Plans are underway for the 2017 Program for Post Graduate Trainees (PGME): Future Academic Clinician-Educators, sponsored by the Institute for Medical Education (IME) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Harvard Macy Institute, and the Boston Children’s Hospital.
The program supports residents and fellows on their path to becoming clinician-educator leaders and facilitates skill development in teaching, learning, and medical education scholarship. Applications for the next PGME course are due in June; acceptance is announced in July.
The course is held annually at The MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, a graduate university of health sciences founded by Massachusetts General Hospital.
“The program allowed me to think about the paths available as a clinician educator and the skills that make pursuing medical education more attainable,” says School of Medicine alumna Laura Stein, MD, PGY-4, Chief Resident for Quality Outcomes. “In addition to offering me concrete ideas for continued medical education projects and scholarship, the weekend allowed me to meet and learn from fellow residents with similar interests and leading experts in the field.”
PGME Course Co-Director, Reena Karani, MD, MHPE, Director, Institute for Medical Education, says the program represents a unique opportunity.
“We need innovative, skilled and committed educators in the future. The PGME course focuses on residents and fellows and is a unique offering targeted and tailored to this next generation of medical education leaders,” Dr. Karani says. “The IME is proud of our trainees who just completed the program. They all have a very bright future ahead of them.”
Last December, 19 house staff members from the Mount Sinai Health System were accepted at the program, with two participants receiving an IME tuition scholarship to attend: Kamron Pourmand, MD, Gastroenterology Fellow, and Jacqueline Paulis, MD, PGY-3S, Emergency Medicine. They will also have an opportunity to present their work at Medical Education Grand Rounds and at Education Research Day.
“The course allowed me to learn and practice a variety of skills that are critical to a successful career in medical education,” says Dr. Pourmand.
Andy Coyle, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Associate Program Director for Ambulatory Care, Internal Medicine Residency Program, at the School of Medicine, says the course has been a wonderful resource for trainees.
“They return from the course equipped to implement valuable and scholarly educational projects, with support and mentorship from fellow participants and Harvard Macy faculty,” he says. “Most importantly, they come back inspired and prepared to excel in clinician-educator career pathways.”
Brijen Shah, MD, Assistant Professor of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Chief Medical Officer and Vice President for Medical Affairs at Mount Sinai Queens, says the program is a valuable source of networking, medical education related knowledge, and skill development for rising clinician educators.
“The most striking impact this program has made on learners has been the legitimacy and confidence it provides to early clinician educators who are launching their careers,” he says.