Alumnus commits $1.5 million to support medical education at Case Western Reserve University

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has received a $1.5 million commitment from Stephen Gehlbach, MD, PhD (MED ’68), to name and endow a program for medical students interested in teaching and academic medicine.

The Stephen Gehlbach, MD, MPH Medical Education Scholars Pathway is one of nine pathways at the medical school—each designed to provide individualized enrichment experiences for students with interest or expertise in pursuits beyond the core curriculum.

For Gehlbach, the decision to philanthropically support medical education as a career path reflects a belief that one of the most enduring impacts a physician can make is through the students they train.

“While the standard is to graduate, complete residency and immediately practice medicine, I believe there is something special about the educational path,” said Gehlbach. “By focusing on teaching, you contribute to a lasting legacy of knowledge. To me, that has always been more rewarding than any other aspect of my career.”

This pathway is designed to identify and encourage medical students who are interested in teaching early in their training. Unlike traditional programs, this specialty pathway provides structured mentorship and targeted skill development in medical education, recognizing teaching as a distinct and essential competency. By formalizing medical teaching as a recognized skill, Case Western Reserve helps ensure the physicians of tomorrow are not only masters of clinical science but also expert educators.

“Our school prides itself on preparing students for an ever-evolving healthcare environment, and few tasks in medicine are more important than the exceptional quality education of tomorrow’s medical leaders,” said Stan Gerson, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and the university’s senior vice president for medical affairs. “Thanks to Dr. Gehlbach’s generous gift, the pathway prepares leaders in academic medicine who are not only outstanding clinicians but also dedicated educators who will teach and inspire the next generation of physicians.”

A century of pioneering excellence

The Gehlbach Pathway for Medical Education Scholars extends Case Western Reserve School of Medicine's legacy of leadership in medical education, first recognized in the 1910 Flexner Report and furthered by the innovative 1952 curriculum focused on integrated problem-solving—a legacy that drew Gehlbach to the university in the 1960s. “Case Western Reserve had the reputation of being a place that was interested in looking at medical education from a little different vantage point, which greatly appealed to me,” Gehlbach recalled.

Lia Logio, MD, vice dean of medical education, noted that this gift reinforces the school's historical identity—and sets a path for the future. 

“Dr. Gehlbach's gift reinforces Case Western Reserve's place in history as a medical school that thinks deeply about the best way to educate physicians,” she said. “The CWRU legacy of innovation in education, which started with the first-ever integrated organ-based curriculum, will live on through these medical education scholars, students who are investing time to optimize teaching and learning for future generations to come.”

Challenging a ‘fundamental misconception’

Throughout his distinguished career as a clinician, educator and dean, Gehlbach observed a persistent assumption in medicine: that being well-educated automatically makes one an effective educator.

“There has long been an assumption that if you have been educated, then you know how to educate,” Gehlbach said. “There's a fundamental misconception about that. The idea that you can actually teach teachers how to be effective was kind of new territory in medical education. That’s where this pathway is exciting—where you can talk not just about the clinical aspects of medicine, but how you actually get people to learn it better.”

Formally launched in the 2022–23 academic year, the pathway serves as an incubator for innovation, enabling students to collaborate with faculty in co-creating curricula, receive specialized mentorship, and engage in medical education research. 

This combination makes the pathway distinct as a hands-on experience not commonly found in other programs. Gehlbach noted he was "astonished" to see that even first-year medical students are already seeking specialized education—a level of foresight he admits he lacked as a student.

Inspired by his tenure with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, Gehlbach championed a collaborative “medical mystery” philosophy that replaced traditional lectures with investigative rigor. By treating the classroom as a site for active discovery, he challenged the misconception that clinical expertise automatically makes a physician an effective educator—a belief that is at the heart of the Scholars Pathway. 

Gehlbach’s impact spans the globe, from leading a landmark osteoporosis study of 50,000 women to receiving a Fulbright award to teach in Lebanon. Whether setting national standards as president of the Council on Education for Public Health or authoring his foundational text, Interpreting the Medical Literature, he has spent a career proving that teaching is a specialized art. Through this endowment, Gehlbach’s "contagious enthusiasm" for the medical mystery of education is now permanently anchored at Case Western Reserve.