Longtime USC medical school leader honored by Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) presented its John C. Gienapp Award, one of the highest honors in medical education, to Lawrence Opas, MD, senior associate dean for graduate education and professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, on February 21, 2025. Opas has been the designated institutional official (DIO) since 2004 for residency and fellowship training programs co-sponsored by the University of Southern California and Los Angeles General Medical Center. In that capacity, he is the primary representative to ACGME, the independent organization that sets standards and accredits the 13,591 residency and fellowship programs in the United States.  

The Gienapp Award, which is not given every year, recognizes an individual who “is dedicated to graduate medical education and has made outstanding contributions to the enhancement of residency education and ACGME accreditation activities.” Opas is the 10th recipient of the Gienapp Award and is now the only person to have earned all three of the top honors in graduate medical education, including the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award, which he won in 2012; and the Group on Resident Affairs Outstanding Service Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), conferred in 2020.

“Our programs that train the physicians of tomorrow thrive due in substantial part to the extraordinary dedication, insight and integrity that Larry Opas brings to graduate medical education at our school,” said Carolyn C. Meltzer, MD, dean of the Keck School of Medicine. “The way that he lends those same assets to his broader community of colleagues across the country makes him richly deserving of the Gienapp Award. We’re grateful for all he does.”

Opas, a member of USC’s medical faculty for more than 48 years, was the founding program director of the combined internal medicine and pediatrics residency. He oversaw that program and the pediatrics residency based at Los Angeles General Medical Center for 25 years. He has held numerous leadership positions with the ACGME, including chair and vice chair of its institutional review committee. He also co-chaired the Sponsoring Institution 2025 Task Force, a 2017 effort that helped shape the ACGME’s strategic vision. Opas has been invited to lecture on graduate medical education at professional gatherings around the globe.

His response to receiving the Gienapp Award is characterized by humility and the imperative to share the credit with others.

“Personally, I feel quite honored and humbled,” he said. “I mean, somebody is giving me an award for something that I’d keep on doing, regardless of the recognition. Of course, the national recognition is wonderful, but credit goes to the many colleagues who work so hard, day in and day out, to ensure that our programs are accredited. If you do the job right, you are honored to collaborate with so many wonderful people. I would really like to hand the award to them.”

In a similar spirit, Opas sees his influence on nationwide graduate medical education deriving from his being in the right place at the right time. He originally stepped in as USC’s DIO while serving as interim chief medical officer at LA General and remained as DIO ever since. Looking back at the first time he attended an AAMC meeting, he recounts being approached by a more experienced colleague who invited him to lunch with her friends. In the years ahead, she and all those lunch companions would become critical mentors to him. 

“The main opportunity was to collaborate with like-minded people who really wanted to do the best for patients through resident and fellow education,” Opas said.

Eric Hsieh, MD, who directs the USC Los Angeles General Medical Center internal medicine residency program, praised Opas, whom he considers a mentor.

“He has left an indelible mark on graduate medical education,” said Hsieh, who is also a clinical professor and the vice chair for educational affairs in the Department of Medicine. “His leadership has been instrumental in shaping the education and training of countless USC residents and fellows. In his work with the ACGME, he’s embodied a forward-thinking approach and tireless commitment to advancing medical education.”

From Opas’ point of view, his work as an educator and administrator is an avocation that complements his vocation serving children and their families.  

“What drives me is the joy I get from being part of training the future generation of providers,” he said. “There’s a synergy between excellence in patient care and excellence in education. With the changing health care environment and rapid advances in technology, we need to educate our trainees so they’re nimble and adaptable enough to meet the evolving needs of their patients.”