SMPH, along with the UW School of Pharmacy and the UW-Madison School of Nursing, schools have recently added an exciting new resource to help faculty and preceptors achieve excellence in teaching. Launched in collaboration with the UW-Madison Teaching Academy and the Interprofessional Continuing Education Partnership (ICEP), the new Clinical Teaching Learning Community is available to both SMPH-based faculty and to the school’s expansive network of preceptors who teach and supervise students in dozens of community-based clinical settings.
In addition to the clinical teaching learning community, the academy has created a new clinical affiliate designation. According to Barbara Anderson, ICEP chair, this designation recognizes the efforts of faculty members and preceptors who have a passion for clinical teaching and learning and a desire to become a master teacher. Applicants must have a teaching appointment with one of the UW-Madison health sciences schools.
The quality of teaching available to medical students is a high priority of LCME. The learning community and clinical affiliate designation are a significant new option for health sciences teachers in classrooms and clinical settings. As Dr. Elizabeth Petty, senior associate dean for academic affairs, points out, “Investing in the development of teachers in clinical settings, and making evidence-based and best-practice information available to them, will result in better education for future generations of students. Fostering better educators of nurses, doctors and pharmacists – three critical members of the patient care team – ultimately benefits patients.”
To be eligible to become a clinical teacher fellow, faculty members and preceptors must first complete an application available on the Clinical Teaching Learning Community website.