Dr Ankit Mehta is a hospitalist with HealthPartners and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota (UMN) Medical School. He has a keen interest in the intersection of arts, humanities, and medicine. He is certified in CHEST/SHM Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS).

He co-created a one-day communication and empathy course, “CRAVE” (Communication, Resilience, Authenticity, Vulnerability, and Empathy) at HealthPartners for practicing clinicians. He also directs a “medical improv” course, an adaptation of improvisation principles in healthcare context to improve communication, empathy, teamwork and resiliency. He currently chairs the research committee for the National Medical Improv Collaborative (MIC) group and is an officer for Improv in Healthcare SIG with EACH (European Association of Communication in Healthcare). He is a member of the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Patient Experience. He has been a part of the planning committee as creative arts/narrative medicine chair for the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) in 2021 and 2023. He has served on the Medical Executive Committee at Regions Hospital (St. Paul, MN) and the Patient Experience Council.

He is passionate about graphic medicine as a powerful tool in medical education to teach self-reflection and empathy with easy accessibility and poignancy. His graphic works have been published in various journals (including JAMA, Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, etc.), magazines and the LA Times. His graphic story (in collaboration with Twin Cities PBS and UMN Medical School) was part of an Emmy® winning documentary “Speaking About Race” and was shortlisted for the International Graphic Medicine Award for 2024.

He is also actively engaged in global health initiatives and has worked with International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support trainings of panel physicians.

Conducting Institute research since: 2011

Education
MBBS (Medicine Bachelor, Bachelor of Surgery), MGM Medical College Indore, MP, India - 2004

M.D. (Medicine Residency), Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal, MP, India - 2007

Internal Medicine Residency, Rosalind Franklin Medical University, Chicago, IL, USA - 2011

Honors
Facility Teacher of the Year, University of Minnesota Medicine, Med/Peds, Med/Derm - Regions Hospital - 2025

Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) Award, Advocating for Diastole - Shortlisted (Short Form) - 2024 
https://www.graphicmedicine.org/announcing-the-2024-gmic-awards-shortlists/

Academic Medicine Cover Art Competition 2023 - "Bedside Rounds" - Winner 2023

Faculty Teacher of the Year, University of Minnesota Medicine, Med/Peds, Med/Derm - Regions Hospital (June 2022)

Affiliations
Improv in Health Professions Education - Special Interest Group, European Association of Communications in Healthcare (Officer - 2023)

National Medical Improv Collaborative, Research Committee (Lead - 2022-Present)
The Medical Improv Collaborative is a community of medical improv practitioners/educators dedicated to enhancing the quality, integrity, and humanity of medical care by providing validated research and improv resources for medical education and therapeutic practices.

Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) National Education Committee; Executive Member (Served two academic years on the committee 2014-2016)

Research interests include:
Point of Care Ultrasound
Medical Improvisation
Graphic Medicine
Empathy and Communication

Current research activities and funding:
Role: Principal Investigator
Title: Impact of Medical Improv Training in the "Intolerance to Uncertainty" in Medical Trainees
HealthPartners. Project Dates 2019-Present
IRP approved ID- A19-351