Emergency Medicine Professor Will Specialize in Patient Safety

Professor Robert L. Wears, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., FACEP, a University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville emergency medicine physician, has received an honorary appointment from the University of Southern Denmark. The position with the Denmark school began on Aug. 31, 2014 and will be in effect for five years.

Wears joined UF in 1986 and has conducted numerous studies on patient safety. One of his most recent research projects involved how the transition of care among physicians and nurses affected the care patients receive.

“Anytime you are asked to share your expertise with another university or health care facility is special,” Wears said. “This request is even more so because it shows that the work I do, and the work of my colleagues at UF Health, is recognized across the world. I am honored to accept this appointment.”

This is not the first overseas appointment for Wears. In 2004, he was asked to become a part of the College of Medicine at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom and has been a visiting professor since then at the school’s Clinical Safety Research Unit.

“Dr. Wears’ work in patient safety has been going on for decades and has been recognized not only in the United States but, as evidenced by this appointment, also around the world,” said Steven A. Godwin, M.D., FACEP, a UF associate professor and chair of emergency medicine. “His research and sharing of ideas has changed the way many facilities view patient safety.”

Wears has also co-authored studies on other variables in patient safety, including the use of electronic information boards, formal versus informal note taking, and even the arrangement of patients in the Emergency Department.

“We are fortunate to have someone of his expertise in our faculty not only for his medical knowledge but also for his passion in making sure we are taking the right steps in protecting our patients,” said Daniel R. Wilson, M.D., PhD., dean of the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville. “We are honored that he has been asked to lead others in this crucial field.”