Learning Objectives

The medical education concentrators 1) develop an interdisciplinary perspective on the teaching and learning processes related to patient-centered health care; 2) employ active-learning strategies that enable them to become highly effective teachers and mentors; 3) self-reflect and effectively self-evaluate their effectiveness as tutors, teachers, and mentors.

Specifically, the medical education concentrators will demonstrate competence in:

• Lecturing and preparing effective PowerPoint Presentations
• Leading a small-group discussion
• Tutoring and counseling other students
• Applying the latest educational technology to improve instruction
• Developing curriculum
• Creating written examinations and OSCE cases
• Evaluating the clinical performance of other students
• Utilizing self-evaluation strategies to assess their teaching effectiveness

Summer after Year I:  Students are involved in curriculum-development activities related to developing or revising first- or second-year pre-clerkship courses. Students may also be engaged in developing pre-clerkship electives or constructing self-learning modules related to the first-year or second-year curriculum.

Year II:  Students participate in teaching and learning seminars on Wednesdays that address such varied topics as students’ learning & teaching styles, how to lead a small group, how to effectively use interactive technology while lecturing, and much more! In the second-year, students are expected to assume a leadership role in teaching and mentoring other pre-clerkship students. They often serve as coordinators and tutors  in  the Doctoring Teaching Academy, the Content Tutoring Program or a pre-clerkship elective they have created.

Years III & IV:  After completing core clerkships, medical education concentrators are asked to serve as Teacher Assistants in the Clinical Skills Clerkship, the transition course preparing rising third-year students for the clerkship experience. As a Teaching Assistant, the medical education concentrator leads daily seminar sessions that further develop rising third-year students’ clinical skills and working knowledge about how to “survive” and succeed in the core clerkships. The Teaching Assistants also evaluate these students’ performance and their professionalism by administering and grading an end-of-the course OSCE.

Students may also undertake an independent study at the end of the third year or during the fourth year to prepare a final project. Medical Education Concentrators who are interested in teaching in pre-clerkship courses may also be able to work in the Doctoring course during the fall or spring semester. 

Teaching:  During their teaching and tutoring, students are observed and evaluated by faculty who are members of the Medical Education Concentration faculty and by other faculty members who may supervise students as tutors and/or teacher assistants in pre-clerkship and clerkship courses.  There are also peer observations and evaluations by other medical students who may be concentrators or in the Teaching Academy.

Curriculum Development:  In planning, developing and implementing new curriculum modules, students are assigned faculty mentors who review and critique their curriculum at each stage of development; and then, if feasible, the faculty mentors observe the students teaching some of the teaching material. The faculty also review the evaluation of the materials by students who participated in the curriculum project. A final report is developed by the Medical Education Concentrators that is reviewed by the faculty mentors and then the students make oral presentations to the Medical Education Concentration faculty.

Portfolio:  Under the supervision of a faculty mentor, the student develops an educational portfolio that details students’ curriculum development and teaching achievements. The portfolio is critiqued by a faculty advisor. The student then makes an oral presentation to the Medical Education Concentration faculty and to other students in the concentration.   

Participating students work closely with Medical Education Concentration faculty, composed of excellent teachers and mentors.  Standardized patients may also be used to help develop and refine the Medical Education Concentrators’ clinical teaching skills. The University libraries have a substantive collection of books and articles on medical education. 

1. Develop a curriculum module or workshop in a preclerkship course that involves creating an interdisciplinary curriculum unit, helping teach the material, and evaluating the curriculum innovation. Once the curriculum module has been completed, the student presents the written document for review and then makes an oral presentation to the Medical Education Concentration faculty and other students in the concentration on its educational goals, pedagogy and overall effectiveness.   
2. Undertake an evaluation project related to the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary component of a pre-clerkship course or clerkship course, or conduct a study of the effectiveness of one or more elements of the pre-clerkship curriculum. The written report is reviewed by a faculty mentor and the student makes an oral presentation to the Medical Education Concentration faculty and other students in the concentration.
3. Create and design an interdisciplinary pre-clerkship or post-clerkship elective that focuses on a topic of interest and that employs active-learning strategies and valid assessment protocols. The student offers the elective to 5 or more students. The student develops the curriculum, teaches a substantive part of the material, and receives feedback on its effectiveness from students who take the elective and from a faculty mentor who has reviewed the material and observed a number of the classes. The student then writes a final report and makes an oral presentation to the Medical Education Concentration faculty and other students in the concentration.

We are able to accommodate 5-10 students each year. 

Presently, there are five faculty members who mentor students annually: 

• Luba Dumenco, MD, MHEP
• Thais Mather, PhD
• Kristina Monteiro, PhD
• Steven Rougas, MD, MS 

There are occasionally funds available to Medical Education Concentrators interested in developing or revising the pre-clerkship curriculum.