Internal med, peds expert joins UMMC faculty

Richard McNeil Wardrop III, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Richard McNeil Wardrop III, former clinical associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, has joined the Medical Center faculty as a professor of medicine and will serve as vice chair for education and faculty development in the Department of Medicine.

After receiving his B.S. in biology summa cum laude, in honors from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, in 1994, Wardrop earned his Ph.D. in molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at Ohio State University in 2000. He was an M.D./Ph.D. medical scientist program fellow from 1994-2002 and received his M.D. cum laude from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health in 2002. He completed a combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency at UNC Chapel Hill from 2002-06 and served as chief resident for the University of North Carolina Department of Internal Medicine and WakeMed Faculty Physicians from 2006-07.

Wardrop joined the University of Virginia School of Medicine faculty in 2007 as an assistant clinical professor in internal medicine and pediatrics and served as an assistant clinical professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine from 2008-10. He was founding assistant professor of internal medicine, pediatrics and basic science at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, Roanoke, in 2009. In 2010, he became a faculty physician in the Division of Hospital Medicine for WakeMed Faculty Physicians and clinical assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School Of Medicine. He was founding associate dean for biomedical affairs and associate professor of medicine at the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine from 2011-12, program director for the combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Training Program at the UNC School of Medicine from 2013-17, and clinical associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine from 2013-19.

An American College of Physicians Top 10 Hospitalist Award recipient in November 2018, Wardrop has received numerous awards for his clinical and academic service. The author or coauthor of 21 refereed journal articles, 54 abstracts and four books and chapters, he has given numerous presentations at scientific meetings nationally. He serves as a reviewer for a number of scientific publications and has participated in many quality improvement initiatives.

He has served in national leadership in the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. He is chair of the ACP Council of Early Career Physicians and a member of the ACP Board of Regents. He is also a nationally recognized advocate for physician and provider wellness and satisfaction and recently presented a plenary lecture to a national audience as a guest for the AAP and the ACP.