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.
March 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) Kelsi Harden, DO – “Not only is she an amazing resident, but she is also a great teacher. She was encouraging and was patient with me while also looking out for every opportunity of learning possible.”
- (Attending) Megan Forster-Hill, MD – “is a phenomenal teacher and positively impacted my learning. She constantly encouraged me to do more independently and to see more patients and pushed my differential to a new level.”
- (Attending) Robert Brown, MD – “was perhaps the best faculty member I have worked with the entire year. Invested in my education and pushed me to challenge myself in terms of patient interviewing and assessment formation. Also, helped me seek out procedures to continue to grow in that aspect of my practice. Overall, a fantastic faculty member.”
Family and Community Medicine
- (Resident) Allison Gerrard, DO – “was a great resident that I worked with in clinic! She was always positive and took time out of her busy schedule to ensure that I received helpful teaching points about various cases that we saw. She always built a friendly and supportive work environment.”
- (Attending) Allison Thornton, MD – “clearly cares deeply about her patients, staff, and the medical students that come through her office. She made an effort to get to know me personally, which allowed for a great student teacher dynamic. I felt very comfortable going to her with any question, be it medical or systems.”
- (Attending) Jonathan Barrett, MD – “was one of the best physicians I have ever worked with. He was an exceptional teacher and truly made me feel like part of the team. He allowed me the opportunity to speak to most of the patients prior to his visit with them, which gave me numerous opportunities to practice interviewing patients, performing physical exams, and practicing my assessments and plans. He gave a lot of very helpful feedback and created a safe space for me to ask questions and make mistakes. He regularly challenged me to think critically about the plans for the patients and incorporate not only the textbook answers for what the next step should be, but consider the patients' lives and what would work best from a systems approach as well. Overall, I had an amazing experience on family medicine and I attribute that to the exceptional environment created by Dr. Barrett and his team.”
Internal Medicine
- (Resident) Andrew Fletcher, DO – “was Resident of the Year for me. He consistently found time in the day to go over teaching, and tailored those mini sessions to what was both important for us to know and what was interesting to us. He also showed me that he trusted me to care for my patients, and even asked ME questions about what he thinks we should do for my patients. He manages the service well and is somehow on top of every patient. I'm sure he will step into the role of attending/fellow with ease. He is a resident whose skills I will try to emulate.”
- (Resident) Parham Ghafourifar, DO – “was an excellent senior resident and I really enjoyed working with him. He clearly has a strong clinical knowledge base, but he was also very apt at navigating social situations with patients. He was a great teacher and I learned a lot from him.”
- (Resident) Richard Antoun, DO – “I can't say enough good things about working with Dr. Antoun! From the very beginning, he made me feel like I truly belonged on the team. He trusted me with ownership of my patients and encouraged me to think through my plans out loud, even when I wasn't completely confident. Instead of just giving answers, he would pause and ask, "Okay, walk me through your thinking," and then gently build on it. That space to reason things out made such a difference in my growth. He also went above and beyond in ways he didn't have to - taking extra time to review my progress notes and H&Ps, sitting down with me to go over CT scans, and breaking down complex topics in a way that actually stuck. You can tell he genuinely enjoys teaching. His rapport with the team is incredible, and being part of that environment made learning feel safe and exciting. I'm truly grateful for the time I got to work with him!”
- (Resident) Patrick Pearce, DO – “Truly the "super intern" in every sense of the word! Dr. Pearce was not only an outstanding physician, but also one of the most supportive teammates I've worked with. He consistently made sure medical students were part of the conversation - never just observers. He would check in, ask what we thought the plan should be, and really listen. Even on busy days, he made sure we understood what was happening and why. What stood out most was how approachable he was. There was never a moment where I felt hesitant to ask a question. He balanced efficiency with teaching so naturally, and he modeled the kind of resident I hope to be one day - knowledgeable, humble, kind, and team-oriented. Working with him made me feel more confident and more excited about internal medicine.”
Neurology
- NA
OB-GYN
- (Resident) Stephanie Masters, MD, – “stood out to me during the rotation. She took the time to help orient me when I started a new service that we were on together, and she was very patient in teaching me and answering my questions. She made me feel truly like a part of the team. Her organizational and leadership skills were outstanding. She treated patients exceptionally well. One moment that stood out to me was when I was on gyn/onc, she took the time to speak with a patient and reassure her on rounds. The patient appreciated this interaction immensely, and I watched as her expression and body language shifted from upset to reassured.”
Pediatrics
- NA
Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine
- NA
Radiology
- NA
Surgery
- (Resident) Christian Blue, MD – “was a phenomenal teacher. He took time, even though we were on nights, to teach us about a topic every night, including having us tell him what we know about the topic and then ending with giving us examples of how this content would likely appear on a board exam. He gave really good feedback, both positive and constructive. He made me feel part of the team in a way that I did not experience on any other service. He let us be independent in seeing consults, helped us improve on our reporting of those patients, and was constructive on our notes. We had a very busy week with lots of traumas, surgeries, and consults, but he never once acted as if he did not have time for us. He made a point to show us interesting imaging, point out what he was seeing on the images, explain why a case was unique/classic, and giving us clinical pearls that would be helpful. He even asked what each of us wanted to specialize in and would make an effort to point out ways that what we were doing would be relevant to our future careers. He was truly the bright spot in my experience when it came to residents.
- (Resident) Mohamed Aleem, MD – “was also a really phenomenal person to work with. He truly cared about our learning, always would help us by telling us ways to prepare in order to perform better in the OR/in general, gave good feedback, and made a point to thank us for being a part of the team. He was very helpful and supportive when we were suturing and by putting me at ease, I improved so much faster than I have when working with anyone else. He was always someone I felt safe to come to with questions. He was never sarcastic or rude to us and that meant a lot.”