Renowned Pittsburgh professor, radiologist and nine-time Golden Apple winner dies
Carl Fuhrman, MD, a renowned Pittsburgh professor and radiologist, died of a heart attack last month, according to an obituary published Tuesday.
Tributes poured in this week for the beloved 67-year-old physician, who won the Ronald J. Hoy Excellence in Teaching Award in radiology so many times that they renamed it for him. That 2016 switch came after the 15th tally for Fuhrman, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported this week.
“He was probably the best teacher in our profession,” longtime colleague and friend Jules Sumkin, DO, chairman of the UPMC Radiology Department, told the newspaper. “I can’t tell you how many people said, ‘I went into radiology because of Carl,’ including my son-in-law,” he added later.
Fuhrman grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, with three older sisters and eventually made his way to the Pitt School of Medicine. There, he won the James D. Heard Senior Prize in Medicine, which was the first of many honors in his long career.
After completing a residency in diagnostic radiology in 1983, Fuhrman started off as an assistant professor in imaging. He won Teacher of the Year two years later before becoming a full professor in 1994, the report noted.
He went on to win the prestigious Golden Apple teaching award nine times, a feat that still amazes his colleague.
“Radiology isn’t even a part of the basic curriculum in the medical school, so for someone like him to win that award nine times is truly extraordinary,” Sumkin said. “It was just unheard of.”
Read more of the obituary from the Post-Gazette below.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.