2011 Winter: New Places, New Opportunities, New Ideas in Medical Education Series

Dr. Baker, Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the  Florida State University College of Medicine, is responsible for enhancing the teaching skills of faculty, including faculty on the FSU campus, community physicians who precept students in the first and second year, and clinical faculty at the six regional medical school campuses who participate in teaching the required clerkships and electives. His faculty-development activities include individual consultations, creation of learning modules, development and maintenance of a nationally recognized faculty-development web page and presentation of workshops. He has more than 30 years of medical education experience in the areas of faculty and curriculum development.

Dr. Johnson is Associate Dean for Medical Education at the Florida State University College of Medicine.  She is responsible for assisting the faculty as they implement all aspects of the curriculum, both in the classroom and at the community-based sites around the state of Florida.  Dr. Johnson has more than 20 years of experience as a basic sciences educator and course director for medical microbiology and infectious diseases.   She has been a leader in competency-based medical education for over a decade

Dr. Noiva serves as the Associate Dean for Educational Programs and is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Science at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. His primary role is the oversight of all aspects of the undergraduate medical student curriculum, including course planning and evaluation as well as student and faculty assessment.  Noiva spent 18 years at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine where he served as Course Director for Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Most recently, he served as Director of Medical Biochemistry at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine. His efforts in science education outreach programs for K-12 students have been recognized nationally.

Dr. Nuzzarello serves as the Associate Dean for Student Services at the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Psychiatry. She has been active in medical education for 20 years and has shared her experience at regional and national conferences presenting on topics such as the health, wellness, and professional development of medical students and career counseling.

Dr. Richard “Rick” Vari received his B.S. in Biology and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Physiology (1983) under the mentorship of Cobern E. Ott, Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. He completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Physiology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine – Columbia under the mentorship of Ronald H. Freeman, Ph.D. Dr. Vari served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at Tulane University School of Medicine from 1986 till 1993, working on cardio-renal research projects and teaching renal physiology to medical and graduate students. In 1993, Dr. Vari took a position as Associate Professor, in the Department of Physiology at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences (UNDSMHS).

In 1997, UNDSMHS restructured the medical curriculum and Dr. Vari, as one of the leaders in this reformation, became the Patient Centered Learning Director (PCL) in the Office Medical Education. He served as an Assistant Dean in various capacities in medical education and later was appointed to Associate Dean for Medical Education and Professor of Physiology. In that role, Dr. Vari coordinated the medical curriculum at UNDSMHS and directed the Office of Medical Education. He was heavily involved in redirecting the medical curriculum from a traditional didactic-based program to a PBL-Hybrid model; one that is patient – centered and focused on students as life-long learners. At UNDSMHS, Dr. Vari was also involved in the creation of an integrated combined graduate program in the basic sciences, helped to shape a medical curriculum with an-emphasis on defining and assessing professionalism, explored the role of Relationship Centered Care Initiatives (RCCI) in improving the working environment of the medical school, and helped develop a national curriculum to identify and treat substance abuse focused on prescription use in the elderly, methamphetamine, and inhalents in the Native American population (sponsored by NIDA). He was also instrumental in the development and implementation of an Interprofessional Health Education Course involving all representatives of the health care profession at UND, and also helped to introduce a “Medical Humanities and Writings” curriculum into the first two years of medical education.

Dr. Vari has obtained national funding for his work in renal physiology and innovations in medical education. He is an active member of the American Physiological Society (APS), the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) and has served on the APS Education Committee. He served two terms on the NBME Physiology Step 1 Committee.  Dr. Vari has mentored numerous graduate and medical students four FAIMER International Fellows in Medical Education from Ethiopia and Nepal. Dr. Vari has taught renal and cardiovascular physiology to medical and graduate students for 22 years including extensively using Problem-Based Learning methodology. Dr. Vari has been recognized numerous times for his contributions to research, teaching, innovations in medical education, faculty development, and community service.

Dr. Vari joined the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, in Roanoke VA on April 1, 2008, as the Founding Associate Dean for Medical Education. He is primarily responsible for development and implementation of the undergraduate medical education program. He was named as the Founding Chair of the Department of Interprofessionalism to help manage the development of a four-year longitudinal program in interprofessional health care education and practice which includes a service-learning project. He is married to Patty Maloney, PhD, RN, IBCLC, Associate Professor of Nursing at the Jefferson College of Health Sciences also in Roanoke. They have two children; Elizabeth, a fourth-grade elementary teacher in Omaha, NE and Alex, a Senior at the University of North Dakota who is majoring in Accounting.

Dr. Battinelli received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology from the University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania and subsequently his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, New Jersey.  He completed an internship, residency, and chief residency at the Boston City Hospital.  After his chief residency he became an Assistant Director in the Department of Medicine and Assistant Director of the Housestaff Training Program at the Boston City Hospital. Later he directed the Training Program at the Boston University Medical Center Hospital, and subsequently, the integrated Boston City Hospital/Boston University Medical Center Hospital/Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center Combined Training Program.   In 1996, he became Vice-Chairman for Education and led the Internal Medicine Training Program after the formation of the Boston Medical Center (a result of the merger of the Boston City Hospital and the Boston University Medical Center Hospital).  In July of 2007 he left Boston University to assume the position as Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer for the North Shore – LIJ Health System, the nation’s second largest, non-profit, secular healthcare system.  The health system includes 15 hospitals throughout Long Island, and New York City,  11 long-term care facilities, a medical research institute, four trauma centers, five home health agencies and dozens of out-patient centers. North Shore-LIJ facilities house more than 8,600 beds, and are staffed by over 8,000 physicians, 10,500 nurses and a total workforce of about 42,000 — the largest employer on Long Island and the ninth largest in New York City. In this role he is in charge of all undergraduate and graduate educational programs, all continuing medical education, and academic affairs and institutional relationships.  The North Shore-LIJ Health System has over 110 ACGME accredited programs, 1400 residents and fellows, and 500 visiting medical students.

