2018 Department of Medicine Teaching Awards

2019 Teaching Award recipients 

The Department of Medicine's annual teaching awards are always a highlight-- a way to celebrate and honor the great teachers in each division.

The 2018 Teaching Awards were presented by Department Chair Bob Harrington, MD, at Medicine Grand Rounds on May 1. Each division honored at least one of its teachers. We congratulate all of the 2018 recipients.

Tina Hernandez-Boussard, PhD

Associate Professor, Biomedical Informatics Research

“Trainees have flocked to Tina since her appointment in BMIR several years ago.  Tina offers wonderful research experiences and thoughtful mentorship, and her graduate students and post-docs are extremely grateful for the time that she spends with them in the lab.  Tina's one-on-one work with trainees is really special." -Mark Musen, Chief of Biomedical Informatics Research


Wen-Kai Wang, MD, PhD

Associate Professor, Blood and Marrow Transplantation

"Dr. Weng has consistently been an outstanding educator amongst a group of very strong teachers. He is particularly valued for his teaching of nursing and our APPs in addition to our fellows. He is patient and thoughtful in his responses and takes the time even during very busy clinical rotations." --Robert Negrin, Chief of Blood and Marrow Transplantation


Bill Fearon, MD

Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine

"Bill is patient, kind, knowledgeable, and truly prioritizes fellow autonomy (with appropriate supervision), both in the cath lab and in the clinic.  When fellows encounter difficulties he helps troubleshoot without taking over, his methods allow fellows to 'own' their own patients' treatments and make medical decisions."

Karim Sallam, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine

"Karim teaches fellows tirelessly, and is equally available to advise the fellowship directors about research and professional development of the fellows. He is a role model to other faculty exemplifying what fellow-faculty interactions should be."


Marina Basina, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Endocrinology, Gerontology, and Metabolism

"Marina was awarded our teacher award this year as in the previous years because she was recognized by our fellows as the most outstanding teacher in the division.  In particular, her devotion and dedication to teaching are second to none."

Frederic Kraemer, Chief of Endocrinology, Gerontology, and Metabolism


Vijay Pottathil, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Quotes from fellows:

"Dr. Pottathil is an great teacher, especially with teaching first year fellows techniques to improve endoscopy skills."

"Outstanding attending who clearly loves to teach. He prioritizes teaching the fellows and is a role model for lifelong learning. He has a great ability to articulate endoscopic technique."

"Vijay is really a fantastic clinician educator. He cares about teaching endoscopy as well as making sure fellows have sound clinical reasoning."

"I enjoyed working with Dr. Pottathil. He is supportive, allows a good amount of autonomy in running the GI service, and also is very effective at teaching endoscopy."


Paul Kwo, MD

Professor, Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Quotes from fellows:

 "[Dr. Kwo] is always excited to teach and ready with a newly updated slide deck to match his enthusiasm."

 "He’s been a great mentor, takes time to cover and review topics during teaching sessions and also provides great reference – articles and case references too."

"I cannot say enough positive things about Dr. Kwo. He is an amazing educator - engaging, patient, and available to trainees. He always makes time for teaching and incorporates up to date evidence/literature into his didactics. His rapport, compassion, and interaction with patients and their families makes him an excellent role model for professionalism and patient care. One of the best attendings I have ever worked with."

"Dr. Kwo is an excellent mentor and I am able to learn a lot working with him. Dr. Kwo provides constant feedback that has helped me improve."


David Iberri, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Hematology

"It is our great pleasure to select Dr. David Iberri as this year’s winner of the Hematology Division Teaching Award. Dr. Iberri has been highlighted by our trainees as an amazing teacher, with an extensive fund of knowledge, who takes time to teach midlevels, residents, and fellows in the clinic and on the wards. Several trainees highlighted him as the top attending they have worked with.” – Ravi Majeti, Chief of Hematology


Nidhi Rohatgi, MD, MS

Clinical Associate Professor, Medicine

"Dr. Rohatgi is a superb clinician and always takes the time to teach the learners on her team.  She is a leader in the field of hospital medicine surgical co-management.  Additionally she takes the time to mentor her learners on scholarly projects in the field of Hospital medicine." – Neera Ahuja, Chief of Hospital Medicine


Yashaar Chaichian, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Immunology and Rheumatology

"Aside from his clinical and research activities, Yashaar is an outstanding citizen of our division, where he is very well received by the faculty, fellows, and staff. He spends a great deal of his time working with the fellows in our Rheumatology Fellowship Program in clinic and outside of clinic to share his knowledge as a practicing physician with them. He is extremely dedicated to his role in our community." --Julie Park, Division Manager for Immunology & Rheumatology 


Gina Suh, MD

Infectious Diseases

Quotes from fellows:

