Thilan Wijesekera, MD, MHS
Assistant ProfessorCards
About
Titles
Assistant Professor
Director of Performance Improvement, Yale School of Medicine; Director of Clinical Reasoning, Yale School of Medicine; Associate, Educator Development in Teaching Clinical Reasoning, Teaching and Learning Center
Biography
Thilan Wijesekera, MD, MHS received his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry before completing his residency training in Yale University’s Primary Care Residency Program. He subsequently completed a General Internal Medicine Fellowship in Medical Education at Yale University School of Medicine, during which he received a Master of Health Science degree in the Medical Education Pathway.
In 2018, he joined the Academic Hospitalist Program in the Yale Section of General Internal Medicine. He is active in medical education, particularly at Yale University School of Medicine, where he has roles as the Director of Clinical Reasoning and a section leader in the Interprofessional Longitudinal Clinical Experience. He also has a role in the Teaching and Learning Center as an Associate for Clinical Reasoning Educator Development, where he provides and collaborates on consultations, workshops, and scholarship related to teaching clinical reasoning.
Dr. Wijesekera's educational interests include clinical skills, curriculum development, interprofessional education and mentorship for medical students and residents. His research interests include clinical reasoning, diagnostic error, and interprofessional education with recent publications in JAMA Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, and Journal of General Internal Medicine. He gives faculty development workshops regionally and nationally on teaching clinical reasoning and diagnostic error, on which he completed a fellowship with the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (2018).
Appointments
General Internal Medicine
Assistant ProfessorPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Center for Medical Education Faculty Associates
- General Internal Medicine
- Internal Medicine
- Program in Hospital Medicine
- Yale Medicine
Education & Training
- MHS
- Yale University (2018)
- General Internal Medicine Fellow in Medical Education
- Yale School of Medicine (2018)
- Assistant and Senior Resident
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (2016)
- Intern
- Yale-New Haven Hospital (2014)
- MD
- University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry (2013)
- BA
- Duke University (2009)
Research
Publications
2024
Dispelling the magic of artificial intelligence in medical education
McQuade C, Wijesekera T, Chartash D. Dispelling the magic of artificial intelligence in medical education. Medical Education 2024 PMID: 39301702, DOI: 10.1111/medu.15536.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchBeyond thinking fast and slow: Implications of a transtheoretical model of clinical reasoning and error on teaching, assessment, and research
Parsons A, Wijesekera T, Olson A, Torre D, Durning S, Daniel M. Beyond thinking fast and slow: Implications of a transtheoretical model of clinical reasoning and error on teaching, assessment, and research. Medical Teacher 2024, ahead-of-print: 1-12. PMID: 38835283, DOI: 10.1080/0142159x.2024.2359963.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchDiagnostic Errors in Hospitalized Adults Who Died or Were Transferred to Intensive Care
Auerbach A, Lee T, Hubbard C, Ranji S, Raffel K, Valdes G, Boscardin J, Dalal A, Harris A, Flynn E, Schnipper J, Feinbloom D, Roy B, Herzig S, Wazir M, Gershanik E, Goyal A, Chitneni P, Burney S, Galinsky J, Rastegar S, Moore D, Berdahl C, Seferian E, Suri K, Ramishvili T, Vedamurthy D, Hunt D, Mehta A, Katakam H, Field S, Karatasakis B, Beeler K, Himmel A, Eid S, Gandhi S, Pena I, Ranta Z, Lipten S, Lucier D, Walker-Corkery B, Kleinman Sween J, Kirchoff R, Rieck K, Kolar G, Parikh R, Burton C, Dugani C, Dapaah-Afriyie K, Finn A, Raju S, Surani A, Segon A, Bhandari S, Astik G, O’Leary K, Helminski A, Anstey J, Zhou M, Alday A, Halvorson S, Esmaili A, Barish P, Fenton C, Kantor M, Choi K, Schram A, Ruhnke G, Patel H, Virapongse A, Burden M, Ngov L, Keniston A, Talari P, Romond J, Vick S, Williams M, Marr R, Gupta A, Rohde J, Mao F, Fang M, Greysen S, Shah P, Kim C, Narayanan M, Wolpaw B, Ellingson S, Kaiksow F, Kenik J, Sterken D, Lewis M, Manwani B, Ledford R, Webber C, Vasilevskis E, Buckley R, Kripalani S, Sankey C, Ostfeld-Johns S, Gielissen K, Wijesekera T, Jordan E, Karwa A, Churnet B, Chia D, Brooks K. Diagnostic Errors in Hospitalized Adults Who Died or Were Transferred to Intensive Care. JAMA Internal Medicine 2024, 184: 164-173. PMID: 38190122, PMCID: PMC10775080, DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7347.