Each January, the Larner community gathers for the Teaching Academy’s Snow Season Education Retreat, an annual event lifting up the work of our medical education community and honoring outstanding educators among our faculty and leaders. Highlights of the two-day event include the Teaching Academy Induction and Award Ceremony, a plenary session, an in-person poster session, workshops, and oral abstract presentations. This year’s retreat was held January 17–19.
Honoring Excellence in Medical Education
The Larner College of Medicine’s Teaching Academy fosters a vibrant interdisciplinary community of educators committed to the scholarship of teaching and learning. The academy’s mission includes supporting educator development, enhancing medical education through collaboration and scholarship, and promoting an academic environment that recognizes and amplifies educators’ value locally, regionally, and nationally.
Each January, the Larner community gathers for the Teaching Academy’s Snow Season Education Retreat, an annual event lifting up the work of our medical education community and honoring outstanding educators among our faculty and leaders. Highlights of the two-day event include the Teaching Academy Induction and Award Ceremony, a plenary session, an in-person poster session, workshops, and oral abstract presentations. This year’s retreat was held January 17–19.
Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., director of the teaching academy, assistant dean for medical education, and Robert Larner, M.D.’42 Professor in Medical Education, delivered the opening remarks at the Teaching Academy Award and Induction Ceremony on Wednesday, which was followed by an address from Larner Dean Richard L. Page, M.D. Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education and Professor of Pediatrics Christa Zehle, M.D., provided insights into the current state of medical education. The event concluded with an induction ceremony welcoming the newest Teaching Academy members and a presentation of the 2023 Teaching and Excellence in Education Awards, along with the UVM Health Network Medical Group Education Awards.
This year’s Snow Season Education Retreat plenary session, titled “Earth and Health: Integrating Planetary Health into Medical Education,” was led by keynote speaker Carlos Faerron Guzman, M.D., M.Sc., associate professor and program director of global health programs at the University of Maryland–Baltimore. Guzman is a world-renowned expert on planetary health, which is defined as “the health of human civilization and the natural systems on which it depends.” His lecture explored this emerging field and its critical importance in the training of future health professionals. The session aimed to illuminate the ways in which the health curriculum can be enriched with planetary health concepts, frameworks, and values.
Oral abstract presentations were selected from 23 poster abstract submissions. Christopher Kanner, M.D., assistant professor of radiology, presented on “Introduction to Medical Imaging: A Novel Undergraduate Course,” which included co-authors Naiim Ali, M.D., Ryan Walsh, M.D., James Graham, M.D., and Aziza Jadallah, M.M.S. Department of Medicine resident Vall Vinaithirthan, M.D., also presented, on “Discrimination-Based Trauma as a Risk Factor for Burnout Among Women Trainees in Medicine.”
Teaching Academy Awards for Teaching and Educational Excellence Conferred
The Innovation in Curriculum Development or Pedagogy Award, which recognizes an individual or team who developed an approach to teaching and learning that is innovative, intellectually rigorous, and engaging, was presented to Assistant Professor of Pediatrics Anisha Rimal, M.D., and the Department of Pediatrics. The Educational Scholarship Award, which recognizes an individual who has exceeded scholarly expectations, was awarded to Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Bei Zhang, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., MLS(ASCP)CM. The Outstanding Contribution Award, which recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to medical education either for a specific, short-term initiative, or for a sustained contribution, was presented to Clara Keegan, M.D., associate professor of family medicine. The Frederick C. Morin III, M.D., Educational Leadership Award, which recognizes an individual who has demonstrated an exemplary and sustained record of service in educational leadership, committee service, and/or administration, was presented to William Raszka Jr., M.D., professor of pediatrics. The Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes an individual who has performed exemplary service in teaching, was presented to Cate Nicholas, Ed.D., PA, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences.
From Left to Right: Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., Bei Zhang, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., Richard L. Page, M.D., Christa Zehle, M.D.
UVM Health Network Medical Group Education Awards
Associate Professor of Surgery Mirabelle Sajisevi, M.D., was recognized as the Graduate Medical Education (GME) Educator of the Year, and Joseph Miller, B.A., of Central Programs Education, was recognized as the Continuing Medical and Interprofessional Education (CMIE) Educator of the Year.
New Teaching Academy Inductees
Distinguished Educator
Alicia Jacobs, M.D., Family Medicine
Bei Zhang, M.D., M.S., Ph.D., MLS(ASCP)CM, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Master Teacher
Bronwyn Bryant, M.D., Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Katharine Cheung, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., Medicine
Jonathan Flyer, M.D., Pediatrics
Abigail Hielscher, Ph.D., Neurological Sciences
Naomi Hodde, M.D., Medicine
Emily Hadley Strout, M.D., Medicine
Alissa Thomas, M.D., Neurological Sciences
John Wax, M.D., Family Medicine
Members
Hillary Anderson, M.D., M.P.H., Pediatrics
Agnes Balla, M.D., M.P.H., Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Adam Bloom, D.O., Emergency Medicine
Elzerie de Jager, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., Medicine - Public Health Program
Emerson Floyd, M.D., Emergency Medicine
Michael Godsey, Ph.D., Biochemistry
Sakshi Jasra, M.D., Medicine
Sravan Kakani, M.D., Psychiatry
Christopher Kanner, D.O., Radiology
Shamima Khan, Ph.D., M.B.A., Medicine - Public Health Program
Ryan Mason, M.D., Emergency Medicine
Laura O’Sullivan, V.M.D., M.P.H., Medicine - Public Health Program
Samuel Paskin, M.D., Emergency Medicine
John Priester, M.D., Emergency Medicine
Anna Ricci, Ph.D., Neurological Sciences
Elizabeth Wahlberg, M.D., Medicine
Kramer Wahlberg, M.D., Medicine
Ashley Weisman, M.D., Emergency Medicine
Protégé/e
Dominique Billingslea, M.D., Medicine
Berna Buyukozturk, M.D., Surgery
Kathryn (KC) Collier, M.D., Emergency Medicine
Colton Jensen, M.D., Medicine
Kelsey Maguire, D.O., Medicine
Tessalyn Morrison, M.D., M.P.H., Medicine
Massoud Saleki, M.D., Medicine