2022 STAR Educator Recipient: Sandra Adams, MD
Sandra Adams, MD
Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Diseases & Critical Care
Nomination Submission:
I would like to nominate Dr. Sandra Adams for the LSOM Star Educator award, as I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this honor. I’m a Professor here at UT Health San Antonio in the Pulmonary and Critical care Division and first met Sandra over 27 years ago when she was just a resident. I have watched her grow and I admire her excellent clinical skills, but I’m consistently even more impressed by her ability to break down complex topics into bite-sized, digestible education that is not only easy to learn, but is also consistently memorable long term.
As the Program Director for Pulmonary and Critical Care here at UT Health and as the immediate past President of our international professional society, CHEST, I have had many opportunities to witness Sandra’s educational excellence first hand. She has developed education in many areas using a strategy called, “choose your own adventure” where your choices throughout clinical scenarios dictate where the case goes and how the patient clinically responds based on your selections. She also has developed short, but very effective video education in inhaler demonstration for clinicians, but also for patients and even children. She is vital to the success of our residents and fellows locally, but Sandra really shines when designing education for national and international groups of learners. Sandra was chosen to go to Saudi Arabia and Israel with CHEST leadership a few years ago to bring education to our international neighbors on obstructive lung diseases. Her role was to design a curriculum so that those attending the sessions could then teach others what they learned, so-called “teach the teacher”. Based on my multiple roles and observations of Sandra throughout the last few decades, I believe there is not anyone more deserving than Sandra to be selected as a LSOM Star Educator.
Sandra is known by our Division, the residency program, our medical school, as well as by our international professional societies (CHEST), as a true educator. Her innovative teaching techniques are amazing! Sandra is the Founder of the WipeDiseases Foundation (WDF), a not-for-profit group dedicated to educating about lung health to improve patients’ lives. Sandra teaches all levels and types of learners; including (1) patients/caregivers, (3) medical, nursing, and respiratory therapy students, (4) medicine, OB/Gyn, anesthesia, and psychiatry residents, (5) pulmonary/critical care and cardiology fellows, and (6) faculty at local, national, and international levels. Despite all of these accolades, you would never guess she’s taught all over the globe because she is so kind, humble, and focused on each learner’s individual needs. She is a fantastic mentor to me and many other students, residents, fellows, and faculty. In summary, Dr. Sandra Adams profoundly impacted my education throughout fellowship as she continues to be the “Johnny Appleseed” of education as her teachings spread throughout the School, the country, and the world.