Thomas Garrett, MD
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Dr. Garrett is the first Director of the Glenda Garvey Teaching Academy. He has a long standing commitment to the educational mission of Columbia University. He is Director of the Pathophysiology Course for second year medical and dental students. His contributions have been recognized by his receipt of the Charles Bohmfalk Award for Excellence in Teaching in the Pre-Clinical Years and the Teacher of the Year Award from the graduating Class of 2004. Dr. Garrett was a colleague and friend of Dr. Garvey for more than thirty years. |
David A. Albert, DDS, MPH
Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry Section of Social and Behavioral Sciences |
Dr. Albert is a compassionate teacher who excels in interdisciplinary environments.
He has the ability to bridge the gap between clinical and basic foundation sciences.
His involvement in developing an integrated approach to the teaching of tobacco cessation has received wide attention.
Within the school, his course in cariology is known to be a well structured didactic environment that brings together a wealth of interdisciplinary information.
Dr. Albert's willingness to explore new instructional methodologies has made his course one of the most appreciated offerings in the dental curriculum. |
Jonathan M. Barasch, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine and Anatomy and Cell Biology |
Dr. Barasch is an outstanding teacher who is a section director in the course Science Basic to the Practice of Medicine and Dentistry.
Within the context of this course he leads a weekly journal club for first year students to acquire the skills needed to understand experimental design and to critically read the medical scientific literature.
Dr. Barasch teaches nephrology in the second year patho-physiology course, in the third year internal medicine clerkship and in the fourth year elective.
He is a mentor and admired teacher in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences program on the CUMC campus. |
Melissa D. Begg, ScD
Professor of Clinical Biostatistics |
Consistently highest ratings over the last 16 years has made Dr. Begg the pre-eminent teacher of biostatistics.
A teacher who can clearly explain the challenge of analysis of categorical data and applied regressions is valuable not only to the students but also to the clinical investigators she trains.
Dr. Begg has secured significant coveted NIH research funding to prepare clinicians who are seeking careers in academic medicine in the design and analysis of human research studies.
Well known for her inter-disciplinary efforts, Dr. Begg provides advice and support for clinical research studies across many disciplines at CUMC. |
Mary Woods Byrne, PhD, MPH, FAAN
Professor of Clinical Nursing |
Dr. Byrne is well known for always 'going the extra mile' in helping students understand course content, in creative innovative ways of measuring competency achievement, and in using her practice and international research projects to illuminate her pedagogy.
She teaches across all levels of the curriculum, spending most of her time with doctoral students in the Doctor of Nursing Science program.
A pediatric nurse practitioner, she uses her practice assessing toddlers and children and their caregivers at risk for sub-optimum or inadequate parenting, not only to inform her research but also to stimulate students to create viable interventions to prevent negative outcomes.
Her careful attention to detail makes her a favorite among the students for dissertation advisement, and she is often in demand for committees in related disciplines across CUMC and the main campus. |
Dr. Charon |
 Teaching narrative studies in a medical center lets a teacher spread joy and discovery. Dr. Charon has had the privilege of teaching doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, physical therapists, psychoanalysts, and students of all the above about how to get the news from stories—through close reading of novels and memoirs and reflective writing about one’s own practice. These skills, we are learning, make them more effective clinicians. By founding the Program in Narrative Medicine, Dr. Charon has broadcast these methods and practices nationally and internationally, helping Columbia University Medical Center to be the center of fresh and daring means of reconceptualizing what it means to be ill or to care for the sick.
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Wendy Chung, M.D., Ph.D.
Herbert Irving Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine |
 Dr. Chung is an admired teacher who teaches human genetics to medical, dental, nursing, public health, and graduate students at Columbia University Medical College. She created and teaches curriculum for genetics and biochemistry for the first year medical and dental students. She makes molecular genetics and intermediary metabolism come alive by using a video library of her patients telling their stories about their rare conditions, their concerns about knowing their future through their genes, and how they have grappled with decisions about pregnancy termination. She has mentored many medical, graduate, MD/PhD students and fellows in her laboratory where she studies the genetics of obesity, diabetes, breast cancer, congenital heart disease, congenital diaphragmatic hernias, and spinal muscular atrophy. She is the recipient of many awards including the 2008 Charles W. Bohmfalk Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching in the Clinical Years, the American Medical Women’s Association Mentor Award, and the American Academy of Pediatrics Young Investigator Award. She enjoys the challenges of genetics as a rapidly changing field of medicine, and strives to facilitate the integration of genetic medicine into all areas of health care and teach others how to utilize genetics in their research and practice.
