Teaching

Teaching the next generation of physicians.

Across more than a decade at Stanford, Dr. Mediratta has taught and mentored over 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students on global health, COVID-19, and the realities of clinical practice in low-resource settings.

Courses

PEDS 220

Past, Present, and Future: Lessons from COVID‑19

As COVID‑19 began surging in March 2020, Dr. Mediratta wanted to educate students about the clinical course, epidemiology, and societal impact of the pandemic. During the Spring quarter of 2020, he created and served as Faculty Director for the 1‑credit course PEDS 19 (later renamed PEDS 220) to teach Stanford undergraduates and graduate students about the pandemic.

With the help of a medical student TA team, more than 200 students enrolled and 300 students audited the course. Dr. Mediratta gave a lecture about the clinical course of COVID‑19, recruited guest lecturers, and ran the course virtually. He incorporated lectures and small group discussions over Zoom and maintained a Slack channel so students could engage with the material and each other before and after class.

The course was profiled in the Commentary section of the Wall Street Journal on April 26, 2020. The average evaluation was 4.3 out of 5.

  • Pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery
  • Clinical course, epidemiology, and societal impact
  • Health equity dimensions of pandemic response
  • Vaccine science, policy, and public communication

PEDS 199

Directed Reading and Research

A one-on-one mentorship vehicle for undergraduates pursuing independent research in global child health, neonatal mortality, AI-driven clinical innovation, and adjacent fields. Students often go on to publish first-author work and present at national conferences.

Teaching and mentorship

“Passionate about teaching, I mentor students and faculty on pediatrics and global health.” Rishi Mediratta

Dr. Mediratta’s teaching draws from his clinical work as a pediatric hospitalist, his global health fieldwork in Ethiopia, and his training in medical anthropology and public health. He leads education and research initiatives focused on remote neonatal resuscitation, quality improvement in childhood pneumonia, and AI-driven innovations in child health.

Students who work with him report that the most lasting lesson is also the most counterintuitive: that the patient’s story is usually richer and more important than the chart, and that curiosity about that story is a clinical skill.

Related

MentorshipCMSA and one-on-one advising ResearchWhat students work on FoundationFieldwork opportunities