Shaundra Blakemore, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has been awarded the junior faculty 2023 Dean’s Excellence Award for Mentorship.
Blakemore completed her medical school, pediatric residency training, and pediatric emergency medicine fellowship training at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She has been on faculty since 2019 in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and has been passionate and committed to mentorship throughout her entire medical school career.
“Shaundra is an outstanding clinician who provides excellent care for patients and their families and is a remarkable educator of the residents, medical students, and nurses,” said Kathy Monroe, M.D., division director for the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. “But, more than being an educator and physician, she is a remarkable mentor to numerous high school students, college students, medical school students, and residents. She is forever working to lift trainees through support, advice, and training.”
Blakemore dedicates much of her time to mentoring and provides support and assistance to many levels of learners.
Shadowing is now a requirement for medical school admission, and access to faculty to shadow can be a barrier for underrepresented minorities. Blakemore is very willing to have college students shadow her in the emergency department to complete this requirement.
For numerous medical students, she provides ad hoc support, guides them through frequent medical simulations and didactic lectures, hosts mentorship dinners, and organizes mock interviews.
Her mentorship even reaches the middle school level. Over the last year, Blakemore has served as the co-director of UAB Mini Medical School, a program that mentors sixth graders from underrepresented areas in medicine to encourage them to pursue healthcare careers. This program provides students who have an interest in science or medicine the opportunity to learn from professionals across the entire medical field and have hands on experiences to grow their interest in science.