Bryan Cotton, M.D.
Cotton lauded by students with CANDLE
Bryan Cotton, M.D., assistant professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Critical Care, was recently chosen by Vanderbilt University School of Medicine to receive the CANDLE (Caring, Advocating, Nurturing, Determination, Leadership and Empathy) Award.
The honor is given to individuals who have devoted themselves to teaching and mentoring.
Recipients are nominated and chosen based upon their positive impact on the lives of physicians-in-training, and are recognized by their students as examples of excellence in medical education.
“When I spent time with Dr. Cotton as a third-year student on the General Surgery clerkship, the thing that I most remember was how dedicated he was to teaching the residents and medical students,” one of his nominators wrote.
“He was the epitome of evidence-based medicine, always challenging us to defend our management strategies with references from the literature.
“As a fourth-year student on the Trauma service, Dr. Cotton's ability to lead a medical team during the critical moments of a life-or-death resuscitation, and to lead the intensive care team through the daily patient/family rounds, were impressive.
“As someone interested in a career in academic surgery, Dr. Cotton always placed my learning and growth as a surgical investigator above his own interests in publishing research, and allowed me to take a lead authorship role in the projects that I worked on with him.
“As a mentor, he always provided invaluable information about the application process and ways to succeed as a surgical resident and future academic surgeon.”