With his trademark humor and more than three decades on the Jacksonville campus, Guy I. Benrubi, M.D., will deliver the "Last Lecture" to the graduating class of the University of Florida College of Medicine on Friday in Gainesville.

Students decide for themselves who they want to give their last lecture. And this year Benrubi, senior associate dean for clinical affairs and chair of obstetrics and gynecology on the Jacksonville campus, became the first Jacksonville faculty member selected.

"What we were looking for is someone who could give us that last bit of knowledge before we leave and start our careers," said Bobby Casey, academic chair and president of the 2012 graduating class. "With his experience, and his humor, we felt Dr. Benrubi would be the best one to do that."

"Last Lectures" had been longstanding traditions on some college campuses, but gained notoriety following the 2007 lecture by Carnegie Mellon University computer science professor Randy Pausch, who spoke about living with childlike wonder as he was dying from pancreatic cancer.

Pausch’s words became an inspiration to many and the lecture and lessons were the subject of a best-selling book he co-authored before succumbing to cancer in 2008.

The UF College of Medicine started its "Last Lecture" sendoff for graduating students in 2009, Casey said.

Casey asked for nominations from the approximately 140 graduates and then opened it up for a vote among four faculty members who were mentioned the most.

"I believe this campus is a critical part of the education of these medical students and I think this confirms that the students feel the same way," Benrubi said. "I think there will be many more faculty from here giving the Last Lecture if they keep doing it."

Benrubi said it is a tremendous honor to be asked and it has special meaning, since his son Daniel is among the graduates.

"We know Dr. Benrubi not just as an attending," Casey said, "but as the father of a friend."

All UF medical students do rotations in Jacksonville during their third and fourth years. Casey said case-based conferences students had with Benrubi had a different feel than with many other professors who went through prepared cases with notes and such.

Not Benrubi. Casey said he would stand with a poster-sized notepad and a Sharpie, jotting notes and teaching on the fly.

"He’d be making jokes, but at the same time teaching us very important, complicated things in a way we would remember them," Casey said.

Benrubi said he hopes to leave the class with a few phrases and thoughts they can lean back on when things get tough in their residencies and their careers down the road.

For any more specifics, check out the lecture. Benrubi will be speaking in Gainesville, but it will be shown live via videoconference in Jacksonville at noon Friday. It will be shown in the Deal Boardroom and in the history room of the Borland Library.

Featured Faculty

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Guy I. Benrubi, MD, FACOG

Professor - Robert J. Thompson, M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Emeritus Chair, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology