Brittingham Society

Connections that last a lifetime

The Brittingham Society connects former Vanderbilt Department of Medicine housestaff and fellows from Vanderbilt University for friendship and professional exchange in a thriving alumni community. Participation in this thoughtful, enthusiastic community should last a lifetime.

The society gathers in even-numbered years for a reunion, which includes a banquet, scientific sessions, and tours of Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 


Support the Brittingham Society

Thank you for considering a gift to support the Brittingham Society!

Gifts to the Thomas Brittingham Learning Center are a generous reflection of the ways in which your Vanderbilt experience helped prepare you as a physician.

Your support of the Brittingham Society directly enhances the experiences of current housestaff and fellows. 

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Tom Brittingham, who was Vanderbilt's first director of the Residency Program, taught the human side of medicine through the compassion and respect that he had for each of his patients. Following in Dr. Brittingham's footsteps, Dr. John Leonard carried forward the traditions of the "good doctor," as the director of the Internal Medicine residency training program from 1983–2004. 

Dr. John Sergent directed the residency program through 2013 and continues to anchor the program's values in patient care. Currently, Dr. John McPherson directs the residency program.

In the 1990s, several of Dr. Brittingham's former trainees created the Vanderbilt Society of Internal Medicine to help each other keep those values alive and to connect former housestaff. The society was later renamed the Brittingham Society and expanded to include those who trained as fellows in the Department of Medicine.

(Source: Roger DePrez's comments from memorial service for Dr. Brittingham at VU Housestaff reunion, September 1987 – with thanks to Charles Mayes)

2019-2020: Benjamin F. Tillman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology

2018-2019: Michael J. Fowler, MD, former Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism

2016-2017: Cecelia N. Theobald, MD, MPH,  Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Chief of Staff for Corporate Clinical Affairs and Senior Vice President for Clinical Affairs

2014-2015: David M. Aronoff, MD,is the Chair of the Department of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and the former Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. 

2012-2013: Co-presidents, Clifton K. Meador, Professor of Medicine, Emeritus, and Roman E. Perri, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

2010: Anderson Spickard, III, MD, Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

2008: R. Seth Cooper, MD, Vanderbilt Chief Resident 1974-75; Univ of Rochester in NY, Hematology Fellow 1975-76 and Vanderbilt Hematology Fellow 1976-77.

2006: Margaret Brennan, MD, Vanderbilt 1981, Housestaff 1982-1984, Vanderbilt Chief Resident 1985-1986

2004: Taylor Wray, MD, Housestaff 1966-1967 and 1969-1973, Cardiology Fellow 1972-1974

2002: John Johnson, MD, Vanderbilt, 1961, Housestaff 1961-1962

2000: James Sullivan, MD, Vanderbilt, 1974, Housestaff 1974-1976, Nashville General Chief Resident 1979-1980

1998: Robert Alford, MD, Vanderbilt, 1961, Housestaff 1966-1967

1995: John Sergent, MD, Vanderbilt, 1966, Housestaff 1970-1971, Vanderbilt Chief Resident 1971-1972

1992: Lawrence Wolfe, MD, Vanderbilt, 1960, Housestaff 1960-1962, Vanderbilt Chief Resident 1963-1964, Endocrine Fellow 1964-1966

Thomas E. Brittingham Learning Center helps provide reference materials, dedicated meeting space in the hospital for housestaff, occasional travel scholarships and unrestricted funds to cover unexpected needs of current residents in Medicine.

The Brittingham Learning Center combines new teaching concepts and computer technologies to improve the knowledge base of residents through access to information on a worldwide basis. Located within a patient care area of the Vanderbilt University Hospital, the Learning Center allows medical housestaff to access up-to-date medical information quickly and conveniently.

The Learning Center also includes a state-of-the-art meeting room, specifically designed for teaching and learning, where medical house staff hold Morning Report and weekly clinical conferences.

Your donation to the Thomas Brittingham Learning Center helps support current Medicine trainees. Learn more here.

Cieara McBride
Brittingham Society Liaison
cieara.mcbride@vumc.org

John McPherson, MD
Interim President, Brittingham Society
Vice Chair for Education, Department of Medicine
john.mcpherson@vumc.org 

Leadership

John McPherson, MD

Professor of Medicine
Vice Chair, Department of Medicine
Interim President, Brittingham Society