The Academy for Excellence in Education was established in November 2006. The founding membership was comprised of 44 distinguished medical educators. The Academy provides a forum to foster higher levels of participation and promote excellence and scholarship in the delivery of education to health professionals.
The Academy is a collective of outstanding faculty educators in Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who are highly engaged in the educational mission. Each strives to have a significant impact on educational endeavors in diverse settings with a variety of learners.
The Academy for Excellence in Education has elected the following 26 new members for 2022.
Rachel Apple, MD, MPH, joined the faculty in 2016 and is an assistant professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in course/curricula/program design and mentorship. She has developed several courses and curricula including a telemedicine curriculum for post clerkship students as part of the Advanced Communications I Immersion block. She serves as the block director for two Foundations of Healthcare Delivery Immersion Courses, Public health, population health, and prevention and Advanced Communications 1. She has mentored residents Med-Peds residents for the scholarly work in the telemedicine curriculum, serves as Master Clinical teacher for the Internal Medicine Clerkship, is a Faculty Affiliate Advisor, Chapman College and is a Portfolio Coach. In 2015 she was the recipient of the House staff Clinical Teaching Award, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, nominated by VUSM class of 2015.
Arna Banerjee, MD, MMHC, joined the faculty in 2003 and is a professor of Anesthesiology, Surgery, Medical Education and Administration. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in teaching, educational leadership, and course/curricula/program design. She serves in several leadership roles including Assistant Dean for Medical Simulation and Director of Vanderbilt’s Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment (CELA). She has helped to design and organize numerous high-impact simulation courses. Curricular innovations such as Critical Care Skills Week, Intern Boot Camp, Mechanical Ventilation Module for COVID-19, and the ICU Guidebook for COVID-19 have been disseminated widely and are actively used at numerous institutions. She has won several teaching awards, including three Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching in the Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty with Distinction for Educator Development Program (OTLM, VUMC) 2011, Presidential Citation from the Society of Critical Care Medicine for developing the ICU Liberation Course in 2016 and the 2016 R. Michael Rodriguez Award for Excellence In Teaching (VUMC).
Vikram Bansal, MD, joined the faculty in 2015 and is an assistant professor of Clinical Anesthesiology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in educational leadership and educational scholarship. He has an emerging regional and national reputation in the regional anesthesia and ambulatory anesthesia subspecialty communities. For the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, he chairs the Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Fellowship Clinical Competency, Program Evaluation, and Self-Study committees. At VUMC he serves on the Quality Measurement and Management Initiative, Grand Rounds Planning Committee, and the Center for Evidence-Based Anesthesia taskforce. He has written numerous book chapters, letters, peer-reviewed articles, and international procedural guidelines in the field of regional and ambulatory anesthesia. He is an associate editor of the acute pain section of the Anesthesia Toolbox, an online learning community that provides peer-reviewed educational resources to learners and instructors in the field of anesthesiology.
John Bond, MD, joined the faculty in 2015 and is an assistant professor of Ophthalmology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching, and mentorship. Since joining the faculty he has trained all the ophthalmology residents who participate in the neuro ophthalmology clinics at the Vanderbilt Eye Institute and VA hospital. He has mentored over 50 resident pediatrics grand rounds presentations. An active clinician educator who has several teaching/leadership roles including overseeing the Ophthalmology MMI Conference, and Ethics Conference. He also serves as the Quality and Patient Safety Director, and as well as a small group facilitator for medical students. He has received the Bridge Builder Award at Vanderbilt Eye Institute, a prestigious mentoring and teaching award twice.
Edward Cherney, MD, joined the faculty in 2002 and is an associate professor of Ophthalmology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching, course/program design and educational leadership. He serves on the Department of Ophthalmology Clinical Competency Committee, faculty advisor for the Shade Tree Clinic for ophthalmology services, Vanderbilt Eye Institute retina education division liaison to the program committee and holds weekly “Cherney chats” with residents and students. He initiated the first retina CME program in St. Petersburg, essentially introducing retina surgery to the country of Russia. He has received the Dennis O’Day award for Excellence in Clinical Instruction twice and in 2021 received the Keystone award for Mentorship.
David Edwards, MD, PhD, joined the faculty in 2015 and is an associate professor of Anesthesiology and Neurological Surgery, Division Chief of Pain Medicine. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and curriculum/course development. His dedication to education is reflected by his teaching roles in the VUSM, VA medical Center, Meharry Medical College, and the VU Nursing School. He is renowned as an excellent educator and mentor by medical students and residents as evidenced by his evaluations. He developed the curriculum for an integrated science course (ISC) entitled “Pain, Policy, and Addiction.” He developed and maintained CME courses for VUMC faculty to be compliant with opioid prescribing and for relicensing. He has held several CME forums at to educate VUMC faculty during the current opioid epidemic. On the national level he serves as the Chair of the Education and CME Committee for the American Academy of Pain Medicine.
