Peymaun A. “Jarod” Vakhshoorzadeh, MD

Jarod Vakhshoorzadeh, M.D.
Assistant Professor, Children’s Heart Institute
Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston

Phone: 713-500-5553
Email: [email protected]

Educational Teaching Philosophy:

Inspired by my educational mentors, my teaching philosophy is driven by two core concepts: the pay-it-forward mentality and helping learners become ‘the best version of themselves’. To achieve this, I employ an interactive, evidenced-based teaching style focused on teachable moments. Whether at the bedside, during a didactic lecture, or in one-on-one mentorship sessions, I create supervised exploration within a psychologically safe environment to enable meaningful and memorable learning. I engage in direct clinical teaching within the Children’s Heart Institute at UT Houston and Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, designing and coordinating educational curricula, including simulations and educational activities for fellows, staff, and faculty.

As a clinician-educator and mentor, I endeavor to drive critical thinking among students and peers within a practical, experiential, and engaging teaching environment. By breaking down the typical teacher-learner hierarchy through a constructivist learning model, I encourage a learner-centric environment that encourages lifelong learning through active knowledge-probing and self-reflection. This is achieved through interactive lectures with both application and checkpoint questions, interactive simulations, and group-based discussions on complex physiology topics.

In my role as both an educational leader within my division and as the Program Director of the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine Fellowship, I utilize pragmatism to harmonize learner autonomy with individualized learning to guide individual development and provision of entrustment. I strive to set a continuous example of what it means to be a lifelong learner, broadening both my own and my learner’s fund of knowledge, as well as fostering individual responsibility to the learning process. This includes implementation of divisional qualitative and quantitative evaluative assessments for learners and faculty, prioritizing open and honest two-way feedback to guide growth of the trainees and our faculty.

My commitment to self-development and responsibility to my division involves practice of the most up-to-date teaching and assessment modalities. To support my ongoing professional growth and pursuit of excellence, I have completed the esteemed UT Houston Health Educators Fellowship Program and continue to advance my interests in educational research and scholarship through active participation in the UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School’s Academy of Master Educators. Additionally, I seek further knowledge and experience through coursework at the University of Houston, conferences, educational development sessions, and direct feedback from others. By embracing these concepts, I strive to uplift others through paying forward the knowledge, kindness, and inspiration that have shaped my career as a clinician-educator, with the hope that my learners will one day do the same for others.

Biography:

Peymaun “Jarod” Vakhshoorzadeh, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Children’s Heart Institute, Division of Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine. He completed his medical school training at The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, and he completed his pediatric residency training at the University of Rochester Medical Center. He subsequently went on to complete dual subspecialty fellowship training in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and Pediatric Cardiology at St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis.

As one of the core educators for the Cardiac Critical Care Division, Dr. Vakhshoorzadeh is dedicated to educational scholarship. He currently serves as the Program Director for the advanced Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine fellowship and is the physician lead for simulations at the Children’s Heart Institute.

Education:

• Medical School: The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at The University of Vermont
• Residency: Pediatrics, Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center
• Fellowship: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis
• Fellowship: Pediatric Cardiology, St. Louis Children’s Hospital at Washington University in St. Louis

Area of Expertise:

Clinical Interests: Single Ventricle Palliation, Interstage Home Monitoring, Clinical Simulation, Fellow and Nursing Education

Research Interests: Medical Education, Curriculum Development and Validation, Clinical Simulation, Evaluation of Critical Thinking and Team Dynamics in High-Pressure Environments, Education Technology, High Fidelity Simulation Programs including Virtual Reality Based Learning

Current Educational Activities:

Program Director, Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Medicine

Chair, HCICU Education Committee

Physician Lead, Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital Heart Center Simulation Group

Regular lectures for Pediatric Cardiology and Emergency Medicine Fellows

Fellow and APP supervision for Inpatient HCICU Service Line

Honors and Awards:

2023-2025: Nomination, acceptance and completion of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s Health Educators Fellowship Program (HEFP).

2024-2025: Nomination and Induction to the University of Texas Academy of Master Educators