Focus
Spotlight
March 4, 2002
 Daniel Federman Photo by Steve Gilbert |
Academy Inaugural Called 'Historic'
The fully fledged Academy at Harvard Medical School, an organization to restructure and advance medical education that has developed over the past year, held an inaugural celebration on Feb. 25 to honor its 141 initial members, including the founders and those selected by the executive committee earlier in the month. Academy director George Thibault, vice president of clinical affairs at Partners, opened the program calling the creation of the Academy "a historic occasion," signifying a transition in medical education comparable to that of the New Pathway. The Academy's goals are to create a community of educational scholars, a crucible for educational innovation, and bridges and new resources to support medical education, including recognizing and rewarding faculty teachers.In the keynote address, Daniel Federman, HMS senior dean for alumni and clinical teaching, described several trajectories the Academy might take in reaching its goals. He suggested that in the basic science years, multidisciplinary faculty convene and integrate their knowledge so they can share insights with students that are more broadly relevant to medical study. Moving to clinical education, he said that in the ambulatory setting, the patient is central and has to be incorporated into daily decision-making. He also asserted that students must be encouraged to change the health care system: "No one could want what exists now to be the final stage of health care evolution."
Finally, Federman said, "One of the quickest ways to benefit everyone would be to find better ways of measuring teaching and recognizing who does it well."
Remarks to the members also were given by Daniel Lowenstein, HMS dean for medical education, who launched the Academy in February 2001 (see Focus, March 9, 2001), and HMS dean Joseph Martin. One of the points that both Martin and Thibault made was that the Academy has been organized to support all teachers in the Harvard Medical community, not just Academy members. "We exist for all of the teaching faculty at HMS," Thibault said.
Most of the Academy members are current clinical faculty, but they also include basic science and emeritus faculty, residents, fellows, and students. (For a complete listing, see http://academy.med.harvard.edu/membership.htm.) Assisting in Academy leadership is the full-time deputy director Jane Neill.