Erin Contratto, M.D., is the junior faculty winner of the 2020 Dean’s Excellence Award in Teaching. Contratto is an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine.
Contratto is an exemplary role model who mentors students, residents, and colleagues. She is the assistant course director of the Introduction to Clinical Medicine Course, the co-director of the Clinical Skills Scholars program, and the director of the Women’s Health Track. Contratto uses principles of adult education when teaching medical students, residents, and faculty. She is gifted with the ability to teach effectively in any setting—hospital, clinic, and large or small groups. She has the greatest impact when mentoring individual students; she shares the human aspects of being a physician, the skills needed for life-long learning, and effective ways to integrate work and life.
“Dr. Contratto is a well-recognized educator and a superb role model for women in academic medicine,” said Dr. David Rogers, senior associate dean of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development in the School of Medicine. “Dr. Contratto has effectively broken the ‘glass ceiling’ that pervasively places women in academic medicine at a disadvantage.”
Contratto earned her medical degree and completed internal medicine residency at UAB. Her research focuses on medical education. Publications related to this area of her work include personal authorship and mentorship for continuing education models on menopause, hormone replacement therapy, and hypothyroidism.