The Education Scholar Awards (ESA) are 3-year career development awards designed to support
faculty members for a targeted project aimed at strengthening the medical student education
program. See below for details regarding each ESA and the most recent awarded projects.
Robert G. Schwager, M.D. '67 ESA
This ESA supports one faculty member for a targeted project aimed at enhancing the longitudinal learning environment in the medical student education program. Projects incorporating student wellbeing and/or advising and mentoring programming and/or longitudinal leadership development were highly valued.
Current awardee:
- 2024–27 cycle: Kristen Ng, M.D.: “Use of Virtual Reality-Based Simulation for Teaching and Assessment”
Past awardees:
- 2021–23 cycle: Susan Pannullo, M.D.: “Creating a Novel Medical Student Coaching Program at Weill Cornell”
- 2017–20 cycle: Susan Bostwick, M.D., M.B.A.: “Established Education Vice Chair Committee”
Nanette Laitman Entrepreneurship ESA
This ESA supports one faculty member with a project related to applied use of healthcare technology and AI and/or continuous quality improvement efforts to enhance the medical education program.
Current awardee:
- 2024–27 cycle: Rohan Jotwani, M.D., M.B.A.: “Leveraging Artificially Intelligent Conversational Agents (AI-CAs) for Enhancing Soft Skills in Undergraduate Medical Education”
Past awardees:
- 2021–23 cycle: Jana Gordon-Elliott, M.D.: “Transition to Medicine (TTM): A Longitudinal Well-Being Skills Training Program for Medical Students”
- 2017–20 cycle: Juliet Aizer, M.D., M.P.H.: “Development of a Clinical Reasoning Session”
Gary M. Sumers ESA
This ESA focused on the development of a competency-based framework for teaching and assessing clinical skills.
Current awardee:
- 2024–26 cycle: Sydney Katz, M.D.: “A Longitudinal Integrated Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) Curriculum within the Clinical Clerkships”
Past awardees:
- 2021–23 cycle: Ernie Esquivel, M.D.: “Clinical Skills Enhancement and Remediation Prior to Entry of Medical Students into Clinical Curriculum”
- 2017–20 cycle: Domenick Falcone, Ph.D.: Developed a comprehensive electronic series of self-guided (manualized) exercises for histology teaching and mentored a WCM student in an AoC project to develop iBooks for teaching pathology in the Health, Illness, and Disease course.
Louis and Rachel Rudin ESA
This ESA focused on projects related to medical student education in neurology, with a priority for innovative content or approaches that fulfill a current or emerging need for neurology learners, or competency-based assessment tools focused on core neurology knowledge or skills.
Current awardee:
- 2023–26 cycle: Matthew Robbins, M.D.: “Student Neurology Ambulatory Preceptorship (SNAP)”
Past awardees:
- 2016–19 & 2019–22 cycles: Joseph Safdieh, M.D.: Phase 1 & 2 curricular innovations including development and implementation of online interactive modules.
Brause Family Award for Medical Education, Research and Patient Care ESA
This ESA supports one faculty member for a targeted project incorporating Artificial Intelligence and/or Technology Innovations related to curriculum improvement.
Current awardee:
- 2025–28 cycle: MacKenzi Preston, M.D.: “Leveraging Large Language Models to Enhance OSCE Feedback and Competency Tracking”
Past awardees:
- 2018–21 & 2021–24 cycles: Jonathan Avery, M.D.: “Development and Launch of New Stigma of Addiction Module in Brain and Behavior Course”