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As Education Director of the Kanbar Center for Simulation and Clinical Skills, Dr. Cornes will lead the Simulation Center’s educational programs and research on simulation-based learning across clinical skills, procedures, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence. She will work across health professions education programs to advance UCSF’s curricular vision and help position UCSF as a national leader in simulation education.
The Simulation Center serves all four UCSF professional schools and the physical therapy program, providing simulation opportunities through mannequins, partial task trainers, standardized patients, and other technologies for both learning and assessment.
Dr. Cornes brings a wealth of experience and national leadership in simulation and clinical skills education. Since 2016, she has served as Co-Director of the Clinical Microsystems Clerkship (CMC), where she led the development of a longitudinal Direct Patient Care curriculum and a robust assessment program. Dr. Cornes previously served as the Foundations 1 Director for the Bridges Curriculum and the Rowe Endowed Chair for Teaching in Neurology. A nationally recognized leader, she sits on the Executive Council of the Directors of Clinical Skills Education (DOCS) and has delivered numerous workshops on simulation-based assessment, equity, and standardized patient (SP) instruction. Her expertise is also reflected in her co-authorship of the SP assessment chapter in the book, Practical Guide to the Evaluation of Clinical Competence.
Dr. Cornes is currently co-developing “MedSimAI”—an AI-powered simulation platform for communication and history-taking skills—alongside collaborators from Yale and Cornell. She views simulation as a cornerstone of competency-based education and as a powerful driver for equitable, patient-centered learning. Dr. Cornes brings to her new role a collaborative spirit, a deep commitment to innovation, and a strong dedication to supporting learners, faculty, and simulation professionals.
As part of this transition, we want to recognize and thank Sandrijn van Schaik, MD, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Baum Family Presidential Chair for Experiential Learning, for her transformative and highly impactful contributions to simulation education at UCSF. Since 2010, she has grown UCSF’s interprofessional simulation and clinical skills capacity. Over the last 15 years, Dr. van Schaik has overseen the expansion of the simulation programs and space, including the integration of the School of Nursing skills lab, which is currently under construction. She developed a coordinated simulation education community by founding the UC Simulation Consortium and establishing an annual Simulation Symposium. Dr. van Schaik provided opportunities to develop the next generation of simulation educators by establishing the Medical Student Simulation Fellowship and the UCSF Baum Family Simulation Faculty Scholars Program. Most recently, she helped broaden how educators define simulation by hosting the first annual education symposium on Artificial Intelligence in February. Dr. van Schaik is stepping down from her role as the Director of the Simulation Center to focus on her role as Director of Faculty Development for the UCSF School of Medicine’s Center for Faculty Educators.
Please join us in thanking Dr. van Schaik for her visionary leadership and in welcoming Dr. Cornes to her new role. With their continued guidance, UCSF’s simulation and faculty development programs will remain at the forefront of medical education.
Sincerely,
Karen Hauer, MD, PhD
Vice Dean for Education
Molina Bernadett Presidential Chair in Medical Education
Christina Cicoletti, MNA
Associate Dean for Medical Education
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