The Medical Education Scholars (MES) program provides opportunities for School of Medicine Faculty to broaden and deepen their understanding and expertise in creating effective learning experiences, undertaking scholarly research in medical education, or both.
There are two, one-year-long, MES tracks. CPL announces the call for applications every spring for the next academic year.
PDF version of this track description
Using evidence-based teaching and learning principles to create a curriculum that addresses an educational need that improves learner, patient, and/or community health outcomes.
20 scheduled sessions – 80 hours
Tentative topics list:
● What does it mean to be a teacher?
● How do people learn?
● Learner diversity
● Learning climate
● Peer feedback, mentoring and coaching
● Curriculum development: Analyzing the learning need
● Instructional objectives
● Curriculum development: Creating learning activities
● Assessing learning
● Feedback to learners
● Student resistance to learning
● Designing effective lectures and visual aids
● Active learning in didactic settings
● Small group learning (e.g., PBL, TBL)
● Teaching while providing patient care
● Designing for interprofessional education
● Remediation of learners
● Using learning technologies
Outcome: Each participant will develop and present a curriculum project that applies learning and teaching knowledge to an educational need that will improve learner, patient and/or community health outcomes. During the MES Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum Design Track, Scholars will learn about and apply evidence-based teaching and learning principles in order to conduct a structured analysis of an educational need, develop a responsive curriculum, and identify appropriate teaching and assessment approaches. This track will culminate in the development or revision of a curriculum that is relevant to departmental or institutional needs.
Schedule: We will meet twice per month in most months for 4 hours in each session; 20 sessions total.
Prerequisite: At the time of application, each potential Scholar must provide evidence of their commitment to medical education and identify a curriculum-project goal.
Expectations of participants: Participants synthesize topical reading materials and facilitate interactive seminars related to these readings. Specific topics include, in part, principles of curriculum design and implementation, learner context, supportive learning environments in didactic, small-group, and clinical settings, and principles and theories of learning pertinent to curriculum design and teaching.
Participants apply the topical readings and seminar discussions to their curriculum-design project. Some scheduled sessions focus on individual application of concepts from the seminars to each evolving curriculum-design project, culminating in a final presentation.
Participate in a community of Medical Education Scholars who mentor and support each other and collaborate on innovative educational initiatives. Scholars attend, participate in, and at time co-lead the scheduled seminars. The program facilitates supportive collaboration among Medical Education Scholars through critique and review of each other’s curriculum designs, interactions with presenting guest speakers, and opportunities for scholars from different cohorts to remain connected. With guidance and training, scholars participate in reciprocal formative peer observation of teaching with another MES scholar, based on the POSET (Peer Observation in Support of Effective Teaching) program developed by the UNM SOM.
Designing an educational research project directed toward improving learner, patient and/or community health outcomes.
PDF version of this track description
Alternate years beginning August 2022
Tentative topics list:
● The scholarship of teaching and learning
● Grant writing
● Formulating a research question
● Grounding research in conceptual and theoretical frameworks
● Quantitative methods
● Quantitative data analysis techniques
● Qualitative methods
● Qualitative data analysis techniques
● Mixed methods design
● The IRB process
Outcome: Each Medical Education Scholar will develop and present a research proposal that applies educational scholarship and research methods to an educational research need that will improve learner, patient, and/or community-health outcomes. During the MES Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Research Design Track, Scholars will learn about and apply research principles and methods, in order to develop a research question and corresponding design and analysis plan. The track will culminate in the development of a research proposal that is submitted to the SOM Scholarship of Education Allocation Committee (SEAC) for potential funding up to $10,000 for the following two years. Completion of the track is acknowledged upon completion of the funded project.
Schedule: We will meet twice per month in most months for 4 hours in each session; 20 sessions total.
Prerequisite: At the time of application, each potential Scholar must demonstrate completion, or near completion, of the MES Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Design track (or prior equivalent educational experience) and identify a potential research project.
Expectations of participants: Participants synthesize topical reading materials and facilitate interactive seminars related to these readings. Specific topics include, in part, the design and conduct of educational scholarship, grant writing, and theories of learning and conceptual frameworks that are foundational to educational research. Readings include instructional pieces describing research design and analysis and example applications of methodology in the literature. Guest researchers provide engaging didactics to demonstrate their research designs and implementation. The seminars guide scholars to become informed consumers of educational research literature and to identify and carry out methods to meet their research aims.
