Jessica DeBord, MD, MPH

Dr. DeBord completed a combined MD/MPH degree at Tulane in 2007, followed by a residency in combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics and a Pediatric chief residency at Tulane. Her current clinical responsibilities include attending as an IM hospitalist at Tulane Hospital and as a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans. Dr. DeBord serves as the director of Foundations in Medicine, the introduction to clinical medicine course for all first and second year medical students at Tulane School of Medicine, as well as director of the Combined Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency program. She also directs several medical student electives, including Introduction to Clinical Teaching, Social Contexts in Medicine, and the Student-Run Clinics electives. She has developed curricula in high value care for the medical school and pediatrics residency program, as well as curricula addressing medical decision making, health systems science, and evidence-based medicine for the School of Medicine. Dr. DeBord’s research has addressed methods of delivery of residency didactics, including effectiveness of the academic half-day format, and quality improvement in the care of patients hospitalized with sickle cell vaso-occlusive crisis. She is currently primary investigator on APPD LEARN network studies of (1) the academic half-day format and (2) alternatives to the USMLE in predicting success in pediatric residency.