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David Charles Gordon

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine
Emergency Medicine
Box 3096 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
1680 Duke North, Durham, NC 27710

Overview


Dr. Gordon is Associate Professor and Associate Program Director for the Department of Emergency Medicine. He also serves as an Associate Dean for Student Affairs for the Duke University School of Medicine. After receiving his MD from Harvard Medical School, he completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Cincinnati. In 2005, he joined the Emergency Medicine faculty at Duke University and remains dedicated to the education and training of medical students and residents.

Dr. Gordon's main academic interests include the teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning, understanding and reducing cognitive errors, and the remediation of struggling learners. As a former Undergraduate Education Director for Emergency Medicine at Duke University and President of Clerkship Directors in Emergency Medicine (CDEM), he help produce educational training videos used nationally to provide instruction on patient presentations, safer sign outs, and effective consultation. 

Dr. Gordon has received multiple awards for his educational achievements including the Duke Emergency Medicine Faculty Teacher of the Year Award, Duke Emergency Medicine Distinguished Faculty Award, American College of Emergency Medicine Physicians National Faculty Teaching Award, and the Duke University School of Medicine Master Clinician/Teacher Award.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine · 2021 - Present Emergency Medicine, Clinical Science Departments

In the News


Published April 15, 2022
School of Medicine Celebrates 2022 Faculty Achievement Awards

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Recent Publications


Validity Evidence for Using Virtual, Interactive Patient Encounters to Teach and Assess Clinical Reasoning for First-Year Medical Students.

Journal Article Acad Med · April 1, 2025 PURPOSE: Despite universal agreement on the importance of clinical reasoning skills, inadequate curricular attention to these skills remains a problem. To facilitate integration of clinical reasoning instruction and assessment into the preclerkship phase, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Stepping Back: How Should Pass/Fail Scoring Influence Step 1 Timing?

Journal Article Acad Med · February 1, 2025 Although most students complete Step 1 before clerkships, some institutions delay the exam until after clerkships. The change to pass/fail grading adds additional complexity that should be considered when deciding about exam timing. Both early and late adm ... Full text Link to item Cite

Away Rotation Applications in Emergency Medicine: Medical Student Behaviors, Outcomes, and Stressors.

Journal Article The Journal of emergency medicine · March 2022 BackgroundCompleting an emergency medicine (EM) away rotation is integral to matching successfully into an EM residency program. The demand for EM away rotations (ARs) drives students to submit numerous applications without evidence-based recommen ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


NBME OSCE for Clinical Reasoning Creative Community

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Board of Medical Examiners · 2022 - 2024

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Education, Training & Certifications


Harvard University · 2001 M.D.