2024 Financial Educator of the year Award

By Bill Jackson May 22, 2024 13 mins read 158 Views

By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI Founder

A few weeks ago, we asked you to nominate your favorite doctor who is educating colleagues and trainees on financial matters for The White Coat Investor Financial Educator of the Year Award. While the winner gets a nice certificate and CV entry for this, they also get a cool $1,000 check to blow on whatever they want. This is the sixth year we've done this award, and past winners include:

2024 Financial Educator of the year Award

Gaurav Agarwal
Jason Mizell
Scott Truhlar
Stephen Pamatmat
Cyril Varghese

While you can be nominated every year for this award, you can only win it once. Winners have to be practicing docs, and they can't be financial advisors or for-profit financial bloggers or podcasters. And no, I'm not eligible, and podcast producer Megan Scott has requested I tell you to quit nominating me! Mostly, these docs are giving formal and informal lectures to peers and trainees, developing curriculums, publishing papers, and running little personal finance ministries to help physicians and similar high-income professionals become more financially literate and disciplined. We want to encourage this behavior, so in addition to this award, we even offer slides to help you give presentations:

Presentation for Attendings
Presentation for Residents
Presentation for Medical Students

Feel free to use those, personalize them, and pass them around to anyone you think could benefit from them.

One of our staff members this year asked how come a woman has never won this award, especially since women win the majority of the WCI Scholarships each year. While maybe we're biased, the more likely explanation is that we're simply not seeing very many women get nominated. This year, only three of our 18 nominees (five out of 40 nominations) were women. For the next year, we want to specifically encourage women doctors to do more financial education for their peers and for those getting educated to nominate them. While this award isn't a vote (i.e. it isn't just given to the most frequently nominated person), it never hurts to have more people nominate you!

Honorable Mentions

While we will specifically highlight what our winner has been doing to educate other docs, I wanted to briefly recognize EVERY nominee we had this year, because they're all doing great things. Every nominee deserves an honorable mention. I hope readers will see what all these docs are doing and adopt their ideas and methods. Here are the nominees and what the nominators wrote about them.

Bradley Bandera

“He was the only doctor in all of my clinical sites who gave me a financial education. He held formal financial lectures for the residency and our rotating students, reviewing all aspects of financial wellness. He reviewed his personal business deals as case studies for us to grow.”

David Worhunsky

“He told us that he still drives a beat-up Mazda 3 from training. He mentioned that when he parks in the physician-only spots, he will often get parking tickets since the parking enforcement employees don't believe that a physician would drive his car. Because he took the initiative to seek out the opportunity to talk to us about finances, my classmates and I are better prepared to navigate the complexities of resident finances, and have a head start on becoming financially literate attendings.”

Yasser Rodriguez

“. . . Remarkably transformed the landscape of financial education in our medical community. His commitment is evident in the bi-monthly workshops he initiated three years ago . . . which he offers free of charge, cover essential topics . . . [He has also] created a suite of online resources that include interactive tools and personalized financial coaching . . . without any personal financial gain.”

Dr. Dodrill

“Dr. Dodrill is an ophthalmologist who teaches 12 family medicine residents at didactics every month. He focuses on two different subjects—ophthalmology and finance.”

Gayle Galletta

Nominated three times this year, we already know Gayle as a WCI podcast guest and WCICON speaker, but she's doing a whole lot more.

Resident, intern, and medical student lectures
WCI books for EM interns
WCI essay contest judge since 2018
Finding MS1s to be their “Class Champion” to hand out free WCI Student Guides to every student in their class since 2021
WCICON 2020 speaker (virtual): “So, You Want to Take a Sabbatical?”
UMass EM Financial Literacy Interest Group, founder
Invited speaker: Massachusetts ACEP: “Financial Literacy” 5/1/2024
Invited speaker: Worcester District Medical Society “Medical Student Workshop on Finances” 5/8/2024
Capstone mentor to medical student

George Chou

“For the past few years, he has advocated for students to start engaging and participating in The White Coat Investor community from the moment they step on campus . . . Dr. Chou has taught a didactic series where he covers a wide variety of finance topics including: budgeting basics, insurance, student loans, investing, and much more. Dr. Chou goes out of his way to serve students and help them become knowledgeable in the basics of finance using WCI principles. In addition to the finance lecture series to our predoctoral fellows, he has also given multiple presentations to local clubs. On a national scale, he volunteered to give a ‘Basics in Personal Finance' talk to the student section of the American College of Family Physicians. “

John Griffin

“Dr. Griffin sacrifices a tremendous amount of his personal time to teach fundamental financial concepts to students one-on-one when they rotate with him and at a larger scale through lectures at the local medical schools.”

