December 2025 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.
This Month's 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.
December 2025 Clerkship Submissions
Emergency Medicine
- (Attending) John C. Perkins, Jr, MD – “What an amazing experience! Dr. Perkins exemplifies how to care for patients holistically and empathetically. I was really glad I had an opportunity to learn from him.”
- (Attending) OluMide Ojeifo, MD – “an outstanding physician that deserves exceptional acknowledgement. Dr. Ojeifo created a wonderful atmosphere to learn and exemplified what it means to be a caring physician.”
Family and Community Medicine
- NA
Internal Medicine
- (Resident) Lay Pandya, DO – “encouraged students to think through all possible diagnoses, to know the patients well, and to organize presentations in a manner that communicated information effectively. He was exceptional in including students in patient care and providing opportunities for us to continue practicing interviewing patients. He clearly explained concepts and was very friendly, welcoming, and an excellent educator. Even on hectic days he takes the time to focus on student learning. He is incredibly welcoming and knowledgeable. A great resource for students to work with.”
- (Resident) Amira Elsabagh, DO – “was a resident that was amazingly impactful during my rotation. She was super friendly to work with and did an amazing job making sure that I felt included and supported during my time on faculty medicine. She also made sure to take the time to provide us with teaching points each day which were super helpful and applicable to the patients we were seeing as well as our shelf exam. She also asked engaging questions before, during and after rounds that were really helpful in making sure we were cementing our knowledge well and reflecting on the care of our patients.”
Neurology
- NA
OB-GYN
- (Attending) Christopher Sullivan, MD – “Amazing teacher! A great role model in terms of bedside manner. Appreciated how he tailored questions to us to assess our knowledge.”
Pediatrics
- (Attending) David O’Neil, MD – “was one of the best teachers I've had during my medical school years and I'm really grateful for the effort that he spent supporting my learning. Moreover, seeing him model clinical skills and communication with patients/ families has made me a better medical student/ future doctor. He set very clear expectations for me, but also pushed me to take on tasks and conversations that were new to me. He has an incredible depth of knowledge about medicine, and spent a significant amount of time teaching me important clinical pearls and walking me through medical decision making. I am so grateful that I got to learn from him.”
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine
- (Resident) Joseph Do, MD – “wonderful team to work with! From the very beginning, made me feel welcome and included. Dr. Do was incredibly patient and encouraging as I was getting used to the workflow. He took the time to explain concepts and answer questions, which made the experience both comfortable and engaging.”
Radiology
- NA
Surgery
- (Resident) Maria Williams, MD – “deserves an award for being an amazing resident and leader. She quickly took me under her wing on EGS and taught me whenever she was able! She took my interest in surgery very seriously and allowed me to practice on patients whenever possible and explained expectations to me when no one else would. Thank you, Dr. Williams for being such a great resident and taking the time to lead medical students with example!”
- (Resident) Aleem Mohamed, MD – “was particularly effective as a teacher and modeled what an empathetic surgeon could look like, was a model resident. He went out of his way to include, teach, and look after the students under his charge.”
- (Resident) Samuel Larkin, MD – “is the best! He was extremely empathetic toward learners and took every possible opportunity to teach despite overwhelming workloads and difficult team dynamics.”