Caroline Rinaldi
Professor of Anatomy
Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine
Biography
Dr. Caroline Rinaldi received a B.S. degree in Zoology from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. degree in Biology from the University of Kansas with an emphasis in Evolutionary Biology. She comes to Belmont with more than 25 years of experience teaching clinically oriented anatomy to medical students. Prior to Belmont, Dr. Rinaldi taught medical students and health professions students at the University of Texas – Southwestern Medical Center for 8 years and served as the Chair of the Active Learning Committee. Prior to UT Southwestern, she taught medical students and dental students at the University of Missouri – Kansas City for 17 years, where she was a pioneer in the use of the Team-Based Learning method of instruction. Her areas of research interests include the incremental structure of teeth and other mineralized tissues, growth and eruption of teeth, and the evolution and functional morphology of teeth and jaws. In her free time, Dr. Rinaldi is an amateur metalsmith. Her favorite pastimes include attending concerts and movies with her husband and two adult children and running.