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Rebecca Pauly selected as Vice Dean for VTCSOM

Rebecca Pauly

July 12, 2022

Dear VTCSOM Community,

I am delighted to announce that Dr. Rebecca Pauly has been selected to serve as vice dean in the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine effective September 1, 2022.

Dr. Pauly will succeed Dr. Dan Harrington who led the development of VTCSOM since its inception, became vice dean in 2015, and served as interim dean from January to June 2019.  We are grateful to Dr. Harrington for agreeing to serve as interim vice dean after retiring from Carilion Clinic on April 1, 2022.  He will remain with us to assist in the transition through September 30, 2022 and for special projects thereafter. We will share our plans for celebrating Dr. Harrington’s service to VTCSOM in the coming weeks.

Featured in the National Library of Medicine’s Local Legends “bestowed upon women physicians who have demonstrated commitment, originality, innovation, or creativity in their field of medicine,” Dr. Rebecca Rainer Pauly has served as interim senior associate dean for medical education since November 2021. She is professor of medicine at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) and vice chair of the department of medicine at VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic, and will continue in these roles as vice dean.  

Dr. Pauly will bring a wide range of experiences in academic medicine to the vice dean role. From 2013-2019 she was at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) where she was professor of medicine and biomedical and health informatics and served as associate dean for faculty development and director of the master’s in health professions education program. At the University of Florida Dr. Pauly served as associate vice president for health affairs for equity and diversity (2007-2013), vice chair for medical education in the department of medicine (1999-2013) and chief of the division of general internal medicine (1999-2007). 

Dr. Pauly graduated with a BA cum laude from Vanderbilt University and earned her MD from the University of Alabama – Birmingham School of Medicine.  She served her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, fellowship in Cardiology at the University of Alabama – Birmingham, and research fellowship in Vascular Biology at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Pauly’s investment in education is evidenced by excellence in teaching awards, international presentations, and publications. Her contributions to medical curricula include creating online teaching tools for interview and physical examination techniques, addressing topics such as mentoring and the use of standardized patients as published in the AAMC’s MedEdPORTAL and Academic Medicine. She has launched mentoring instruction and recognition programs at the University of Florida, UMKC, and VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic. Dr. Pauly is a strong advocate for faculty and trainees. She serves as faculty advisor for VTCSOM’s Group on Women in Medicine and Science. She has held many university committee leadership roles and is a proponent of shared governance. She has maintained an active practice of inpatient and outpatient internal medicine with recognition for excellence noted by inclusion in Best Doctors in America from 2007-present and selection to the Gold Humanism Honor Society. 

Dr. Pauly has been recognized by peers in academic medicine with such honors as Chair of the Steering Committee for the AAMC’s Group on Women in Medicine and Science, participating in ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine), and Chair of the Florida Alliance for Health Professions Diversity. Dr. Pauly was recognized as the University of Florida’s Woman of Distinction in 2008 where her unique leadership qualities were described by one of her peers in her nomination as utilizing insightful vision, creativity, and focus to foster inspiration and promote success in others. She received the 2020 TEACH Feedback Award from VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic for her involvement with both learners and faculty in enhancing feedback skills. Dr. Pauly was co-chair of the VTCSOM strategic planning committee. This assignment required deep dives into data; engagement with multiple stakeholders including students, trainees, faculty, staff, leadership, and the community; organization, efficiency, and writing skills. This document is a dynamic and forward positioning instrument for VTCSOM and will define the priority areas for the dean’s office over the next five years.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Pauly on her appointment as vice dean.  Her creativity, administrative skills and leadership experience will help catalyze the success of our medical school strategy, operations and partnerships! 

Lee A. Learman, MD, PhD 
Dean, Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine