Dawn Elfenbein, MD, MPH, received a Clinical Teaching Award for 2022 at last March’s University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) Match Day celebrations.
The Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association (WMAA) bestows teaching awards annually to individuals who are highly regarded by medical students for their teaching skill in the following three areas:
- clinical teachers in each of the SMPH teaching locations: Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison, Marshfield and Milwaukee
- an outstanding resident
- a distinguished instructor in Phase 1 of the SMPH ForWard Curriculum
Dr. Elfenbein received the 2022 Clinical Teaching Award for Madison.
“To get this award from this particular group, which went through so many challenges, meant so much to me,” Dr. Elfenbein said.
Graduating medical students voted for all of the instructors who received teaching awards across the state. This cohort of students started medical school in the fall of 2018 and spent their first year and a half in the classroom like any other Badger med students. However, when the pandemic hit, they were just beginning their clinical education, and spent the rest of their time as medical students endlessly adapting to keep patients and themselves safe while still learning vital skills across numerous specialties.
Dr. Elfenbein, as Medical Student Clerkship Director, led the effort beginning in March 2021 to keep the students’ bonds to their educators and each other tight despite required physical distancing. Dr. Elfenbein said that while on average only around 20 percent of medical students end up specializing in surgery, medical students “have always been my jam.”
“They learn so much about being a doctor. For me, I love training and teaching them because they have potential to do anything and so much enthusiasm for being a doctor,” Dr. Elfenbein said.
“There’s no physical award for this, but the fact that it’s voted upon by the students is great,” Dr. Elfenbein said. “To know that they put your name forward is such an honor.”