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Leanne M. Currie, RN, DNSc
Assistant Professor of School of Nursing |
 Dr. Currie considers teaching a success when the students have acquired knowledge appropriate to their skill level, when they are confident in ability to perform a new skill and when they understand their attitudes towards the topic and reasoning behind their actions. She strives for a learning environment that is fair and ethical. Students in her Assessing Clinical Evidence course consistently rate her at the highest levels. Her most significant teaching accomplishment is in master's and doctoral core courses in the evaluation of clinical research studies and their application to practice. |
Linda F. Cushman, PhD
Associate Clinical Professor of Population and Family Health
Mailman School of Public Health |
 Dr. Cushman's aim in teaching is to give students an active role in their own learning. She has developed a course in Research Design and Data Collection which is required of all Population and Family Health students. Participation is fostered with hands-on exercises, small group work and presentations. The course receives high ratings and enthusiastic comments from students. She has received the Dean's Award for Innovation in the Curriculum in 2004 and has had multiple nominations for the Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Cushman has been a mentor to many students and is noted for going beyond what is normally expected of a professor both during their time at the Mailman School of Public Health and in their subsequent careers. |
Dr. Michael Devlin |
 Dr. Michael Devlin is the founder and director of the innovative Clinical Practice 3 course for medical students in the major clinical year. This course combines the elements of reflective practice, longitudinal integration of clinical clerkships, and individual mentoring, all of which he believes to be of critical importance to the development of effective medical professionals. In his home department of psychiatry, Dr. Devlin is a respected psychotherapy teacher and supervisor, particularly in cognitive behavioral therapy, and is a clinical researcher and mentor in the eating disorders research unit. In recognition of the quality and scope of his teaching, Dr. Devlin has received teacher of the year awards both from third-year medical students (2007) and residents in psychiatry (2002).
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Marc L. Dickstein, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology
College of Physicians and Surgeons |
Dr. Dickstein has received numerous awards for teaching including the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, 2006 and the Charles W. Bohmfalk Memorial Prize for Contributions to Teaching in the Preclinical Sciences, 2002. He has been Director of the first year course, Science Basic to the Practice of Medicine/Dentistry since 2000. He has introduced many innovations including an audience response system during lectures and annotated lectures provided on the course web site. He has developed a program for fourth year students to interact with first year students which provides perspective for both groups. |
Jennifer Dohrn, DrNP, CNM
Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing |
Dr. Dohrn combines compassion for health care of women from a wide variety of cultures with cool didactic acumen to make her an admired and beloved teacher.
Equally comfortable in CUMC or the Morris Heights Health Center in the South Bronx where she developed a birthing center for low income women or working with midwives in South Africa to fight the scourge of HIV/AIDS, Dr. Dohrn uses all encounters to make the most of the 'teachable moment.'
Her student and peer reviews are consistently excellent, and her willingness to add extra class sessions or reconstitute content in another approach to help students understand is well known. |
Vicky Evangelidis-Sakellson, DDS, MPH
Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry Section of Adult Dentistry |
Dr. Evangelidis has major didactic and teaching responsibilities in the fourth 'capstone' year of the DDS curriculum.
She has made innovative changes in the approach to clinical teaching which have attracted national attention and are now being implemented in a number of other dental schools.
Dr. Evangelidis continues to develop and present at national meetings new initiatives to improve the clinical teaching environment. |
James B. Fine, DDS
Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry
College of Dental Medicine |
Dr. Fine has made major teaching contributions to the College of Dental Medicine for almost twenty years. His course in predoctoral orthodontics was very successful and his own teaching contributions highly rated. He currently direct the postdoctoral courses in periodontics. He is Chair of the Curriculum Committee and is leading significant curricular initiatives. He has received the Edward V. Zegarelli Teaching Award, Alumni Association, Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery (1995) and the American Academy of Periodontology, Educator Award (2005). |
Blair Ford, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology |
Dr. Ford is an outstanding clinical teacher.
He is currently the Course Director of the Neurology Clerkship and Program Director for the Neurology Residency Program.
He has organized the neurology clerkship to provide students with a comprehensive program in neurology at CUMC and at the Harlem Hospital Center.
