Phyllis Guzé

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Dr. Phyllis Guzé joined the UCLA faculty in 1974 as an assistant professor of medicine and four years later began her remarkable career at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles. Her spectacular success as an administrator as well as an educator became apparent when she was appointed chief of the department of medicine at the VAMC WLA in 1988. While performing this job, which she still holds, Guzé served as the dean education for the UCLA School of Medicine from 1991 to 1995.

Guzé is unique among physicians and educators in that she is equally accomplished in formal didactic courses as in the variety of other clinical teaching settings. In contrast to didactic teaching, bedside teaching requires the ability to recognized “teaching moments,” to be able to instantly access facts and medical knowledge applicable to the patient's case and to communicate this information to a sometimes unmotivated or tired learner. The former requires preparation, practice and knowledge and the latter requires an enormous knowledge base and the ability to draw on that knowledge with little or no preparation. Guzé excels in both.

Guzé initiated two methods of small-group teaching in her department – Resident Case Conference and intern report. Resident Case Conference takes place every morning with the goal of developing the residents’ clinical problem-solving abilities. They are so well done that they are attended by students and faculty alike. Intern report takes place for one hour weekly and is aimed at first-year residents and medical students. The goals are to develop focused differential diagnoses of patients, to decide what to do diagnostically to support the differential diagnoses and to establish a therapeutic course of action. The purpose is to help interns develop their skills presenting a case, interact with the group and answer peer questions. Guzé’s sessions are highly ranked by the attendees as a major educational experience.

Guzé is a person who cares that students learn, loves to teach, has mastered the art of translating the complexities of what she knows into language and images that connect with students’ needs, has developed innovative teaching methods and has led the School of Medicine to rethink and improve its entire medical education program. She is one of a handful of medical educators who have been recognized on a national level.

“Great teachers function at several levels. At the most basic is the requirement that they have a thorough grasp on the subject they are teaching. A great teacher also has to have the capacity to transmit knowledge in a clear, precise and interesting fashion. Finally, a great teacher educates others by his or her behavior, setting an example for integrity and moral behavior. I have met no one who qualifies more as a great teacher than Dr. Guzé.”