a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at WVU Hospitals. He is a 1978 graduate of WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and a 1982 graduate of the WVU School of Medicine. He is board certified in both pediatrics and internal medicine.

Ferrari said he knew he had been nominated for the Courage to Lead Award but did not expect to win.

“I was really surprised. There are people who have been doing this so much longer than I have, so it feels really good to be selected by my peers,” he said.

Ferrari received the large hospital award and was presented with a plaque and a check for $1,000.

The awards were presented March 5 at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Nashville.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Angela Jones, HSC News Service
304-293-7087, jonesan@wvuh.com