Quentin Eichbaum, MD, PhD, MPH, MFA, MMHC, MMEd, BA (Hons postgrad degree), BSc (Hons postgrad degree), BA, BSc, joined the faculty in 2010 and is a professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology. He was elected to the Academy based on his educational leadership, program design and educational scholarship. He been very active in global health education. In 2011, he co-founded the Consortium of New Southern African Medical Schools in Africa that brought together the new medical schools on the subcontinent into a collaborative alliance for sharing of ideas, faculty, and programs. He has served on several committees for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health and chaired its large Education Committee. At VUMC he established the Vanderbilt Pathology Program in Global Health. He has developed a number of education programs at VUMC including establishing the Vanderbilt Pathology Education Research Group that engages faculty and trainees in collaborative projects in pathology education and has led to a number of articles on the role of cognitive bias in medical error and on medical perception in diagnosis. He has published numerous articles on education, written 13 book chapters and has authored 2 books.
Christina Fiske, MD, MPH, joined the faculty in 2009 and is an assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in educational leadership and course/program design. From 2015-2020 she served as Associate Program Director for the Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program and took over as Program Director in 2020. Other educational leadership roles include Chair of the Division of Infectious Diseases Education Committee, serving on the Division’s Fellowship Oversight Committee, the Microbiology Fellowship Advisory Committee and the VUMC Graduate Medical Education Committee. She co-directs the Integrated Science Course Infectious Diseases elective for third- and fourth-year medical students and is establishing an outpatient Infectious Disease curriculum for medicine residents. On the national level she serves as the Infectious Diseases expert on the Question Writing Committee for the American College of Physicians.
Brian Gelfand, MD joined the faculty in 2016 and is an associate professor of Anesthesiology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching, educational leadership, and mentorship. He serves as Vice Chair for Educational Affairs in the Department of Anesthesiology. Other leadership roles he has held include serving as a program director, associate program director, rotation director and clerkship director at several institution across varying learner groups. He is an award-winning educator who has provided direct education through curriculum design, lectures, small group discussions, problem-based learning discussions, workshops, and practical training. His learners range from international and national society groups to GME and UME learners. Since 2013 he has served as an active member of the mentor program of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists.
Chase Hendrickson, MD, MPH joined the faculty in 2016 and is an assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and educational leadership. Leadership roles include serving as the Associate Program Director (APD) for the Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism Fellowship and Chair of the Fellows Clinical Competency Committee. In his APD role he made several changes to the fellowship that have significantly improved the curriculum, including a unique monthly journal review podcast entitled “Endocrine Feedback Loop.” He is involved in numerous educational activities on the UME, GME and CME level, with multiple invited talks and abstracts. His teaching excellence has been recognized by receiving the William D. Salmon, Jr. Faculty Teaching Award; Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism twice, most recently in 2021.
Antonio Hernandez, MD, MSCI joined the faculty in 2013 and is a professor of Anesthesiology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching, educational leadership, course/program design and educational scholarship. His excellence in teaching has been recognized by receiving several teaching awards, including national awards for coordinating ultrasound courses from both the American Society of Echocardiography and Society of Critical Care Medicine. Currently, he is the Director of Anesthesiology Critical Care Echocardiography Education and has developed a state-of-the-art critical care echocardiography program. He has also held leadership roles in national and international societies where he has helped advance the quality of the domestic and international fundamental and advanced critical care echocardiography courses. With regard to scholarship, he has written 4 invited editorials, and over 10 book chapters and review articles.
Pablo Juarez, MEd joined the faculty in 2011 and is a senior associate in Pediatrics, Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching, educational leadership, course/program design and mentorship. He received the national 2016 Educator of the Year Award from The Arc of the United States based on the success at TRIAD, Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Autism institute in developing local and statewide training programs for educators and service providers in Tennessee. He has been in the leadership role of education programming at TRIAD since 2012 and has chaired multiple committees at state and national levels focused on educational programs and outcomes. He has been active in applied behavior analysis quality improvement work and developed an online education program. As the supervising behavior analysts within the Department of Pediatrics he had mentored 26 behavior analysts, as well as a number of faculty and staff in program development, education programming, and leadership.
Hakmook Kang, PhD, joined the faculty in 2011 and is an associate professor of Biostatistics. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and mentorship. He has taught a core course for second-year graduate students in Biostatistics for the past 8 years. During that time, he has received strong student evaluations, as well as two Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching. Since 2013 he has mentored 4 Ph.D., and 2 M.S. students in Biostatistics at Vanderbilt University. His mentees have had successful careers, publishing papers, presenting at national conferences, and winning teaching awards.
