Transforming practice, policy, and health by advancing education scholarship in the health professions.
The UCSF School of Medicine Center for Advancing Scholarship in Education (CASE) is a unified, visible hub that elevates UCSF’s longstanding productivity in education scholarship and the community of health professions education scholars.
By bringing together education science scholarship, scholarship training, and advanced degree programs, CASE creates a coordinated structure that:
- Embraces a comprehensive view of education scholarship
- Supports and mentors emerging education scholars
- Strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration across UCSF and beyond
- Advances education science translation that improves teaching, learning, and the preparation of future physician-leaders
Core Pillars
CASE’s work is organized into several core pillars:
- Education Scholarship Labs: to focus and deepen scholarship on high-impact topics
- Advanced Training and Degree Programs, including the UCSF–UMC Utrecht Health Professions Education PhD program and the Master’s in Education with UC Berkeley
- Teaching Scholars Program and Fellowship Programs
- Support for Scholarship Across Departments and the Bridges Curriculum
Meet the CASE Team
Dr. Teherani is renowned for her seminal research on interventions and solutions for equitable assessment, on identifying and remedying unprofessional behaviors in medical school, and on climate change and health education, which has been implemented at institutions across the country.
Get Involved
CASE welcomes and supports students, residents, fellows, and faculty across UCSF’s interprofessional community who are interested in engaging in educational scholarship.
If you have any questions, want to learn more, or are ready to get involved, please contact us at [email protected].
- Learn more about education scholarship across UCSF – ESCape Weekly Education Consultation sessions
- Discuss the latest health professions education research: CASE Journal Club (MyAccess log-in required)
- Attend HPE Grand Rounds to hear leading scholars share current research in HPE and discuss implications for practice (MyAccess log-in required)
- Join the monthly Table of Contents session to participate in a review of recent articles published in health professions education journals (MyAccess log-in required)
- Stay current on the latest in education scholarship: sign up for the weekly CASE newsletter.
Our Impact
The Patricia O'Sullivan Outstanding Education Research Publication Award
Expanding Access to Ophthalmology Training Through Innovative Learning Tools
The 2026 Patricia O' Sullivan Outstanding Education Research Publication Award was awarded to the publication, Teaching Slit Lamp Fundoscopy with a Self-guided e-Learning Module with Model Eye and Validation of a Self-Assessment Tool by Irene Pak, Isabel Kassaye, Adam Alyafaie, Albert Xu, Neeti Parikh, and Madeline Yung, published in the Journal of Academic Ophthalmology.
This work introduces a new curriculum of self-guided modules that expands opportunities to strengthen ophthalmology training within undergraduate medical education. Designed to complement limited pre-clinical exposure and time-constrained clinical settings, the modules enable learners to build ocular exam skills through flexible, self-directed learning. Results show that students using the fundoscopy module perform comparably to those trained through in-person preceptorship and also demonstrate the ability to accurately assess their own skills.
These scalable curricular and assessment tools are now supporting learners across Ophthalmology, Neurology, and Internal Medicine at UCSF, with growing adoption at additional institutions.
What set this submission apart is its thoughtful, learner-centered approach to addressing a gap in medical education—limited access to hands-on ophthalmologic training—through a scalable, evidence-informed solution.
Congratulations to the team for excellent work!
Access this short video on the Ophthalmology training learning tools
