Page index: A word from the director | Community | Membership | Member Impact | Membership Renewal | Academy Longitudinal Courses | Academy Workshops | Teachfest Royale | Celebrations | Education Day 2024 | 2024 Academy Awards | Academy Grants & Impact | Your Input Matters | Looking Ahead | Academy At A Glance | Promotion
A word from the director
It is with profound gratitude and pride that we present this year’s WashU Medicine Academy of Educator’s Annual Report. To every member-whether you joined recently or have been with us since the beginning thank you for your commitment to outstanding teaching, your unwavering dedication to growth, and your collaborative spirit. Your work-in mentoring, teaching, scholarship, program development, assessment, and peer support-has not only advanced our shared mission to cultivate excellence in education but also strengthened and sustained our community.
Over the past year, we have surpassed many of our Academy’s goals and introduced several milestone initiatives. We held our first ever Teachfest Royale, a WashU Medicine-wide teaching competition that engaged over 120 educators across departments and programs, celebrating the skills involved in the time honored chalk-talk. We also launched our inaugural WashU/ACGME Assessment Hub course, which has seen resounding success in helping faculty and program leaders enhance their skills in assessment, feedback, narrative evaluations, and competency committee functions. We also completed the first ever Academy membership renewal for the original cohort of members approaching the five-year mark-a process that yielded invaluable insights about what sustains member engagement and how we can do even better, where our courses and programming are having the greatest impact, and how mentoring continues to drive growth and community.
These accomplishments are built on the successes of our other annual goals which we describe throughout this report. The results are visible-in enhanced skill and confidence among educators, more meaningful evaluations of learning outcomes, richer programming, and a stronger, more connected community of educators-and I look forward with excitement to what we will accomplish together in the year ahead. We are tremendously grateful to our Academy members, course leaders, committee chairs and members, our learners, and especially to the Office of Education whose support is vital to our success. If you’re not yet a member of the WashU Academy of Educators or haven’t yet participated in our programming, we hope we’ve piqued your interest!
With appreciation,
Abby Spencer, MD, MS, FACP, FAMWA
AV 2024-2025 GOALS ACHIEVED
- Established an engaged and productive Faculty/Educator Development Committee
- Implemented more robust assessments of learning outcomes in AoE courses
- Developed & implemented new AoE Programming based on high Level programmatic needs assessment
- Offered a series of workshops focused on core educator skills
- Enhanced engagement & community with AoE new & senior members, procedural specialties & education scholarship/research
- Established a WashU Medicine-wide Teaching Competition: Teachfest Royale
- Supported OFPCD with mentoring & educator impact best practices
Community
Responses from 2025 Academy Membership Renewal
“The Academy has provided an ongoing place/way to stay engaged with my colleagues who might otherwise be difficult to keep up with AND it has been a place to make many new connections that would not have been formed otherwise. I also think the year-on-year improvements to Education Day have been tremendous and have created a focal point in the year for celebrating and showcasing education, and the education community, at WashU Medicine.”
“I enjoy meeting and working with Like-minded educators and always appreciate Learning from those with different perspectives and experiences from my own. I joined the Academy after being at WashU Medicine only a very short time in 2020 when everything was virtual and it gave me a much-needed feeling of belonging as well as mentorship.”
“The AoE has greatly increased the sense of community at WashU Medicine, particularly across departments, programs, and schools.”
“It has been wonderful to have a community of Like-minded educators at WashU. This includes more junior colleagues for whom I can provide guidance and mentorship, as well as peers from whom I continue to Learn, share ideas and discuss common challenges.”
“The Academy of Educators includes all of the MedEd faculty members who inspire me, mentor me, consult me for collaboration, and make me happy and proud to serve as a faculty member. This is my Local academic home, and I am grateful for membership.”
Membership
RED symbolizes the Academy’s inaugural cohort of 2019, while PURPLE represents the Academy as it is today.
