Fellows of the Academy
2007 Fellows of the Academy
Diane Altkorn, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Altkorn co-authored the textbook, Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence Based Guide. She is Senior Student Clerkship Director in the Department of Medicine and Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Evidence Based Medicine Curriculum. .
Adam Cifu, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Cifu is the Co-Director of the third year Medicine Clerkship and the course director of the fourth year selective, Critical Appraisal of Landmark Literature. He also co-authored the textbook, Symptom to Diagnosis: An Evidence Based Guide. Dr. Cifu received the Department of Medicine Award for Clinical Teaching of Medical Students in 2006.
William Harper, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Harper is the Medical Director of the Clinical Performance Center at the Pritzker School of Medicine and Course Co-Director for the Clinical Skills 1A and 1C first year courses. He is also the director of the Clinical Skills 2 – Physical Diagnosis course in the students’ second year. In recognition of his outstanding teaching skills, the Pritzker graduating classes of 2005 and 2006 named him to their class composite photo.
Karen Kim, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Kim is Co-Chair of the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee. She currently co-directs the Cultural Competency section of the Clinical Skills 2 course. From 2000-2004, she served as the Director of the Clinical Preceptorship for the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Minority Education Program. In 2004, Dr. Kim received the Public Health Advocacy Award from the Illinois Health Education Consortium. In 2006, Dr. Kim received the Best Teaching Faculty, Section of Gastroenterology Fellowship Award.
Shalini Reddy, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Reddy is the Assistant Dean of Student Programs and Co-Director of the Pritzker Advising Society system at the Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Reddy also serves as a Career Advisor for fourth year students and Chair of the Clinical Medical Student Advisory Committee for the Roadmap to Professionalism. Dr. Reddy received the CDIM Outstanding Educational Program Development Award from the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine in 2004. She is currently the Chair of the Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine Program Planning Committee.
Mindy A. Schwartz, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Schwartz is course director for the first year course Nutrition in Health and Disease and fourth year elective in the History of Medicine. Dr. Schwartz has received the Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award four times from the Pritzker graduating students and five times from Senior Medical Residents. She currently serves as a Career Advisor for fourth year medical students and is the faculty advisor for the Pritzker School of Medicine Gold Humanism Honor Society.
Darrel Waggoner, MD; Assistant Professor of Human Genetics
Dr. Waggoner is Co-Chair of the Pritzker School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee, Course Director of Medical Genetics, and Course Director for the fourth year selective Application of Genetic Advancements to Disease Detection. Dr. Waggoner received the L.D.H. Wood Preclerkship Teaching Award in 2005 and was elected to the graduating class composite in 2003 and again in 2006.
James Woodruff, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Woodruff is the Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Training program and Vice-Chair for Education in the Department of Medicine. He was named the Society of General Internal Medicine Midwest Region Clinician-Educator of the year in 2004.
2008 Fellows of the Academy
Vineet Arora, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Arora is the Pritzker School of Medicine Assistant Dean of Curricular Innovation, the Assistant Director of the Hospitalist Scholars Training Program, and the Associate Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program. She is the Director of the Training Early Achievers for Careers in Health Research Program and the Co-Director of the new Scholarship and Discovery strand of the new Pritzker Initiative. She is an outstanding educator with a record of excellent evaluations of her teaching and mentorship of medical students and residents.
Javad Hekmatpanah, MD; Professor of Neurological Surgery; Professor of Neurology and Cancer Research
Dr. Hekmatpanah’s service at the Pritzker School of Medicine is distinguished by his sustained commitment to the education and mentorship of medical students, residents, and fellows in the fields of neurology and neurosurgery. Recently Dr Hekmatpanah created a nationally-recognized neurology web portal containing resources and modules designed to encourage self-directed learning by students and residents. In 2007 Dr Hekmatpanah was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
Kevin Roggin, MD; Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery
Dr. Roggin is the Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program and the Surgical Oncology Fellowship Program. He currently serves as the University of Chicago Medical Center and Pritzker School of Medicine Ombudsman for students and residents. He is also a member of the Society of Surgical Oncology Training Committee. Dr Roggin is currently updating the didactic curriculum of the General Surgery Residency Program in an interactive problem-solving workshop format.