Mohana Karlekar, MD, joined the faculty in 2006 and is an associate professor of Medicine, Section Chief of Palliative Care. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in teaching, educational leadership, course/program design and educational scholarship. She teaches learners at multiple levels and her teaching excellence was recognized with the Hugh Jackson Morgan Teaching Award, the Department of Medicine’s highest teaching honor. Educational leadership roles she has previously held include the Immersion Course Director in Palliative Care and Director of the Palliative Care clerkship. She developed both courses with the creation of novel curricula that were extremely popular and well-received among the students. She has published a number of articles specifically focused on primary palliative care education.
J. Matthew Kynes, MD, joined the faculty in 2016 and is an assistant professor of Anesthesiology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in educational leadership, course/program design and educational scholarship. As director of the International Anesthesia Kijabe resident rotation he developed the Preparing Residents for International Medical Experiences (PRIME) workshop, a multi-disciplinary simulation course addressing the cultural adjustments, clinical differences, and social dynamics encountered by trainees who participate in international rotations. In 2020 he became chair of an investigative task force within the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons assigned to design a residency program in anesthesiology at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. The PRIME workshop measured pre-and post-intervention self-assessed competency in anesthesia skills relevant to practice in a low-resource setting, and results were published in the MedEd PORTAL. He has as published three editorials related to his work in education, has seven book chapters to his credit and other peer-reviewed letters, reviews, and case studies. In 2018 he was awarded the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Research in Education Grant, a two-year $100,000 award to fund a mentored education research project.
My-Linh Ngo, MD, joined the faculty in 2017 and is an assistant professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in educational leadership, curricula design and assessment. She was the inaugural Associate Program Director for the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship and is now the Program Director. In this role she launched the Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) Fellowship Core Curriculum. Through her work the Vanderbilt PHM fellowship is well respected throughout the PHM community being one of the first four in the country to achieve ACGME accreditation amongst all national programs. On the national level she joined the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellowship Directors Council and began working with their Assessment subcommittee. She helped developed assessment tools for mapping each of the required Core Competencies and Sub-Competencies to Entrustable Professional Activities that are utilized by new and established PHM Fellowships nationwide.
Keith Obstein, MD, MPH, joined the faculty in 2010 and is an associate professor of Medicine and Mechanical Engineering. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in educational leadership, course/program design, assessment, and mentorship. He has served as the Associate Program Director and Program Director of the Gastroenterology Fellowship Training where he has developed and ushered in many changes in education, training, evaluation, and culture. He is also the CME director for the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at Vanderbilt as well as the CME director for the premier peer-reviewed journal in Gastroenterology, Gastroenterology. In addition, he has served as a member of the team that developed the new ACGME Gastroenterology Milestones (Milestones 2.0) and serve as a council member of the Association of Specialty Professors for the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. He has also excelled in the domain of course/curricula/program, with the creation of Fellows Corner and Fellows Corner 2.0 for the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. This is the online eLearning platform for gastroenterology trainees in the US and around the globe. In the domain of mentorship, he has mentored over 50 Gastroenterology Fellows overseeing their training through successful fellowship completion.
Soha Patel, MD, MSPH, joined the faculty in 2018 and is an assistant professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in teaching and course design. She teaches learners at multiple levels, receiving excellent teaching evaluations. She has received several teaching awards, including the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012 and 2013. She was selected as an awardee to the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) Academic Scholars and Leaders (ASL) Program, whose purpose is to provide faculty members the opportunity to grow and acquire the skills critical to advancing as teachers, education program administrators, and leaders. With regard to curriculum/course design she created, developed, and implemented an electronic fetal monitoring curriculum for VUMC OB/GYN residents as well as a new curriculum for resident education in quality improvement.
Gregory Plemmons, MD, MFAa joined the faculty in 1998 and is an associate professor of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and educational scholarship. He teaches learners at multiple levels and is recognized as a committed and outstanding educator. In addition to receiving consistently high evaluations annually from pediatrics residents he has received the Amos Christie Teaching Award an impressive three times which is given annually by the house staff to one faculty member “whose teaching, by word and example, has been most outstanding.” In the area of Educational Scholarship, he has demonstrated excellence in both published format and national conferences. He has published 12 textbook chapters, as well as leading workshops at national scientific meetings.
Lynn Punnoose, MD, joined the faculty in 2018 and is an assistant professor in Internal Medicine, Cardiology. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in educational leadership, curricula/program design and mentorship. She has served in several leadership roles locally, including Associate Program Director of the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Fellowship at Vanderbilt. On the national level she is currently a member of the American College of Cardiology Competency Management Committee. In the area of curricula/program design she was the Co-Chair of the Master’s Academy in Heart Transplantation at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation; Creator and Co-Chair, International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Symposium at the 2017 Annual Meeting: “Cardiogenic Shock: Types, Teams and Tactics” and Founder and moderator, monthly Mortality and Morbidity Series, Temple Heart and Vascular Institute. As a faculty member she has sought consistently to mentor trainees in scholarly activities in heart failure. She has mentored 10 trainees who have worked on a variety of scholarly projects.
