Loeb Teaching Fellows announced
Kao, Nunez awarded fellowships for 2017-19
Robert BostonWashington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has named the 2017-19 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows. They are Sabrina Nunez, PhD, (left) assistant dean for curriculum and basic sciences in the Office of Education, and Patricia F. Kao, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology.
Patricia F. Kao, MD, and Sabrina Nunez, PhD, have been named the 2017-19 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
The fellowship program was established in 2004 with a gift from Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb to advance clinical education. The program also is supported by The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The two-year fellowship provides recipients extra time to focus on implementing innovative ideas to enhance the education of medical students and residents.
“We have endless gratitude toward the Loebs for their long-term generosity and commitment to the School of Medicine and the overall education of our medical students and residents,” said Mary E. Klingensmith, MD, the Mary Culver Distinguished Professor of Surgery, vice chair for education in the Department of Surgery and chair of the Loeb selection committee.
“Drs. Nunez and Kao have developed novel proposals that they will have dedicated time to complete,” Klingensmith said. “The generosity of the Loeb Teaching Fellowship program allows us to expand and strengthen the School of Medicine’s educational mission.”
Kao, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Nephrology, said the focus of her fellowship project is the Washington University Teaching Physician Pathway, which is a 2 1/2-year curriculum integrated into the existing internal medicine residency program and is available for selected residents.
“Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest among medical trainees to pursue careers as clinician-educators,” Kao said. “Washington University Teaching Physician Pathway provides the necessary training, knowledge and experience to help these trainees prepare for future careers in medical education. With the support of the Loeb fellowship, I plan to expand the curriculum through programmatic development and through increasing collaboration with preclinical and clinical medical education course directors.”
Nunez, an assistant dean for curriculum and basic sciences in the Office of Education, as well as an assistant professor of medicine and of genetics, said her fellowship project will focus on preclinical, competency-based education.
“Competencies relate to the essential skills needed beyond medical knowledge and patient-care skills,” Nunez said. “They include things such as communications, professionalism and practice-based learning and improvement. It is my hope that by emphasizing these skills, we will ensure our students are better prepared to be productive members of their professional communities.”
