Academy Celebrates Excellence in Teaching and New Members at Annual Celebration

On Wednesday, September 25, the Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educators (Academy of Medical Educators) welcomed new members, acknowledged many of the School of Medicine's outstanding teachers, recognized two members for outstanding Academy service, and honored three cherished staff members who impact our learners on a regular basis and make UCSF such an outstanding healthcare institution.

This year's keynote was H. Carrie Chen, MD, PhD, who is the Associate Dean of Assessment and Educational Scholarship and Professor of Pediatrics at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry from the University of California Berkeley and completed her Doctor of Medicine and pediatric residency and chief residency at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. She subsequently obtained a Master of Science in Education from the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education and a Doctorate in Health Professions Education from Utrecht University in the Netherlands. She was previously faculty at UCSF where she was a member of UCSF's Academy of Medical Educators (2003-2016) and held the Abraham Rudolph Chair in Pediatric Education.

Dr. Chen has developed curricula and assessment programs and provided leadership for medical student, resident, and fellow education as well as continuing medical education and faculty development. Her research interests include workplace learning, workplace-based assessments including the use of entrustable professional activities (EPAs), and faculty skill development and support. She currently chairs the Subcommittee on Evaluation and Assessment and serves on the Committee on Medical Education, Committee on Medical Student Well-being, the MedStar Health GME Consortium Graduate Medical Education Committee, and the Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education Steering Committee. She oversees MedStar Georgetown’s participation in the International Medical Educators Exchange (IMEX) Program and teaches in the International Course on Entrustable Professional Activities.

Dr. Chen led a special workshop, "Learner Advancement in Health Professions Training: Making Defensible Decisions," which focused on the processes of both arriving at and defending decisions about learner advancement. She discussed how in clinical training, generally and within the framework of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs), advancement of learners can be framed as deliberate decisions to entrust learners with increasing responsibilities for patient care. Entrustment includes an evaluation of learner qualities beyond ability (e.g. integrity, reliability, and humility) and of the risk to patients.  As with any system of assessment, all advancement decisions need to be valid and defensible.  This can be facilitated through a robust program of assessment and use of competency committees for advancement decisions.

Full List of New Members and Honorees