Paul Koenigsberg

Nominated four times this year, “His presentations on financial literacy, mainly ‘From a Doctor’s Perspective: How to Retire by 55,' have imparted practical wisdom beyond traditional medical education's confines. Dr. Koenigsberg's insights on financial savviness during the demanding years of medical school have instilled in us the importance of balancing our professional aspirations with sound financial habits. As future physicians, we are often consumed by the immediacy of patient care and the pursuit of medical knowledge, inadvertently neglecting the financial understanding required for a secure future. Dr. Koenigsberg addresses this gap with clarity and earnestness, equipping us with the tools to invest prudently and protect our assets upon graduation—a curriculum rarely discussed within our formal education.”

Peter Marzano

financial educator of the year award

“One of Dr. Marzano's most notable contributions is his unwavering dedication to empowering residents at the University of Central Florida Internal Medicine Residency with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions about their financial future. His guidance extends beyond mere advice; it is a comprehensive education that equips residents with the tools they need to thrive in their careers and personal lives. One area where Dr. Marzano shines is in assisting residents with revising their work contracts. He understands the nuances of these agreements and works tirelessly to ensure that his mentees secure favorable terms that align with their career goals and financial aspirations.”

Stacie Wong

I loved Stacie's unique approach. Rather than doing dedicated financial lectures, “She devotes 5-10 minutes of each class period to financial matters and instructs the students on topics like paying debt off early, staying out of debt once student loans are repaid, early retirement investing, living frugally, the fundamentals of retirement plans, the importance of obtaining disability insurance, the basics of employment contracts . . .”

Jiean Heifetz-Li

“Dr. Li’s mentorship has instilled in me a more rational approach to spending, epitomized by my transition from an expensive car payment to living without one. This shift not only reflects financial savings but symbolizes a broader change in mindset toward valuing financial independence and security over material possessions. His pragmatic approach to financial education emphasizes the principle that “no one will care as much about your own finances as yourself,” a mantra that has inspired me to take control of my financial future.”

Naomi Ambalu

Strongly nominated by one of the WCI columnists, I was wondering why I hadn't ever heard of Dr. Ambalu and why there weren't a dozen nominations from her students. Maybe next year. She sounds like a great presenter for one of the quarterly FEW events, too! “Dr. Ambalu has built an entire financial literacy curriculum in a medical school where it is sorely needed. As a member of the teaching faculty at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, which was recognized by WCI as the most expensive MD private school in the nation, she offers these highly indebted medical students an elective in physician personal finance.”

Nicholas Milano

“Before we even arrived in Charleston to begin residency, Dr. Milano emailed our incoming class cautioning against purchasing a house without thinking through the financial repercussions of doing so. He provided a link to The White Coat Investor website in this email, which has since been an invaluable resource for me. Then, throughout residency, Dr. Milano has continued to give lectures to the residents and medical students about the basics of personal finance . . . In addition to his lectures, Dr. Milano is always willing to provide one-on-one education to interested residents.”

Patrick Nguyen

Nominated four times, his presentations “are not mere lectures; they are meticulously crafted sessions aimed at empowering residents to make informed financial decisions. Dr. Nguyen's impact extends far beyond the confines of formal presentations. He devotes countless hours to mentoring residents and patiently addresses unique financial concerns.”

Seungtaek Choi

“He is extremely generous with his time and gives advice through both formal and informal channels. He routinely gives lectures to the residency program on ‘Personal Finance for Residents and New Attendings,' which are always well attended by newly minted graduates and trainees. He recorded a podcast last year as a guest with the American College of Radiation Oncology (ACRO).”

Scott Rupp

Scott was nominated twice this year, and both nominations were extremely strong. I would have felt just fine about Scott winning the award this year. He's well known to me from a prior Milestone to Millionaire segment and this publication. I suspect it is only a matter of time before he wins this award. “Scott began his financial education career organizing financial lectures during his senior year of college for his classmates in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) with general advice on how to counsel enlisted members after they receive large sums of money for enlistment bonuses. He admits these early lectures were by no means perfect but nevertheless likely saved many of our fellow service members from 20% APR car loans. Scott’s knowledge grew throughout medical school with the help of The White Coat Investor books and community, and he became our go-to source for financial advice, particularly in residency. Scott’s prowess in financial literacy became so well known that he started a living document, FAQ list, and reference guide titled ‘What to Know Before You D.O.: A Curriculum Guide to Early Career Professional Financial Education.' This manuscript has blossomed into a 43-page manuscript that those who have access to use frequently reference. During residency, Scott developed a three-hour, six-lecture curriculum delivered over six months to address all the highest-yield issues facing early-career physicians. This curriculum was especially effective because we received a constant bombardment of unsolicited emails from financial professionals who we as physicians could not necessarily trust.”

