Welcome to the Office of Academic Excellence (OAE). Our goal is to help students reach their academic potential. Our passion is to make learning efficient, effective, and enjoyable

Mission Statement

  • To create a positive coaching environment to maximize one’s potential regardless of the academic levels.
  • It is available to everyone to de-stigmatize of “needing academic assistance.”
  • The overarching goal is to integrate the four elements of master adaptive learning, planning, learning, assessing and adjusting, into the educational experiences throughout the pre- and clerkship years. The principles are data-driven, individualized, and developmentally appropriate.
  • We strive to provide tailored and practical approaches that can be applied to various learning situations and help create concrete study plans that result in measurable outcomes.
  • We collaborate with both the diversity leadership and integrate the peers and near-peers to support underrepresented minority students to meet their needs.

Members and specialty of the office

Amelia Kirby, MD

Amelia Kirby, MD (Blue house)
Director of Academic Advising
Genetics content
Pediatrics content
Study strategies
USMLE examination preparation
Prep for clinical rotations
Matthew A. Gorris, MD

Matt Gorris, MD (Green house)
Assistant director of the Step Up Thread and academic coach
Clinical content expert and application to multiple-choice questions
Multiple choice question dissection and approach
Logistical preparation for standardized tests (test day logistics, preparing for the environment)
Practice-based learning during clinical rotations
Angela G. Niehaus, MD

Angie Niehaus, MD (Yellow house)
Jason Allen Powell, MD

Jason Powell, MD (Red house)

Andrea Vallevand, PhD
Data analysis

Blair Weaver, BS
Scheduling
Data preparation
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