{"id":25191,"date":"2026-01-12T14:00:01","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T19:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/?p=25191"},"modified":"2026-01-13T10:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T15:09:28","slug":"two-geisel-students-present-research-at-national-and-international-conferences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/2026\/two-geisel-students-present-research-at-national-and-international-conferences\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Geisel Students Present Research at National and International Conferences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bridging Disciplines to Improve Early Childhood Outcomes<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Divya Kaushal, MS MPH\u201926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Divya Kaushal, MS MPH\u201926, alongside Julie Taylor, MD, MSc, associate dean for medical education, interim chair of community and family medicine and professor of medical education, Frances Lim-Liberty, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, and Deborah Hoffer, MD, \u00a0assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, presented Geisel\u2019s innovative longitudinal curriculum threads in Child Development, Health and Illness, Nutrition, and Health Equity at the Bright Start International Conference in London, UK. The conference convened educators, early-childhood specialists, physicians, researchers and policymakers from around the world, fostering a dynamic atmosphere for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.<\/p>\n

Their presentation, Bridging Sectors: Educators & Physicians United for Early Childhood<\/em>, highlighted how Geisel\u2019s longitudinal curricular threads\u2014concepts intentionally integrated across courses and clerkships in medical education\u2014prepare future physicians to collaborate effectively with educators and community partners to improve outcomes for young children.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresenting at the Bright Start Conference was a profoundly significant experience that enhanced the influence of our efforts in integrated pediatric curriculum development,\u201d Kaushal says. \u201cThe event was particularly impactful as I observed academic professionals from disciplines outside of medicine engaging with curriculum mapping for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The session featured an interactive case study involving a 4-year-old exhibiting developmental delays, nutritional deficiencies, and socioeconomic obstacles. Participants worked collaboratively to map how their respective fields\u2014including education, community health, public policy, family services, and social work\u2014integrate within a coordinated, child-centered care framework.<\/p>\n

Kaushal says her conversations with conference attendees revealed this curricular tool enabled them to clearly visualize interdisciplinary responsibilities\u2014prompting them to consider mapping modifications for teacher training programs, early childhood curricula, and community-oriented professional development.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the experience, Kaushal emphasized that the educational strategies central to medical training\u2014structured competencies, longitudinal curricular threads, equity-centered instruction, and integrated case-based learning\u2014have meaningful relevance beyond clinical settings.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cThis reinforced my dedication to developing courses that integrate sectors, prioritize children and families, and equip future practitioners from diverse backgrounds to recognize the interconnected factors influencing early-life well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussing the Pediatrics Curriculum <\/strong><\/h4>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Helen Thomason MED\u201926<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In research designed to explore the instability of the pediatric workforce, Helen Thomason MED\u201926 presented her findings during the Association of American Medical Colleges\u2019 annual national meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Her study indicates the national shortage of pediatricians is driven by several factors, including low pay and limited exposure to pediatricians in both the curriculum and as mentors.<\/p>\n

Where Are the Pediatricians? Addressing Gaps in Pre-Clinical Curriculum to Shape the Future Workforce<\/em>, explored how these gaps not only affect workforce sustainability but also limit students' ability to make informed specialty choices, thereby raising broader questions about equity in exposure across fields.<\/p>\n

Thomason, who is interested in both medical education and scholarly work, reviewed Geisel\u2019s curriculum as a first step. Partnering with one of her longtime faculty mentors, she evaluated the extent and delivery of pediatric content within Geisel\u2019s existing preclinical curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our initial audit of the preclinical curriculum, we\u00a0identified over 150 lectures discussing pediatric content, yet only 16 percent of those were delivered by pediatricians,\u201d Thomason says. \u201cBased on these preliminary findings, we plan to recommend increasing pediatrician involvement in pre-clinical teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question that we're now posing, is, \u2018If we have more pediatricians teaching in the preclinical years, could that lead to more exposure early in the medical school journey, and therefore more interest in pediatrics?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She proposed the intentional involvement of pediatricians in the preclinical curriculum to enhance equitable early specialty exposure without increasing curricular time, and to support informed career choices and workforce sustainability.<\/p>\n

Next steps will be to compare Geisel\u2019s existing curriculum to peer institutions and hopefully evaluate the effect of increased pediatrician-led teaching by assessing student satisfaction, changes in knowledge and attitude, changes in student behavior such as mentorship uptake, specialty interest, clerkship performance, and effects on residency specialty choice.<\/p>\n

Thomason\u2019s interest in attending the conference was to talk with students from other schools to learn about their curriculum and whether they are experiencing a diminishing interest in pediatrics. She discovered that they are.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to highlight that this is not a Geisel-specific issue,\u201d she says. \u201cLearning what other schools are doing to address this shortage contributes to a benchmark that can lead to recommendations for how pediatrics is taught in a preclinical setting because right now there is no standard\u2014and that\u2019s the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomason is working with first- and second-year Geisel medical students who can continue this ongoing study once she graduates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI'm incredibly proud to be going into pediatrics and to advocate for children and their families,\u201d she says. \u201cSomething special about this project for me is that my On-Doctoring facilitator Dr. Deborah Hoffer, who I met on day one of medical school and has mentored me throughout, is a pediatrician and the lead for this work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Divya Kaushal, MS MPH\u201926, alongside Julie Taylor, MD, MSc, associate dean for medical education, interim chair of community and family medicine and professor of medical education, Frances Lim-Liberty, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, and Deborah Hoffer, MD, \u00a0assistant professor of pediatrics and of medical education, presented Geisel\u2019s innovative longitudinal curriculum threads in Child Development, Health and Illness, Nutrition, and Health Equity at the Bright Start International Conference in London, England. The conference convened educators, early-childhood specialists, physicians, researchers and policymakers from around the world, fostering a dynamic atmosphere for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":25205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[102,320],"class_list":["post-25191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research","tag-pediatrics","tag-research-2","author-12"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Med-Students-Presentations-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4r3h1-6yj","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25191"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25211,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25191\/revisions\/25211"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geiselmed.dartmouth.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}