Dr. Carol Storey-Johnson Appointed Senior Advisor for Medical Education
Dr. Barbara Hempstead, associate dean for faculty development and diversity and the O. Wayne Isom Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell, has been appointed senior associate dean for education, effective Jan. 1. She will succeed Dr. Carol Storey-Johnson, who has held the position since 2001 and has been appointed senior advisor for medical education.
"Dr. Hempstead is a distinguished physician, scientist, mentor and teacher, and I am thrilled that she will lead our efforts to provide our students with the very best medical education and training," said Dr. Laurie H. Glimcher, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell. "I also want to thank Dr. Storey-Johnson for her years of leadership and dedicated service to Weill Cornell, most recently exemplified in her extraordinary efforts to transform our medical curriculum."
In her new role, Dr. Hempstead will manage Weill Cornell's medical education pedagogy, providing leadership and guidance as the medical college implements its new curriculum, which began earlier this academic year.
"We have remarkable faculty who have played extraordinary roles in educating students for many years," Dr. Hempstead said. "My role is to empower them to accomplish the goals articulated by the new curriculum."
The new curriculum integrates basic science with clinical care, shortens didactics to a year and a half so that students can work in the clinic earlier, and provides a six- to nine-month flexible time period during which students can devote their attention to a specific scholarly concentration. It also emphasizes physicianship and lifelong learning, key to nurturing the next generation of physicians.
Dr. Hempstead, who will continue as head of the Office of Faculty Development, has dedicated her career to mentorship and teaching, participating in the training and career development of more than 70 fellows in hematology-oncology. What struck her most about that experience, she said, was that while each of those fellows was incredibly bright, talented and well prepared, they frequently had difficulty integrating scientific breakthroughs into clinical care.
"I think that's the principle goal of the new curriculum — educating our students so that the seamless integration of scientific discovery to clinical care is truly second nature," Dr. Hempstead said.
Dr. Carol Storey-Johnson
This epitomizes a wholly new approach to medical education, said Dr. Storey-Johnson, an associate professor of clinical medicine who oversaw the curriculum's four-year design process. But just as important as the curriculum is the development of a mechanism to evaluate it, and that's precisely what Dr. Storey-Johnson will seek to accomplish in her new role as senior advisor for medical education.
She will assist Dr. Hempstead in building the infrastructure to support outcomes assessment and educational program methods research at Weill Cornell. The vision includes recruiting appropriate expertise in program evaluation and educational research to help assess the value and benefits of the new curriculum and other programs at the medical college.
"We are trying to propel Weill Cornell to the next level of excellence and credibility in the world of medical education research," she said, "so that, in addition to our recognition for creating a new and novel curriculum, we can also develop the ability to determine and explain why it's outstanding."
Dr. Storey-Johnson will also work closely with Dr. Hempstead to ensure a smooth transition.
"I want to share my great thanks to Weill Cornell faculty and students for their support over the past 13 years," Dr. Storey-Johnson said, "for what I've learned from them and also for their extraordinary efforts to make the medical education program as strong as it is."
A hematologist, Dr. Hempstead received her bachelor's degree from Tufts University and her medical degree and doctorate in cellular biology from Washington University School of Medicine's Medical Scientist Training Program. She completed her residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. A distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Hempstead served as co-chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology from 2004 to 2012, when she was appointed associate dean for faculty development and diversity.
Dr. Storey-Johnson received her bachelor's degree from Yale College and her medical degree from Weill Cornell. After completing her residency in internal medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, Dr. Storey-Johnson joined the Weill Cornell faculty and quickly established a distinguished career in medical education administration. Since her appointment as senior associate dean for education in 2001, Dr. Storey-Johnson oversaw medical education pedagogy, helped bolster Weill Cornell's accreditation status and established new medical education programs and policies.