He has done scholarly work in evaluating various mechanisms to assess students' mastery of the neurology core knowledge.
Dr. Ford serves as co-chair of the Clinical Committee, which oversees the students' progress through the third and fourth years at P&S.
The Committee has become a working group to improve the quality of the clinical experience for students at P&S as well as reviewing student performance. |
Dr. Rita Marie John, DNP, CPNP |
 Dr. Rita Marie John, DNP, CPNP is the Program Director of the Pediatric and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs in the School of Nursing. Her goal is to develop the critical skills of her students and to encourage them to use informatics in practice and education to promote learning. Her students are exposed to a variety of web-based cases to foster critical thinking skills. A believer in continual learning, she teaches continuing education courses for nursing organizations on a variety of levels. She is a contributing author and reviewer for pediatric nursing texts. She is a committee member for the Pediatric Primary Care Self Assessment Exercise for the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board. She is a a member of the research team lead by Dr. Suzanne Bakken studying the integration of personal digital assistants and wireless informatics for promotion of evidence-based and safe advanced practice.
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Pablo Joo MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine |
 Dr. Joo has been at Columbia P&S teaching clinical excellence in Family Medicine to residents and medical students since 1997. He is currently the Co-director of the third year Primary Care Clerkship and the Co-director of the Daniel Noyes Brown Primary Care Scholars program – a four year special longitudinal track for P&S students interested in primary care careers. As course director of the Latino Health elective, Dr. Joo immerses fourth year students in issues of health disparities, culturally responsive care, and advocacy for underserved communities. He volunteers his time to work with several student groups at P&S on diverse community outreach initiatives. Dr. Joo has done scholarly work in the application of web-based medical education to enhance student competencies in principles of primary care. Dr. Joo has won numerous teaching and mentoring awards from students and residents over the years.
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Jay H. Lefkowitch, MD
Professor of Clinical Pathology |
Dr. Lefkowitch is one of the consummate teachers in the second year at P&S.
He directs all instruction in pathology for our students.
He goes well beyond the standard and offers an elective for students in the early morning to present a clinical case with the tissue from a recent post mortem exam that relates to the disease patho-physiology being discussed in the course.
He has been the recipient of a Columbia University Presidential Teaching Award and has been chosen numerous times as the outstanding teacher by the second year class.
In addition to his teaching activities, Dr. Lefkowitch is President of the P&S Alumni Association and a faculty advisor to the P&S Club. |
Letty Moss-Salentijn, DDS, PhD |
 Dr. Moss-Salentijn has served on the faculty of Columbia University since 1968, where in addition to her administrative activities, she teaches in several courses for medical and dental students as well as residents. Her major teaching contributions are in the courses Human Anatomy, Human Development, and Oral Histology, Growth and Development. Well regarded by students for her lively style and dedicated teaching, she has pioneered several teaching innovations, including the conversion of the traditional microscopy laboratory into an interactive virtual exercise, lecture podcasting, and live video recording of lectures. She has received a number of teaching awards (1971 Golden Tooth Award for Excellence in Teaching awarded by second year DDS students, 1983 Honorary Faculty Award, Student Council, School of Dental and Oral Surgery, 1993 Zegarelli Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2007 Teacher of the Year Award, P&S Class of 2010). At a University-wide level Dr. Moss-Salentijn functions in the capacity of Chair of the University Senate Education Committee, a position she has held for more than a decade.
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Dr. Ogden |
 In all his classes, Dr. Ogden is always careful to balance the theory and conceptual side of biostatistical topics with meaningful real-life applications. A fourth-generation teacher, he approaches each class with energy and enthusiasm, injecting his unique sense of humor into each session. His students appreciate his common-sense explanations of seemingly difficult concepts and find him approachable outside of the classroom as well. In addition to his work in formal classroom settings, Dr. Ogden is an attentive mentor both to doctoral students in biostatistics and to fellows in psychiatry.