Callum Ross, PhD; Associate Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy
Dr. Ross is a member of the Pritzker School of Medicine Curriculum Committee and the course director of the Human Morphology I and II courses. He is the director for the new Pritzker Initiative course “The Human Body” which integrates the modalities of surgery, multidimensional imaging, surface anatomy, and nervous and musculoskeletal function into the teaching of human anatomy to medical students. Dr Ross has organized and presented numerous international symposia concerned with a range of topics in physical anthropology.
Sandra Valaitis, MD, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dr. Valaitis is the Section Chief of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery and the author of a curriculum in those areas for OB/GYN residents. Since 2006 she has created and conducted an ongoing departmental faculty development program to improve faculty teaching performance. Recently she developed and implemented a course in pelvic anatomy in conjunction with the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics. She was the Clerkship Director/ Co-Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology from 1997-2000, initiating mid-rotation feedback and an OB/GYN website for students.
2009 Fellows of the Academy
Nora Jaskowiak, MD; Associate Professor of Surgery
Dr. Nora Jaskowiak is a key educational leader in the Department of Surgery where she serves as Associate Program Director for the General Surgery Residency Program and Director of the Third Year Surgery Clerkship. In this latter role, Dr. Jaskowiak has had a major impact in enhancing the environment for learning and in promoting medical student education as a central priority in the Department. Dr. Jaskowiak’s enthusiasm and commitment to excellence can be seen in her unequaled skills in turning clinical situations into learning experiences for students and residents.
Heather Johnston, MD; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Dr. Johnston currently serves as Co-Clerkship Director for Pediatrics and has integrated numerous innovations into the educational program, creating novel ways for students to gain better exposure to patients, and revamping the didactic series for the students. Most recently, she single-handedly designed a fascinating online reflection web blog to help students reflect on humanism and professionalism in Medicine. Dr. Johnston is active in Pediatric medical education organizations on a national level.
Stacie Levine, MD; Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Levine’s academic interests focus on teaching palliative care medicine and care of the older adult in the inpatient medical setting. More specifically, she is dedicated to improving the recognition and treatment of pain as well as fostering conversations about prognosis to improve transitions of care in patients with limited life expectancy. Dr. Levine serves as Associate Director of the Geriatrics Fellowship Program, and has been instrumental in designing a four-year longitudinal curriculum in Palliative Care for our students.
Michael O’Connor, MD; Professor of Anesthesia & Critical Care
Dr. O’Connor serves as the Program Director for the Critical Care Fellowship, as well as Course Director of the fourth-year elective Vignettes in Physiology one of Pritzker's most popular and rigorous senior electives. He is also Co-Director of the new Foundations in Clinical Medicine course that will be offered before the start of the clinical rotations as the Pritzker Initiative is rolled out. Dr. O'Connor is active in the American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists as the chair of several committees and as an elected member of the Board of Directors.
David Rubin, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Rubin serves as the Program Director for the Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition Fellowship, as well as a course Co-Course Director for the Doctor-Patient Relationship Course for our first-year students. This highly rated course provides our students with the framework for understanding difficult issues in clincal medicine. For many years he served as a mentor, advisor, and role model for our students and residents.
Sarah Stein, MD; Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
Dr. Stein is a leader within the Section of Dermatology, serving as both the Director of Dermatology Student Education and the Dermatology Elective Director. She is a clinician-educator whose work includes dermatology curriculum development and teaching at the faculty, resident, and medical student levels. Dr. Stein's creation of a web-based photographic depiction of pediatric dermatological disease is a testament to her innovation and contribution to medical education.
Monica Vela, MD: Assistant Professor of Medicine
Dr. Vela is deeply enmeshed in students' learning throughout their time at Pritzker. All first-year students participate in Health Care Disparities in America, an innovative introductory course led by Dr. Vela in the first few weeks of medical school. She also serves as Co-Course Director of the Clinical Skills course series in the first and second years. Dr. Vela is an outstanding advocate for diversity, and serves as the Associate Vice Chair for Diversity in the Department of Medicine.