{"id":121090,"date":"2024-05-01T14:07:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?p=121090"},"modified":"2024-05-01T14:07:36","modified_gmt":"2024-05-01T18:07:36","slug":"cheryl-a-mcsweeney-md-mph-receives-stanley-l-robbins-award-for-excellence-in-teaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2024\/05\/01\/cheryl-a-mcsweeney-md-mph-receives-stanley-l-robbins-award-for-excellence-in-teaching\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheryl A. McSweeney, MD, MPH, Receives Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"headAssistant Professor of Family Medicine Cheryl A. McSweeney<\/a>, MD, MPH, is the recipient of the 2024 Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine\u2019s highest teaching honor, the Stanley L. Robbins Award for Excellence in Teaching.<\/p>\n

The annual award honors an outstanding educator and acknowledges the importance of teaching skills and commitment to students and education. It was established in recognition of the exceptional teaching and devotion to students exemplified by Stanley L. Robbins, MD, former professor and chair of pathology.<\/p>\n

McSweeney is director of the Learn, Experience, Advocate, Discover and Serve (LEADS) course, launched in 2022 to equip medical students with the skills to recognize and engage with the social drivers of health. In the course, students examine the structures and systems that have resulted in health inequities both now and historically. They explore their roles as physician advocates for justice in service to others and develop pragmatic skills to advance health equity.<\/p>\n

\u201cLEADS is a complex course, and similar to other brand-new courses, it has required constant evolution and refinement. Yet, somehow, Dr. McSweeney has found a way to maintain a calm and cheerful demeanor leading our team and the course. Whether providing feedback to a draft self-learning guide or leading a workshop for students on advocacy skills, Dr. McSweeney\u2019s dedication to LEADS, our team and the students in the course is constant and evident. She fills every gap and ensures every detail is accounted for thoughtfully and intentionally,\u201d said a colleague in recommending McSweeney for the award.<\/p>\n

Another faculty member described the experience of working with Dr. McSweeney on LEADS. \u201cCheryl is patient, thoughtful and kind in everything she does. While the LEADS curriculum provided multiple challenges around logistics, moving parts and clarity on goals since inception, Cheryl has been able to take every challenge presented and work with individuals in an open, kind, nonjudgmental manner. She never presented herself as \u2018all knowing\u2019 but rather inclusive, open to suggestions, flexible and accommodating to change. Cheryl was committed to creating a road map that was visible and usable for everyone, despite constant pivots. She embodies servant leadership at the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Student evaluations describe her as \u201cvery engaging and knowledgeable\u201d and \u201ceasy to get ahold of to ask questions and discuss.\u201d She is \u201cclear and passionate about equity and students\u2019 learning\u201d and \u201ccreates a very kind and comfortable learning environment.\u201d She also \u201cchallenges students to think critically and apply concepts in her teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple faculty noted how she helped orient and mentor them as new faculty members. \u201cShe fosters a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. Furthermore, she empowers the faculty and administrative team to innovate. She considerately approaches new ideas, strengthening them and helping support their success. She thus creates space for faculty to develop unique didactics focused on health equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another colleague reflected that she is a vocal advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the curriculum. \u201cShe encourages our team to ensure that the students learn from an incredibly diverse set of speakers and that every learning objective promotes health equity. She values differences of opinion on our teams and seeks to provide a safe environment for students and faculty to express their challenges and frustrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

McSweeney led public health curriculum that preceded LEADS starting in 2016 and has served in the Academy of Medical Educators teaching and mentoring medical students since its inception in 2019.\u00a0 She is a member of the medical school Admissions Committee.<\/p>\n

McSweeney\u2019s outpatient family medicine practice is at the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, where she provides primary care to families and teaches third-year medical students.<\/p>\n

McSweeney received her undergraduate degree in brain and cognitive sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MD from The Ohio State University followed by an MPH in Maternal Child Health from Boston University School of Public Health in 2013. She completed her residency at the University of Massachusetts Family Health Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual award honors an outstanding educator and acknowledges the importance of teaching skills and commitment to students and education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[89,146,91],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121090"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121097,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121090\/revisions\/121097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}