The SOM has established the Educational Innovation Awards. The awards are given to faculty who introduce significant changes in classes, courses, programs, or assessment strategies. This past year four faculty received awards. They include: Roger Cameron, Ph.D., for inclusion of an Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) for the first year Physiology course; Iris Granek, M.D., for introducing an electronic portfolio to collect student work; Janet Fischel, Ph.D., for designing an evaluation form adopted for the use in third year clerkships; and David Tompkins, M.D., for introducing standardized patient OSCEs in the Medicine Clerkship.

Nominations of faculty for the current academic year will be solicited from deans, teaching faculty and course directors. The nominations will be reviewed and awardees selected by the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Deans of Academic Affairs, Medical Education, and Educational Development, and the Chairs of the Course Directors’ Committees. Up to four $1,000 awards will be given.

The 2007 awardees/innovations:

Roger Cameron, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor, Pharmacological Sciences/Physiology

Innovation:

The development of an OSCE for the first-year Medical Physiology course is now in place. This OSCE reinforces the fundamentals of physiology and demonstrates the relationship between principles and clinical practice.

Janet Fischel, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, and Director, Medical Education Program

Innovation:

A standardized evaluation form has been developed for all clerkships. The form provides a consistent and comprehensive way to record student progress in mastering the mandatory 10 competencies.

Iris Granek, M.D., Acting Chair, Preventive Medicine

Innovation:

Tracking student progress is much easier and efficient with the development and adoption of an Electronic Portfolio during the first-year Foundations of Medical Practice. This course combines an introduction to clinical medicine to social issues in medicine, human behavior, nutrition, epidemiology, and biostatistics. The E-Portfolio is an electronic repository for student work and is an essential tool and way to gauge student mastery of all competencies during their four years of training.

David Tompkins, M.D., Associate Chair and Director of Student Programs, Medicine

Innovation:

The development of standardized patient OSCEs is now incorporated into the regular training of the Medicine Clerkship. This OSCE will serve as a model for other courses run in the Clinical Skills Center to train and evaluate students.