Margaret and Ian Smith Clinical Skills Center

Sydney Katz, MD, is Director of the Clinical Skills Center and Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. A practicing hospitalist and clinician-educator, her academic work focuses on competency-based assessment, clinical reasoning, communication skills, and transitions-of-care education. She is passionate about developing innovative educational programs, mentoring future educators and leaders, and helping learners thrive through feedback, coaching, and meaningful clinical experiences. 

MacKenzi Preston, MD, MS-HPEd, is Associate Director of the Clinical Skills Center and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine. A pediatric hospitalist and clinician-educator with formal training in health professions education, her work focuses on competency-based assessment, clinical reasoning, and the use of AI-driven simulation to give learners individualized practice with structured formative feedback. She leads the CSC's longitudinal mentoring program and is committed to educational innovation that helps students build durable clinical skills through deliberate practice, coaching, and meaningful feedback.

Kevaughn has worked in clinical simulation and standardized patient education for more than a decade, supporting the development and delivery of experiential learning programs for medical students and healthcare professionals. As Operations Manager, he oversees the day-to-day activities of the CSC and manages its extensive simulation programming. 

He is also a theater director, actor, and educator with extensive experience in the performing arts, including serving as associate director of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Off-Broadway play Primary Trust. He holds a BA in Psychology from Cornell University and an MFA in Theatre Arts from Brown University. 

Don Castro is the Clinical Skills Coordinator at Weill Cornell, supporting the Standardized Patient (SP) Program by overseeing SP casting, training, scheduling, and preparation for clinical skills sessions with students. He coordinates SPs and helps ensure sessions run smoothly, allowing the students to focus on developing core communication skills and practicing essential medical techniques. 

Kristen Ng, MD, MEHP, is an emergency physician and medical educator with fellowship training in simulation and expertise in simulation-based education, learning science, and educational research. She has served as principal investigator on multiple funded medical education research projects, with work focused on deliberate practice, clinical skills education, and the thoughtful application of emerging technologies to learning. 

Lee Seligman, MD, is an academic hospitalist with a strong interest in education of core clinical skills. He is site director of the internal medicine sub-internship at Lower Manhattan Hospital and part of the leadership team for the Transition to Residency course. 

Neel Naik, MD, is an emergency physician and medical educator with fellowship training in simulation education.  He has served as the Director for Emergency Medicine Simulation Education for 8 years during which time he developed simulation curricula for medical students, residents, and faculty.  He has also pioneered using simulation to develop patient-focused telemedicine skills and has developed the telemedicine education curriculum at Weill Cornell for medical students and residents. 

Sandra Rolston, MD, is a pediatrician and clinician educator who teaches learners across the continuum of medical education in ambulatory pediatrics and newborn medicine. Her interests include professional identity formation and physician well-being, and at the Clinical Skills Center, she focuses on supporting first-year medical students as they develop foundational skills in patient communication and history-taking. 

Will Levine, MD, is an adult hospitalist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he has practiced since 2019. He has served as a core faculty member of the Clinical Skills Center since 2021. He also serves as Medical Director of the Weill Cornell PA Program. A dedicated medical educator, he has received numerous awards recognizing his excellence in clinical teaching.