2022 Fall STAR Educator Recipient: Chidinma Aniemeke, MD, CMD, FAAFP
Chidinma Aniemeke, MD, CMD, FAAFP
Assistant Professor
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and Supportive Care
Nomination Submission:
Rotating with Dr. Aniemeke at the Geriatrics and Palliative Care Clinic is among the top clinical experiences I have had. Her compassion for patients and enthusiasm for teaching made me eager to begin each clinical session. Her attentive supervision and engaging teaching made me feel like a valued team member as I saw patients with complex medical problems and learned to diagnose and manage common conditions in frail, elderly patients. With each patient, she modeled how to maintain that person’s dignity and quality of life. After watching me interact with patients and their families, Dr. Aniemeke gave me specific feedback that enhanced my clinical skills and reasoning and honed my ability to assess patients and develop plans tailored to each person’s needs. Since many patients presented with multiple chronic and acute issues, Dr. Aniemeke helped me review subjects like psychiatry, endocrinology, gastroenterology, cardiology, and gynecology and showed how to approach and manage these problems. Her extensive knowledge base and ease at developing and maintaining rapport with patients and their families amazed me. In the classroom, Dr. Aniemeke’s interactive and informative presentation to my rotation equipped us to use a toolbox of exams to determine if patients had an underlying dementia and, if they did, how to assess its severity. Additionally, she discussed a number of common diseases or medications that can mimic dementia and stressed the importance of medical reconciliation in preventing overmedication. I shall always remember my time with Dr. Aniemeke: her teaching, role modeling and mentoring inspired me to read after clinic and prepare for the next session. To me, Dr. Aniemeke’s outstanding teaching qualifies her to join the LSOM Stars of Education.