Congratulations to Charles A. Buffington, MD, who has served as a Presby anesthesiologist since 1988, on his appointment to the esteemed title of Professor Emeritus in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
Dr. Buffington graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in Chemistry and earned his MD from West Virginia University School of Medicine. He completed his Anesthesiology Residency at New York University Medical Center in 1976 and undertook additional training, including a Senior Fellowship, in Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Washington. He joined the faculty there as an Instructor in 1978 and progressed through the ranks to Assistant and then Associate Professor. Dr. Buffington had a very productive research career at the University of Washington. Seminal articles that influenced the way anesthesiologists thought about the effects of volatile agents on coronary blood flow came from his lab. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute granted Dr. Buffington a Clinical Investigator Award that spanned 1980 through 1985.
Dr. Buffington joined our department in 1988 and continued the work and focus that he started at the University of Washington. His work is still quoted throughout the world. Remarkably, he was promoted from Instructor to Tenured Professor within the span of 11 years. The American Board of Anesthesiology asked him to serve as a Senior Examiner, a role he held until 2008.
Dr. Buffington’s clinical practice has predominantly been in the cardiothoracic OR, but was one of those rare individuals who could care for all patients under all circumstances with equal facility. He finished his clinical career by directing clinical anesthesia services at WPIC’s Institute for Electroconvulsive Therapy, where he helped to shape and hone clinical airway skills for medical students, nurse anesthesia students, and anesthesiology residents. He approached this care in the same inquisitive manner that he approached all patients and clinical conditions with an attempt to answer questions about the discipline that had not already been answered.