Nancy Oriol

Nancy Oriol, MD

Faculty Associate Dean for Community Engagement in Medical Education

Nancy Oriol,MD, is Faculty Associate Dean for Community Engagement in Medical Education at Harvard Medical School. In this role, her objective is to make the theories of the social determinants of health, structural racism and health equity, actionable. By working with the Program in Medical Education, community programs and student groups she supports both curricular and extracurricular service-learning activities. Thirty years ago in partnership with Boston communities she created the Family Van, a mobile health clinic designed to address health disparities. Today, the Family Van remains a trusted community resource, providing over 4,000 health and social service visits a year and is an important venue where Harvard students partner with the community in addressing the social determinants of health. She also co-founded HMS MEDscience, an innovative high school biology curriculum based on mannequin simulation and designed to address the education achievement gap of local high schools. HMS MEDscience partners with local school districts, serves over 1500 students a year, and is growing. Harvard students participate in MEDscience as assistant teachers and mentors. As co-founder of both of these programs, Oriol remains active in their ongoing outcomes investigations and continuing innovation.

Oriol graduated from HMS in 1979, after which she completed residency training at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in the Department of Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Management, where she was the director of the Division of Obstetric Anesthesia until 1997. Her clinical research included: study of the effects of maternal cocaine use on fetal outcome, heart rate variability as a measure of newborn well-being, numerous studies on the impact of anesthesia techniques on labor and the development of the “Walking Epidural” an anesthetic technique which allows laboring women to ambulate.  She is the inventor of two medical devices: the NEO-VAC Meconium Suction Catheter for newborn resuscitation and a fetal data processing system and method for assessing fetal heart variability during labor to detect fetuses at risk for birth asphyxia. She has presented many abstracts and authored or co-authored numerous peer reviewed articles, as well as book chapters, documentaries, reviews, and case reports. From 1997-2016, she was Dean for Students at HMS where, in addition to her role advising students, she led numerous educational innovations that have had an enduring impact on medical education.

For her career of service to patients, students and the community she has been recognized with numerous awards including: Dr. Louis W. Sullivan Award for Contribution to the Delivery of Health Services for Black Males and Their Families, The American Medical Association, Pride of the Profession Award, The Dean’s Community Service Lifetime Achievement Award, and Gold Foundation’s Pearl Hurwitz Award for Humanism in Healthcare.

Affiliations:

As founder of Harvard Medical School’s Family Van and co–principal investigator on the national demonstration mobile health map project, Oriol specializes in investigating the role of the mobile health care sector in the United States. Her work has demonstrated the mobile health care sector’s return on investment in terms of quality life-years saved and emergency department visits avoided. She is currently building the Family Van’s community-based research program to extend this work and demonstrate the impact of mobile health clinics on chronic disease prevention and management. Oriol also has an interest in disparities in health and access to health care in the United States, as well as training medical professionals in cultural competency and in fostering biomedical literacy in underrepresented minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.

Mobile health clinic model in the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons learned and opportunities for policy changes and innovation.

Authors: Authors: Attipoe-Dorcoo S, Delgado R, Gupta A, Bennet J, Oriol NE, Jain SH.
Int J Equity Health 2020-05-19
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Mobile health clinics in the United States.

Authors: Authors: Malone NC, Williams MM, Smith Fawzi MC, Bennet J, Hill C, Katz JN, Oriol NE.
Int J Equity Health 2020-03-20
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Preventative health, diversity, and inclusion: a qualitative study of client experience aboard a mobile health clinic in Boston, Massachusetts.

Authors: Authors: Bouchelle Z, Rawlins Y, Hill C, Bennet J, Perez LX, Oriol N.
Int J Equity Health 2017-11-03
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The scope and impact of mobile health clinics in the United States: a literature review.

Authors: Authors: Yu SWY, Hill C, Ricks ML, Bennet J, Oriol NE.
Int J Equity Health 2017-10-05
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Race-Conscious Professionalism and African American Representation in Academic Medicine.

Authors: Authors: Powers BW, White AA, Oriol NE, Jain SH.
Acad Med 2016-07-01
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The Emerging Business Models and Value Proposition of Mobile Health Clinics.

Authors: Authors: Aung KK, Hill C, Bennet J, Song Z, Oriol NE.
Am J Accountable Care 2015-12-01
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Practice and protest: black physicians and the evolution of race-conscious professionalism.

Authors: Authors: Powers BW, Oriol NE, Jain SH.
J Health Care Poor Underserved 2015-02-01
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Reply to Walsh.

Authors: Authors: Oriol N.
Adv Physiol Educ 2014-12-01
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Inspiring careers in STEM and healthcare fields through medical simulation embedded in high school science education.

Authors: Authors: Berk LJ, Muret-Wagstaff SL, Goyal R, Joyal JA, Gordon JA, Faux R, Oriol NE.
Adv Physiol Educ 2014-09-01
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Mobile health clinics in the era of reform.

