Dr. David Wilks, a former faculty member of our department who played a critical role in shaping our educational programs, passed away on April 14, 2021.
David Hunt Wilks, MD, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 1976 after completing his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the anesthesiology residency at the University Health Center of Pittsburgh in 1976 and graduated in 1979. David had a love for Pittsburgh and upon graduation from residency, joined the faculty here at Montefiore Hospital as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Wilks remained on the faculty, always educationally active and innovative, and was promoted to Associate Professor. He was actively involved in curriculum development, evaluation and competence, and residency recruitment and selection, even prior to serving as our Residency Program Director from 1986 through 1997. David was instrumental in the collaborative efforts that brought the first human simulator model to Anesthesiology here at UPMC. During these simulation infancy years, he assisted with crisis leadership training curriculum for residents, SRNAs, and other anesthesiology and critical care medicine personnel in the two room simulation area located in Montefiore Hospital, which grew and ultimately transformed over the years into the Winter Institute for Simulation, Education, and Research (WISER). Dr. Wilks also served as Montefiore’s Medical Director of Respiratory Therapy and Director of Cardiovascular Anesthesia.
Dr. Wilks immensely enjoyed renovating his home on Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside over the years, one project and one room at a time. When he finished remodeling, he decided it was time to sell the house. His colleagues laughed when he couldn’t make any more improvements and decided that it was time to move on. With that, he left Pittsburgh and the department in 1997.
In addition to providing resident and medical student education at a local level, Dave was always heavily involved in education at a national level in organizations such as the Society for Education in Anesthesiology, organizing and teaching hands-on workshops and writing educational guides for teaching. He was active in organizations such as the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the American Medical Association, the Western Pennsylvania Society for Anesthesiologists, and the Pennsylvania Society of Anesthesiologists and acted as a liaison with the Pennsylvania Physicians Impairment Program while with our department. He presented regularly at both the national and local levels. Dr. Wilks was also known to collaborate on numerous book chapters, journal articles, and publications, specifically those related to education and technology.
When Dr. Wilks left the department in 1997, he joined the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque where he served as Residency Program Director for a number of years and then as Assistant Dean for Medical Education Technology and Vice-Chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. Dr. Wilks oversaw all aspects of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque Health Science Center’s simulation education center, from mannequins to interactive computer programs. He was even known to oversee the purchase of pig ribs and feet for suturing practice, though these items don’t fall into the traditional definition of “technology.” He valued how simulation enhances performance-based education. He said that when students start performing these procedures on actual patients, they are more confident and capable. While in Albuquerque, Dr. Wilks also served for two years as the Designated Institutional Official for the University of New Mexico School of Medicine.
David decided to return to the east coast in the mid-2000s and took his passion and expertise to the West Virginia University (WVU) Department of Anesthesiology, where he became Residency Program Director, Professor of Anesthesiology and Chair, and later in his career, Assistant Dean for Technology in Medical Education. In 2016, he received the WVU Service to the School Dean’s Award.
Numerous residents over the years have commented that Dr. Wilks was the primary reason they chose our residency program. In addition to being a brilliant and innovative clinician educator, he was warm, friendly, funny, and made people feel instantly at ease. He was nonjudgmental, believed in helping others, had principles and ethics, and believed in doing the right thing.
Although no funeral or memorial service were planned for Dr. Wilks, folks can share their condolences and memories online.