Member Impact
“The Academy of Educators has made an impact on me by making me feel part of a bigger community of individuals on campus who feel passionate about education, in whatever field they practice. While I spend a significant part of my time as an educator working with Phase 1 medical students in the Gateway Curriculum, most of my time is spent in my lab doing basic research in immunology. The Academy has given me opportunities to connect with educators from across the campus that I would have otherwise never met. This has led to interesting conversations and sharing of ideas about creative new teaching strategies, implementation of assessment systems, better inclusion and engagement with learners, & ways to provide mentorship and meaningful feedback. I can take many of these ideas & use them in my direct classroom teaching, but also in my one-on-one meetings with the graduate students in my lab.”
Brian Edelson, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pathology & Immunology
“As an early career clinician educator, I feel so lucky to have received support from the Academy through the Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellowship, which gave me protected time to develop a complete mental health curriculum for pediatric residents. Through the process, I have been able to grow my skills in formal curriculum development and further establish myself as an educator. Now, as a member of the Academy, I have joined a community of educators across the medical school who are all happy to share their wisdom, knowledge, and expertise. It has been so nice to expand my network beyond the Department of Psychiatry and gain inspiration from and the opportunity to collaborate on the amazing projects that others have implemented. I look forward to continuing to take advantage of the courses and mentorship offered by the Academy as well as contributing to its sub-committees and our offerings for WashU faculty at large.”
Celina Jacobi
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Membership Renewal
The Academy assesses ongoing member engagement every three years by reviewing contributions and participation in the Academy of Educators.
92% of Academy members renewed their membership in 2024.
Education Day
”Annual Education Day is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the hard work of so many educators at our institution.”
‘The annual Education Day conference provides helpful courses.”
“Education day is a great opportunity to engage without the everyday distractions.”
Committees & Meetings
“I really appreciate the camaraderie that comes from the monthly meetings.”
“Committees and the monthly meetings are invaluable to meet other faculty.”
Engagement Opportunities & Community Building
“I appreciate the opportunity to engage with fellow educators through subcommittee work, AoE meetings, and workshops.”
“Wonderful, supportive and vibrant community.”
“Multiple opportunities for members and non-members, serving the membership as a whole in various ways.”
Courses & Workshops
“I participated in the Methods in Education Scholarship course shortly after joining WashU & the Academy & received a Small Grant afterward.”
“Outstanding quality of courses & workshops.”
“All of the workshops designed for faculty development.”
Mentorship & Professional Development
“Speed dating/mentoring is a fun way for mentees to meet a variety of new mentors.”
“Great opportunities to network, extensive & continually expanding professional development workshops/sessions.”
87%
of respondents stated they agree/strongly agree that they have found a sense of community within the Academy of Educators.
82%
of respondents stated that opportunities for members’ involvement/ engagement
in the Academy are good/excellent.
75%
of respondents who did not select N/A stated that the Academy has contributed to their current and/or future promotion.
N/A = already a professor,
recently promoted, or not planning to pursue promotion
Academy Longitudinal Courses
NEW! Leadership in Education Administration Program
“Speakers were engaging. We often went ‘off-script’ to discuss specific real world scenarios.”
“Each of the sessions really made me think about the individual topics in ways that I hadn’t previously. I truly think it helped to develop my own leadership and will help me become a better educator.”
9 Participants in the course since 2025
NEW! Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment
“This course exceeded my expectations. The content of each session, the delivery & the interactive aspect led to a strong learning environment. I learned more than I thought I would & have a lot of useful and practical tools to use.”
“Good combination of lectures & table discussions. Fostered good networking & idea sharing. Great practical ways to improve assessment & feedback. Simulation was an excellent experience in observing others & practicing giving feedback.”
“Wonderful course! Had hoped to gain experience in providing meaningful feedback to trainees & course exceeded expectations in analyzing, modeling, and practicing giving feedback.”
24 Participants in the course since 2025
Foundations in Teaching Skills
“This course provided a broad array of tools & teaching methods to utilize in medical education/ teaching.”
“The wide variety of teachers gave many different perspectives & tools to use in our repertoire.”
“The adaptive nature of the curriculum worked well with this course. Dr. Chang was very receptive to the needs of the learners.”
60 Participants in the course since 2019
MERE Qualitative Research Methods for Ed. Scholarship (in collaboration with AoE)
“This course was very helpful in drafting a solid qualitative project proposal. the 1:1 feedback from course directors & fellow classmates was especially valuable! Their input, along with course materials, helped to clarify my thinking about my research project. The downstream results were that I was able to create a small grants proposal and to begin and IRB submission.”
