Vice dean of UofL School of Medicine receives award

Given Kentucky Medical Association’s Educational Achievement Award

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Sept. 1, 2015) — Monica Ann Shaw, M.D., M.A., vice dean for the University of Louisville School of Medicine, has received the Kentucky Medical Association’s Educational Achievement Award for 2015.

The award is presented to individuals who have made outstanding contributions and achievements in the area of medical education. David Bensema, M.D., immediate past president of the KMA, presented the award to Shaw during the organization’s annual meeting on Aug. 29.

“Throughout her tenure, Dr. Shaw has been committed to changing the way medical students are educated,” Bensema said. “Her passion and dedication to the growth and development of future physicians are keystones of the KMA Educational Achievement Award criteria.”

As principal investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant, Shaw developed and implemented an interdisciplinary palliative care curriculum for medical students that serves as a national model for successful palliative care education. Since 2010, Shaw has served as co-investigator on a five-year grant from the National Cancer Institute for which the team has developed, implemented and evaluated a mandatory, interprofessional palliative oncology curriculum for medical, nursing, social work and chaplaincy students.

Shaw is a 2014 graduate of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine program. She joined the University of Louisville in 1995.

Jesse Roman, M.D., chair of the UofL Department of Medicine, nominated Shaw for the award.

“Dr. Shaw has devoted her career to medical education,” Roman, said. “She is an exceptional teacher, physician and mentor. She remains passionate about medicine and palliative care. She was the first clerkship director to include a reflective writing requirement for students to encourage them to focus on the patient’s story and to foster more humanistic patient care.”