Adan A. Rios, MD

Adan A. Rios, M.D., Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Oncology
Professor
Department of Internal Medicine, Oncology
McGovern Medical School
UTHealth Houston

Email:  [email protected]
Phone:  713-500-7766

Educational Philosophy:

My motivation for teaching comes from that simple but profound and deeply held fact that were it not for teachers and education we would not have made progress either individually or collectively.   Teaching and education are essential components of humanity. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in medicine.  A physician is a teacher.  We learn and explain, teach, and reason with our patients about diagnosis, treatments, and prevention of diseases.

Teaching is implicit learning.  The knowledge we pass to others stays with us. The responsibility of teaching improves our learning capacity.  I believe that this connection between medicine and education makes physicians teachers.  Hence, I have always had a natural association with educational activities and teaching as I see both as essential components of my professional activities and duties.

Biography

Dr. Adan Rios is an Associate Professor in the Division of Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHealth) McGovern Medical School. He received his medical degree from the University of Panama.  He completed his fellowship in Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where he served for a decade in a variety of roles, including director of clinical research and academic affairs of the AIDS Program at the Institute for Immunological Disorders, the first clinical center in the United States devoted to the management and treatment of AIDS patients. He is internationally renowned for his work in HIV-associated malignancies and treatment of tumors with biological response modifiers. He is a general oncologist with a special interest in lymphoma, leukemia and immune compromised related malignancies. Dr. Rios is fluent in Spanish and is actively involved with the Hispanic community. His work has been recognized with several awards and distinctions, among them, the 2001 MD Anderson Cancer Center Distinguished Alumnus Award, the 2003 George Washington University Presidential Medal Award and  the 2008 University of Texas Health Science Center Minority Services Award for his efforts on behalf of the education of minority students in the science and health fields.

Education

Medical Degree
University of Panama

Residency
Gorgas US Army Hospital

Fellowship
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

Areas of Expertise

Hematological malignancies
AIDS related malignancies
HIV vaccine development
The immune system

Past and Current Educational Activities:

I have concentrated my educational efforts in trying to provide the medical students I come in contact the importance of having as much as possible historical perspective of medicine and how having such perspective can enrich theirs and our professional and personal lives.  I have created an elective course based on the history of medicine entitled: ‘Reflections: A course based on the History of Medicine’’. The rational and objective of the course is to give the students a base of historical and philosophical knowledge based on personal reflections about different aspects of the history of medicine. It is my expectation that these historical reflections can facilitate the participating students in becoming a medicine professional with a sense of historical identity and perspective.

Recognizing the limitations of time and space within the general curriculum, the course address topics of immediate application to the General Curriculum and validates based on a historical and philosophical perspective the learning experience of the student.

By highlighting different aspects of what the medical profession is and how it has reached the place it has within our society, students will add to their scholar knowledge a historical context on how others in the past have chosen to contribute to the different fields of medical development.

This knowledge may allow students to understand better the career and professional choices available to them and encourage a critical reflection in how to apply their newly acquired knowledge.

My educational efforts are geared to:

  1. Provide a historical and philosophical knowledge based on reflections about the history of medicine topics.
  2. Validate based on a historical and philosophical perspective topics of the General Curriculum.
  3. Encourage students to develop a critical reflection in how to apply their newly acquired knowledge to their aspirations of becoming a medicine professional.

After a hiatus caused by personal illness, I am thrilled to return to present the course this year.

Course (Topics presented until 2018):

‘Reflections: A course based on the History of Medicine’

  1. The Evolution Theory: Does it matters to medicine?
  2. William Harvey and Critical Thinking.
  3. Louis Pasteur, yellow fever, malaria, and the building of the Panama Canal
  4. From a mold to an antibiotic: The story of the penicillin miracle.
  5. The molecules of life: DNA, physics, and the birth of molecular biology.
  6. Transplants: The surgeons’ journey.
  7. The role of the Civil War in the development of contemporary surgery.
  8. The history of renal dialysis.
  9. The AIDS crisis and the Hippocratic Oath.
  10. Splendid solution: Jonas Salk and the polio vaccine.

After a hiatus caused by personal illness, I am thrilled to return to the course this year.

HONORS AND AWARDS:

  1. Member Academy of Master Educator.
  2. Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) National Medical Honor Society.
  3. Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award.
  4. Cheves W. Smythe Award for Excellence in Teaching.
  5. MD Anderson Cancer Center Distinguished Alumnus Award.
  6. Presidential Medal, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Selected Publications:

  1. Rios A.: Critical Thinking: A review of the subject with reflections related to its application at the UT Medical School at Houston. Member TAME. 2011. Available on request.
  2. Member editorial board: English-Spanish versions: ‘AIDS: A guide for survival’. Award winning publications on public health education on AIDS of the Harris County Medical Society.
  3. Rios, A., Heigemaster F.: AIDS Related Malignancies. The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. Chapter 41: 2011: 1141-1171.