Discovery Society: Dr. Vaughan and Mrs. Susan Howard

Susan and Vaughan Howard, M.D., never want to stop learning. 

That’s why, in 2013, when friends in Williamsburg told them about an event where leading physicians and researchers would discuss the latest developments in health care, they jumped at the chance to attend.

That event was the first-ever Discovery Series Williamsburg, an event that brings to the city nationally and globally renowned experts from VCU Health to share insights and discuss important health care topics. After panel discussions, the physicians and researchers talk in small groups or one-on-one with attendees. 

We’re happy patients, and we enjoy all of it — the Discovery Series and the availability and access to quality people.

Vaughan Howard, M.D., MCV Foundation Discovery Society member

From that first Discovery Series event, “we loved the concept, and the format was just fabulous,” said Dr.  Howard, who is a member of the Medical College of Virginia’s Class of 1977. The topics, ranging from cancer and cardiovascular health to wellness are always important and relevant, he said, and presented with expert enthusiasm and knowledge. 

“We look forward to going and try to attend as many of them as possible and we’re always just blown away at all of the good things happening at MCV that we didn’t know — both the clinical side and the research,” Dr.  Howard said. 

Those who attend the events and choose to contribute $1,000 or more annually in support of any school, unit or program on the MCV Campus at VCU Health, become members of the Discovery Society.

The Howards are Discovery Society members. Their giving includes contributions to the VCU School of Medicine’s McGlothlin Medical Education Center and to other causes they feel strongly about on campus.

They’ve even entrusted their health care to VCU Health. As patients, they emphasized their gratitude for the health system’s continued expansion in Williamsburg. They also recommend VCU Health to friends and neighbors. 

“We’re happy patients, and we enjoy all of it — the Discovery Series and the availability and access to quality people,” Dr. Howard said. 

Another reason they enjoy attending Discovery Series events is to connect with Dr. Howard’s former colleagues from his days working in hospital emergency rooms all over the Tidewater region. 

Dr. Howard’s career is varied. 

In all, he spent nearly three decades in emergency medicine before retiring in 2005. He said he was pulled toward emergency medicine during his residency in Virginia Beach. While the residency was in family medicine, he’d moonlight in emergency rooms. He became board certified and never looked back. 

“You had to keep a lot of balls in the air at the same time,” he said. “You might have a trauma patient in bed one, someone having a heart attack in bed two, and an earache in bed three, and it was that variety that I loved.” 

Susan Howard reminded her husband of another important position he held during his career — physician for the U.S. National Swim Team. Dr. Howard, who was recruited by Princeton University as a student swimmer and who at one point was ranked 18th in the 1968 Olympic trials, later found himself recruited again, this time with the physician cohort that accompanied the national team to competitions around the world from 1979 to 1995.   

Dr. Howard also spent four years at Fort Eustis where he evaluated disability cases for the U.S. Army.

These days, being part of VCU Health and the Discovery Society has been a fulfilling part of retirement.

“It’s been wonderful for us, seeing how the campus has changed and how it’s become a nationally recognized medical center and teaching hospital,” he said. “We’re so thankful that we played a small part in it.” 

If you are interested in learning more about the MCV Foundation’s outreach initiatives in Williamsburg or Richmond, please contact Brian Thomas, MCV Foundation executive vice president and chief development officer.