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Martin V. Pusic, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
College of Physicians and Surgeons |
Dr. Pusic is an experienced medical educator who has received awards for teaching excellence at academic centers in Canada and the United States. He has focused on the development and evaluation of educational learning interventions in ambulatory clinical settings. He has helped introduce evidence based medicine principles into the pediatric residency program. Dr. Pusic has developed computer based teaching tutorials for medical students and novice residents in the pediatric emergency room. He is currently a PhD candidate at Teachers College. The nature of the student-patient-preceptor-computer tutorial interaction is the subject of his thesis. |
Dr. Ratan |
 Dr. Ratan is actively involved in teaching medical students and residents in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her teaching philosophy is to encourage students to have fun while actively engaging in learning, and she has developed many innovative and interactive educational tools to this end. Third year medical students look forward to the ?Jeopardy!? style shelf review that Dr. Ratan hosts at the end of each clerkship, and residents enjoy competing in her ongoing Quiz Show series, culminating in an end-of-the-year Faculty v. Resident ?Family Feud?. Dr. Ratan has won numerous teaching awards, including the Association of Professors in Gynecology and Obstetrics. Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004 and 2007. |
Sharon Schwartz, PhD
Associate Professor of Clinical Epidemiology |
 A recipient of the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching in 2000, Dr. Schwartz is also a two-time recipient of the Mailman School Teaching Excellence Award, selected each year by the graduating class.
Known for her versatility and ability to excel in all teaching situations, Dr. Schwartz teaches in three primary courses – Advanced Topics in Epidemiological Methods, Epidemiology II and Conduct of Observational Epidemiological Studies.
Considered a de facto advisor for every student in the psychiatric epidemiology training program, she chairs and sits on many dissertation committees.
Dr. Schwartz is not only a mentor for the future professoriate of teaching assistants in her classes but also plays a lead role in training and curricular initiatives in her department and throughout the School. |
Arlene Smaldone, DNSc, CPNP, CDE
Assistant Professor of School of Nursing |
Dr. Smaldone believes that the process of teaching and learning is both dynamic and interactive and requires active engagement of both faculty and students. She has developed the content, syllabus and lectured in the Health and Social Policy course which has received high ratings from students with comments including opinions that it should be required in every advanced practiced school of nursing across the country. She is a thoughtful and deliberate teacher, able to function within the curricular guidelines and objectives but also creative in presenting material in a way that students can understand and assimilate. |
Michael S. Sparer, PhD, JD
Associate Professor of Health Policy and Management |
Dr. Sparer, the director of the Executive MPH Program, teaches over 300 students yearly in the School's required core course Issues and Approaches in Health Policy and Management.
His lectures linking concepts of Thomas Jefferson to the modern challenges of health care are legendary.
Dr. Sparer's work concentrates in the area of public insurance programs, including Medicare and Medicaid and ways in which inter-governmental relations influence health policy.
His experience as a litigator makes him an especially insightful teacher on social welfare legislation. |
Roger D. Vaughan, Dr PH
Associate Professor of Clinical Biostatistics
Mailman School of Public Health |
Dr. Vaughan strives to produce critical thinkers in the multiple courses that he teaches in the Mailman School of Public Health. He emphasizes an understanding of biostatistical concepts. He has the ability to apply his teaching acumen across the spectrum of formats from large lectures to seminars. He is a superb one-on-one mentor of doctoral students. He is uniformly rated as one of the top instructors and his students consistently take the time to provide a description of their wonderful experience in his class. He has received a Dean s letters commending his efforts every semester since joining the Department of Biostatistics. |
Michael S. Yuan, DDS, PhD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Dentistry
College of Dental Medicine |
Dr Yuan teaches multiple courses in the College of Dental Medicine, particularly in the area of orthodontics. He teaches both dental and medical students in the first year anatomy course. He receives outstanding reviews from both groups for the quality and enthusiasm of his instruction. The P&S Class of 2007 selected him as their Teacher of the Year in 2004. Dr. Yuan led the revision of the second block of the College of Dental Medicine course in Human Anatomy. He proposed a mission statement, new objectives and planned the restructuring which was accepted and has been implemented with a positive assessment by the students. |
John L. Zimmerman, DDS
Associate Professor of Clinical Dentistry and Biomedical Informatics, Section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences |
Dr. Zimmerman has numerous didactic responsibilities in the dental school as well as more broadly in the Medical Center related to his position in the Center for New Media, Teaching and Learning.
Dr. Zimmerman has the ability to think innovatively in his approach to education.
As he develops new ideas, his experience with new media frequently suggests new ways of teaching.
Dr. Zimmerman has been successful in developing courses that stimulate and further develop the students' abilities for independent learning and to motivate them to apply those skills during their professional lifetime. |