Participants apply the topical readings and seminar discussions to their scholarship project. Some scheduled sessions focus on individual application of concepts from the seminars to each evolving research project, culminating in a final written proposal and oral presentation.
Participants have priority registration access to the AAMC Medical Education Research Certificate courses that will be sponsored by the UNM SOM.
Participate in a community of Medical Education Scholars who mentor and support each other and collaborate on innovative educational scholarship initiatives. Scholars attend and participate in the scheduled seminars. The program facilitates supportive collaboration among Medical Education Scholars, through critique and review of each other’s research projects, interactions with presenting speakers, and opportunities for scholars from different cohorts to remain connected.
The UNM School of Medicine has achieved a reputation for innovation, quality, and leadership in medical education. The MES Program is designed for faculty for whom education is a significant part of their professional development and career aspirations. The purpose of the Medical Education Scholars (MES) Program is to ensure a continuum of educational leadership and scholarship as we continue to grow and evolve within the changing environments of healthcare, medical education, and learner diversity.
Faculty from all SOM programs, including Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education, Biomedical Sciences PhD and Masters Programs, and Health Professions Programs, are encouraged to apply.
In general, stronger applications are submitted by early and mid-career faculty who have been faculty at UNM for at least two years. However, decisions are made on an individual basis and prior UNM service in residency or fellowship is also considered.
Please review these expectations before submitting your application for the Medical Education Scholars: Teaching, Learning & Curriculum Design track:
1. Applicants must have the written support of their department chair or division chief, including approved committed time, to participate in the program.
2. Scholars are expected to have two half-days per month protected by the department to participate in face-to-face sessions. In addition, committed time for the equivalent of an additional half-day per month for preparing for the scheduled sessions and meeting curriculum-project milestones, will be provided and determined in collaboration between each MES participant and his or her department chair or division chief.
3. Attendance at MES sessions by participants is expected and commitment to attend is requested as part of the application process, both from the participant and from his/her department chair or division chief.
4. Participants must attend at least 80% of the scheduled sessions for a track in order to receive acknowledgement and a certificate indicating completion. Extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Faculty members may apply by completing an Application for Medical Education Scholars Program form and providing the additional information specified below. The application form is available on the Office for Continuous Professional Learning, Medical Education Scholars Program website at: http://goto.unm.edu/mes.
Completed application packets must be received by Office for Continuous Professional Learning no later than end of the day on Monday, April 12, 2021. A faculty committee will then review applications and selections will be announced in mid May.
In addition to completing the application webform, applicants must provide all the following items in a single Acrobat PDF file. Note that this expectation requires that you obtain necessary or optional letters as PDF files or scan them to PDF to include in your single file. The single-file application assures that all items of a completed application are together and accounted for:
1. A current curriculum vitae
2. A supporting letter from your department chair and/or division chief. This letter must (a) endorse your participation in the Medical Education Scholars Program (b) express commitment to providing you the time to attend the 20, 4-hour sessions (typically two Thursday afternoons/month, August 2021 - June 2022) and (c) express commitment to providing you the opportunity to dedicate the equivalent of an additional half-day per month to work on the required curriculum-development project, MES presentations, and assigned readings. The applicant should negotiate these commitments with their chair/chief prior to submitting the application.
3. A brief personal statement describing and organized by each of the following: (These items will serve as selection criteria for the review committee.)
4. Brief description (~500 words) of the curriculum project that you plan to develop during the MES program. As a part of the acceptance review, attention will be paid to the potential impact of this project on learners in the School of Medicine. Your description should include:
5. No more than two (2) letters of support from colleagues or others may be included with the application but are not required.
Applicants must submit their completed application form, curriculum vitae, department chair's letter of support, personal statement, and optional letters of support from colleagues or others, uploaded as a single Acrobat PDF file, no later than 5:00 pm, Monday, April 12, 2021.
1. Email or call one of the co-facilitators:
Gary Smith. PhD, e-mail: gsmith@salud.unm.edu, phone: 925-0725
Jennifer Hettema, PhD, email: jhettema@salud.unm.edu, phone: 934-0396
2. Send your questions to hsc-cpl@salud.unm.edu
3. Visit the MES website: http://goto.unm.edu/mes
Please have all supporting documents ready to attach to the online application form as a single Acrobat PDF file.
Mailing Address
Office for Continuous Professional Learning
MSC09 5370 1 UNM
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Phone: 505.272.3942
Fax: 505.272.8604
Physical Address
Medical Building Two
2501 Frontier Ave NE #201
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Email: HSC-CPL@salud.unm.edu
