Paul Ramsey receives Hubbard Award from NBME

Paul Ramsey

Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, has received the 1999 John P. Hubbard Award from the National Board of Medical Examiners. The award is given to individuals recognized as making significant contributions to the pursuit of excellence in the field of evaluation in medicine. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the National Board in late March.

The award was established in 1983 as a tribute to the late John P. Hubbard, chief executive of the National Board for 25 years.

Ramsey, professor of medicine, is the former chair of the UW’s Department of Medicine and was the first holder of the Robert G. Petersdorf Endowed Chair in Medicine.

Ramsey has been a pioneer of new evaluation methods to help the medical profession in its continuing quest to assure the American public about the quality of the physician workforce, the National Board noted. In the early 1980s, he designed a study that examined the predictive validity of certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine. This research has been acknowledged as a landmark study in physician assessment. It provided new evidence that the knowledge base of practicing certified internists remains relatively stable five to 10 years after they are certified, a finding that had a major impact on determining the best interval for retesting physicians.

In 1986, Ramsey focused his attention on professional associate ratings, undertaking a large study to determine the feasibility and measurement characteristics of ratings completed by an internist’s associates. By obtaining peer ratings from professional associates named by the physicians being studied and by medical supervisors, Ramsey determined that the physicians themselves could name professional associates to evalute them without introducing bias. As a result of the study, professional associate ratings have emerged as a new assessment tool for use with practicing physicians.

Evaluation of clinical performance of individual physicians is another focus of Ramsey’s research. He performed a large standardized patient study, leading to his appointment as a member of the Clinical Skills Assessment Alliance, an international group of 10 researchers convened by several major medical organizations to set standards for this type of research. Standardized patients are actors or volunteers who portray a certain medical condition and can be used to test the clinical skills of physicians.

Ramsey has maintained a strong national presence in organizations interested in physician assessment and curriculum development. He serves on the American Board of Internal Medicine Executive Committee and has been a member of committees of the National Board of Medical Examiners, the Task Force on Residency Curriculum of the Federated Council for Internal Medicine, and the Association of American Medical Colleges. He has been a member of the editorial board of Teaching and Learning in Medicine and associate editor of the American Journal of Medicine and is a member of the Association of American Physicians.

Ramsey received the Distinguished Teacher Award from the School of Medicine’s graduating class three times and the Margaret Anderson Award for exceptional support of medical students in 1989.

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, he completed a residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and came to the UW in 1978 as a senior fellow in infectious disease. He was chief medical resident at UW Medical Center before joining the faculty. ¶