Clerkship Director Bootcamp: Best Practices and Expert Insights (CDEM Sponsored)

I completed residency at East Carolina University/Brody School of Medicine and fellowship in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at University of Michigan. Since completion of my fellowship I have worked at University of Michigan, Department of Emergency Medicine in both the Children's and Adult Emergency Departments. I have served as the Clerkship Director and Director of Medical Student Education in the Department of Emergency Medicine since 2011. During my tenure I have also held several other rolls including, Assistant Program Director, Director of Interprofessional Education, and currently serve as the President of Clerkship Directors of Emergency Medicine (CDEM).

Kendra Parekh, MD, MHPE, is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (2005) and completed her residency in emergency medicine at Vanderbilt (2008) where she had the privilege of being Chief Resident (2008-2009). She completed the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Teaching Fellowship (2014) and a Master of Health Professions Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2021) where her thesis explored the mindset and motivation of medical students. As assistant dean Dr. Parekh directs the two-year post-clerkship curriculum and the Portfolio Coaching Program—a longitudinal coaching program designed to foster students’ self-assessment skills and life-long learning practices. She is also the Director of Vanderbilt's Academy for Excellence in Education. Dr. Parekh’s interests are in assessment, educational transitions, coaching, the impact of motivation on learning, and educational policy.

I am an Assistant Clerkship Director for the Emergency Medicine Clerkship at Ohio State and also part 3 (4th year of medical school) Expert Educator for 4 years. I work as a personal and professional Coach for medical students and teach pre-clinical doctoring. My research focus is assessment of Entrustable Professional Activities using Veality Simulation.

Dr. Luan E. Lawson serves as the Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education and Student Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.  She earned her medical degree and completed her residency training at East Carolina University.  Her academic interests have focused on undergraduate education with particular expertise in curriculum development, assessment, and team training.

During Dr. Lawson’s tenure as Director of Undergraduate Medical Education in Emergency Medicine, she developed and established a 4th-year medical student Emergency Medicine clerkship featuring a simulation-based curriculum. Dr. Lawson also collaborated in developing the National Clinical Assessment Tool in Emergency Medicine, a standardized assessment tool utilized in clerkships across the country. Dr. Lawson serves on the National Board of Medical Examiners Emergency Medicine Advanced Clinical Exam Task Force and has collaborated with the AMA and the NBME to develop a new HSS exam designed to assess knowledge and application of HSS. She is a past-president of the Clerkship Directors of Emergency Medicine, currently serves as faculty for the AMA’s Health System Science Scholars program, and is a current member of SAEM’s Education Committee.

Sharon Bord is an assistant professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She attended medical school at The George Washington University School of Medicine and then completed residency training at Boston Medical Center. She has a focus on both undergraduate and graduate medical education and is a member of the Teaching College, a group of faculty in the Department of Emergency Medicine dedicated to educational endeavors for both residents and medical students. She serves as the Co‐Director for the required medical student clerkship and subinternship in Emergency Medicine and has been integral in developing new curriculum and exam material including an observed structured clinical exam(OSCE).

She also directs the capstone course, TRIPLE, for graduating fourth year medical students teaching critical skills to aid with the transition to internship and beyond. Her research is in the area of medical education with a focus on student assessment. On a national level she is member of CORD(Committee of Residency Directors) and member at large on the CDEM(Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine) board. She was co-chair for the SLOE committee with the goal of reworking the SLOE in the COVID era. She also has served as track chair for the CDEM track at the CORD conference. Additionally, she served on the editorial board for a nationally renowned board review question book. Internationally, she developed course material and produced online lecture materials on core Emergency Medicine topics for a company based in Germany. Her videos have been viewed by approximately 23,000 individuals.

Donna Okoli is a Medical Education Fellow at the University of Michigan and serves as an Assistance Clerkship Director for the Emergency Medicine Clerkship. Her research interests are in curriculum development, leadership and advocacy, and diversity equity and inclusion. She is a graduate of Tufts University School of Medicine. She completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois, where she also served as chief resident in the 2022-2023 academic year. Donna Okoli is a native New Mexican and graduate of the University of New Mexico with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Biochemistry. Donna spent two years as a corps member for the organization Teach for America, teaching high school chemistry at an under resourced public school.