Academy for Excellence in Medical Education

The Academy formally unites several programs that are currently being undertaken jointly by the two schools, namely the year-long Medical Education Fellowship programs and the Optimal Wellness Curriculum program for the elementary grades.

The Medical Education Fellowship program prepares faculty members to take on leadership roles for medical, residency, and continuing education. Faculty Fellows become conversant with the current literature on medical education while developing research skills for the purpose of informing and evaluating educational practices. Faculty members are thereby able to lead the development of essential learning goals, design effective educational experiences, improve measures of performance and assess the quality and impact of existing educational programs. 

The Fellowship consists of two year-long professional development programs, a Certificate Program in Innovations in Curriculum Design and Evaluation and a Fellowship in Medical Education Scholarship program.

The first-year certificate program exposes participants to the art and science of teaching and to curriculum development with the goal of helping them become more intentional, effective and informed educators. This exposure allows early-career medical school faculty to become skilled and scholarly teachers; teachers who base their approach not on hunches but on proven methods. The program is grounded in the firm belief that sound pedagogies that create caring and informed learning spaces will ultimately translate into better health outcomes for patients.

The second-year scholarship program exposes participants to research methodologies in medical education. During this year participants construct, implement and evaluate a curricular innovation. This provides a foundation of research skills to enable medical school faculty to become teaching scholars, contributing to the literature of the best evidence of effective and innovative pedagogy.

Through its programs, MEF also fosters a community of practice where like-minded professionals can share promising techniques and seek support and guidance for their educational goals. For more information and application materials please see the Medical Education Fellowship website.

• The Optimal Wellness Curriculum program is a health education curriculum development project for the elementary grades. The project is a collaboration between Ed&IS, DGSOM and the UCLA Lab School. Its goal is to design and pilot a holistic health education curriculum for younger students (ages 4-5) in all areas of health including physical, emotional, social and mental well-being, with the recognition of children as active agents of positive change in their lives, their classrooms and their communities. 
• Learning objectives of the curriculum include intelligent and thoughtful decision making with respect to overall health and wellness. Design principles of the curriculum include engaged inquiry, experiential content and collaborative work. The curriculum provides flexibility for teachers to tailor learning experiences to school and family cultures while at the same time meeting and exceeding relevant elementary school health standards (e.g. Health Education Content Standards for California Public Schools, etc.). The curriculum is undergirded by the premise that by introducing foundational topics of heath in the early years children will have the agency needed for a lifetime of optimal health.
• For more information on this project and to participate please contact Erin Powers at empowers@ucla.edu.

The Academy for Excellence in Medical Education and its current programs are a precursor to a future collaboration between DGSOM and Ed&IS to create an Institute of Medical Education, with goals that include conducting foundational research at the forefront of medical education; enhancing the teaching and mentoring of medical faculty in the classroom as well as in the clinic; recommending effective evaluation and assessment procedures for DGSOM’s educational goals; expanding and enhancing the effectiveness of health education in schools and communities; and creating and fostering a community of scholars and practitioners in the field of medical education for the creation, dissemination and sharing of research and exemplary practices.