Graduating medical students select faculty recipient of 2021 Hippocratic Award
Class of 2021 presents award to assistant professor and UF alum Dr. Ana Turner
Hippocratic Award Ceremony
Photo by Louis Brems
May 6, 2021 – It may have been 11 years ago, but Ana Turner, M.D. ’10, remembers the Hippocratic Award ceremony well. She and her classmates voted to bestow the honor on Robert Hatch, M.D., a longtime community health and family medicine professor, for his exceptional ability to impart lessons on medicine and life.
On Wednesday, Turner experienced a full-circle moment when she was chosen for the very honor she voted to award over a decade ago. In a ceremony on a sunny spring day among the flora and fauna of Wilmot Gardens, students from the class of 2021 announced Turner, an assistant professor and clerkship director for the department of psychiatry at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville, as the 2021 Hippocratic Award winner for her outstanding teaching abilities.
“Today’s recipient embodies those innate qualities that create an exemplary educator,” said UF College of Medicine Dean Colleen G. Koch, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., during the ceremony. “Not only does she have a firm grasp of the science and clinical skills that she is teaching, but this educator also ignites her students’ imaginations, leading with passion, innovation and empathy.”
Turner, who graduated from the UF College of Medicine in 2010 and served as chief resident in the department of psychiatry from 2013-2014, fiercely advocates for those who may be stigmatized by society and makes it her mission to teach medical students and residents to do the same for their patients. She found her calling in community psychiatry thanks in part to one of her medical school mentors: the late Richard Christensen, M.D., a two-time Hippocratic Award recipient who dedicated his career to providing health care to homeless and underserved populations.
Today, Turner continues Christensen’s legacy, spending part of her week at UF Health Jacksonville mentoring medical students and residents and the other part of her week on city streets and at Sulzbacher, a comprehensive center for the area’s homeless population that addresses housing, income and health care. She also works in tandem with the team at the Sulzbacher Homeless Outreach Project Expansion, or HOPE, to connect with potential new patients. As part of this outreach, Turner takes residents and medical students on rotations to meet homeless patients where they are.
“Dr. Turner has truly gone above and beyond to inspire, teach and shape us,” class vice president Aalekhya Tenali told the crowd of faculty and students, sharing anecdotes from classmates who nominated Turner.
“It was especially impressive to see the deep connections she had forged with such a marginalized patient population; she truly was the safety net that really saw and cared for the patients who fell through the cracks of even our traditional safety net hospitals,” one student wrote. “She has character beyond what I’ve seen in anyone else I have met — character I want to emulate when I become a doctor,” another student shared.
Established by the UF College of Medicine class of 1969, the Hippocratic Award is presented annually by each graduating class to a faculty member who represents the ideal role model and embodies professionalism, humanism and teaching prowess. The word “Hippocratic” refers to the Greek father of modern medicine, Hippocrates, who was known for his teaching and contributions to medicine. Since its inception, the award has been given to 36 faculty members who span 10 departments.
“I want the students I teach to come away with two things: first, poverty doesn’t define people; they are so much more than what they own,” Turner said when accepting the award, her voice wavering with emotion. “And even when faced with suffering you can’t change, you can provide hope.”
With her four children in the audience – along with Hatch, the recipient chosen by Turner’s graduating class in 2010 – Turner said she hopes they learn from her example.
“I hope they see that this is what can happen when you really care about something,” she said. “You have the power to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Photos by Louis Brems
