Richard Rathe (Short Bio)

Richard Rathe spent his career as a Medical Doctor and Computer Scientist. He has a medical degree from the University of Minnesota and graduated from the Family Medicine Residency in Cheyenne, WY. After residency he was awarded a National Library of Medicine Informatics Fellowship at the Harvard School of Public Health. He then joined the faculty of the University of Florida College of Medicine and taught students from pre-professional through continuing education in Medicine, Nursing, and other Health Professions. He was a member and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He received several awards over the years including the Exemplary Teacher Award.

While at UF, he became the Associate Dean for Information Technology and oversaw the development of various online assessment and medical record systems. This included the first of its kind Online Medical Record (OLMR) for the Shands Teaching Hospital. He was a founding member of the American Medical Informatics Association, participating in their committees and annual meetings.

He was elected to various committees by the National Board of Medical Examiners over several years and later undertook a five month sabbatical at that institution. He helped develop their computer-based testing and standardized patient programs.

Clinically Dr. Rathe specialized in Primary Care, Behavioral Medicine, Student Health, and Rural Medicine. He practiced and acted as preceptor for many students for more than twenty years. When he retired he was the senior faculty member at the UFHealth Rural Outreach Clinic in Old Town Florida.

He has been an active Photographer since age 12, when his father taught him how to develop and print his own pictures in the family darkroom. He progressed from film to digital photography as the latter was being invented. He currently dabbles with High Dynamic Range (HDR), Infrared, Panoramic, and Spherical (360) formats. In 2018 he invented a hybrid technique he calls Panopainting using the iPhone camera. He also produces short video journals of his various explorations.

He has a life-long love of nature and the outdoors. He has taken many wilderness trips including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (in northern Minnesota), the Okefenokee Swamp, and winter camping in Yellowstone. He has lead wilderness canoe/kayak trips in the Everglades every year since 2000 (2025 will be the 29th!). He has also made extensive trips in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and California. His most recent journey took him to the Vermilion Cliffs and the famous Wave.

He is an avid Birder and bird photographer. He is particularly interested in Birding by Ear—getting to know many canopy species by their calls only. He has an undergraduate degree in Botany and attempts to learn as much as possible about local flora where ever he goes. About every two or three years he makes a trip to the Florida Panhandle to hunt for carnivorous plants.

He also has a special interest in American pre-history, focusing on Native American ruins, pictographs, and petroglyphs. He has a goal to visit and photograph as many Rock Art sites as possible, including Chaco Canyon and Canyonlands NP.

BLogging since 2004, software…