The 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards: Thaddeus Salmon
Each Wednesday, UKNow is highlighting one of the winners of the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards, given by the Office for Faculty Advancement with the Office of the Provost.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 26, 2024) — Thaddeus Salmon, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics in the College of Medicine, is one of nine winners to receive the University of Kentucky’s 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Awards.
These awards identify and recognize individuals who demonstrate special dedication to student achievement and who are successful in their teaching. Recipients were selected via nomination and reviewed by a selection committee based in the UK Provost’s Office for Faculty Advancement and the Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. Salmon is one of three Category 2 winners, which honors lecturers and clinical title series faculty.
“It was truly an honor to receive this award, and even more so because of the role of student feedback in the selection,” Salmon said. “I am very grateful for the support of the College of Medicine and Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics in my development as a clinician and educator. I am inspired by the learners I work with every day, and it has been wonderful to see some of them go on to become teachers themselves.”
Salmon graduated from Asbury College with Bachelor of Arts degrees in biochemistry and Spanish. He then went on to medical school at the University of Kentucky, where he remained for a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics, commonly known as Med-Peds. Once his residency was complete, Salmon joined the teaching faculty of the UK College of Medicine and became a primary care clinician at the UK Polk-Dalton Clinic. Currently in that role, Salmon mentors medical students and residents while serving a medically and socially diverse patient population. He also directs the Health Equity Track and a “Reach Out and Read” literacy program for children visiting the clinic. He has interests in health policy and patient advocacy at the community level, and contributes to medical student electives on these topics.
“Dr. Salmon's unwavering dedication to education, coupled with his exceptional teaching methods, has had a profound impact on the learning experiences of students in the clinical field,” said Darwin Conwell, M.D., professor and chair of the UK Department of Internal Medicine, who nominated Salmon for the award.
Conwell says one of Salmon's most commendable achievements is his innovative approach, which has garnered recognition through positive teaching evaluations, nomination to the AOA Medical Honors Society and the prestigious Academy of Medical Educators award for Excellence in Medical Education in 2023.
“Dr. Salmon has consistently demonstrated his dedication to shaping the next generation of physicians,” Conwell said.
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This year’s Outstanding Teaching Awards were given to six faculty and three graduate teaching assistants. Each winner received an award certificate, a commemorative engraved gift and a cash award in recognition of their teaching excellence at a campus ceremony on April 25. Read more here.
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