Rutgers Health Honors Distinguished Preceptors

March 28, 2024

On January 18, 2024, Rutgers Health hosted the inaugural Rutgers Health Distinguished Preceptor Appreciation Event. Over 200 people registered for the event which celebrated honorees for their teaching excellence and contributions to the interprofessional mission of Rutgers Health.

The event was moderated by faculty members Caroline Dorsen, PhD, FNP-BC, FANN (School of Nursing) and Ryan White, PhD, PA-C (School of Health Professions) and featured Vicente Gracias, MD, Senior Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs, and Denise Rodgers, MD, Vice Chancellor of Interprofessional Programs. Tara Lagu, MD, MPH (Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research in the Institute for Public Health and Medicine) and Carol Haywood, Ph.D., OTR/L (Department of Medical Social Sciences) both from Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, delivered the keynote address on the event’s theme “Identifying and Addressing Inequities in Care for People with Disabilities.” Five Rutgers Health preceptors were recognized for their extraordinary contributions:  

• Manuel Jimenez, MD, MS, FAAP, Boggs Center on Developmental Disabilities at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School 
• David Mercado, MS, RDN, NASM-CPT, Center for Advanced Liver Disease and Transplantation, University Hospital 
• Tameika Minor, PhD, Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Psychology Program, Rutgers School of Health Professions 
• Liliana Pinete, MPH, MD, Partnership for Maternal and Child Health of Northern NJ 
• Stuart Vigdor, BS Pharm, RPh, RWJBarnabas Health-Somerset 

As an academic health center, Rutgers Health prides itself on facilitating outstanding clinical education and fostering an inclusive and affirming clinical learning environment for all health professions students. Our students benefit from exposure to team-based clinical care and education, and collaboration among professionals from different disciplines.

This inaugural Distinguished Preceptor Appreciation Event allowed us to recognize our enterprise-wide colleagues and partners who have demonstrated exceptional teaching, interprofessional collaboration, and support for Rutgers Health students.