If You Build It with Excellence, They Will Come

LED BY ROBERT WAGNER, NSU SECURES ITS PLACE AS THE NATION’S PREEMINENT EDUCATOR OF ANESTHESIOLOGIST ASSISTANTS.

There are passionate educators and engaged department chairs—and then there is NSU Fellows Society member Robert Wagner, D.H.Sc., M.M.Sc., RRT, CAA, associate dean and chair of anesthesia at NSU’s Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences. They haven’t yet come up with the adequate attribute to fully capture his commitment to NSU or the ripple effect he has had on the field of anesthesiology.

If you are a practicing anesthesiologist assistant in the United States—certainly, if you received your training in Florida or Georgia—there is an excellent chance Wagner had something to do with it.

Wagner, a certified anesthesiologist assistant (CAA) for the last 30 years, is originally from Sarasota, Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy at Florida A&M University, his master’s degree in anesthesia from Emory University, and his doctorate from A.T. Still University. He spent 18 years in Georgia practicing as a cardiothoracic CAA and earned the role as chief of anesthesia at Saint Joseph’s Hospital. He also accepted the position of president of the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants.

During this time, the anesthesiologist assistant (AA) profession was not recognized in Florida. In 2000, the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists enthusiastically committed to the legislative process, and NSU stepped forward and offered to establish a program if the profession was licensed in the state.

The process took four years, but once the licensing was complete, NSU asked Wagner to launch the first AA program in the state—and at the university—in 2006. “I wanted to come back to Florida,” Wagner said. “At the time, there were only three anesthesiologist assistant programs in the country. And NSU believed in me. It believed in my profession, and it believed in the students.”

Wagner recruited his fellow Emory alumnus Don Sokolik, M.D., to join him at NSU as medical director. Wagner and Sokolik successfully lobbied together in Tallahassee, Florida, until the profession’s licensure was passed.

“There were only 29 students in that first program in Fort Lauderdale,” Sokolik said. “We had interviewed a lot of high-quality students, but they weren’t accepting our offer to come to NSU. When we investigated why, we learned our tuition was cost-prohibitive.”

Thus began the effort to engage philanthropic donors and corporate partners to help offset student tuition. Both Wagner and Sokolik are themselves major NSU gift benefactors and have contributed significant personal resources to provide scholarships for the best and brightest students in the AA program.

Over the years, Wagner has positioned philanthropy as a tenet of his role as department chair. He has inspired the philanthropic engagement of corporate partners and vendors, as well as faculty members and industry colleagues. His efforts have resulted in more than $2.7 million in donated equipment and scholarship contributions, enabling promising students—many of whom would not otherwise be able to afford a quality education—the opportunity to pursue their dreams of becoming anesthesiologist assistants.

With Wagner at the helm, NSU’s AA Department has grown considerably during the past 15 years. With programs operating at NSU campuses in Fort Lauderdale/Davie, Tampa Bay, and Jacksonville, as well as a fourth program that is scheduled to open in Denver, Colorado, in January 2022, NSU is now the largest educator of anesthesiologist assistants in the nation.

Yet, Wagner remains humble, often minimizing his individual impact and pointing to the collaboration among university, NSU’s Health Professions Division, and college leadership as the catalyst for the growth and success of the AA Department.

“Everyone, at every level, was willing to try new ideas and offer new opportunities to students. I hope our students find that passion in themselves and make that a contagious environment. We’ve had graduates who want to teach, and I think that’s a great compliment when you inspire the next generation to come back,” Wagner said.

“NSU has given so much, not just personally to me, but to my profession,” Wagner added. “I just wanted to give back somehow. Whether or not the gifts I’ve made inspire others to contribute student scholarships or support a new lab, the journey to give back was a personal one for me and my family.”

To discuss how you can work with University Advancement to support a programmatic vision or student initiative, as Wagner has, please contact Shannon Brown Wayte at (954) 529-6776 or Shannon.Wayte@nova.edu.

One thought on “If You Build It with Excellence, They Will Come

  1. I’ve had the privilege of knowing Dr. Wagner for many years. He is an excellent teacher, leader and friend. Thanks for your contribution to the Anesthesiologist Assistant profession.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *