Parmender Mehta, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, is among the four UNMC faculty members who will receive Outstanding Teaching Awards at the April 20 Annual Faculty meeting.
Below, Dr. Mehta, reflects on what it means to be a teacher.
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Parmender Mehta, Ph.D. |
- Name: Parmender Mehta, Ph.D.
- Title: Professor of biochemistry and molecular biology
- Classes/courses taught: Endocrinology and hemostasis for first-year medical students as well as several courses for graduate students.
- Hometown: Chamba, India
- Joined UNMC: 2000
What are the greatest rewards of being a teacher?
The scriptures say that “When one cuts and polishes a stone, as one grinds and rubs, one does not see it decrease, yet with time it is worn away. When one plants a tree and takes care of it, one does not see it increase, but in time it gets big.” This is true for teaching as it provides you an opportunity year after year for repeated self-examination and self-criticism to reveal the best and the worst in you for your intellectual and spiritual growth.
How do you know when you have been successful?
When one begins to experience a profound joy being in the company of students and begins to find peace in the classroom.
What are the biggest challenges that you face as a teacher?
To teach what you know with utmost clarity. To make students understand the fundamental concepts that are central to the point you are trying to make and separate them from the tangential and peripheral ones. To face your own fears related to the lack of in-depth knowledge of the topics you are not clear about and which you have to teach anyway in front of the students.
List three things few people know about you.
- I play harmonica.
- I have been married for 33 years.
- I lived in Japan for five years and earned my Ph.D.
I would want to study with this person and more than that, I would want my son to study with him.
I can understand why Dr. Mehta will receive one of the Outstanding Teaching Awards. His reflections on what it means to be a teacher is spoken from the heart and not all from the head. My son is a teacher and I would have loved it, if he could have had the opportunity to have studied under him. My son thoughts on teaching is very similar to Dr. Mehta.
Dr. Mehta is a stud! I have never had a professor that has worked harder to help students understand the lessons at hand. He made learning endocrinology and coagulation an (almost) pleasurable experience. Congrats Dr. Mehta!
I came across this today and I am not at all surprised Dr. Mehta's earned this award! He was one of the best professors to teach the BRTP courses in 2004 (and I am confident that he's still the best now)! Congratulations Dr. Mehta!
I came across this today and I am not at all surprised Dr. Mehta's earned this award! He was one of the best professors to teach the BRTP courses in 2004 (and I am confident that he's still the best now)! Congratulations Dr. Mehta!