"Gina is a wonderful teacher whose enthusiasm and energy for clinical medicine is palpable and infectious. She led the clinical case conference and raised the level of dialogue and conversation to an outstanding level. Gina has since moved to Mayo Clinic, Minnesota as a senior faculty member and we wish her the best in her new ventures." -Upi Singh, Chief of Infectious Diseases


Yiming Z. Lit, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Nephrology

Pedram Fatehi, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Nephrology


Sunil Reddy, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Oncology

"Dr. Sunil Reddy leads the Oncology Division’s Journal club. Under his leadership, the Journal Club has become a 'go-to' educational experience for fellows and faculty, with national-level 'call-in' guest commentators adding to internal speakers, making it an exciting experience." -George Sledge, Jr. Chief of Oncology

Sukhmani Padda, MD

Assistant Professor, Oncology

“Dr. Sukhmani Padda is a physician’s physician, and this comes through when she teaches fellows on the oncology ward and in her outpatient clinic. She is expert at explaining complicated biology and its application to lung cancer therapy, and her passion, both for her patients and for her trainees, makes her an ideal teacher."-George Sledge, Jr. Chief of Oncology


David Chan, MD

Assistant Professor, Primary Care and Outcomes Research

"Dave Chan brings deep knowledge of both economics and medicine to his teaching. This rare combination enables Dave to be highly effective in bringing the insights of economics to medical learners and the insights from medicine to economics learners. The award recognizes Dave’s great contributions to our training programs." -Doug Owens, Chief of Primary Care and Outcomes Research


Julieta Gabiola, MD, RN

Clinical Professor, Primary Care and Population Health

"Dr. Gabiola is an E4C educator, author, and dedicated mentor and humanitarian. Whether on the annual medical missions she leads in the Philippines, or in our own express care clinic, Dr. Gabiola consistently teaches and mentors the next generation of clinicians across the spectrum of learners, and across the health professions, from high school students to residents. Her commitment is recognized and appreciated by her peers, learners, and staff!"

Tracy Rydel, MD

Clinical Associate Professor, Primary Care and Population Health

"Dr. Rydel is an energetic, enthusiastic teacher of Family Medicine, nutrition and Integrative medicine - she is clearly passionate about teaching, and is able to present topics in an understandable, interesting way that keeps the learner engaged and wanting to learn more. As a physician, Tracy is outstanding. Due to her exceptional clinical skill, she was already a teacher early in her career, and she openly shares her skill with students and colleagues alike. As a peer, Tracy has shared her knowledge of procedures, exceptional bedside manner, rapport with patients, and efficiency in teaching. She does not just inspire students; she inspires her peers and makes us want to be better doctors."

Mary James, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Primary Care and Population Health

"Mary (Susie) James is always enthusiastic about including learners in her clinical practice, and makes them a high priority. She prepares mini-talks for pre-clinic time, works through board review questions with fellows in their continuity clinic, sprinkles pearls throughout the patient visit, and encourages learners to reflect on how care of frail older adults may differ from the clinical approach they've used previously.  She models patient-centeredness and practical, compassionate primary care.  We are very lucky to have an educator like Dr. James in our division!"


Gaurav Singh, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

“Gaurav Singh is a new faculty member who, by being being voted Teacher of the Year for PCCM, is off to a great start. Gaurav is quadruple-boarded in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Critical Care Medicine and Sleep Medicine. He is an Asst. Professor at the VA Palo Alto where he is energizing the pulmonary service there with real vitality. He has additional expertise in COPD, a big problem for our veterans.  A graduate of Cal Berkeley, UCSF for Medical School, Stanford for his Medicine and PCCM/Sleep Training, he has earned the respect of his peers and trainees and we are proud to have him in the division.” – Mark Nicolls, Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine


Kenneth Mahaffey, MD

Professor, Cardiovascular Medicine and Director, Stanford Center for Clinical Research

"Mentoring the next generation of local and global clinical research fellows is a passion and priority for Ken. He has made it one of the top strategic initiatives for the Stanford Center for Clinical Research (SCCR)—and looks forward to strengthening partnerships with other groups to enhance impact." - Toni Nunes, Division Manager, SCCR


Michaela Kiernan, PhD

Senior Research Scholar, Stanford Prevention Research Center

  • "Michaela cares deeply about training the next generation of behavioral science researchers and consistently applies behavioral theory to her teaching. For example, she supports students to use goal setting and self-monitoring (evidence-based behavior change strategies) to improve their scientific writing behaviors."
  • "Michaela demonstrates extraordinary commitment to student learning, often meeting with students outside of class and making herself available for consultation."
  • "She also is a constant innovator for students outside of the classroom. Michaela has been thinking (very creatively!) about developing a set of new pedagogical analogies to help non-technical people understand statistical hypothesis testing. When she puts this out there, she's going to have a real impact on new learners. I'm so impressed with what she's doing!"