Harry L. Metcalf, MD ’60, Receives the Dr. Richard T. Sarkin Award

He will be honored on April 8 at the UB Alumni Association’s Achievement Awards ceremony to be held at 6:30 p.m. in Slee Hall on the North Campus.

He will be honored on April 8 at the UB Alumni Association’s Achievement Awards ceremony to be held at 6:30 p.m. in Slee Hall on the North Campus.

Metcalf has had a long association with the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, achieving the rank of clinical professor of family medicine. From 1977 to 1982, he served as the school's director of admissions, during which time he worked to increase student diversity.

Throughout Metcalf’s 45 years of practice, he precepted more than 200 students and residents in family medicine, not only from UB, but also from the Syracuse and Albany medical schools.

Metcalf’s greatest pleasure has remained his involvement in teaching family medicine, as evidenced by his current commitment to Lighthouse Free Clinic on Buffalo’s East Side, where he supervises medical students and residents.

Since 1982 Metcalf has served on the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). In 1986, he was elected chair of the board and in 1987, president.

During his long association with AAFP, Metcalf has chaired its continuing medical education committee, testified before Congress on multiple legislative issues, led a national initiative on smoking cessation and laid the groundwork for medical students and residents to be represented on the AAFP board. He also has served as vice president and president of the AAFP Foundation.

Metcalf has chaired the Manpower Subcommittee of the Council on Graduate Medical Education and served on the National Hypertension Education Initiative and the National Lipid Education Council. He has been a consultant to the Harvard School of Public Health on the Resource Based Relative Value Scale and the Demonstration Project on Quality Assurance in the Ambulatory Setting. In addition, he served on the board of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Western New York and chaired the Committee on Quality Assurance, on which he continues to serve as a consultant.

The Sarkin Award is named in honor of the late Richard T. Sarkin, MD, EdM ’98, an accomplished UB pediatrician who was renowned for his teaching expertise and his efforts to improve the teaching and communication skills of faculty and medical residents.