Coming Home to Educate: Erica Stovsky

For Erica Stovsky, M.D. (’07), returning to Northeast Ohio Medical University after nearly a decade of training and clinical practice was an easy decision.

Shortly after earning an M.D. from NEOMED, Dr. Stovsky completed an internal medicine residency, followed by a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine. Afterwards, she was in clinical practice for several years as a hospice and palliative medicine physician.

It was during her time as a clinician that Dr. Stovsky developed an interest in health systems and public health issues, so she opted to completed a second residency in preventive medicine and public health. As part of that, she earned a Master of Public Health degree at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Continuing to develop skills is important to Dr. Stovsky, who completed NEOMED’s Fellowship in Academic Medicine (FAME) leadership program in the 2018-19 year.

Returning as an educator

Not only does she like to learn; as a medical student and through patient care, Dr. Stovsky realized how engaged she felt when she was educating patients and their families. So, a couple of years ago, Dr. Stovsky returned to NEOMED, to focus on education full-time.

“NEOMED has always kind of felt like home. It has been part of my life in one way or another since I was 17, so it was nice to have the opportunity to come back to somewhere that felt like I belong,” says Dr. Stovsky.

Now, she serves as the College of Medicine’s course director for Applications of Clinical Medicine, as well as an assistant professor of internal medicine.

NEOMED’s Applications of Clinical Medicine is a course that all third-year College of Medicine students take. According to Dr. Stovsky, it houses a large portion of material that cross-cuts across all clerkships. It covers health systems, interprofessional education, career development, clinical skills assessments and more.

Along with leading Applications of Clinical Medicine course, Dr. Stovsky serves as one of the instructors in NEOMED’s Social Determinants of Health course and is a reflective practice leader for the students’ Human Values in Medicine courses.

Teaching by mentoring

It’s the one-on-one and small group mentoring opportunities that Dr. Stovsky values most.

“I really love getting to know the students as individuals. Everybody’s here for a reason and I like to figure out why they’re here to see how I can help them to achieve their ultimate career goals,” says Dr. Stovsky.

“One of the things that’s awesome about working with medical students is that there’s so much enthusiasm. They’re early in their training, they’re early in their careers and they’re really passionate about what they’re doing.”