Vasudha "Vasu" L. Bhavaraju, MD, is a pediatric hospitalist and chief medical education officer/designated institutional officer at Phoenix Children's.

Having completed her residency training at Phoenix Children's, Dr. Bhavaraju feels that it's a privilege to work in the same institution that `raised' her into the professional she is today. In her role as chief medical education officer, she enjoys being able to bring her own personal experience as a trainee to those in the Phoenix Children's residency program she now oversees. Dr. Bhavaraju believes working as an educator makes her a better hospitalist, and vice versa.

After attending Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as a music major, Dr. Bhavaraju went on to earn her medical degree at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. She then came to Phoenix Children's/Maricopa Medical Center program to complete her pediatric residency, serving as in-training chief resident during her third year.

Dr. Bhavaraju's professional affiliations include the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Association of Pediatric Program Directors.

With a passion for educating future doctors, Dr. Bhavaraju has received multiple honors for her teaching. She was the recipient of the inaugural Phoenix Children's Heart and Hand Clinical Excellence Award for Teacher of the Year -- an award that honors teaching faculty who take the time to coach colleagues while actively mentoring future clinicians. Dr. Bhavaraju is also a two-time recipient of the Grace L. Caputo, MD, MPH, Faculty Mentor Award, and was the recipient of the Melvin L. Cohen Faculty Teaching Award.

Aside from treating patients in the hospital, Dr. Bhavaraju builds programs, develops partnerships, mentors learners, and finds new and innovative ways to train the next generation of physicians and pediatricians.

In her free time, Dr. Bhavaraju coaches a middle school cross-country team, mountain bikes and plays classical guitar. She enjoys mixology, reflective writing and spending time with her husband, Anuj -- a Canadian-born speech-language pathologist -- and their three kids, Kishan, Kalyani and Jahnav.