Clinical Focus

  • Hospitalist, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
  • Neonatology
  • General Pediatrics (Inpatient)

Academic Appointments

Administrative Appointments

  • Course Director, Practice of Medicine Year 2 (INDE 204, 205 and 206), Stanford School of Medicine (2016 - 2020)
  • Course Co-Director, Practice of Medicine Quarter VI (INDE 206), Stanford School of Medicine (2013 - 2015)
  • Associate Director, Pediatrics Clerkship and Pediatric Subinternship (PEDS300A, 338A), Stanford School of Medicine (2009 - 2016)
  • Chief Resident, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (2007 - 2008)

Honors & Awards

  • Award for Humanism and Excellence in Teaching, Arnold P. Gold Foundation (2007)

Professional Education

  • Board Certification: American Board of Pediatrics, Pediatrics (2007)
  • Residency: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (2007) CA
  • Internship: Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (2005) CA
  • Medical Education: Harvard Medical School (2004) MA
  • MD, Harvard Medical School (2004)
  • AB, Harvard College, History and Literature (1996)
  • Certificate, David Rockefeller Center-Harvard, Latin American Studies (1996)
  • Diploma, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain, Español como Lengua Extranjera (1991)

Community and International Work

  • Medical Volunteers for Disaster Response

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Santa Clara County Public Health Department

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    Yes

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

  • Rural Health, San Juan Sacátepequez, Guatemala

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Universidad Francisco Marroquín

    Populations Served

    Rural, indigenous

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    No

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

  • Rural Health, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico

    Topic

    Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

    Partnering Organization(s)

    Child Family Health International

    Populations Served

    Rural, indigenous

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    No

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

  • Hospital General, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

    Topic

    Pediatric and Neonatal inpatient units

    Partnering Organization(s)

    PACE-MedSpanish

    Populations Served

    local

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    No

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

Contact

  • Clinical (Primary)  Lucile Packard Children's Hospital 725 Welch Rd MC 5906 Palo Alto, CA 94304 (650) 498-5684 (fax)

Additional Clinical Info

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Pediatric Hospital Medicine, Quality and Safety, Resident and Medical Student Education, Medical Humanities, International Child Health

All Publications

  • Preclinical curriculum of prospective case-based teaching with faculty- and student-blinded approach. BMC medical education Waliany, S., Caceres, W., Merrell, S. B., Thadaney, S., Johnstone, N., Osterberg, L. 2019; 19 (1): 31

    Abstract

    BACKGROUND: Case-based teaching with real patient cases provides benefit of simulating real-world cognition. However, while clinical practice involves a prospective approach to cases, preclinical instruction typically involves full disclosure of case content to faculty, introducing hindsight bias into faculty teaching in medical curricula.METHODS: During 2015-2018, we piloted an optional medical school curriculum involving 6-7 one-hour sessions over a 3-month period each year. New groups enrolled each year from first- and second-year classes. A facilitator provided a blinded physician discussant and blinded students with case information during and not in advance of each session, allowing prospective case-based discussions. Cases were based on real patients treated in the Department of Medicine. Clinical material was presented in the chronologic sequence encountered by treating physicians. Content covered a median of 5 patient visits/case (range: 2-10) spanning over months. A 14-item survey addressing components of the reporter-interpreter-manager-educator (RIME) scheme was developed and used to compare self-reported clinical skills between course participants and non-participant controls during the 2016 course iteration.RESULTS: This elective curriculum at Stanford School of Medicine involved 170 preclinical students (22.7% of 750 eligible). During the 2016 course iteration, a quasi-experimental study compared self-reported clinical skills between 29 course participants (response rate: 29/49 [59.2%]) and 35 non-participant controls (response rate: 35/132 [26.5%]); students self-assessed clinical skills via the RIME-based survey developed for the course. Two-sample t-tests compared the change in pre- and post-course skills between course participants and non-participants. Of 15 Department of Medicine faculty members invited as discussants, 12 (80%) consented to participate. Compared with controls, first-year participants self-assessed significantly greater improvement in understanding how clinicians reason through cases step-by-step to arrive at diagnoses (P=0.049), work through cases in longitudinal settings (P=0.049), and share information with patients (P=0.047). Compared with controls, second-year participants self-assessed significantly greater improvement (P=0.040) in understanding how clinicians reason through cases step-by-step to arrive at diagnoses.CONCLUSIONS: Prospective case-based discussions with blinding offaculty and students to clinical content circumvents hindsight bias and may impart real-world cognitive skills as determined by student self-report.

    View details for PubMedID 30674302