The Leonard Berwick Memorial Teaching Award

This award was established in 1980-1981 as a memorial to Leonard Berwick by his family and the department of pathology to recognize “a member of the medical faculty who in his or her teaching effectively fuses basic science and clinical medicine.” It is intended that this award recognize persons who are outstanding teachers, particularly among younger faculty.

Roy Hamilton is a cognitive neurologist and the director of the Laboratory for Cognition and Neural Stimulation, where the central thrust of his work is to use noninvasive electrical and magnetic brain stimulation to explore the characteristics and limits of functional plasticity in the intact and injured human brain. He has established a reputation as a gifted and passionate mentor and educator for trainees in his lab and for medical students and neurology residents. He co-directs the Clinical Neuroscience Track for the School of Medicine, an umbrella organization for medical students pursuing careers in clinically relevant fields of neuroscience. He also teaches the ethical conduct of human subjects research and grant and proposal writing as part of the department of neurology’s Patient Oriented Research curriculum and has directed the Cognitive Neurology curriculum for residents at Penn for nearly a decade.

One of Dr. Hamilton’s most significant and unique contributions to education has been his effort to introduce disadvantaged younger students to medicine and neuroscience. From 2003 to 2013, he served as the curriculum director of Penn’s Neuroscience Pipeline Program (now called the Perelman School of Medicine Pipeline Educational Program), a mentorship and outreach program for underserved, largely African-American high school students in West Philadelphia. He also helped to found the University of Pennsylvania’s Summer Mentorship Program in Medicine in 2006 and played a leading role in designing the curriculum for this immersive program for talented but disadvantaged high school students. Dr. Hamilton now provides overarching support and leadership for these and other programs in his broader role as an assistant dean for diversity and inclusion at the Perelman School of Medicine and also works to ensure that the medical school maintains eminence in its ability to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse world. In the words of one of his mentees, “[Dr. Hamilton’s] impressive knowledge of research and clinical neurology paired with his devotion to mentorship and diversity allow him to provide a unique education that instills brilliance, leadership and citizenship.”

The Robert Dunning Dripps Memorial Award for Excellence in Graduate Medical Education

This award was established by the department of anesthesia in 1983-1984. As a pioneer in the specialty of anesthesia and chair of the department from 1943 to 1972, Dr. Dripps was instrumental in the training of more than 300 residents and fellows, many of whom went on to chair other departments. This award recognizes excellence as an educator of residents and fellows in clinical care, research, teaching or administration.

William James is the vice chairman of the department of dermatology, the Paul R. Gross Professor of Dermatology, the residency program director and the director of the Clinician-Educator Fellowship. Dr. James served as president of the American Academy of Dermatology in 2010. He is an author of the past five editions of one of the standard textbooks of dermatology and the founding editor of the Medscape Dermatology reference. He has been a residency program director for 28 years. One supporting letter for the award said, “A key to Dr. James’ success is his huge heart. He is a terrific listener, boundlessly kind and the ultimate team player. He is all about the success of others. He is loved by his colleagues and revered by his trainees.” Another commented on his influence in training many leaders in academic medicine: “He inspires others to become leaders and educators in their own right, with his success being measured in the number of trainees who, simply put, want to be like him.”

Blockley-Osler Award

Created in 1987 by the Blockley Section of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, this award is given annually to a member of the faculty at an affiliated hospital for excellence in teaching modern clinical medicine at the bedside in the tradition of William Osler and others who taught at Philadelphia General Hospital.

Howard Panitch is a professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine and director of clinical programs in the Division of Pulmonary Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). He is a past recipient of the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching (at an Affiliated Hospital) from the Perelman School of Medicine and the Faculty Teacher of the Year Award and Master Clinician Award from CHOP. He also has been a perennial member of CHOP’s Faculty Honor Roll since 2001. One of his former fellows noted, “I am now a pediatric pulmonologist at a large academic hospital. In my day-to-day interactions with the residents and medical students, I often find myself using the teaching methods that Dr. Panitch used so successfully during my fellowship training. In fact, I even find myself explaining things using his terminology and phrases.” Another fellow commented, “Because of how much time he spent teaching me, I somehow felt I was involved in making the diagnosis and it encouraged me to learn as much as I could on the disease. It also got me really excited about my future career in pulmonary medicine. That experience was one of the main reasons I decided to do my fellowship at CHOP; I wanted to learn from him so that I could be like him. Working with him always reminds [me] of how much there is to learn, which inspires me to read more, work harder and always ask why.”

The Special Dean’s Award

This award was established in 1989-1990 to recognize outstanding achievements in medical education by faculty members, particularly in the development of new and innovative educational programs. The senior vice dean for education, in consultation with the Teaching Awards Selection Committee, identifies unique contributions by the faculty, resulting in their receipt of this special honor.

This year, there are two recipients.

