Nicole J. Borges, PhD, a professor of neurobiology and anatomical sciences at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), has been named Chair of the Department of Medical Education at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine.
“I am honored to become the new chair of medical education,” says Borges. “As inaugural chair, Dr. Rand Swenson has done an outstanding job of establishing the department and helping to launch a new curriculum. I look forward to continuing his work in building an exemplar department of medical education. The department has a strong foundation in place and the next steps include continued growth of the department and its faculty with a focus on scholarly productivity, professional development, and career advancement of faculty as medical educators. I look forward to becoming part of the Dartmouth community and to working with Dean Compton, faculty, staff, and students.”
A health psychologist with over 20 years of experience in medical education, Borges’ research interests center on medical student and physician career development and the study of cognitive and non-cognitive factors influencing how students choose a specialty. Her medical education research focuses on medical student characteristics, medical specialty and career choice, student success, team-based learning, and health topics related to medical education. She is among a handful of counseling health psychologists who is both an established scholar and leader in medical education. As the chief education officer for research and scholarship at UMMC, Borges was responsible institutionally and state-wide for faculty development in education and mentoring activities related to scholarly teaching and educational research. She has been on faculty and held leadership roles at Northeast Ohio Medical University and Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.
Widely published and the recipient of multiple grant awards, Borges, in 2016, was named a Fellow in the Society of Counseling Psychology, which is under the auspices of the American Psychological Association. She is past president of the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education. Active in the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), she has served as a member-at-large for the Central Group on Educational Affairs; is past chair of Medical Education Scholarship, Research, and Evaluation for the AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA); and she is currently SGEA chair. She was appointed to the AAMC Careers in Medicine Advisory Board in 2013. In 2011, she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Education Honor Society.
“I am very excited to have Dr. Borges joining us at Dartmouth to serve as the chair of Geisel’s Department of Medical Education,” says Duane Compton, dean of the Geisel School of Medicine. “She is highly recognized nationally for her scholarly approaches to student and faculty advancement and she brings a wealth of experience to our school. She and I connected rapidly in our thinking about the future of medical education and how our department could be a national leader in shaping the field. I look forward to working with her to continue the development of our department.”
Borges received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University and her PhD in counseling psychology from Indiana State University. She interned at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Danville, IL, and completed a fellowship in health psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Founded in 2016, Geisel’s Department of Medical Education supports new educational programs and initiatives, contributes to the evaluation of educational programming and individual learners, and communicates best practices across both the medical school and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The department is home to faculty with primary or secondary appointments who are committed to our students and to the continued evolution and advancement of medical pedagogy. These outstanding medical educators are supported by a dedicated staff of experienced administrators and course support personnel.