Robert A. Witzburg, M.D. ’77 – 2011 Distinguished Alumnus Award

Dr. Witzburg is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean and Director of Admissions at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine—a position he has held since 2002. He also holds a teaching appointment as Professor of Health Policy and Management at Boston University School of Public Health.

A 1973 graduate of Tufts University, Dr Witzburg received his medical degree from Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine in 1977. He completed his internship, residency and chief residency in medicine at Boston City Hospital, and is board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics. He has practiced general internal medicine on the BUSM campus since 1981.

Dr. Witzburg served as the Training Program Director and Associate Chief of Medicine at Boston City Hospital for 12 years, as Associate Chief Medical Officer at Boston Medical Center and the first Medical Director of the Boston Medical Center HealthNet Plan. He was the first Chief of the Section of Community Medicine at Boston Medical Center and BUSM, serving in that capacity and as Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine from 1997-2002. He was also a founder, President, and Medical Director of the Neighborhood Health Plan, a community health center based HMO focused on enhancing the quality and scope of health care services available to vulnerable populations. He edited the first clinical manual for care of HIV disease in primary care practice in the mid 1980’s and has published on aspects of health care systems development, on topics in acute care medicine and on the selection of applicants for medical school. His work has appeared in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, The American Journal of Medicine, Academic Medicine, The Journal for the Care of the Poor and Underserved, and The Advisor, as well as in several medical textbooks and clinical manuals. He serves as a reviewer for the Annals of Internal Medicine and the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Witzburg has been a leader, at the national level, in the transition of medical school admissions programs to a focus on holistic review as a tool to enhance the diversity of the physician workforce. He has established BUSM as a model program in this area and has developed unique systems for the use of technology to facilitate individualized review.

He has received a number of awards in recognition of his clinical and educational work, as well as his advocacy for disadvantaged communities. He has been named one of Boston’s best physicians by Boston Magazine continuously, for more than 10 years, He as also received the Commissioner’s Award for Excellence, City of Boston, the Robert Dawson Evans Department of Medicine Career Teaching Award, Physician of the Year Award, Massachusetts Home and Health Care Association, BUSM Internal Medicine Ambulatory Teaching Award (created and named after Dr. Witzburg in 2006), the BUSM Internal Medicine Inpatient Teaching Award, and the Visiting Nurse Association of Boston, 125th Anniversary Health Care Hero Award in 2010.

Dr. Witzburg has ongoing research interests in the assessment tools available for medical school admissions programs, focusing in recent years on the evaluation of behavioral and experiential factors, as well as on teaching and evaluating characteristics of professionalism.