Joseph Cleary, M.D., a longtime internal medicine clinician and administrator at University of Vermont College of Medicine clinical training site Norwalk Hospital, has been appointed interim dean of undergraduate medical education at Western Connecticut Health Network (WCHN). Cleary will serve in this role until a permanent dean has been appointed.

Since joining the Norwalk Hospital staff in 1979, Cleary has held a variety of administrative positions, including as director of medical education, internal medicine residency program director, director of medical student programs, and director of continuing medical education.

Through such activities as medical rounds, resident report and a wide range of teaching sessions for students, including afternoon teaching conferences, he has the opportunity to interact regularly with UVM medical students and Yale medical students and residents.

“I truly enjoy the give and take involved in medical education,” says Cleary, who is especially fond of helping students work through problems and develop their critical reasoning skills. “Observing them with patients, seeing them enjoy the role” is especially gratifying, he adds.

Cleary will be on the UVM College of Medicine campus October 12 through 14, when he will assist with introducing the Class of 2018 to the clerkships offered through WCHN’s Danbury and Norwalk Hospitals.

The recipient of a number of honors throughout his career, Cleary has been named a Master of the American College of Physicians (ACP) – an honor given to a small group of highly distinguished physicians selected among Fellows of the ACP – and is a past recipient of the ACP Laureate Award, which honors Fellows or Masters who have demonstrated an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education or research, and in service to their community, the Chapter and the College. He is a former governor of the Connecticut chapter of the ACP from which he received the George F. Thornton Award.

After earning a medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine, Cleary completed a surgery internship at Georgetown University and spent two years with the U.S. Navy in Norfolk, Va. He then completed an internship and residency in internal medicine at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Originally from northeast Ohio and a self-described “inconsolable Red Sox fan,” Cleary resides with his wife in Ridgefield, Ct., where he is active in a number of youth sports activities, as well as a prison ministry initiative.

Students can reach Interim Dean Cleary at Joseph.Cleary@norwalkhealth.org .