Nova L. Panebianco is an assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine and associate director of emergency ultrasound. She completed her emergency ultrasound fellowship at Penn in 2008 and is a former president of the Society of Academic Emergency Medicine’s Academy of Emergency Ultrasound. She is the 2013-2014 Emergency Medicine Foundation/Vidacare Directed Research Grantee and has taught point-of-care ultrasound locally, nationally and internationally. She and the Division of Emergency Ultrasound recognize that ultrasound can be a powerful adjunct in teaching the anatomic, physiologic and pathologic concepts of the preclinical years. Dr. Panebianco, with the Undergraduate Clinical Ultrasound Education Committee and the successful acquisition of a generous Measey Foundation grant, has created a fully integrated vertical ultrasound curriculum across the four years of medical education. She developed an asynchronous educational curriculum with online lectures and self-assessments, moving didactics out of the classroom and maximizing hands-on scanning during mentored sessions. Dr. Panebianco and her team feel that an integrated undergraduate program in ultrasound will not only create a generation of physicians with new levels of clinical competency, but in the process will alter the relationship that medical students have with human anatomy and physiology and modulate the way that students acquire and assimilate the cognitive materials of medical training.

Harvey Nisenbaum, associate professor of radiology in the Perelman School of Medicine, is chairman of the department of medical imaging at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. He is a past president of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and in March 2015 he became president of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology; he is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Ultrasound in Medical Education. With the enthusiastic support of Gail Morrison, senior vice dean for education, Stanley Goldfarb, associate dean for curriculum, and Anna Delaney, their chief administrative officer, as well as a generous grant from the Benjamin and Mary Siddons Measey Foundation, he was able to help develop and implement the Ultrasound Curriculum in the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Nisenbaum believes the appropriate use of ultrasound has become a core skill that all future physicians will need to learn.

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching (at an Affiliated Hospital)

Corrie Stankiewicz

This award was established in 1987 to recognize clinical teaching excellence and commitment to medical education by outstanding faculty members from affiliated hospitals.

This year, there are four recipients.

David Aizenberg is an assistant professor of clinical medicine and an associate program director for the internal medicine residency. In addition, he is an assistant director of ambulatory resident education at the Penn Internal Medicine Associates. Dr. Aizenberg teaches residents and students in multiple venues, including primary care clinics, inpatient medicine wards and curricular didactics. His interests include exploring educational models and he has spearheaded multiple curricular innovations. One of his former trainees stated, “Dave has not only provided consistently excellent teaching to trainees, but has also inspired others such as myself to pursue clinical education as a career and has shaped the overall learning environment for trainees.”

Juliette Galbraith is an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Perelman School of Medicine.  She serves as the assistant medical director of the Hall-Mercer Crisis Response Center at Pennsylvania Hospital and the co-director of the consultation liaison service at Pennsylvania Hospital. Dr. Galbraith has been a part of the department since starting her residency in 2004 and has continued on the faculty since 2008. She actively teaches clinical psychiatry to medical and nurse practitioner students, psychology interns and psychiatry residents. She also lectures in several courses for the psychiatry residents and is part of the group psychotherapy training program for the residents as a certified group psychotherapist. One of her students wrote, “What distinguishes Dr. Galbraith as an educator, in addition to her dedication to teaching, is her affinity for communication with her students…I was impressed by both her ability to teach concepts creatively as well as her ability to relate to her students and to inspire enthusiasm in the subject matter…Dr. Galbraith always had a unique way of making clinical knowledge approachable and easy to retain. Additionally, Dr. Galbraith goes above and beyond to inspire interest and enthusiasm in psychiatry.” One resident wrote, “Always relatable and incredibly funny, Dr. Galbraith inspires residents and students to be both outstanding clinicians and excellent people. Her instruction style reflects her personality: brilliant and multifaceted, yet equally down-to-earth and humanistic…without question, every didactic experience with Dr. Galbraith has made me a more competent and confident physician.”

Leslie Kersun is an associate professor of clinical medicine and a pediatric oncologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She became the inpatient medical director in 2008 and the associate program director of the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program in 2013; she is also the chair of the Clinical Competency Committee for the fellowship program. She serves as the primary mentor for a number of fellows each year with their leukemia/lymphoma patients. Dr. Kersun has organized CHOP’s pediatric resident rotation on oncology since 2005; she is part of the Pediatric Residency Mentor Program and serves on the Clinical Competency Committee for the pediatric residency program. She has been elected to CHOP’s Faculty Honor Roll for a number of years. Dr. Kersun has taught in the Doctoring I-III Course at the Perelman School of Medicine since 2003 and just graduated with the inaugural cohort of students from the master’s in medical education program at the University of Pennsylvania. One of her former trainees commented, “I have learned a great deal about communication, an essential part of being an oncologist, by observing Leslie talking to families and then modeling phrasing style. Leslie is incredibly supportive of trainees and infectiously passionate about oncology.”

Corrie Stankiewicz completed medical school and her internal medicine residency at the Perelman School of Medicine. Following her residency, she joined the faculty at Penn and is currently an assistant professor of clinical medicine. Dr. Stankiewicz is an academic hospitalist with significant clinical teaching responsibilities for medical students and residents on the inpatient general medicine services at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center. In 2014, Dr. Stankiewicz received her master’s degree in medical education through Penn’s Graduate School of Education. Dr. Stankiewicz is also co-director of the Internal Medicine Sub-Internship and will direct the Internal Medicine Residency Medical Education Track beginning in July of 2015. One of her residents stated, “Penn has a reputation for world-class medical educators and Dr. Stankiewicz is an exemplary model.”

