Ross Milner, MD, Named First Master Clinician at Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence

October 31, 2012

The Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence, an initiative designed to improve doctor-patient communication and clinical decision-making, has appointed vascular surgeon Ross Milner, MD, as the first Bucksbaum master clinician, a three-year appointment. The Institute has also selected two new junior faculty scholars and three student scholars and has named 30 associate junior and senior faculty scholars.

Milner is an authority on aortic aneurysmal disease and co-director of the Center for Aortic Diseases at the University of Chicago Medicine. He came to the University of Chicago in January 2012 as an associate professor of surgery. As master clinician, he will serve as a role model for both student and faculty scholars in the Institute.

"Ross Milner was chosen for his clinical judgment, his exemplary doctor-patient relationships and his teaching skills with trainees and colleagues," said Mark Siegler, MD, the Lindy Bergman Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and executive director of the Bucksbaum Institute. "He combines superb surgical talents with a knack for connecting with everyone he meets, plus obvious enthusiasm for sharing his knowledge."

The two junior faculty scholars -- selected for their dedication to patient care, collaborative decision-making and clinical experience -- are Nita Lee, MD, and John Yoon, MD, assistant professors at the University of Chicago Medicine. This appointment will enable them to explore innovative ways to improve the doctor-patient relationship and to study how this knowledge could help patients and the community. Faculty scholars also serve as mentors for the Institute's medical student scholars.

Lee, a specialist in gynecologic cancers, will examine the personal networks of African-American women to gain a better understanding of behavior and attitudes regarding cancer, obesity and lifestyle changes. Yoon, an academic hospitalist and medical educator, will study the role of virtue in establishing good doctor-patient relationships. Lee and Yoon will work alongside last year's junior faculty scholars Monica Peek, MD, and Alexander Langerman, MD.

The three student scholars, selected from the 45 applicants in 2012, are second-year medical students Annie Lauer, Elizabeth Rhinesmith and Robert Sanchez. They join third-year students Jasmine Taylor, Liese Pruit and Alexander Ruby, named in 2011.

The Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence was established in September 2011 with an endowment gift of $42 million from the Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation. The Institute's mission is to improve patient care, to strengthen the doctor-patient relationship, and to enhance communication and decision-making between patients and physicians.