For the past forty years, the Medical Alumni Association (MAA) of the University of Vermont College of Medicine has honored the accomplishments of its members for their work caring for patients, creating new advances in the laboratory, and contributing to their communities. During the 2016 Medical Alumni Reunion June 10 to 12, 2016, the MAA presented its highest honor – the A. Bradley Soule Award – to John Jerome Saia, M.D.’66, UVM associate professor emeritus of family medicine, during the Celebration of Achievements Award Ceremony on Friday, June 10 in the Davis Auditorium at the UVM Medical Center.

Established in 1983, the Soule Award honors an alumnus/a whose loyalty and dedication to the College of Medicine most emulate those qualities found in its first recipient, A. Bradley Soule, M.D.’28. Read more about the award here.

Saia served as a faculty member at the UVM College of Medicine for 27 years, from 1980 until his retirement in 2007. He held a variety of leadership roles during his tenure at UVM, including as director of the Family Practice Residency Program, director of the Basic Clerkship Program, and associate director of the Family Medicine Clerkship. For 11 years, he directed the Family Medicine Review Course – a continuing medical education offering currently in its fourth decade. During his academic career, Saia had the opportunity to influence the careers of literally thousands of medical students, as well as dozens of family medicine residents. He was recognized by medical students for induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, was voted twice by residents as Family Practice Residency Teacher of the Year, and was elected Vermont Family Physician of the Year by his peers. Saia also helped to shape medical education at the college through his role as director of the Doctoring Skills course, and through serving on the steering committee for the former Vermont Generalist Curriculum.

In addition, Saia served in the U.S. Army as a Medical Officer (Captain) in Vietnam, receiving a bronze star and completing his service with the rank of Major. He is the second of three generations of UVM College of Medicine graduates, which also include his father John L. Saia, M.D.’34, and daughter Kelley A. Saia, M.D.’01.