Prominent Professional & ROA Life Member - Dr. Frank August Rubino; Reserve Officers Association

The Reserve Officers Association is fortunate to have notable and prominent professionals as members. Among them is Dr. Frank August Rubino, one of the nation's outstanding neurologists, who teaches other neurologists at the prestigious Mayo Clinic. He has been an ROA Life Member since 1985.

Dr. Rubino has been at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Fla., for 11 years and currently serves as director of education and consultant, department of neurology, as well as professor, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Dr. Rubino's father immigrated to the United States from Italy, and both parents stressed the importance of education to him, his brother and three sisters. While sports always played a major role in his life--and his first career ambition was baseball--his parents' emphasis on education found him at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., from which he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics in 1955.

Shortly after graduation, he was drafted into the Army. When he expressed an interest in medicine, he was sent to Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, for medical training and assignment to the now-closed Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco. At Letterman, he worked under a pathologist, Colonel Ivey, who took Dr. Rubino under his wing. Colonel Ivey visited the Rubino's home in Chicago to discuss with his parents the possibility of a medical career for the young man. Although he liked the military, he decided to get out of the Army and complete his medical training at the University of Illinois, graduating with distinction in 1962. He was a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society.

He was always interested in the brain and participated in a five-year package in which he completed two residencies, one in psychiatry and one in neurology. He is board certified in both fields but has practiced neurology exclusively. Drawn back to the military, Dr. Rubino went to work for the Veterans Administration Hospital in Hines, Ill. While there teaching residents, Reservist-colleagues talked with him about joining the Army Reserve, which was recruiting physicians. Dr. Rubino joined in 1985 and has attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

His Reserve duty involved hospital work specializing in neurological problems and organizing and building a "tent" hospital at Ft. Sam Houston--an elaborate and complete facility, which included operating room, wards, x-ray capability, laboratories, etc. Units of this type were utilized during the Gulf War.

The VA hospital experience was exceptionally rewarding. Dr. Rubino served as a professor of neurology and was chief and associate chairman of the neurology department at Loyola University with which the VA Hospital in Hines was affiliated. While at the VA hospital, Dr. Rubino also trained personnel at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, resulting in his being recruited for Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville. He was attracted by the unique manner in which Mayo Clinic performs its mission. Most impressive is the generous time with each patient, answering questions and discussing each medical situation. Dr. Rubino pointed out that one of Mayo's strong points is that everything is in one system, i.e., records, x-rays, tests, and the physicians communicate well with one another. He doesn't think that Mayo is, necessarily, smarter but certainly better organized.

Mayo Clinic Jacksonville is linked to the two other Mayo facilities in Rochester, Minn., and Scottsdale, Ariz., as well as St. Luke Hospital in Jacksonville. Meetings and teaching conferences are conducted by telecommunication, as physicians from all the facilities are linked. If Dr. Rubino wants to draw on the expertise of a physician in Rochester, he just picks up the phone and calls them. He can even set it up for a physician in Rochester or Scottsdale to communicate with a patient in Jacksonville by telecommunication.

When Dr. Rubino began at Mayo, there were 30 physicians at the clinic in Jacksonville; now there are more than 285. As the clinic and St. Luke Hospital continue to expand, there are also six primary care facilities in Georgia and Florida.

Dr. Rubino is on a committee of the American Neurological Association. Its headquarters is in Chicago, so he gets back to his hometown several times a year.

Dr. Rubino has always been a sports buff. After he dropped baseball as a potential career, he did play a little in the service and played on a Mayo Clinic team up until five years ago. When one of the umpires said, "Nice game, sir," he figured it was time to give up baseball. He has played handball and racquetball but now participates in tennis and downhill skiing, though not in Jacksonville. He has become a Jacksonville Jaguars fan but still holds Chicago Bears tickets and gets back for a game now and then.

He has two daughters, who are both nurses, and two granddaughters.

In his limited spare time he enjoys the Jacksonville Symphony and the theater, especially Broadway musicals.

Dr. Rubino has received numerous honors and awards recognizing his performance as a physician and an educator. Among them--

Recognition by Mayo Clinic Jacksonville in June 2000 for exceptional ability, dedication and interest in teaching.

Award by Mayo Clinic Jacksonville and the Mayo Foundation in 1997 as Distinguished Mayo Educator.

Selection as one of "The Best Doctors in America" (Southeast region) for 1995 through 1998.

Establishment in 1990 of the Frank A Rubino Clinical Neurology Award, Department of Neurology, Loyola University School of Medicine, in recognition of significant contribution to education and patient care, and granted annually to a neurology resident who demonstrates excellent clinical diagnostic skills and humanistic attitude toward patients and co-workers.

Award by Mayo Clinic Jacksonville for Exceptional Ability, Dedication, and Interest in Teaching.

Award by Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Internal Medicine Residency Program for Excellence in Teaching in Discipline of Neurology.

Award by Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Internal Medicine Residency Program for Outstanding Contributions as a Teacher of Clinical Neurology.

Dr. Rubino regards as a very enriching experience his time in the active-duty Army as an enlisted person and in the Reserves as an officer. His work with people from all walks of life and, in particular, veterans and fellow Reservists enhanced the skill in patient care and education that he demonstrates today at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville. Dr. Rubino personifies ROA's valued principles of "Duty, Honor, Country."

RADM Bob Merrilees, USCGR (Ret.), holds the Marine Corps seat on the national ROA Executive Committee.

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