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Basic Science Teaching

This award was established in 1987 to recognize teaching excellence and commitment to medical student teaching in the basic sciences.

David Allman is the current chair of the PhD program in immunology at the Perelman School of Medicine and an immunologist in the department of pathology & laboratory medicine. He uses an experimental evidence-based approach for teaching fundamental and clinically related immunological concepts to first-year medical students. Dr. Allman has been able to integrate his background in basic immune mechanisms with past experiences in directing immunology courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels into the medical school curriculum. One of his colleagues noted how impressed he was with Dr. Allman’s “ability to break things down into smaller topics and really get the students to understand rather than just memorize.” A student noted that Dr. Allman “captured my imagination and curiosity and I aspired to scholarship that asked questions and rigorously test assumptions irrespective of scientific trends.” Finally, another MD/PhD student wrote that Dr. Allman is “a rare example of the basic science teacher who never makes you memorize information and always makes you think. He is brilliant, of course, but it’s his passion for the subject he teaches that makes his students love him.”

The Scott Mackler Award for Excellence in Substance Abuse Teaching

This award was established in 2000 by the Penn/VA Center for Studies of Addiction and the department of psychiatry. The late Dr. Mackler was known for his excellence in teaching medical students, residents, post-doctoral fellows, nurses and other Penn faculty in many different departments in the area of substance abuse (Almanac November 19, 2013).

Henry R. Kranzler is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Kranzler’s research focuses on the genetics and pharmacological treatment of alcohol and drug dependence and common co-morbid psychiatric disorders, including personalized treatment approaches. Throughout his nearly 30-year career, teaching students, psychiatric residents, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty has been a major focus of his activities. Although initially, Dr. Kranzler spent considerable time teaching the clinical aspects of addiction, over the past two decades the focus of that effort has shifted to teaching clinical investigation in the addictions. Among his grants has been a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research, which for 12 years allowed him to devote a substantial portion of his time to providing research mentorship to junior investigators. One of his former trainees stated, “His high expectations of his mentees, coupled with his supportive, encouraging and friendly demeanor, make him an ideal teacher.”

The Jane M. Glick Graduate Student Teaching Award

This award was established in 2010 by the Glick family in remembrance of Jane Glick and her dedication to the Biomedical Graduate Studies (BGS) programs.
Joshua I. Gold is a professor of neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. Gold received his PhD at Stanford University in 1997. He continued on to the University of Washington, Seattle for a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship before joining the neuroscience department at Penn in 2002. Dr. Gold, who is currently chair of the Neuroscience Graduate Group (NGG), has provided long-standing, exemplary service to the BGS/PSOM/Penn core mission of educating, mentoring and training the next generation of biomedical scientists. He has received considerable praise and appreciation from his colleagues and students for his teaching and mentoring acumen, as well as for his leadership roles in the NGG across many years. His dedication to these efforts exemplifies the type of scientist/educator represented by Jane Glick.

Medical Student Government Clinical Teaching Award

Keith Hamilton is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He is co-director and co-founder of the Mycobacterial Co-management Clinic, director of the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program and associate hospital epidemiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He also directs the Internal Medicine Clerkship, which is required of all medical students.

Dr. Hamilton is described as an “incredibly effective teacher” who is known for the “phenomenal didactics” that he presents during the medicine clerkship. As one student said, “His incredible enthusiasm for education and teaching was infectious; he made every lecture and small group fun!” Another student said, “Dr. Hamilton is an incredibly kind, thoughtful and generous attending. He makes time to meet with students in a mentoring capacity.” A third student made remarks on “how genuine and approachable he is…he is the embodiment of what medical education should be—brilliant, down-to-earth and invested in his students.”

Students previously recognized his teaching excellence with a Penn Pearls Teaching Award in 2007, when he was a resident, and in 2011, when he was a fellow. He was selected as the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Faculty Inductee by the Class of 2015. In addition, he received the Infectious Diseases Faculty Teaching Award and the Penn Medicine Innovations Award in 2013.

Medical Student Government Basic Science Teaching Award

Robert Doms is pathologist-in-chief and chair of pathology and laboratory medicine of CHOP and professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. A nationally recognized researcher in the study of HIV/AIDS, Dr. Doms is the former chairman of the department of microbiology at Perelman and co-director of the microbiology course for medical students. 

Dr. Doms is described as “an energetic, engaging and knowledgeable professor who made the course very interesting.” As one student said, “Dr. Doms is a wonderful teacher who covers huge amounts of information but in a way that is accessible and doesn’t feel overwhelming while you’re learning it.” He is known to give “fantastic lectures with integrated notes and slides that make his lectures very easy to follow.” Another student called him “incredibly passionate and an excellent teacher.” As one student summed it up: “I appreciate Dr. Doms’s good humor and humble approach to teaching microbiology. Though clearly an expert in his field, he does not use his position to talk down to students.”