2024 David M. Worthen Award recipients
(From left to right) Photo of Tyler Larsen, MD, Joseph Chiovaro, MD, and Robert Dittus, MD, MPH, the recipients of the 2024 David M. Worthen Awards. The Worthen Award, named for the former VHA head of Academic Affiliations, the late David M. Worthen, MD, recognizes exceptional VHA champions for their contributions in enhancing health professions trainee education.
The Veterans Health Administration announced July 30 the recipients of the administration’s highest award for excellence in health professions education, the David M. Worthen Award.
The Worthen Award, named for the former VHA head of Academic Affiliations, the late David M. Worthen, MD, recognizes exceptional VHA champions for their contributions in enhancing health professions trainee education.
The award is bestowed in three categories: the Rising Star Award, which recognizes an early career champion of health professions education; the Innovator Award, which recognizes an individual who created and is sustaining or expanding a significant educational innovation; and the Career Achievement Award, which recognizes an outstanding health professions education champion whose lifetime contributions have profoundly advanced and impacted the education mission of VHA.
This year’s Rising Star Award was presented to Tyler Larsen, MD, an attending physician at the West Los Angeles VA. Larsen excels in various facets of health professions education, showcasing expertise in assessment, curriculum development, administration, and educational research. Inspired by his grandfather's experience as a Korean War era Veteran, Larsen has centered his educational efforts around the Veteran experience. Larsen’s impact on education and patient care at the West Los Angeles VA, coupled with his global reach and leadership, exemplifies his dedication to advancing healthcare education.
The Innovator Award was presented to Joseph Chiovaro, MD, an attending physician and Rural Interprofessional Faculty Development Initiative (RIFDI) curriculum director at the Portland VA. Chiovaro played a pivotal role in developing and directing the RIFDI program, an innovative, longitudinal curriculum that prepares rural clinical educators in the core competencies of teaching, mentorship, and leadership. Over 160 faculty members representing nursing, medicine, mental health, and nine other clinical professions are enrolled or have completed the 18-month program to date. Chiovaro's work on the RIFDI curriculum substantially benefitted rural Veterans and communities through advanced clinical education and training.
The Career Achievement Award was presented to Robert Dittus, MD, MPH, the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) Director and Quality Scholars Fellowship Training Program Director at the Nashville VA. Dittus has developed and led innovative research and quality improvement training programs for the past 40 years and mentored 137 interprofessional fellows and junior faculty. Dittus developed an innovative curricular design for research training that has been adopted broadly. He is a founding director and senior scholar in the pioneering VA Nashville Quality Scholars (VAQS) program within which he has mentored 71 fellows, whose projects have made substantive improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of VA health care.
“These top-notch clinicians and educators are creating new and better ways to teach the next generation of health care providers within VA and across the country, utilizing the latest technologies and evidence-based treatments,” said Marjorie Bowman, MD, MPA, Chief Academic Affiliations Officer for the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA). “More than 120,000 trainees in over 60 clinical disciplines complete training in VA facilities each year, learning from world-class faculty and staff like these recipients of the 2024 David M. Worthen Awards.”
OAA oversees the David M. Worthen Awards and is responsible for directing the nation’s largest education and training program for health professionals in the U.S., working in partnership with more than 1,500 colleges and universities, including 96% of the nation’s medical schools. The mission of training future health professionals for VA and the nation, established more than 78 years ago, is one of VA’s four statutory missions.
Learn more about VA’s mission of training health care professionals at VA Office of Academic Affiliations.
