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Teaching Philosophy

My teaching begins with the conviction that health is not only a biological phenomenon but also a social, political, and ethical one. I train future clinicians and health professionals to recognize how structures such as immigration law, incarceration, racism, language policy, and economic precarity shape the possibilities of care.

In my classrooms and service-learning programs, I encourage students to connect individual patient narratives to the broader systems that shape them. I describe this approach as structural listening: the ability to hear patients’ stories while recognizing the institutional, legal, and economic forces that influence their experiences of health and healthcare.

Education in medicine and the health professions is therefore both an intellectual and moral practice. My goal is to prepare students not only to diagnose disease but also to recognize and respond to the structural conditions that produce health inequities.

Across courses, I combine ethical theory, social science research, case-based discussion, and experiential learning. Students engage directly with community partners addressing issues such as immigrant health, prison health, harm reduction, and reproductive justice, connecting academic learning with real-world ethical challenges.

Teaching Across Health Professions

At the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, I teach across multiple professional and graduate programs, including medicine, dentistry, physician assistant studies, and the Master of Health Justice and Bioethics program.

My courses reach several hundred learners each year and span multiple instructional formats, including graduate seminars, large lecture courses, small-group discussions, and community-engaged learning.

Courses I teach or direct include:

Community Engagement and Health Justice I & II
A field-based graduate course in which students partner with community organizations to explore the ethical and structural dimensions of health disparities.

Critical Social Science and Bioethics
A graduate seminar that introduces students to qualitative and mixed-methods research approaches for studying health inequities.

Immigrant Health in the United States
A medical school elective examining immigration policy, language access, and structural barriers to healthcare.

Dental Ethics and Jurisprudence
A required course for dental students exploring professional identity, oral health inequities, and the ethical challenges of modern dental practice.

Bioethics for Physician Assistant Students
An interdisciplinary course connecting core clinical ethics topics to broader issues of health justice and community health.

Across these courses, I aim to help students understand how clinical practice is embedded within broader social systems and to equip them with the tools to navigate those complexities thoughtfully.

Curriculum Development and Educational Leadership

n addition to classroom teaching, I have played an active role in shaping curricula and educational programs at Temple University.

As Co-Director of Education at the Center for Health Justice and Bioethics, I help oversee the Master of Health Justice and Bioethics program, including curriculum development, faculty collaboration, and program assessment. I have also contributed to the redesign of core courses in the program to emphasize structural competency, community engagement, and interdisciplinary research.

I also serve as Director of Service Learning for the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, where I oversee a longitudinal community engagement program for first-year medical students. Through partnerships with organizations across Philadelphia, students participate in projects addressing issues such as immigrant health, prison health education, and menstrual health equity.

These initiatives aim to move service learning beyond volunteerism by integrating community partnerships with ethical reflection, scholarly research, and professional formation.

Mentorship

Mentorship is one of the most meaningful aspects of my academic work. I regularly mentor medical students, graduate students, and residents on research projects addressing topics such as immigrant healthcare access, prison health, and structural determinants of health.

Many of these collaborations have resulted in peer-reviewed publications and national conference presentations, allowing students to contribute to scholarly conversations while still in training.

My mentoring philosophy emphasizes intellectual curiosity, collaborative scholarship, and the development of each student’s voice as a thinker and advocate. I view mentorship not simply as supervision but as a process of helping students translate their ethical commitments into meaningful research, clinical practice, and leadership.

Recognition

My teaching has been recognized with the Educational Excellence Award from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, reflecting sustained contributions to interdisciplinary education across multiple health professions programs.

Student evaluations consistently highlight the energy, intellectual rigor, and sense of purpose that characterize my courses. Many students describe these courses as transformative moments in their training, helping them connect their professional aspirations with broader questions of justice and community responsibility.