Research Interests
My primary academic interest focuses on how medical learners experience self-conscious emotion (shame, guilt, and pride) as they progress through medical training. My research to-date has focused on understanding and characterizing medical residents' experiences of shame, and our findings suggest that major shame events can be intense, debilitating experiences that can lead to a host of negative outcomes and may be influenced by the learning environment and personal characteristics such as perfectionism. My future research plans, which I hope to pursue through a PhD program, seek to 1) characterize shame experiences across the continuum of medical education, focusing on how changes in context influence the shame experiences of medical students, residents, and practicing physicians, and 2) build a theory of shame resilience in medical learners and providers.
Selected Grants
Establishing a Shame Competent Academic Medicine Department
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation · 2025 - 2026Behind a Mask of Shame: A Hermeneutic Phenomenologic Exploration of Surgical Residents¿ Experiences with Shame
ResearchMentor · Awarded by Association for Surgical Education Foundation · 2025 - 2026Duke Family Medicine Rural Residency Track - Planning and Development
Inst. Training Prgm or CMECo Investigator · Awarded by Health Resources and Service Administration · 2020 - 2023Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research
Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) National Grant ·
June 27, 2016
Awarded by: Association of American Medical Colleges
· $5,000.00
Funding awarded to support the project entitled "A Qualitative Exploration of Shame Experienced During Residency."
External Relationships
- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
- Baylor Scott & White Healthcare
- Canadian Medical Association
- Cape Fear Valley Hospital
- EmPRO Insurance
- Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University
- George Washington University
- ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company
- Indiana University
- Inova Fairfax Hospital
- Intend Health Strategies
- Memorial University of Newfoundland
- Uniformed Services University
- University of Exeter
- University of Michigan
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Rochester
This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies, institutions, or organizations listed above. This information is available to institutional leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.