The Department of Anesthesiology’s vice chair of education, Amy Duhachek-Stapelman, M.D., was recently named the 2020 Varner Educator Laureate and used the opportunity to commend the work of all department educators.
From the award ceremony stage on February 20 in the Durham Research Center auditorium, Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman commended the teamwork and generosity of her anesthesiology colleagues. Case and point, she said, was the recent example of 15 faculty volunteers who gave up an evening with their families to instead act as board examiners during an Applied Exam practice session for fellows and new faculty.
“We have many amazing department members who are dedicated to education and genuinely care about the outcomes of our trainees,” Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman said. “When you’re an academic physician, you have the opportunity to positively impact thousands of patients not only through the care you provide, but through the education you give to trainees who then go on to deliver care to their future patients.”
Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman, who has been vice chair of education since 2016, has been part of the growth of the academic anesthesiology programs in the following ways:
- Expansion of fellowship programs from none in 2012, to now offering five ACGME-accredited fellowships in 2020. Additionally, the overall number of fellows has grown to 12.
- Addition of the Fellow Education Series, a supplemental program with roughly 10 meetings dispersed through the fellowship year that covers fellow-targeted topics such as financial planning, insurance education, introduction to research, developing oneself into an educator, and evaluation and provision of feedback to trainees, etc.
- Developed an award-winning feedback mechanism for both trainees and faculty
- Created a library of online, interactive, and UNMC-specific didactics
- Expanded activities to prepare for board examinations through a full-length applied exam simulation and an online mechanism that pairs trainees with volunteer faculty in one-on-one practice sessions.
“It’s difficult to assign credit because there are so many people who are critical to the development of education,” Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman said. “Even if someone isn’t the leader who is responsible for things like recruiting, developing online content, or lecturing, many of our attendings are excellent educators in the OR. We have been successful through hard work and contributions from the entire department.”
Learn more about why education is a passion for Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman, and about the Varner Educator Laureate award.
“Dr. Duhachek-Stapelman is a stalwart champion of our department’s educational mission,” said Department of Anesthesiology Chair Steven J. Lisco, M.D. “She is a patient, empathetic and selfless educator who possesses innate ability to identify our learners’ needs. She is incredibly deserving of this outstanding honor.”