Anita Vanka, MD

Dr. Anita Vanka is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and a Hospitalist in the Department of Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). She received her M.D. with Honors from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 2005 and completed her internship, residency, and primary care chief residency at BIDMC before joining the Division of General Medicine as an attending hospitalist in 2009.

A dedicated clinician–educator, Dr. Vanka devotes the majority of her professional work to medical education. After completing the Harvard Medical School/BIDMC Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education, she served as an Associate Program Director for the BIDMC Internal Medicine Residency Program for eight years. She has also held multiple leadership roles at Harvard Medical School, including advising and course directorship positions across both the pre-clinical and clinical curricula.

In June 2025, Dr. Vanka was appointed Program Director of the BIDMC Internal Medicine Residency Program, coinciding with her twentieth year at the institution. In addition to this role, she serves as Co-Director of the Rabkin Fellowship in Medical Education, working closely with faculty committed to advancing resident and student learning.

Dr. Vanka’s academic interests include curriculum design, learner support and remediation, and mentorship. Her current educational scholarship centers on developing and studying a curriculum that teaches students and faculty preceptors the principles of patient-centered clinical documentation in the era of open notes. Supported by grants from the Macy Foundation and private donors, this curriculum has been integrated into the Harvard Medical School curriculum and disseminated at regional and national conferences.