Curtis R. Holzgang, MD, FACP
Curtis R. Holzgang, MD, FACP
Curtis R. Holzgang, MD, FACP, a native of Medford, Oregon, attended the University of Oregon and the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine where he received his MD and MS degrees and was inducted into AOA, the honor medical society. Curt’s internal medicine residency at OHSU was interrupted by service as a Captain in the US Air Force during the Viet Nam war. Upon completing his chief residency, Curt joined the faculty and began a distinguished career, which continues to this day, as a statewide leader in our profession.
From 1969-1980, Dr. Holzgang made numerous and substantive contributions to the growth of the housestaff program, expansion of clinical services and the creation of a Division of General Medicine at OHSU. Curt was Director of the residency program, chief of the outpatient clinic, Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and the inaugural chief of the Division of General Medicine. All of these programs flourished under Curt’s leadership and inspiration. The medical school graduating classes recognized Dr. Holzgang’s wonderful teaching style and role modeling, in the mold of his mentor, Dr. Howard P. Lewis, a past-President of the American College of Physicians, by presenting him with the Outstanding Resident Teaching Award and, for four consecutive years, the David Baird Distinguished Teaching Award recognizing excellence in a junior faculty member.
In 1980, Dr. Holzgang was recruited to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center to become the Associate Director of Medicine and Director of Critical Care Medicine, positions which he held for over a quarter century. Under Curt’s leadership, the ICU quadrupled in size, recruited a full-time specialist staff, initiated multidisciplinary teaching rounds which, to this day, remain standing room only and introduced discussions of the principles of medical ethics at the bedside. Curt’s modeling of clinical skills and decision making, doctor-patient and doctor-doctor communications and team-based care of patients inspired medical students and residents alike and has populated our communities with competent and caring physicians. In recognition of this distinguished record, Dr. Holzgang received the Howard P. Lewis Distinguished Teacher Award from the OR ACP in 1992 and the Oliver Nisbet Teaching Award from the OHSU graduating class of 2003.
Complementing Dr. Holzgang’s clinical care and teaching have been his commitments to the medical profession and the public. Over the years, Curt has served as President of the Oregon Society of Internal Medicine, The Oregon Society of Critical Care Medicine, the Portland Academy of Medicine and the OHSU School of Medicine Alumni Association. Additionally, Curt has served as a Trustee of the OHSU Foundation and has been a member of the Sommer Trust Advisory Committee for the past twenty-five years, eleven of which he served as chair. Curt was inducted into the North Pacific Society of Internal Medicine and elected to Fellowship in ACP.
Curtis Holzgang, MD, FACP, is the complete physician, the doctor’s doctor, and a master teacher who instructs by example and instills enthusiasm for bedside rounds and deep appreciation for the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. Curt’s abiding interest in medical ethics and his role modeling of its practice led Providence Health System to create its Center for Health Care Ethics in 2000 and to endow the Curtis R. Holzgang Visiting Scholar Program within it, extending his legacy for future generations. The Oregon Chapter of ACP is honored to recognize Dr. Holzgang with the 2010 Laureate Award for his devotion to, and modeling of, the highest ideals of doctoring and our profession.
Page Posted: 1/31/11
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Thomas G Cooney, MD, MACP
Oregon Chapter Governor
Mary Olhausen
Phone: 360-892-1814
Fax: 360-326-1844