Britany Raymond, MD, joined the faculty in 2018 and is an assistant professor of Anesthesiology. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in teaching, educational leadership, and curricula/program design. She teaches learners at multiple levels, is the Director of UME in the Department of Anesthesiology, is the Director of the Gynecologic Anesthesia Residency rotation and is slated to become the fellowship director for Obstetric Anesthesiology in January 2023. On the national level she serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Perioperative Medicine for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, a working group tasked with drafting ACGME Core Competencies and designing a fellowship curriculum for perioperative medicine. In her role as Director of the Gynecologic Anesthesia Residency rotation she developed a new curriculum that utilizes adult learning theory and created a new resident rotation in high-risk preoperative medicine. She serves as a peer mentor to other faculty educators in curriculum design. In 2021 she received the Department of Anesthesiology Golden Apple Teaching Award.
Christine Shieh, MDa joined the faculty in 2016 and is an assistant professor of Ophthalmology. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in teaching, educational leadership, and mentorship. She teaches learners at multiple levels, and her excellence in teaching has resulted in teaching awards, high ratings on feedback forms, and invitations to give lectures at both the local and national level. In 2019 she received the Denis O͛’ Day Award, a departmental teaching award for clinical excellence in teaching and surgical instruction. She holds several leadership positions within her department including the Ophthalmology Program Evaluation Committee and the GME Ophthalmology Residency Internal Review Committee. She has mentored more than 15 trainees across multiple levels of training and has had a high success rate as a mentor. Three of her former mentees are now on faculty at major academic institutions and she has had a 100% success rate bringing trainee research projects through to peer-reviewed publications in leading ophthalmology journals.
Bantayehu Sileshi, MD, joined the faculty in and 2014 and is an associate professor of Anesthesiology. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in educational leadership, course/program design and mentorship. He has developed several curricula including an adult cardiothoracic fellowship yearly lecture series, creation and direction of a CME-accredited weekly cardiothoracic conference, a perioperative echocardiography app, a two-week Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) curriculum for providers in low-resource settings, and a train-the trainer course for anesthesia educators in low-resource settings. A significant educational contribution is the creation of the ImPACT curriculum (Improving Perioperative Anesthesia Care and Training) and learning management system (LMS). As the curriculum director of ImPACT, he oversaw the creation of the ImPACT LMS, which has over 200 educational modules that cover a wide range of topics in anesthesia and critical care. He has mentored numerous faculty, fellows, and residents over the years it took to complete the educational content and technical specifications of the LMS. This LMS has been installed and implemented in four academic medical centers in Kenya and Ethiopia and has shown the potential to transform how anesthesia is taught in low-resource settings.
Kurt Smith, MD, joined the faculty in 2009 and is an associate professor of Emergency Medicine. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and educational leadership. He teaches learners at multiple levels and his excellence in teaching has resulted in multiple teaching awards, including twice winning the Corey Slovis Educator of the Year, the John, and Judy Jean Chapman Award for Outstanding Teaching, as well as the Andrea Bracikowski Pediatric Emergency Department Faculty Teaching Award. He also serves in several leadership roles, including EM clerkship assistant director and a member of the FMK Promotions Committee. Currently he is serving as Vanderbilt Foundations of Health Delivery Course Co-director and the Chair of the EM Program Evaluation Committee. As a Master Clinical Teacher, he assesses medical students during clinical encounters and gives feedback on their efforts.
Thomas Stewart, PhD, joined the faculty in 2015 and is an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics. He was elected to the Academy based on his excellence in teaching and curricula/program design. He has been recognized for his excellent teaching and receives high ratings by the learners who take his Biostatistics II course. This is a course that he took over and substantially redesigned, implementing novel changes to improve the course and facilitate learning. As a result of his introduction of the flipped classroom model, he received the enthusiastic vote of learners for the MSCI Crystal Apple Curriculum Innovation Award in 2017.
Katherine Walsh, MD, MAEd, joined the faculty in 2021 and is an associate professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology. She was elected to the Academy based on her excellence in educational leadership and educational scholarship. She has demonstrated excellence through contributions to multiple local educational programs and contributions at the national level in UME. She has been active across the spectrum of medical school curricula, and previously served at the Internal Medicine Clerkship Director at her previous institution. At the national level she has been involved in the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) through service on the AAIM Education Committee and the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine Survey and Scholarship and worked with members to create workshops and presentations and publish manuscripts. Her UME leadership experience led to her selection for American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Education Scholars which provided her first national chair opportunity where she will be a founding member and first scholarship chair for the ASCO Education Community of Practice that is launching at the 2022 ASCO meeting. She is currently the Associate Program Director for the Hematology/Oncology Fellowship.
