Top HMS Teachers Honored

Daniel D. Federman Teaching Awards celebrate excellence in medical education

Scott Lovitch, Instructor in Pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of two winners of the Donald O'Hara, Ph.D. Faculty Prizes for Excellence in Teaching receives his award with HMS student Siva Sundaram. Image: Rose Lincoln

With 250 combined years of teaching experience, the seven winners of this year’s Harvard Medical School Special Faculty Prize for Sustained Excellence in Teaching have been educating future physicians and researchers for more years than HMS has been in existence.

They were honored at Harvard Medical School’s 2016 Federman Teaching Awards, which featured prizes recognizing excellence in medical education both at HMS and at the school’s affiliated hospitals.

“One of our primary roles is to educate our students in a way that teaches them how to learn for their entire lives,” said HMS Acting Dean Barbara J. McNeil, who is also Ridley Watts Professor of Health Care Policy. “You challenge all of us in the community at large to do better every day in making the medical students better doctors in the future.”

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Named in honor of Daniel Federman, the Carl W. Walter Distinguished Professor of Medicine and former dean for medical education, the awards honor educators whose impact in medical education is felt across generations and around the globe.

The Federman awards offer an occasion to show how central great teaching is to the mission of HMS and to celebrate the community’s best teachers, said Edward Hundert, the Daniel D. Federman, M.D. Professor in Residence of Global Health and Social Medicine and Medical Education and dean for medical education, who hosted the event.

“Learning really happens in a relationship when you’re doing medical education right,” Hundert said.

The evening featured a series of student and faculty speakers who related stories of their experiences with the awardees. One common theme was the importance of listening and sharing stories as educators, along with the process of forming mentorships, collegiality and lifelong friendships.

The following faculty and staff members were honored on Sept. 12 at the 2016 Daniel D. Federman Teaching Awards ceremony:

Harvard Medical School Donald O’Hara Faculty Prizes for Excellence in Teaching

  • Aaron Berkowitz, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Scott Lovitch, Instructor in Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Harvard Medical School Charles McCabe Faculty Prizes for Excellence in Teaching

  • K. Meredith Atkins, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Arash Mostaghimi, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Harvard Medical School Special Faculty Prize for Sustained Excellence in Teaching

  • Michael Cahalane, Associate Professor of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Robert Dluhy, Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Harley Haynes, Professor of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Thomas Rocco, Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Julian Seifter, Associate Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Helen Shields, Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital
  • Robert Stanton, Associate Professor of Medicine, Joslin Diabetes Center

S. Robert Stone Award for Excellence in Teaching at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

  • Dara Brodsky, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Senior S. Robert Stone Award

  • Michael Kahn, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Leo A. Blacklow Award at Mount Auburn Hospital

  • John Anderson, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Mount Auburn Hospital

The Bernard Lown Award for Excellence in Teaching at Brigham and Women's Hospital

  • Charles Pozner, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Robert P. Masland, Jr., Award for Excellence in Teaching at Children’s Hospital Boston

  • Jennifer Huang, Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Boston Children's Hospital
  • Robert Sundel, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital

Bulfinch Medical Student Teaching Award at Massachusetts General Hospital

  • Carey York-Best, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital

L. James Wiczai, Jr. Award

  • Bonnie Gallivan, Medical Education Coordinator, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Richard A. Gillis Award for Excellence in Medical Education

  • Matthew Sandler, Director of Finance, HMS Program in Medical Education