Exceptional Teachers
We are interested in collecting your stories about faculty members, residents, nurses, or anyone else, who have impacted or influenced you in a significant way. Please tell us about what those teachers did that resulted in an exceptional educational experience and how it changed you.
September 2024 Submissions
Below are the exceptional teacher recognitions shared with the Learning Environment Advocacy Committee this rotation. Thank you to these faculty for providing a great experience for our students.
Emergency Medicine
- NA
Family and Community Medicine
- (Attending) Bethany Elza, DO – I learned a lot about how to counsel patients and have more challenging or awkward conversations from working with Dr. Elza.
Internal Medicine
- (Resident) Zane Qazi, MD – Dr. Qazi was awesome because he was very thoughtful about his patients and demonstrated very well how to navigate tough conversations. On the medicine side, he also actively taught on rounds and after rounds and was really great at explaining important concepts.
Neurology
- (Resident) Isaac Yao, MD – Dr. Yao really pushed me to think and be more thorough with my patient notes and evaluation. I really appreciate how he made me try to come up with several differential diagnosis and be very precise with my recommendations. My ability to write notes and think as a specialist has greatly improved thanks to him. He has a real passion and skill for teaching, and made sure that I felt welcome and included on the team.
- (Resident) Dildra Williams, MD – Dr. Williams, was a great resource for clinical knowledge; I felt comfortable asking her for advice and filing in gaps in my knowledge, and she welcomed questions!
- (Attending) Della Williams, MD – I feel very fortunate to have rotated with Dr. Della Williams in my second week. She is an enthusiastic teacher and an excellent clinician. I learned a lot from working with her.
OB-GYN
- (Resident) Madeleine McSpadden, MD - Dr. McSpadden positively influenced my learning during this rotation. She took time out of her busy intern schedule to teach me core OBGYN content. She was patient when teaching me new concepts, but also had very fair expectations of how I should be performing. I learned so much from her about how to carry myself as an intern in the future. She handled difficult and stressful days with calm and professionalism. I was so impressed by her poise.
Pediatrics
- (Resident) Isabel Palomo Caturla, MD – Dr. Palomo made an effort to make everyone feel comfortable and included. She often asked if we had any questions or needed any help.
- (Resident) Matthew Baskette, DO – I really appreciated Dr. Baskette and his mentorship during my inpatient rotation. He took time to walk through each of my notes with me and offer detailed feedback. He taught me a lot of important newborn physical exam basics which made the rest of the rotation a lot easier. He also encouraged me to take the lead with presenting the assessment and plan to the family which helped build my confidence. Matt is a wonderful teacher and amazing mentor, and he'll go on to do great things as a family doc!
- (Attending) Jackson Kwok, MD – I would like to specifically commend Dr. Kwok who was a new attending on this rotation. He did a fantastic job in all aspects. Dr. Kwok was incredibly personable and easy to get along with, which made working with him a pleasure. He demonstrated a strong understanding of the requirements and expectations placed on students and showed genuine empathy toward the pressures we are under. He was not only a great teacher but also clearly committed to our learning and growth, ensuring we got the most out of our time on the rotation. His approach greatly enhanced my experience, and I feel lucky to have had him as part of my team.
- (Attending) Olivia Asamoah, MD – Dr. Asamoah was a great faculty member who really helped me acclimate to the outpatient pediatric setting and gave me the opportunity to grow in my medical knowledge as she challenged me to be a part of creating care plans for the patients.
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine
- (Resident) Jin Woo Park, MD – I really felt like we were working together as a team. I felt valued by him, and he was a great teacher to me!
- (Attending) Ramόn Piñeyro-Poueriet, MD – Dr. Piñeyro took the time to clearly explain my role as a medical student and ensure I felt involved in patient care. I appreciated that he first demonstrated techniques for communicating with patients and then allowed me to try these techniques. He so thoroughly reviewed patient charts to ensure all aspects of their healthcare were understood before prescribing a medication or making a diagnosis. I think his thoughtfulness in patient care should be emulated.
Radiology
- (Attending) Vishal M. Patel, MD – Dr. Patel had us present the cases and work through differentials which was extremely helpful to think through. He explained the physiology and pathophysiology in a way that aligned with the imaging, and allowed room for mistakes and gently corrected to help the concepts stick. His was the most helpful session of all the sessions and great learning experience.
- (Attending) Mohammed Bermo, MbChB – Dr. Bermo was very thorough in his lectures, and I felt I always left the lecture with a better understanding of what we were covering.
Surgery
- (Resident) Zachary den Besten, MD – Dr. den Besten was an incredible role model. He included the med students as part of the team and really made nights a great experience. He was organized, professional, and always showed respect to everyone (patients, families, nurses, staff). He was empathetic, thoughtful, and motivated to give his best. He was in tune with us med students and was sure to check in with us to make sure we were doing ok. He always supported us!
- (Resident) Amanda Swaak, DO – Dr. Swaak was so kind and supportive. She was always available to help – even during extremely busy shifts. She was thoughtful with all patients and consistently was caring and empathetic whenever she interacted with patients and family members. She included us med students and made us feel like important valued parts of the team!
- (Resident) Ebunoluwa Ajadi, MD – Dr. Ajadi worked meticulously to do an excellent job during every operation in every step. From bowel connection to port sites, every single step was done with maximum attention to deal and done to near perfection. He also takes time to teach students and encouraging their learning. Moreover, and a real demonstration of his character, he helps establish a very healthy learning environment for his fellow residents and students. Working around him is such an great opportunity to focus on learning in a relaxed, healthy environment.
- (Resident) Bernard Boateng, DO – Dr. Boateng was a great resident, he actively made students a schedule, assigned them their daily roles. In the OR, he asked me what I knew how to do and based on that he taught me more skills and gave me feedback on the spot to improve. He had a positive attitude, was funny and easy to work with. He was also very efficient, did a great job leading the clinical team that was there and efficiently closing up the patient so they could be taken to post op. Dr. Boateng also cares about med student education, gave me and the other student a topic to read about over night pertaining to a unique patient we had on service. The student and I appreciated this and we were able to have a fruitful discussion with Dr. Boateng while on rounds before seeing the patient. Lastly, he is a very hard worker, when I arrive at 5 AM to pre round on my patient, Dr. Boateng is already sitting at 10 Mtn reading overnight notes, making orders. His hard work inspires me!
- (Attending) Farrell Adkins, MD – It was an absolute joy learning from Dr. Adkins. He provides just the right frame work to push students and residents but in a very healthy environment that makes you want to succeed versus being driven by the fear of failure. Creating this learning dynamic is very difficult and Dr. Adkins does a great job of being an excellent teacher. He's also funny and really encourages students to be a part of the medical team as well as the direction of patient care. He also engages students very actively in the OR, which is so exciting and beneficial for student learning. He's such an asset to Carilion and to students and residents.