2024 Fall STAR Educator Recipient: Janet F. Williams, MD
Janet F. Williams, MD
Professor
Long School of Medicine Vice Dean for Faculty
UT System Distinguished Teaching Professor
Department of Pediatrics
Division of General Pediatrics
Nomination Submission:
It is with humble adoration that I nominate Dr. Janet Williams as a LSOM Star Educator. She has shared her expertise and love of teaching with UTHSCSA Pediatric Residents and medical students for many years, joining the Department of Pediatrics in 1986. I was first introduced to her in 1991, as a Pediatric Intern, and have greatly benefitted from her vast knowledge, ever present support and mentorship, and exceptional teaching skills. Dr. Williams serves as a Faculty Attending in our General Pediatrics Continuity Clinic, where she has helped shape the lives and careers of countless residents, instilling not only medical knowledge, but inspiring ethical care, advocacy, equity, humanism and altruism into their daily practice. She has authored numerous teaching modules, enriching our curriculum with some of her most passionate topics, to include Motivational Interviewing, SBIRT and Substance Abuse, and Eating Disorders, to name a few. She was teaching and campaigning for the use of Motivational Interviewing before anyone knew what it was; she is a staunch patient advocate and models what true compassion and empathy are.
Over the years, she has excelled in her career, becoming the Vice Dean for Faculty in 2018. While this required a reduction in her time with us in the clinic, it did not waiver her love of teaching nor her commitment to us as a division. She has continued to be a trusted mentor to residents and colleagues alike, an instrumental contributor to our curriculum, a priceless collaborator, and a beloved and dedicated teacher in our clinic. It is with great confidence that I nominate her for the LSOM Star Educator Award.