NEW ORLEANS – The Ochsner Medical Student Association (OMSA) has named Sonia Malhotra, MD of Ochsner Medical Center – Jefferson Highway as 2016 Teacher of the Year.
OMSA is a student advocacy organization run by the students of the University of Queensland (UQ) and Ochsner Clinical School, a joint collaboration in medical education between UQ and Ochsner Health System. The Teacher of the Year award recognizes the top teachers from the UQ Clinical School. The medical students nominated 12 Ochsner Clinical School faculty members who go above and beyond in their clinical teaching and inspire the next generation of care providers.
Dr. Malhotra received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Dominica, West Indies. She completed an Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA and served as Chief Resident in Pediatrics for the Tulane-Ochsner Pediatrics Residency program. She then completed a one year fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh where she remained as faculty while completing a Master's degree in Medical Education. Dr. Malhotra is a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association and a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"Receiving an award like 'Teacher of the Year' in my first year at Ochsner is both exciting and humbling, as it shows me that I am impacting our students' education and lives,” said Dr. Malhotra. “I have been fortunate to have amazing mentors, from residency, fellowship and now as a young attending, guide me both professionally and personally. Our students are all emerging leaders and need mentors to guide them, show them the passion and humanity of medicine and to reassure them that they are not on this path alone."
The UQ Ochsner Clinical School is in its eighth year of providing medical education to the next generation of physicians through a unique training experience on two continents. Students complete years one and two of the medical school curriculum in Brisbane and years three and four, the clinical phase of the curriculum in core rotations across the Ochsner Health System. Five Classes have graduated from the UQ Ochsner Clinical School to date enjoying a 94 percent Match Rate in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). Some graduates also choose to participate in the Ochsner Post Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which provides an opportunity for them to remain engaged in clinical and health services research. The UQ Ochsner Clinical School continues to provide diverse learning opportunities and global educational experiences to prepare the future healthcare leaders.
