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.
April 2026 Clerkship 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
- (Resident) Davin Combs, MD – “Dr. Combs was fantastic to work with. He is always cognizant of student learning and always seeks out the best opportunities for students to be involved. He is extremely positive/kind and ensures that students leave their shift with great experiences/learning points to take away for future practice. Even during the busiest shifts, he will make sure students always have a role to help the team or seek out opportunities that would be the best to learn from. I really appreciated this! He knows how to challenge students in a positive way to maximize learning opportunities.”
- (Attending) Richard Dykstra, MD – “Dr Rick Dykstra was a great mentor on this rotation. He had solid feedback that I could implement immediately on my next shifts, and had suggestions for how to improve. He always provided constructive criticism at the end of the shift, even if it meant staying later.”
Family and Community Medicine
- (Attending) Julia Hemphill, MD – “Dr. Julia Hemphill was a joy to work with. She challenged me by allowing me to present nearly every patient I worked with in clinic, and by requiring me to provide an assessment and a plan for their management. I was able to do this across a range of health maintenance, chronic conditions, and acute concerns, giving me a good breadth of experience with clinical diagnosis and treatment.”
- (Attending) Adam Tate, MD – “I thought Dr. Tate was an excellent preceptor and teacher. I closely worked with him and would recommend him as a preceptor to anyone. H e uses the Socratic method in a kind and 'teaching point' sort of way, and was wonderful to chat with on things within and outside of medicine. While in med school, I find that I sometimes know the complicated treatment algorithms but never stop to think WHY, at the fundamental level, things are the way they are. He really makes sure the pathophysiology is clear behind everything in medicine. And I thought that was awesome.”
Internal Medicine
- NA
Neurology
- (Resident) Ahunna Nwogu, MBBS – “I enjoyed working with Dr. Ahunna Nwogu. She provided great individualized feedback as well as structure to approaching notes and clinical scenarios. She encouraged me to critically think about my assessments and clarified things that were confusing. She helped me identify gaps in my knowledge and taught me the necessary information. I felt like she was invested in me and my learning, and I am very appreciative of the time she has spent teaching me. She gave me the perfect amount of responsibility, and I felt like I had value on the team. I hope to emulate her for other learners as I continue on my journey in medicine.”
- (Resident) Kenneth Viar, MD – “Dr. Viar took me along for a stroke alert that ended up being a major MCA stroke. While doing all of his responsibilities, he always made sure to include me in the process without neglecting his responsibilities in such an emergent situation. I felt like I learned the most on my night call because I was able to participate in a meaningful way, and Dr. Viar really made me feel like part of the team during that stroke alert.”NA
OB-GYN
- (Resident) Maria (Juli) Pena Hofmann, MD – “Juli Pena brought with her a calming presence to every situation. It set the tone for the other care team members, like nurses and students, in the room. She consistently communicated with the patient clearly and guided them through each step of complex procedures, like a postpartum laceration repair, or through time-sensitive moments, like explaining to a person intrapartum that their safest option is no longer to continue pushing, but to move to the OR for an emergent C-section. She brought patients reassurance during critical emergencies. She is an inspiration and a joy to work with!”
Pediatrics
- (Attending) Vydia Permashwar, MBBS – “Dr. Permashwar created an exceptional educational experience through her empathy, intentional teaching, and deep commitment to both patients and learners. She consistently took the time to truly listen-to her patients and to us as students and modeled what it means to provide patient centered care. She challenged me to think beyond the diagnosis by incorporating social determinants of health into every assessment and plan, which expanded how I approach patient care. Her teaching was always paired with thoughtful clinical pearls, and she created a safe, encouraging environment where I felt comfortable asking questions and engaging more deeply. Because of her, I became more mindful of the broader context of each patient's life and more confident in contributing to discussions.”
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine
- NA
Radiology
- (Attending) Evelyn Garcia, MD – “Dr Garcia was most impactful on my radiology rotation. I spent time with her on my mammography day and she was a great teacher. She took time to walk through cases with me and explain diagnostic thought process. We don't get much exposure to breast imaging in medical school and she made the experience a good learning environment and asked intriguing questions to advance my learning. She gave good feedback and advice as well.”
Surgery
- (Attending) Kathleen Harnois, MD – “Dr. Harnois was a fantastic attending who involved me in all aspects of patient care and allowed me to serve as a first assist in the OR. She was also readily willing to discuss difficult patient cases and shared wisdom that she had learned during her trauma fellowship, which helped compartmentalize difficult outcomes. Overall, a wonderful and kind surgeon who is also incredibly skilled in the OR.”