Paul Stuart Auerbach (January 4, 1951 – June 23, 2021) was an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and author in the academic discipline of

wilderness medicine Wilderness medicine is a rapidly evolving field and is of increasing importance as more people engage in hiking, climbing, kayaking, and other potentially hazardous activities in the backcountry. The modern definition of wilderness medicine is "m ...

. He was the founder and past president of the

Wilderness Medical Society The Wilderness Medical Society was created on 15 February 1983 by three physicians from California, United States — Dr. Paul Auerbach, Dr. Ed Geehr, and Dr. Ken Kizer. It is the largest international non-profit membership organization devoted ...

. Auerbach was the editor for the ''Journal of Wilderness Medicine'' (currently ''Wilderness and Environmental Medicine'') published by the Wilderness Medical Society from 1990 to 1995.Dr. Auerbach's CV dated June 2009 Auerbach was also the author of a number of articles and books on topics such as emergency medicine, hazardous marine animals, and

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for " Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chr ...

, including two books of

underwater photography Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater v ...

Background

Auerbach was born in

Plainfield, New Jersey Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City."

. He graduated from

North Plainfield High School North Plainfield High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grade from North Plainfield, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the North Plainfield Scho ...

in 1969. Auerbach then went to Duke University located in Durham, North Carolina, where he completed a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, graduating magna cum laude in 1973. Auerbach received his

Doctorate of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

from the Duke University School of Medicine in 1977. Auerbach then went on to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and completed his clinical internship in 1978 before starting a

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgra ...

in emergency medicine at the

University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (also commonly referred to as ''UCLA Medical Center'', "RRMC" or "Ronald Reagan") is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United ...

. Upon completion of his residency in 1980, Auerbach became board certified in emergency medicine by the American Board of Emergency Medicine in 1981. Auerbach later went on to complete a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

as a

Sloan Fellow The Sloan Fellows program is the world's first mid-career and senior career master's degree in general management and leadership. It was initially supported by a grant from Alfred P. Sloan, the late CEO of General Motors, to his alma mater, MI ...

at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He died on June 23, 2021, from brain cancer at the age of 70.

Career

From 1980 to 1981, Auerbach was an assistant professor of medicine at the

Temple University School of Medicine The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University (LKSOM), located on the Health Science Campus of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, is one of 7 schools of medicine in Pennsylvania conferring the M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree. It also ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He then went on to become assistant clinical professor of medicine at the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It con ...

until 1985 when he moved to the

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is a graduate medical school of Vanderbilt University located in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center on the southeastern side of the Vanderbilt University campus, the ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Vanderbilt promoted Auerbach to professor in 1991 and later that year he moved to the Stanford University School of Medicine. Auerbach served as the chief, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery at the Stanford University School of Medicine from 1991 to 1995. Auerbach served as the Redlich Family Professor of Surgery in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University.

Awards

Awards received by Auerbach include: * DAN America Award, Divers Alert Network (1998) * Outstanding Contribution in Education Award, American College of Emergency Physicians (1999) *

NOGI Award The NOGI Awards is an award presented annually by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS) to diving luminaries and is "considered the Oscar of the ocean world." Selection of recipients is based on their record of accomplishments and ...

for Science, the

Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences The NOGI Awards is an award presented annually by the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences (AUAS) to diving luminaries and is "considered the Oscar of the ocean world." Selection of recipients is based on their record of accomplishments and ...

(2007) * Founders Award, Wilderness Medical Society (2000) * Hero of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians (2008) * Diver of the Year, Beneath the Sea (2008) * DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year, Divers Alert Network (2009)

Publications

Auerbach was the editor for the ''Journal of Wilderness Medicine'' (currently ''Wilderness and Environmental Medicine'') published by the Wilderness Medical Society from 1990 to 1995 when he became the ''Editor Emeritus''. Editorial boards that he has served on have included ''Topics in Emergency Medicine'' (1981–2006), ''

The Journal of Emergency Medicine ''The Journal of Emergency Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering emergency medicine. It is the official journal of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. The editor-in-chief is Stephen Hayden (University of Californ ...

'' (1985–1986), ''Current Concepts in Wound Care.'' (1986–1988), ''Emergindex'' (1992–2002), ''Annals of Emergency Medicine'' (1988–1991), and ''European Journal of Emergency Medicine'' (1993–2006). He served on the editorial board for ''Emergency Medicine Reports'' (1986–20??). Auerbach was on the consulting editorial board for the ''Journal of Emergency Nursing'' from 1981 to 1985. He has also served as the contributing medical editor for several diving publications including ''Dive Data'' (1987), ''Scuba Times'' (1988), ''The Undersea Journal'' (1988), and ''Dive Training'' (1991).

Books

* * * * * * * * *''-''Lemery, Jay; ''Enviromedics'': ''The Impact of Climate Change on Human Health.'' Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2017.

Abstracts

Patents

* 1989

References

External links

Paul Auerbach's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach, Paul 1951 births 2021 deaths American medical researchers American medical writers American male non-fiction writers American photographers American underwater divers North Plainfield High School alumni People from North Plainfield, New Jersey University of California, Los Angeles faculty Stanford Sloan Fellows Underwater photographers High-altitude medicine physicians Duke University alumni Angier B. Duke Scholars Duke University School of Medicine alumni