Medical Educator Program for Fellows

Overview

The Medical Educator Program for fellows is a year-long, longitudinal program. It is designed to help fellows become expert clinical teachers in the classroom, inpatient, and ambulatory settings.

The program is built on five pillars:

• Core curriculum - Monthly, interactive small-group seminars led by expert faculty provide in-depth exploration of foundational and advanced topics in medical education.
• Direct observation – Fellows participate in both peer-observation and observation of master teachers in various environments. By stepping out of the clinical learner role, fellows can focus on the teaching techniques and strategies used by master teachers. This serves as an important tool for learning new techniques and developing their own teaching styles.
• Deliberate practice of teaching – Fellows choose from a variety of teaching opportunities. These experiences are observed by program faculty, who provide timely and actionable feedback. Examples include:
• Clinical teaching: Working with medical students or internal medicine trainees in subspecialty clinics or on inpatient services
• Precepted didactic teaching: Leading resident report, resident noon conference, Indian Health Service conferences, division conferences
• Teaching in the Harvard Medical School curriculum: Includes the first-year Practice of Medicine course and pathophysiology courses
• Community education: Leading sessions in collaboration with the Blum Center for Community Health and disease support groups
• Mentorship – Fellows meet regularly with program faculty for mentorship and reflection.
• Community – Fellows from multiple subspecialty divisions come together to form an educators’ community and a learning home for those with a strong interest in medical education.

While scholarship in medical education is an important skill for medical educators, it is not a required component of the program. This flexibility allows fellows to engage in research projects in their subspecialty divisions. However, fellows who are interested in exploring medical education research projects will be supported by program faculty in their projects.

Testimonials

The medical education pathway was an amazing experience! The directly observed teaching provided tailored feedback, helping me grow as an educator and craft my precepting style. Highly recommend to incoming fellows!

I had a great time with the medical education pathway, and it was a very helpful experience. After completing, I feel much more prepared and empowered to start a career in academic medicine as a clinician educator. The access to teaching, feedback, coaching, and mentoring from master educators was top notch, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested!

Program leadership

Eli Miloslavsky, MD
Program Director

Dr. Eli Miloslavsky is an associate professor of medicine in the Teaching and Educational Leadership Track at Harvard Medical School. In addition to his love of teaching, Dr. Miloslavsky has a longstanding interest in program development across training phases. He serves as a curriculum phase director at Harvard Medical School, firm chief in the Massachusetts General Hospital Internal Medicine Residency Program, and associate program director in the Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. He also holds national leadership roles with the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine and the American College of Rheumatology.

Marcy Bolster, MD
Associate Program Director

Dr. Marcy B. Bolster is a professor of medicine in the Teaching and Educational Leadership Track at Harvard Medical School, and she is the director of the Massachusetts General Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program. She has a particular interest in supporting professional development across the spectrum of learners, and she has held national educational leadership roles in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Milestones, and with the American Board of Internal Medicine Rheumatology Exam Committee. She is currently chair of the ACR Committee on Education.

Eligibility and timeline

The program is open to:

• Second- and third-year fellows enrolled in two- to four-year Department of Medicine fellowship training programs.
• First-year fellows enrolled in one-year fellowship training programs.

Fellows can apply to the program with the support of their fellowship program director. Applications are due by April 1st. Interested fellows should contact their program director for details on the application process.