The North Shore- LIJ Health System in partnership with Hofstra University formed the newly accredited Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.  This is the first new medical school on Long Island in over 40 years. In addition to his responsibilities as the Chief Academic Officer for the health system, Dr. Battinelli is the Senior Associate Dean for Education and Chaired the committee that developed the curriculum for the new medical school.

Dr. Battinelli’s interests are primarily in the area of medical education and faculty development.  He is a trained facilitator for the Stanford Faculty Development Program for clinical teachers and has taught more than 250 local, regional and national faculty development seminars, courses and workshops on improving clinical teaching.  He has also presented over 100 grand rounds and clinical problem solving presentations, and given more than 50 Boston University continuing medical education lectures on a variety of topics for the general internist.  He is a Past-President of the Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine.  He has worked closely with and served on numerous committees for a variety of national medical organizations including the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, Association of Professors of Medicine, Association of Subspecialty Professors, Association of Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians, American Association of Medical Colleges and the Accreditation Committee on Graduate Medical Education.  He  initiated and chaired a national effort to reform the fellowship application and matching process to help restore the balance of interests between resident applicants and fellowship programs. This resulted in the ERAS for fellowship application and matching process now used across the country and throughout all of GME.

Dr. Battinelli has also received a variety of awards including graduating AOA, receiving the Jessie B. McCall Award for Most Proficiency in Internal Medicine at UMDNJ, Teacher of the Year Award at Boston University, Visiting Lectureships including The Harold J. Jaghers Memorial Alumni Memorial Lecture at UMDNJ, The Leah Lowenstein Memorial Alumni Lecture at Boston University, as well as consistently listed in Best Doctors, Guides to America’s Top Physicians and Boston Magazine’s Best Doctors for Internal Medicine.

After receiving his Ph.D. in Pharmacology in 1969 from WVU’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Dr. Smith did postgraduate work at the University of Iowa. He then returned to WVU in 1971 with a joint appointment in Anesthesiology and Pharmacology where his research focused primarily in the pharmacology of pain.  His interest and devotion to education eventually lead him to become the Course Director for 12 years for the Medical Pharmacology course at WVU.  In addition, he has taught pharmacology in several other courses at the institution.  Nationally, he served on the USMLE Test Materials Development Committee for Pharmacology (2003-2005), and has been invited to lecture at several other US medical schools in his area of expertise.  He has received several teaching awards including the Golden Apple Award of the American Medical Student Association at WVU, the MacLachlin Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence, and the Deans Award for Excellence in Education.  In 2009 he became the Associate Chair for Physiology and Pharmacology Education, and now functions to oversee the teaching of Pharmacology in all of the allied health sciences.  He began teaching and directing the Medical Pharmacology course at the Oman Medical School (OMC) with its first class and continues to be actively involved in this activity. Initially the courses at OMC where taught in a block structure with pharmacology being the final course of the 5^th year curriculum.  However, Dr Smith sensed the need to begin the integration of the curriculum and with the 2010 -2011 academic year guided the implementation of such a curriculum which is modeled after the current course structure at WVU.  The need for integration at OMC was driven by his concern that students would benefit from the development of critical thinking skills.  He proposed that organization of medical education at OMC by a human systems model rather than around individual – stand alone – basic science courses would provide a better understanding of how the human body functions, the pathological processes that alter it and the therapeutic management of diseases.  He has also initiated the application of problem-solving MSQ’s in Oman to facilitate critical thinking.  Currently his research focuses on educational techniques which are in common practice in the USA, but with an emphasis on their utility in the Arabic culture and educational system in Oman.

Dr. Shumway received his doctorate in medical education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981.  His expertise is in curriculum development and student assessment with academic interests focusing on competence- (outcomes) based medical education.  He is currently and has been Associate Dean for Medical Education and Director of the Office of Medical Education at the West Virginia University (WVU) School of Medicine for over 20 years.  He regularly facilitates problem based learning groups of first year students as well as ethics case-based groups of second-year medical students.  At WVU he integrated basic science education, required the use of information technology, and increased student-centered learning.  He has been a Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME) team member for the accreditation of medical schools in North America since 1989.  In 1996-97 he was chair of the Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).  In 2000 he was on sabbatical at the University of Dundee, Scotland, studying outcomes-based education and how student competence is assessed.  Based on that experience, he has written articles and has spoken on such at a number of medical schools.  He collaborated with an international consortium, the International Virtual Medical School (IVIMEDS) to increase access to medical education worldwide through the development of virtual medical education curriculum blending evidence-based e-learning and face-to-face educational activities.  In 2002-04 he served as the national chair of the AAMC’s Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) section on undergraduate medical education.  He has conducted internal reviews of Oman Medical College as part of their accreditation process since 2004.  He has been an active member of the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education currently serving as its communications committee chair.  He is the recent past-chair (2009) of The Generalists in Medical Education, a national organization whose mission is to “promote innovation and collaboration in medical education.”  In 2010 he received the “Servant Leadership” award from The Generalists.  Throughout his career, he has been responsible for facilitating change in medical education locally, nationally, and internationally.  He believes that the very nature of education should be to constantly question and discover new knowledge and methods of how students learn, how we teach, and how we assess competence.

No bio available.