Learning Environment Advocacy Committee

The Learning Environment Advocacy Committee (LEAC) is a committee composed of faculty, staff, students, residents, and Carilion health professionals appointed by the dean.

The committee is charged with:

• promoting a learning environment that best supports student education;
• raising awareness about what constitutes mistreatment and unprofessional behavior through educational sessions for medical students, residents, and faculty;
• investigating allegations of mistreatment and unprofessional behavior in the learning environment; and
• resolving reported incidents through a committee process that determines appropriate disciplinary action to address the unacceptable behavior.

Committee Members

Felicity Adams-Vanke, MD, Committee Chair
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Beth Ipock, MAEd, MSW, QMHP, Staff Representative
Director of Clinical Skills Assessment and Evaluation

Tammy Barry, Carilion Clinic Administration Representative
Human Resources Business Director

Jerrie Patterson, RN, Carilion Clinic Nursing Representative
Unit Director

Karen Burns, Administrative Support
Executive Assistant to the Dean

VTCSOM Faculty Representatives

• N.L. Bishop, DMin, Faculty Representative
  Sr. Associate Dean for Diversity, Inclusion, and Student Vitality
  
• Robert Moylan, MD, PhD, Faculty Representative
  Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology
  
• Kris Rau, PhD, Faculty Representative
  Assistant Professor of Basic Science Education
  
• Sarah DeWitt, MD, Faculty Representative
  Professor of Internal Medicine
  
• Emily Faulks, MD, Faculty Representative
  Professor of Surgery

VTCSOM Student Representatives

• Noah Oakland, M1 Representative
  Class of 2024
• Luma Abunimer, M2 Representive
  Class of 2023
• April DeStefano, M2 Representative
  Class of 2023
• Yazdi Doshi, M3 Representative
  Class of 2022
• Aryo Sorayya, M3 Representative
  Class of 2022
• Tien Nguyen, M4 Representative
  Class of 2021
• Meredith Rahman, M4 Representative
  Class of 2021

Carilion Clinic Resident Representatives

• Felicia Gallucci, MD
  Psychiatry
• Margaret Nelson, MD
  Pediatrics
• Badr Ratnakaran, MD
  Psychiatry

Committee Advisors

• Tracey Criss, MD
• Daniel Harrington, MD
• Aubrey Knight, MD
• David Musick, PhD
• Richard Vari, PhD

Is It Mistreatment?

Here is a useful one page summary of practices for productive interactions between teachers and learners (published in Academic Medicine, 2020)