David Roberts MD '95
The Journey Begins
I was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. My family was there because my father worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on several fusion energy projects. My mother was trained as a reading teacher but quickly recognized the power of multi-media and technology in teaching. She received a masters degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she went on to work with the Children’s Television Workshop to help design and build Sesame Street and the Electric Company shows. When I was ten years old, my family moved to suburban Maryland outside of Washington, DC. It was quite a transition, and I ended up taking advantage of access to places like the Smithsonian where I could take classes.
I attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and participated in a design-your-own major program called the College Scholar program. I was interested in how new medical technologies are integrated into society, and so I ended up doing some research at Cornell’s Veterinary School on feline leukemia virus. I decided to go into medicine and came to Boston in 1991 to attend Harvard Medical School.
Many people at HMS played a big role in my development as a clinician and an educator. I was inspired by Dr. Dan Federman, and I spent many, many hours seeing patients outside of regular HMS programs with Dr. Lewis First. Dr. Larry Friedman was a friend, teacher, and advisor throughout my residency and Rich Schwartzstein has been a friend, colleague, and advocate for the last two decades. Once I got onto the wards during medical school, I loved solving the problems of clinical medicine and interacting with people of all different types and from all over the world. I was so crazy that I used to take overnight call before I even had to – it was like I couldn’t wait to do it! I even used to go see patients with Dr. Lewis First on weekends when we were supposed to be resting or studying – those experiences of seeing how he interacted with patients and families taught me more than any class could at HMS.
When I first finished my internal medicine residency and pulmonary/critical care fellowship training, I knew that I wanted at least part of my job to be in teaching. In my first year as an attending physician, my busy life seeing patients and teaching medical students was unexpectedly interrupted with a sudden new medical diagnosis of stage IV non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. I was very fortunate to then receive excellent care, including a new monoclonal antibody and traditional chemotherapy. I was away from work for many months, and when I returned, I had a new perspective on my career. I felt I should focus on what I loved, which was being an educator and influencing the next generation of physicians. I worked closely with Rich Schwartzstein at BIDMC and HMS and developed a whole range of new programs for medical students, faculty interested in becoming educators, and trainees who want to pursue careers in medical education.
Making an Impact in Education
My current role is Dean for External Education at Harvard Medical School. I am the inaugural dean in this position and serving in this role has been incredibly exciting and challenging over the last seven and a half years. There were existing programs in health publishing and continuing education when I started in 2014, but our task since then has been to create innovative educational programs that have an impact at HMS and around the world. We have built programs in online learning, executive education, and global certificate programs - all from the ground up. We have also worked with a huge range of faculty from HMS and other Harvard schools to bring the cutting edge of biomedical science and health care to learners at all levels in a variety of pedagogic formats to people around the globe. It has been very exciting to do new things that have never been done before by any medical school and to have people tell us that our programs have had profound positive impact on their lives, their careers, and their health.
While much of my career path seems typical, I always had an extra element that was interested in business and entrepreneurship. Initially, I worked as a technology consultant, looking at new medical devices and therapeutics; then, I helped run a medical device venture fund; then, I worked for a range of hedge funds. I have also consulted with many start-up companies and entrepreneurs. Much of what I do now in my role as Dean for External Education leverages all the skills and interests in medicine and business that I’ve developed, and I am constantly asking questions about how we can do things better, how we can address learner (i.e., the “market”) needs and how we can bring the best of HMS to the world.
Gardening, Cycling, and More
I am passionate about gardening and do-it-yourself things like making portabello mushroom jerky and homemade smoked tomato and pepper hot sauce. I love cooking and exploring the world of fine wines. I like to bicycle and I have participated in the Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Pan Mass Challenge 8 times over the past two decades. My wife and I live in Waban (part of Newton) with our 11 year old twins and our 2.5 year old mini Australian Labradoodle. My wife is a psychiatrist who specializes in reproductive health-related mental health challenges, and we share a love of gardening, cooking, exercise, and travel.
Looking Ahead
These days, we try to explain the complexity of health care to many who work in or adjacent to health care. Some of our most successful programs across External Education have involved teaching people about the challenges of modern health care and inspiring them to create solutions to some of the thorniest problems. Health care is still incredibly variable around the world, and we see that when we host medical educators from around the world at our IMPACT conferences. We are trying to advance the best in medical education through what we do at HMS, and it has been great to interact with other medical education leaders from around the world to share what we are doing here. The challenges of the last year and a half of COVID have made it increasingly clear that we are all facing the need to adapt how we teach and how we practice so that we can prepare future doctors as best as we can.
David H. Roberts MD ‘95
Dean for External Education at Harvard Medical School
Interviewed and compiled by Stanley Shaw
Edited by Felicia Ho