Outstanding Clinician Award 2010 - Dr. Paul Beck

Posted March 30, 2011 

By Aisling Gamble 

Dr. Paul Beck is one outstanding clinician.  No, that’s not just his patients talking, it’s the Foothills Medical Centre Medical Staff Association, who awarded Beck with the Foothills Hospital Outstanding Clinician Award for 2010. The award is given in recognition of outstanding commitment to the patients, staff and students at the hospital as well as to the community.

Dr. Paul BeckBeck, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine, was surprised when he heard of the nomination and even more so of being chosen as the recipient. “As a clinician-scientist I spend 80% of my time committed to research, teaching and administration and 20% of my time committed to patients care and thus I was surprised that they even considered clinician-scientists.”   Beck says the award means a lot to him at this point in his career as director of the Leaders in Medicine program.  “The program is dedicated to training clinician scientists and I always stress to my students that it is critical to be both an excellent physician and an excellent researcher”.

Beck completed his MD, residency and Fellowship at the Faculty of Medicine in 1990, 1994 and 1996 respectively.  Many of those critical in his medical training are still at the Foothills Hospital and Beck feels indebted to them for all the support, teaching and guidance they provided both during his training and once he was out in practice. 

Beck’s research interests include defining mechanisms involved in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and how the gastrointestinal tract heals itself after injury. By using both animal models of colitis as well as tissue culture models, the goal of his research is to determine import factors that protect the gastrointestinal tract from injury and/or improve tissue repair after injury. By determining which factors may be involved in these processes, one can develop strategies aimed at treating IBD with the ultimate goal of finding a cure for this group of devastating diseases.

The Foothills Medical Centre Medical Staff Association will present Beck with the award at their annual spring dinner on April 15th, 2011.