Biographies of the 2014 Laureate Award Honorees

In 2014, the Texas Chapter presented its highest award to four distinguished members - Eugene Boisaubin, MD, FACP; Robert Fine, MD, FACP; Karen Szauter, MD, FACP; and Steve Urban, MD, FACP.

The Laureate Award honors Fellows and Masters of the ACP who have demonstrated by their example and conduct an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education, or research, and in service to their community, the Chapter, and the ACP.

Eugene Boisaubin, MD, FACP

Dr. Eugene Boisaubin is a Professor of Medicine at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston and co-director of the second-year Medical School course, Ethics and Professionalism in Medicine at the McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics. He also serves as the Director of the Ethics and Advisory Core for the NIH Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences at UTHealth.

Dr. Boisaubin was awarded the school's first Distinguished Teaching Professorship and was recently named to the State of Texas Governing Board for the Physician Health Program. An academic internist, he has been a clinical medical ethicist and ethics consultant at three medical universities for over 25 years.

Dr. Boisaubin earned an A.B. in Zoology and Art History from Washington University, and his M.D. from the University of Missouri Medical School. He completed his professional training at Baylor College of Medicine and at the Kennedy Institute, Georgetown University. Before joining UTHealth, he was a faculty member at Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
The Texas Chapter of ACP is pleased to bestow its Laureate Award for 2014, on Eugene Boisaubin, MD, FACP.

Robert Fine, MD, FACP

Dr. Fine has completed board certification in internal medicine, geriatrics and palliative medicine. He is a Fellow of both the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the American College of Physicians, a former member of the AAHPM Ethics Committee, and a member of the National Quality Forum Committee on Palliative and End of Life Care.

He established the clinical ethics consultation service at Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in 1985 and served as a physician leader on the development of the Texas Advance Directives Act, writing the current Texas Living Will and helping develop the first legislatively approved extra-judicial dispute resolution mechanism for medical ethics conflicts in America.

In 2004, he led a team establishing the BUMC Palliative Care Consultation Service. Now known as the Supportive and Palliative Care Service, the team was recognized for excellence by the American Hospital Association with a Circle of Life Citation of Honor in 200 and in 2012, became the first palliative care team in Texas and one of the first ten in the country to be certified by the Joint Commission. Dr. Fine lectures and publishes widely on issues related to clinical ethics and palliative medicine.

In recognition of his accomplishments in a career in medicine and his leadership in the specialty of Internal Medicine, the Texas Chapter of ACP is pleased to bestow its Laureate Award for 2014, on Robert Fine, MD, FACP.

Karen Szauter, MD, FACP

Dr. Szauter is an integral and involved member of TXACP, and is currently on faculty at UTMB. She joined the UTMB faculty in 1990 after completing training in internal medicine, gastroenterology and nutrition. Her academic career has focused on medical education. She serves as the medical director of the standardized patient program and is actively involved in the development of teaching and assessment activities involving human simulation.

She is also involved in faculty development through the Scholars in Education program. She has held leadership positions through the Group on Educational Affairs (AAMC) and continues to actively support efforts for educational scholarship through service to the Grants and Research Committee of the Association of Standardized Patient Educators and the Research Committee of Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine.

With TXACP, Dr. Szauter is the Co-Chair of the Medical Students Committee along with her colleague Dr. Gene Stokes. Dr. Szauter curates the medical students’ abstract competition each year at the annual meeting, a competition that is this year hosting 35 student posters and 6 oral vignette presentations.

Dr. Szauter is also a champion of the General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program (GIMSPP), a summer mentorship program provided by TXACP for first and second year medical students to receive hands-on experiences with mentors in internal medicine. Her paper titled “The General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program: Over 20 years of Early Student Exposure to the Practice of Internal Medicine” is in the publication process and illustrates the success of the program over its 20-year history.

The Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians is proud to honor Karen Szauter, MD, FACP, as a Laureate for 2014.

Steve Urban, MD, FACP