Authors: Authors: Hill CF, Powers BW, Jain SH, Bennet J, Vavasis A, Oriol NE.
Am J Manag Care 2014-03-01
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Mobile clinic in Massachusetts associated with cost savings from lowering blood pressure and emergency department use.

Authors: Authors: Song Z, Hill C, Bennet J, Vavasis A, Oriol NE.
Health Aff (Millwood) 2013-01-01
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The prevalence and nature of postinterview communications between residency programs and applicants during the match.

Authors: Authors: Jena AB, Arora VM, Hauer KE, Durning S, Borges N, Oriol N, Elnicki DM, Fagan MJ, Harrell HE, Torre D, Prochaska M, Meltzer DO, Reddy S.
Acad Med 2012-10-01
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Postinterview communication between military residency applicants and training programs.

Authors: Authors: Ratcliffe TA, Durning SJ, Jena AB, Grau T, Artino AR, Arora VM, Hauer KE, Borges N, Oriol N, Elnicki DM, Fagan MJ, Harrell HE, Torre DM, Prochaska M, Meltzer DO, Reddy S.
Mil Med 2012-09-01
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Knowledgeable Neighbors: a mobile clinic model for disease prevention and screening in underserved communities.

Authors: Authors: Hill C, Zurakowski D, Bennet J, Walker-White R, Osman JL, Quarles A, Oriol N.
Am J Public Health 2012-03-01
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Using immersive healthcare simulation for physiology education: initial experience in high school, college, and graduate school curricula.

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Hayden EM, Joyal-Mowschenson J, Muret-Wagstaff S, Faux R, Gordon JA.
Adv Physiol Educ 2011-09-01
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Early bedside care during preclinical medical education: can technology-enhanced patient simulation advance the Flexnerian ideal?

Authors: Authors: Gordon JA, Hayden EM, Ahmed RA, Pawlowski JB, Khoury KN, Oriol NE.
Acad Med 2010-02-01
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Calculating the return on investment of mobile healthcare.

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Cote PJ, Vavasis AP, Bennet J, Delorenzo D, Blanc P, Kohane I.
BMC Med 2009-06-02
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Perspective: fostering biomedical literacy among America's youth: how medical simulation reshapes the strategy.

Authors: Authors: Gordon JA, Oriol NE.
Acad Med 2008-05-01
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The mentored clinical casebook project at Harvard Medical School.

Authors: Authors: Stanton RC, Mayer LD, Oriol NE, Treadway KK, Tosteson DC.
Acad Med 2007-05-01
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An analysis of the need for anesthetic interventions with differing concentrations of labor epidural bupivacaine: an observational study.

Authors: Authors: Hess PE, Pratt SD, Oriol NE.
Int J Obstet Anesth 2006-07-01
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Bringing good teaching cases "to life": a simulator-based medical education service.

Authors: Authors: Gordon JA, Oriol NE, Cooper JB.
Acad Med 2004-01-01
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The departmental advisor's effect on medical students' confidence when the advisor evaluates or recruits for their own program during the match.

Authors: Authors: Miller JB, Koehn NN, Schaad DC, Crittenden RA, Oriol NE.
Teach Learn Med 2004-01-01
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Communication between programs and applicants during residency selection: effects of the match on medical students' professional development.

Authors: Authors: Miller JB, Schaad DC, Crittenden RA, Oriol NE, MacLaren C.
Acad Med 2003-04-01
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Predictors of breakthrough pain during labor epidural analgesia.

Authors: Authors: Hess PE, Pratt SD, Lucas TP, Miller CG, Corbett T, Oriol N, Sarna MC.
Anesth Analg 2001-08-01
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Low dose intrathecal ropivacaine with or without sufentanil provides effective analgesia and does not impair motor strength during labour: a pilot study.

Authors: Authors: Soni AK, Miller CG, Pratt SD, Hess PE, Oriol NE, Sarna MC.
Can J Anaesth 2001-01-01
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An association between severe labor pain and cesarean delivery.

Authors: Authors: Hess PE, Pratt SD, Soni AK, Sarna MC, Oriol NE.
Anesth Analg 2000-04-01
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Practice guidelines for obstetrical anesthesia: a report by the American Society for Anesthesiologists Task Force on Obstetrical Anesthesia

Authors: Authors: JL, Arens JF, Bucklin BA, Caplan RA, Chestnut DH, Connis RT, Dailey PA, Gilstrap LC, Grice SC, Oriol NE, Zuspan KJ
Anesthesiology 1999-01-01

Intravenous oxytocin in patients undergoing elective cesarean section.

Authors: Authors: Sarna MC, Soni AK, Gomez M, Oriol NE.
Anesth Analg 1997-04-01
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Prevalence of coagulation abnormalities associated with intrauterine fetal death.

Authors: Authors: Maslow AD, Breen TW, Sarna MC, Soni AK, Watkins J, Oriol NE.
Can J Anaesth 1996-12-01
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How useful is intrapartum electronic fetal heart rate monitoring?

Authors: Authors: Groves PA, Oriol NE.
Int J Obstet Anesth 1995-07-01
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Application of linear and nonlinear time series modeling to heart rate dynamics analysis.

