The UMKC School of Medicine will soon recognize psychiatry students who exemplify excellence and professionalism in patient care, thanks to a new award honoring the late Bruno Zwerenz, M.D.

Created in March 2025 by his wife, Rose Zwerenz (B.A. ’78, M.D. ’82), along with family, friends and colleagues, the Zwerenz Family Award for Excellence and Professionalism in Patient Care will be awarded annually at the school’s spring commencement. The first award will be presented in 2026.

Bruno dedicated his professional life to psychiatry and medical education. He served as a docent in the School of Medicine, exposing decades of medical students to the effects of mental health and disease on physical and spiritual health. Additionally, within the department of community and family medicine, he taught clinical and therapeutic aspects of psychiatry in the setting of family and community medicine.

Outside of education, Bruno served the mental health needs for thousands of patients over several decades throughout Jackson County, Missouri, and beyond, providing psychiatric care to many who otherwise might not have had access.

Rose Zwerenz, known as “Dr. Rose” by her students, is also a longtime faculty member and UMKC alumna. An assistant professor in the Department of Community and Family Medicine and the school’s assistant dean for pre-doctoral education, Dr. Rose served as a docent for first- and second-year students for nearly three decades and was recognized in 2016 with the school’s Outstanding Years 1 and 2 Docent Award.

This new, annual, endowed award will support students planning a career in psychiatry who expect to match into a psychiatry residency program and have demonstrated excellence during their psychiatry clerkship and electives. Selection will be made by the dean or designees each year.

For the Zwerenz family, this award is both a tribute to Bruno’s life’s work and a continuation of the couple’s shared commitment to students. Through their generosity, future physicians will be recognized for embodying the same professionalism and compassion that defined Bruno’s career.