Dean Guy Reed Named Health Care Hero in Medical Education
Guy Reed, MD, MS, dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, received the Phoenix Business Journal’s Health Care Education award at the annual Health Care Heroes Awards in August.
Guy Reed, MD, MS
Dean Reed was recognized for his leadership and commitment to medical student education, which was challenged by disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, he was honored for his efforts to increase diversity at the college and reduce Arizona’s physician shortage, the latter of which led to an expansion of class size at the College of Medicine – Phoenix from 80 to 120 medical students.
“This award recognizes our true health care heroes — our college faculty, staff and students,” Dean Reed said in a UArizona College of Medicine – Phoenix press release. “They work every day and night to make Arizona a healthier place — whether that be by training the next generation of exceptional physicians, discovering and developing new treatments, delivering outstanding medical care or by working together to make health care more diverse, inclusive and equitable for all.”
Commenting about the pandemic’s impact on medical student education, Dean Reed stressed the importance of in-person training for young physicians.
“Although we can do many aspects of our work virtually, we need social contact with each other to do our best, most meaningful and most impactful work. Personal contact gives us meaning, purpose and cohesion,” he told Health Sciences Connect in May 2022. “So much of the information necessary to make patients better comes from nonverbal communication and other nuances that help us to understand and treat the patient’s illness and associated disease.”
Dean Reed, a renowned cardiologist, physician-scientist and health administrator, joined the College of Medicine – Phoenix as dean in 2017. Prior to that, he was the Lemuel Diggs Professor of Medicine and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and interim executive vice president for Methodist Le Bonheur HealthCare in Tennessee.
In October, Dean Reed announced he would not seek another term as dean. He plans to return to the faculty to continue his research and other activities. In a message from UArizona Health Sciences Senior Vice President Michael D. Dake, MD, Dean Reed was praised as a “visionary leader” who “set a strategic vision for the College of Medicine – Phoenix to achieve distinction in personalized medical education to prepare students to become exceptional physicians. His work toward that goal has resulted in transformational changes to the college and its students.”
The Health Care Heroes Awards recognizes the dedication and achievements of organizations and individuals across 10 categories in the health care field. Nominees and finalists included physicians, nurses, educators, administrators and other health care workers who all performed extraordinary services for their communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.