Authors: Authors: Christini DJ, Bennett FM, Lutchen KR, Ahmed HM, Hausdorff JM, Oriol N.
IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 1995-04-01
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Influence of autoregressive model parameter uncertainty on spectral estimates of heart rate dynamics.

Authors: Authors: Christini DJ, Kulkarni A, Rao S, Stutman ER, Bennett FM, Hausdorff JM, Oriol N, Lutchen KR.
Ann Biomed Eng 1995-01-01
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The extradural sieve.

Authors: Authors: Groves PA, Oriol NE.
Br J Anaesth 1994-09-01
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Factors associated with back pain after childbirth.

Authors: Authors: Breen TW, Ransil BJ, Groves PA, Oriol NE.
Anesthesiology 1994-07-01
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Analysis of heart rate dynamics as a measure of autonomic tone in obstetrical patients undergoing epidural or spinal anesthesia.

Authors: Authors: Landry DP, Bennett FM, Oriol NE.
Reg Anesth 1994-01-01
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Effect of acute cocaine use on length of labor

Authors: Authors: Hacovian A, Oriol NE, Park K, Friedman E
Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) 1994-01-01

Epidural anesthesia for labor in an ambulatory patient.

Authors: Authors: Breen TW, Shapiro T, Glass B, Foster-Payne D, Oriol NE.
Anesth Analg 1993-11-01
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The role of obstetric anesthesia in public health

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Dorsey CL
Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) 1993-01-01

Cocaine effects on neonatal heart rate dynamics: preliminary findings and methodological problems.

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Bennett FM, Rigney DR, Goldberger AL.
Yale J Biol Med 1993-01-01
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Uncertainty of AR spectral estimates

Authors: Authors: Christini DJ, Kulkarni A, Rao S, Stutman ER, Bennett FM, Hausdorff J, Oriol NE, Lutchen KR
Computers in Cardiology IEEE Computer Society 1993-01-01

Analysis of heart rate dynamics during spinal and epidural anesthesia

Authors: Authors: Bennett F, Landry D, Oriol NE
Computers in Cardiology IEEE Computer Society 1992-01-01

Comparison of onset time between 0.5% bupivacaine and 3% 2-chloroprocaine with and without 75 micrograms fentanyl.

Authors: Authors: Johnson C, Ransil BJ, Oriol N.
Reg Anesth 1991-01-01
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Trial of labor: a study of 110 patients.

Authors: Authors: Johnson C, Oriol N, Flood K.
J Clin Anesth 1991-01-01
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Tracheal agenesis: resuscitative management.

Authors: Authors: McDonald SM, Oriol NE.
Anesthesiology 1990-12-01
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Aspiration of meconium from the trachea of neonates.

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE.
Anesthesiology 1990-12-01
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Comments on the problems associated with epidural test dosing.

Authors: Authors: Landry DP, Oriol NE.
Reg Anesth 1990-01-01
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The role of epidural anesthesia in trial of labor.

Authors: Authors: Johnson C, Oriol N.
Reg Anesth 1990-01-01
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Onset of action between bupivacaine 0.5% and bupivacaine 0.5% plus fentanyl 75 mcg.

Authors: Authors: Johnson C, Oriol N, Feinstein D, Ransil BJ.
J Clin Anesth 1989-01-01
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Anesthetic-related maternal mortality, 1954 to 1985.

Authors: Authors: Sachs BP, Oriol NE, Ostheimer GW, Weiss JB, Driscoll S, Acker D, Brown DA, Jewett JF.
J Clin Anesth 1989-01-01
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Pain relief during labor.

Authors: Authors: Oriol N, Warfield CA.
Hosp Pract (Off Ed) 1984-09-01
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The effect of intrathecal sufentanil and epidural ultra-low-dose bupivacaine on labor course

Authors: Authors: Groves PA, Sarna MA, Foley L, Oriol NE, Friedman EA
International Anesthesia Research Society Annual Meeting 1970-01-01

Posterior column sensations during neuroaxial labor analgesia

Authors: Authors: Soni AK, Sarna MC, Groves PA, Oriol NE
Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP) 1970-01-01

New Orleans, LA

Authors: Authors: Landry D, Bennett F, Oriol N
Analysis of heart rate dynamics during general anesthesia 1970-01-01

Anesthesia choices in childbirth [videocassette]

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Crowley M, Sarna M
1998.

1989.

Authors: Authors: Laser-Flex [videocassette]
 

Fetal data processing system and method

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Bennett F
1997.

1987.

Authors: Authors: Special needs in airway management [videocassette]
 

Fetal data processing system and method employing a time-frequency representation of fetal heart rate

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, Bennet F
1999.

NeoVac meconium suction catheter

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE, inventor; Concord Portex assignee
1985.

Organization of an Obstetric Anesthesia Consult Service

Authors: Authors: Sandrock NJ, Char CA, Oriol NE
1999.

Profiles in medicine: just a beginning [videocassette, 60 minutes]

Authors: Authors: Oriol NE
1984.