In his more than 40 years at UNMC, Robert Wigton, MD, influenced countless medical students, trainees and colleagues. He served as professor of internal medicine, chief of the division and associate dean for graduate medical education.
Following his death in 2022, Dr. Wigton was remembered as “one of the pillars upon which the history of UNMC rests,” as well as a Renaissance man whose influence went beyond medicine.
On Friday, April 3, Thomas Tape, MD, emeritus professor in the UNMC Division of General Internal Medicine, will honor his friend and mentor in a grand rounds presentation titled “Achieving Success in Academic Medicine: Lessons from the Career of Robert Wigton.”
Read more about Robert Wigton, MD, and his UNMC legacy.
Dr. Wigton established and funded the special grand rounds with the Robert Swift Wigton, MD, Fund for Career Development and Mentorship in General Internal Medicine. Dr. Wigton said he wanted to “support professional development of faculty and trainees by engaging role models in academic medicine with a focus on scholarly activity in the field of general internal medicine.”
Jennifer Parker, MD, chief of the UNMC Division of General Internal Medicine, said the grand rounds helps create mentorship opportunities for faculty.
“As funding in academic medicine has become more dependent upon clinical work, it is more challenging for junior faculty to discover a pathway for research and scholarly work,” she said. “This mentorship-focused grand rounds is an opportunity for faculty to connect with successful academic physicians.”
Dr. Tape, who was recruited to UNMC and hired by Dr. Wigton in 1986, said lecturers have been invited to speak at the Wigton Grand Rounds since 2016.
“I thought it was only fitting to devote one of these special talks to Dr. Wigton’s career as an exemplar of success factors in academic medicine,” he said. “A secondary goal is to teach the grand rounds attendees a bit about the science of medical judgment and decision-making that Dr. Wigton was so passionate about.”
Dr. Tape said Dr. Wigton imparted many lessons relevant to anyone who might be contemplating a career in academic medicine and he encourages medical students, residents, fellows and early career faculty to attend.
“I will take a deep dive into the many factors which contributed to his success,” said Dr. Tape, who served at UNMC from 1986 to 2021. “I also hope some seasoned faculty who have themselves enjoyed successful academic careers will attend and share their wisdom during the Q&A.”