2021 Winner: Carlos Isada, MD
Carlos Isada, MD, a master clinician and outstanding educator, is the recipient of IDSA’s 2021 Clinical Teacher Award. This award honors a career dedicated to teaching clinical infectious diseases to fellows, residents and medical students, and recognizes excellence as a clinician and motivation to teach the next generation of physicians.
During 25 years as the program director of the ID fellowship training program at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, Dr. Isada pioneered innovative ways to teach years before these approaches were introduced elsewhere to improve medical education. Separating the components of clinical and diagnostic reasoning, he has developed intentional methods to convey individual decision points, where true learning begins, and to evaluate a learner’s performance. His advances have included the concepts of problem-based learning, checklists, observed structured exams to enable competency testing, and the development of portfolios. Former trainees have credited his highly-detailed, interactive case simulations for helping them make a rare, lifesaving diagnosis years after their training has been completed.
Dr. Isada has received numerous awards for his teaching, including multiple teacher of the year honors from the Cleveland Clinic, where he is the vice-chair of the Department of Infectious Diseases and a staff physician. He also serves as associate program director of the internal medicine residency training program. He has trained more than 100 fellows and has influenced and mentored countless teachers from across the country who have sought to become more intentional medical educators.
Generous with both his time and spirit, Dr. Isada has dedicated his career to teaching and has set a new standard for clinical ID education through his curricular innovations. He has inspired and shaped the careers of generations of clinicians and educators with his deep understanding of how people think and learn. IDSA is delighted to honor him with the 2021 Clinical Teacher Award.
Past Clinical Teacher Award Winners
| 2020 | Stanford T. Shulman, M.D., FIDSA |
| 2019 | William L. Salzer, MD |
| 2018 | Allan R. Tunkel, MD, PhD, FIDSA |
| 2018 | Frank E. Berkowitz, MD, MPH |
| 2017 | Michael J. Barza, MD, FIDSA |
| 2016 | Rashida A. Khakoo, MD, MACP, FIDSA, FSHEA |
| 2015 | Walter R. Wilson, MD, FIDSA |
| 2014 | Nesli Basgoz, MD, FIDSA |
| 2013 | Marvin Turk, MD, FIDSA |
| 2012 | Carol A. Kauffman, MD, FIDSA Sarah S. Long, MD, FIDSA |
| 2011 | Vincent J. Quagliarello, MD, FIDSA |
| 2010 | Adolf W. Karchmer, MD, FIDSA |
| 2009 | Joshua Fierer, MD, FIDSA |
| 2008 | Larry M. Baddour, MD, FIDSA |
| 2007 | Daniel M. Musher, MD, FIDSA |
| 2006 | Hillar Vellend, MD, FIDSA |
| 2005 | John Fisher, MD, FACP |