{{Short description|American physician}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Robert L. Wears | birth_date = 1947 | death_date = July 15, 2017 | fields = emergency medicine, patient safety | workplaces = University of Florida | alma_mater = Johns Hopkins University<br />University of North Florida<br />Mines Paris - PSL | thesis_title = Resilience Dynamics in Uncertain, High Tempo, High Stakes Settings | thesis_year = 2011 }}
'''Robert L. Wears''' (1947 – July 15, 2017<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=COMJ faculty mourn loss of esteemed colleague » College of Medicine – Jacksonville {{!}} University of Florida |url=https://med.jax.ufl.edu/news/story/?id=1943 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=med.jax.ufl.edu}}</ref>) was an American medical doctor, professor of emergency medicine, and safety researcher<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Kamens |first=Don |date=2017-11-01 |title=Robert L. Wears, MD, PhD, 1947–2017 |url=https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(17)31536-6/abstract |journal=Annals of Emergency Medicine |language=English |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=742–743 |doi=10.1016/j.annemergmed.2017.08.052 |issn=0196-0644 |pmid=29056209|doi-access=free }}</ref> who integrated human factors in healthcare,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=The Robert L. Wears Early Career Award |url=https://www.hfes.org/HFES-News/the-robert-l-wears-early-career-award-1 |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=HFES - Human Factors and Ergonomics Society |language=en-US}}</ref> doing studies of technical work in complex socio-technical systems, joint and distributed cognitive systems, and the impact of information technology on safety and resilient performance.<ref name=":0" />
Described as one of the country's leading experts in patient safety<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Patton |first=Charlie |title=Robert Wears, one of nation's leading patient-safety experts, dies at 70 |url=https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/healthcare/2017/07/18/robert-wears-one-nation-s-leading-patient-safety-experts-dies-70/15765240007/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=The Florida Times-Union |language=en-US}}</ref> and emergency medicine,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-11-01 |title=2017 Council Resolution 9: In Memory of Robert Wears, MD, FACEP |url=https://webapps.acep.org/shoppingcart/printreport.aspx?vw=council&councilcode=SA17&resolutionnumber=9 |access-date=2022-10-08 |website=American College of Emergency Physicians}}</ref> Wears published over 400 articles, books, and book chapters related to patient safety, resilient health care, and emergency medicine.<ref name=":1" />
There are two safety awards named in his honor: The Robert L. Wears Early Career Award<ref name=":2" /> offered by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, and the Robert L. Wears Patient Safety Leadership Award<ref>{{Cite web |last=QSEN |title=Robert L. Wears Patient Safety Leadership Award |url=https://qsen.org/robert-l-wears-patient-safety-leadership-award-2/ |access-date=2022-10-09 |language=en-US}}</ref> offered by Jacksonville University.
== Biography == Wears graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1969 with a BA in liberal arts.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Berger |first=Eric |date=2017-11-01 |title=Robert L. "Bob" Wears, Emergency Medicine Elder Statesman, Patient Safety Expert, Dies: Colleagues, Friends Recall His Brilliance, Humility |url=https://www.annemergmed.com/article/S0196-0644(17)31690-6/abstract |journal=Annals of Emergency Medicine |language=English |volume=70 |issue=5 |pages=A18–A20 |doi=10.1016/j.annemergmed.2017.09.021 |issn=0196-0644 |pmid=28645410|url-access=subscription }}</ref> After completing his degree, he enrolled in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, completing his medical degree in 1973.<ref name=":4" /> He did his residency at the University Hospital of Jacksonville, where he served as chief resident in 1978.<ref name=":4" />
In 1979, Wears left his residency at the University Hospital to form a group of board-certified emergency physicians,<ref name=":1" /> which was the year that the American Board of Emergency Medicine first received approval.<ref name=":4" />
In 1986, Wears took a faculty position as a professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine – Jacksonville.<ref name=":3" />
In 1995, Wears earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of North Florida,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Wears |first=Robert |title=Robert Wears LinkedIn page |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-wears-a3165716/ |access-date=2022-10-08}}</ref> and in 2011 he obtained his PhD in industrial safety<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5" /> from the Ecole Nationale Superior des Mines de Paris Centre de Recherché sur les Risques et les Crises, graduating with honors.<ref name=":4" /> His PhD thesis was titled ''Resilience Dynamics in Uncertain, High Tempo, High Stakes Settings''<ref name=":1" />''.''
In 2013, Wears was appointed to a three-year term as a University of Florida Research Foundation professor.<ref name=":3" />
In 2014, Wears received an honorary five-year appointment from the University of Southern Denmark.<ref name=":3" />
Wears was a member of multiple professional societies and organizations, including the National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, and served on the board of directors for the Emergency Medicine Patient Safety Foundation.<ref name=":0" /> He served on the editorial board of the Annals of Emergency Medicine from 1990 through his death,<ref name=":4" /> and the journal maintains a web page with a collection of his editorials.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annals of Emergency Medicine |url=https://www.annemergmed.com/content/wears |access-date=2022-10-09 |website=www.annemergmed.com |language=en}}</ref> He was a Life Fellow of this American College of Emergency Physicians.<ref name=":0" />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wears, Robert}} Category:Patient safety Category:20th-century American medical doctors Category:21st-century American medical doctors Category:1947 births Category:2017 deaths Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni Category:Johns Hopkins School of Medicine alumni Category:American emergency physicians Category:University of Florida faculty Category:Mines Paris - PSL alumni