Josh Daily

This year's competition was extremely close, but alas, there can be only one winner. If we were giving out two awards, the other would probably go to Josh. The University of Arkansas Medical Sciences has been blessed not only to have had Jason Mizell (winner of this award in 2020) but also Josh Daily who was nominated seven times this year. One of his nominees pointed out that he helped her to get paid more. Others noted his publications and the fact that he has been a guest here on the podcast (about his own brain tumor and its financial implications) and submitted WCI guest posts. But mostly, they talk about how he has been the leader for the extremely successful formal UAMS financial education program. That's not even the only financial education course he has put together! He lectures at regional and national meetings, and nominators included a CV-like list of all he has done while writing things like this: “I am convinced that he is saving people's lives and futures in how he helps with their financial education.”

Our Winner: Dr. Kent Bradley

Dr. Kent Bradley

The winner of the 2024 White Coat Investor Financial Educator Award goes to Dr. Kent Bradley, a clinical professor and OB/GYN at the University of Kansas-Wichita who was nominated eight times this year. Nominators noted that when you take Kent out to dinner to pick his mind on financial topics, he actually pays! They also told about the premarital asset protection counseling he does and called him “the most selfless person I know.”

One nominator said: “I have a folder in my OneNote application entirely dedicated to ‘Bradley Discussions.' Anyone who knows this man would know simply by the title that my folder contains financial pearls ranging from disability and life insurance to retirement savings to contract negotiation. On day No. 1 of rotating with Dr. Bradley, he gives his residents a copy of a well-organized curriculum with a plethora of financially related topics and says, ‘What do you want to talk about?' He does this in the midst of a busy clinic and still manages to be efficient and dedicated to his patients. I still remember typing as fast as I could while he educated me about term life insurance, retirement savings, and more.”

Part of this competition is also a reward for the best nomination. The best of the eight nominations we received for Dr. Bradley was by Cheryl Dobson (who will receive a free WCI online course of her choice), which I will now reproduce in its entirety. I was particularly impressed with this nomination by an attending physician from a completely different specialty.

The Winning Nomination

“I am writing to nominate Dr. Kent Bradley for WCI Financial Educator of the Year. I first met Dr. Bradley when I was a MS3 at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita in 2015 when he gave a presentation to our medical school class about financial literacy for physicians. Dr. Bradley shared countless pearls of wisdom in that presentation, one of them being that we all needed to purchase and read The White Coat Investor. Because of Dr. Bradley’s recommendation, I did indeed read (and re-read) The White Coat Investor in medical school, in residency, and then again after becoming an attending . . . and through following the principles of the WCI, I have been able to successfully navigate what can be very choppy financial waters, especially for new physicians.

Fast forward to my current job as an attending in the emergency department of a community hospital outside of Wichita, Kansas—it turns out that Dr. Bradley happens to be the chair of the OB department at my hospital. I recently had the opportunity to reconnect with Dr. Bradley after all these years and tell him how much I appreciated the presentation on finance that he gave to my medical school class nearly 10 years ago. I was thrilled to be able to tell him how the wisdom he had shared, including the recommendation that we each read The White Coat Investor, had made such a positive impact on me and had influenced many of the financial decisions that I made as a new physician.

After visiting more with Dr. Bradley about his volunteer work with teaching medical students about personal finance (which he still does), I have learned that he also volunteers to educate and serve as a resource on finance for residents as well as his fellow attendings. I remember from that presentation nearly 10 years ago that Dr. Bradley gave us his personal contact information (which really made an impression on me as a medical student!) and said that we could contact him directly if we had any questions that we wanted to ask about finance. Now that I have had a chance to reconnect with Dr. Bradley, I have taken him up on that offer, and he has been gracious to answer some specific financial questions and share even more of his wisdom. He recently forwarded me a copy of the PowerPoint that he uses when he gives presentations to medical students. As I read the slides, I perused the ‘recommended reading' list—though some newer releases had been added to the list since I last saw his presentation many years ago (including The WCI’s Financial Boot Camp), the book at the top of the list had remained the same: The White Coat Investor.

Dr. Bradley’s selflessness and dedication in volunteering to teach personal finance to physicians-in-training through the years has undoubtedly made a lasting impact on countless members of the medical profession. It is my honor to nominate Dr. Bradley for WCI Financial Educator of the Year as a very small token of my appreciation for the very large gift of knowledge that he has shared with me and others.”

Congratulations to Dr. Bradley and to Dr. Dobson!

What do you think? What will you do in the next year to help your colleagues and trainees become more financially literate and disciplined? Comment below!

The post 2024 Financial Educator of the Year Award appeared first on The White Coat Investor - Investing & Personal Finance for Doctors.

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By: The White Coat Investor
Title: 2024 Financial Educator of the Year Award
Sourced From: www.whitecoatinvestor.com/2024-financial-educator-of-the-year-award/
Published Date: Wed, 22 May 2024 06:30:54 +0000

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