Congratulations to Jim Scott, M.D., professor of emergency medicine and former dean of the George Washington (GW) University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), who received the 2013 Alumnus of the Year Award from the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine.
Scott was recognized for his commitment to teaching, helping the underserved, and extending extraordinary compassion to patients, students, and colleagues. From Washington, D.C. to the villages of Sub-Saharan Africa, Scott has had an important influence on medical education and care, locally and globally.
Scott has been honored by GW SMHS students with the “Golden Apple” award 13 times. This award is given to medical school professors who have made a significant impact on the students’ education. Among other awards, he also received the National Teaching Award from the American College of Emergency Physicians. While serving dean of GW SMHS for seven years, he helped students establish the Healing Clinic, a student-run clinic that provides healthcare to the uninsured and underinsured, regardless of their ability to pay.
Early in his life, Scott served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leon, Africa. Decades later, he again reached out to the Peace Corps to establish a program for medical students to consult with Peace Corps volunteers in Ethiopia. In summer 2013, he played a key role in establishing the Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) program, a collaboration between the Peace Corps, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and the non-profit Seed Global Health to help boost training for health professionals in developing countries. Scott has also worked with Physicians for Peace, through which he started several residency programs in East Africa to help reverse the shortage of physicians in the developing world.