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPatient harmIntensive care unitHospitalized adultsDiagnostic errorsAssociated with patient harmCohort studyMultivariate modelRandom sample of adultsAcademic medical centerSample of adultsDiagnostic error reductionTemporary harmGeneral medical conditionsAttributable fractionRetrospective cohort studyMain OutcomesMedical inpatientsTest orderingPermanent harmTrained cliniciansImprovement effortsMedical conditionsClinician assessmentMedical CenterPatient records
2022
The future of teaching management reasoning: important questions and potential solutions
Abdoler E, Parsons A, Wijesekera T. The future of teaching management reasoning: important questions and potential solutions. Diagnosis 2022, 10: 19-23. PMID: 36420532, DOI: 10.1515/dx-2022-0048.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsReasoning skillsManagement reasoningDiagnostic reasoning skillsImplicit biasSuccessful teachingLearners’ reasoningLearning environmentEducational settingsLearner's levelEducational questionsClinical reasoningDiagnostic reasoningEquity perspectiveTeachingSkillsHigh-value careReasoningManagement scriptsLearnersMetacognitionDiscussionQuestionsIterative processFostersSpringboardInpatient teaching with a clinical review game
Ilagan‐Ying Y, Windish DM, Wijesekera TP. Inpatient teaching with a clinical review game. The Clinical Teacher 2022, 19: e13522. PMID: 35989497, DOI: 10.1111/tct.13522.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsReview gameTeaching pointsInpatient teachingCollaborative educational environmentSelf-directed learningPeer teachingPreclinical curriculumEducational environmentEducational experienceClinical educationEvidence-based practiceLearner evaluationPowerPoint templateCrowdsourced learningMedical studentsCollaborative cultureCurrent evidence-based practiceTeachingLearnersRotation evaluationsRelevant contentSocial distancing policiesLearningPandemic restrictionsPrimary literatureManagement Reasoning: A Toolbox for Educators
Wijesekera TP, Parsons AS, Abdoler EA, Trowbridge RL, Durning SJ, Rencic JJ. Management Reasoning: A Toolbox for Educators. Academic Medicine 2022, 97: 1724-1724. PMID: 35731592, DOI: 10.1097/acm.0000000000004796.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMiddle school meets MedEd: Five K-12 teaching strategies medical educators should know
Gazzola M, Swallow MA, Wijesekera TP. Middle school meets MedEd: Five K-12 teaching strategies medical educators should know. Medical Teacher 2022, 44: 567-569. PMID: 35174759, DOI: 10.1080/0142159x.2022.2039605.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsMedical educatorsTeaching strategiesMiddle school teachersNew learning modalityValuable teaching strategyCurrent medical studentsNew curriculumSchool teachersLearning modalitiesSecondary schoolsMiddle schoolMedical educationMedical studentsEducatorsCOVID-19 pandemicSchoolsStudentsTeachersCurriculumMedEdEducationFacultyScaffoldingTraineesExperience
2020
Avoiding Cognitive Errors in Clinical Decision Making.
Trowbridge RL, Rencic JJ, Wijesekera TP, Olson APJ. Avoiding Cognitive Errors in Clinical Decision Making. Annals Of Internal Medicine 2020, 173: 678-679. PMID: 33075248, DOI: 10.7326/l20-1059.Peer-Reviewed Case Reports and Technical NotesMaking Sense of Trainee Performance: Entrustment Decision-Making in Internal Medicine Program Directors.
Gielissen KA, Ahle SL, Wijesekera TP, Windish DM, Keene DE. Making Sense of Trainee Performance: Entrustment Decision-Making in Internal Medicine Program Directors. The Yale Journal Of Biology And Medicine 2020, 93: 403-410. PMID: 32874145, PMCID: PMC7448385.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchFive Medical Education Podcasts You Need to Know.
Lomayesva NL, Martin AS, Dowley PA, Davies NW, Olyha SJ, Wijesekera TP. Five Medical Education Podcasts You Need to Know. The Yale Journal Of Biology And Medicine 2020, 93: 461-466. PMID: 32874153, PMCID: PMC7448387.Peer-Reviewed Original Research
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
News
News
- June 10, 2024
Med Ed Day Poster Winners
- April 07, 2023
Students Sing, Dance, and Follow the Yale Brick Road in Fourth Year Show
- June 22, 2022
Yale Hospital Medicine: A Beautiful Partnership
- June 14, 2022
Drs. Wijesekera, Puglisi, and Soares Celebrated at Commencement