Medical Education Certificate Program
Many of our residents have a passion for teaching and go on to develop amazing careers in academic medicine as clinician-educators. The Medical Education Teaching Certificate program is designed to provide residents with additional training and hands-on teaching experiences to cultivate and further develop the skills and core competencies needed to thrive as a clinician-educator.
The certificate program is directed by Dr. Allie Dakroub and Dr. Andrew Klein, each of whom have completed Master’s level training in medical education from the University of Pittsburgh and have experience within a myriad of facets of medical education. Other educational leaders from the Division of General Internal Medicine and Department of Medicine also participate in the program, providing their expertise in a variety of areas of medical education.
Program Design & Expectations
There are 5 core elements of the program:
Principles of Med Ed (PriME) Elective
Must be taken in either your PGY2 or PGY3 year based on your rotation schedule; traditionally held in block 5 which takes place in late October/ early November. This elective is dedicated to skills development and application. Mornings are comprised of workshops given by Dr. Dakroub, Dr. Klein, and other clinician-educators and leaders within medical education at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. Afternoons are dedicated to teaching in the first-year medical student Introduction to Physical Exam course.
Residents as Teachers (RaT)
Elective Must be taken in either your PGY2 or PGY3 year; ideally after you have completed T2T. You will work closely with a student-teaching attending (STA) on the Internal Medicine clerkship and receive feedback on your teaching from the scheduled STA (one of the IM or MP clinician-educator attendings). Additionally, you may be assigned to help in other medical student courses or work with a student or PGY1 resident who would benefit from additional coaching. You will also lead the monthly Med Ed Certificate Workshop as below.
Workshop Creation & Facilitation
During your RaT elective you will design, create, and facilitate the monthly Teaching Certificate Workshop
Monthly Teaching
Certificate Workshop Attend every third Wednesday of each month (unless otherwise noted) from 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm in the 9W conference room (although a virtual Zoom is generally offered); at least 50% attendance is required.
Direct observation of your teaching
Arrange observation from Dr. Dakroub, Dr. Klein, or another approved Faculty/Fellow observer during your months as a supervising resident on wards as well as during your RaT elective.
Quotes from recent Medical Education Certificate Program Graduates
“The Medical Education Certificate Program allowed me the opportunity to experience firsthand the many facets of medical education within both the medical school and residency settings. When I started residency, I was interested in medical education, and through this program, my interest in and excitement for medical education only grew. After being a part of the dynamic lectures, interactive workshops and hands-on teaching experiences, I am grateful for my time in this program and its serving as a launch pad for my future career in medical education.”
“The MedEd Certificate provided me with the foundation to start my career as a clinician educator. The program emphasizes key education concepts while still allowing you to tailor and foster your own interests. The best part of the certificate is that it provides all of this exceptional teaching in an engaging and interactive fashion, allowing you to connect with like-minded peers who will become a core part of your education community regardless of where your career takes you!”
“The medical education certificate program provided me with an avenue for practicing and experimenting with different styles of teaching, as well as gaining experience with teaching in various different formats and audience groups. A central theme of the certificate program is that there is flexibility in how to personalize and craft an experience meaningful to your own interests, including being able to choose teaching topics and presentations centered around issues that I was passionate about. In addition, this program provides a great opportunity to not only work with medical students as an educator but to also learn from them and their perspective and experiences as well. During the principles of medical education rotation, medical students are given an opportunity to present and teach a topic of their choosing, and the quality of these workshops (many of which are run by medical students) rivaled the content that we received from some of the best grand rounds and noon conference sessions in residency.”