The tripartite mission of US medical schools is facing a significant challenge. To ensure the viability of academic medical centers efforts to enhance revenue from research and clinical activity have been increased. Unless a similar robust effort is made to strengthen the teaching enterprise, the education mission will be compromised. The Indiana University School of Medicine Academy of Medical Educators is in development to advance the stature, quality, and innovation within all aspects of teaching throughout the school.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Academy of Medical Educators is to enhance the development of faculty as educators and facilitators of reform.
The Academy will accomplish its mission by establishing a three tiered model of development.
Tier One: The Foundation of Teaching Excellence Program (FTEP)
Sign-up for Tier One Workshops
Teaching is a core mission of the school and the majority of faculty are involved in one or more aspects of this mission. Although teaching is required for promotion, the personal rewards that come from teaching can equal or exceed professional contributions. Yet no program exists to ensure that all faculty are equipped with the skills and understandings needed to excel in teaching. The mission of tier one of the academy is to provide all faculty with just that--the fundamentals of teaching and learning. A series of workshops will be designed to offer instruction in the following areas:
- Technology in Teaching
- Assessment of Learners
- Learning Theory
- Instructional Methods
- Curriculum Development
What’s involved in Tier One?
- Faculty who elect to participate in tier one do so at their own pace and on a schedule that makes sense given their own commitments and time demands.
- Workshops are one credit and will be available via live webinars, and face-to-face meetings. View our schedule of workshops.
- Earn seven credits with at least one credit in each of the five competencies.
- Near completion of the program, participants will work with another faculty member in the Academy and engage in peer review of teaching.
- Complete a pre and post philosophy of teaching statement.
I want to be a part of tier one! What’s my next step?
- If you have not done so already, please email ofapd@iupui.edu and express your desire to join. Please include your name and title.
- Using ofapd@iupui.edu, please email your pre philosophy of teaching statement within 30 days of expressing your desire to join.
- Sign-up for your workshops online. Check back often as more workshops are being added!
Tier Two: The Educators Scholars Program (Anticipated 2010)
The mission of tier two of the academy is to promote teaching excellence through the development of a community of leaders and scholars who can bring innovation and energy to the educational mission of the school. A cohort of 10-12 scholars per year will participate in monthly workshops. The scholars will collaborate in developing the curriculum for this program. Anticipated areas of emphasis include:
- Innovative curricular designs
- The scholarship of teaching
- The challenge of change in medical education
- Assessing educational literature
- Innovations in educational theory and practice
- The competencies of effective leaders
The specific role of the academy will be to advance all aspects of medical education, including its practice, study, and perceived value at all levels. The academy's role will be committed to the following:
- Improve teaching effectiveness in lectures, small groups, in the research setting and at the bedside
- Promote educational scholarship throughout the school
- Provide junior faculty with mentorship in teaching and guide them through the promotion and tenure process
- Serve as an advocate for educators and education and examine how teaching is valued and rewarded
- Recruit and foster the training of applicants for the academy from all ranks within the school
- Participate in the training of future participants
Tier Three: Master Educators Fellowship (Anticipated 2010)
Hubert and Stuart Dreyfus have identified at least six levels of skill acquisition, including novice, advanced beginner, competence, proficiency, expertise, and mastery, the latter designating a level at which educators exhibit a discernible style, like master painters. Although it is important to promote competency in teaching throughout the system, it is equally important to invest in the development of genuine mastery among at least a subgroup of educators, whose scholarship and practice can serve as source of guidance and inspiration for other faculty members on campus. Our goal should extend beyond ensuring that the vast majority of educators have exceeded a minimum threshold of teaching competence to encompass cultivating best practices in teaching, so that IUSM becomes widely recognized as home to some of the greatest medical educators in the world. The purpose of the third tier of the academy is to achieve just this.
The Master educators fellowship is currently in development with an anticipated start date of summer 2010.
