The 2021 UConn Health Board of Directors Faculty Recognition Award recipient is David Henderson, M.D., chair of the Department of Family Medicine at UConn School of Medicine.
As a homegrown UConn-trained family medicine practitioner, and a long-serving faculty member, he is recognized by the UConn Health BOD for his significant contributions to teaching and the institution’s administrative leadership.
“As a faculty member, Dr. David Henderson has distinguished himself over the years across a remarkable diversity of influential education and administrative roles,” says Dean Dr. Bruce T. Liang who nominated him for the prestigious award. “Dr. Henderson truly embodies the spirit and very best of what our medical school and its talented people have offered Connecticut and academic medicine overall throughout of our school’s 50 year history.”
In 2019 as the newly appointed chair of family medicine, Henderson assumed all administrative, academic and clinical leadership roles for the Department’s activities both at UConn Health and in the community including at Hartford’s Family Medicine Center at Asylum Hill which serves as the department’s outpatient residency training program. From 2010 to 2019, he served as associate dean for medical student affairs overseeing the admissions process and the academic progress of matriculated students, and later in 2015 was appointed associate dean for multicultural and community affairs and continues to serve in this role.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to receive this award from the UConn Health Board of Directors. I never imagined being acknowledged in this high manner,” says Henderson. “The UConn School of Medicine has provided such a rich environment for personal and professional development over many years. I am fortunate to be a member of this community. My hope is that I have made contributions that are equal to the wonderful opportunities the institution has provided me.”
As an educator and administrator, Henderson helped lead the School of Medicine’s 2016 major curriculum reform initiative launching a new team-based curriculum called MDELTA (Making a Difference in Education, Learning, and Teaching Across the Curriculum) designed to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing healthcare field and to make students the best future doctors and healthcare leaders. Plus, he led the development of the medical degree’s new Certificate on Social Determinants of Health Disparities. His hard work also resulted in UConn medical school’s selection by the American Medical Association to join its esteemed Accelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium reshaping the future of medical education nationally. Plus, he served as the Faculty Accreditation Lead for the school’s latest successful LCME reaccreditation site visit.
Henderson completed his family medicine residency training at UConn in 1984, and later joined the faculty of the School of Medicine in 2003. Prior to joining the UConn faculty, he served for nineteen years as a full time clinical practice physician that included extensive global health experience. He is a graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology in 1978 and received his medical degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.
Interestingly, in addition to traditional medicine, Henderson is also trained in medical acupuncture; is an inventor awarded patents in both the U.S. and the European Union for his novel intravenous catheter design; and has published numerous peer-reviewed research publications. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and the National Academic Affiliations Council for Veterans Affairs (VA). In 2019, Henderson was recognized by the SOM Alumni Association with its Distinguished Faculty Award for his exemplary service as associate dean for student affairs.