25 Participants in the course since 2022
Teaching Scholars Programs
“The course was excellent. It provided me with the time to thoroughly consider my project. Additionally, it offered formal education and training, which will support both the current project and future changes.”
“The topics covered in this course were very helpful! I also think the presentations at the end were key to integrating and applying all of the knowledge we gained during this program.”
84 Participants in the course since 2018
MERE Methods in Education Scholarship
(in collaboration with AoE)
“I appreciated that we had the opportunity to listen to the other ideas of our classmates, give and receive feedback, and allow us to met individually to discuss our own projects.”
“The course did a great job of breaking down education research into practical, actionable steps even for a beginner.”
28 Participants in the course since 2021
GME Program Director Bootcamp (in collaboration with AoE)
“I plan to develop a curriculum for my fellowship program, provide better feedback to trainees at all levels, & develop better remediation strategies with what I’ve learned from this course.”
“I plan to work on developing a summer of simulation for our didactic series, revamp our CCC, & utilize NI effectively.”
84 Participants in the course since 2022
Academy Workshops
October 2024-September 2025
TEACHFEST ROYALE: An 8-Minute Didactic Challenge
“This is an excellent opportunity for young faculty to present their talks and brush up on their teaching skills. I learned a lot.”
READY, SET, MENTOR! SPEED MENTORING/ NETWORKING LUNCHEON
“Great opportunity to expand mentorship network and I came away with actionable ideas to address goals and challenges in my career.”
NEW! Teachfest Royale
Teachfest Royale: An 8-Minute Didactic Challenge is a teaching skills competition that highlights our rich clinical learning environment and our deeply intertwined tripartite mission of clinical care, research, and education that underpins WashU Medicine’s success.
2.4.25 Theme: Things We Do for No Reason
2025 Winner: Aaron Lacy, MD
Department of Emergency Medicine
PARTICIPANTS:
Stephen Gregory, MD: Anesthesiology
– Holding GLP-1 Agonists prior to surgery
Ian Hagemann, MD, PhD: Pathology & Immunology
– Checking for a Complete Cross-Section After Total Salpingectomy
Aaron Lacy, MD: Emergency Medicine
– Fear Giving IM Epinephrine
Eileen Lee, MD: Medicine Hospitalist
– Thickened Liquids: An Imperfect Solution
Austin Ostermeier, MD: Pediatrics
– Prescribing Cefdinir for Treatment of Common Infections
Grayson Owens, OTD, OTR/L: Occupational Therapy
– Providing Cognitive-Based Interventions without Direct Application to Occupational Performance
Jessica Staszak, MD: Surgery
– A Penchant for Juice: Doctors & the Clear Liquid Diet
Amanda Zofkie, MD: Obstetrics & Gynecology
– Maternal Oxygen Supplementation for Fetal Heart Tracings in Labor
EVENT CHAIRS: Dennis Chang, MD; Eileen Lee, MD; Abby Spencer, MD, MS, FACP
EVENT JUDGES: Rakhee Bhayani, MD; Erika Crouch, MD, PhD; Steven Mennerick, PhD; Rachel Moquin, EdD; Sydney Nykiel-Bailey, DO; Kerri Ohman, MD; Allyson Zazulia, MD; Nichole Zehnder, MD
Celebrations
Education Day 2024
ORAL ABSTRACTS
- Innovative Leadership Development Curriculum for Women Trainees in the Department of Medicine: A FWIM Initiative
Gayathri Krishnan, MD - Teaching Shared-Decision Making During Telehealth: An Experiential Learning Intervention for Rheumatology Fellows in Training
Alberto Maria Sobrero, BSc - Promoting Surgical Resident Well-Being through Therapist-Facilitated Discussion Groups: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis
Jorge Zarate Rodriguez, MD
KEYNOTE
- Large Language Models for the Medical Educator: What’s Hype, What’s Here, & What’s Next
Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, FACP
Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School Co-Director, iMed Initiative at BIDMC
BREAKOUTS
- Tips & Tricks to Improve your Written Assessment Comments
Lisa Zickuhr, MD, MHPE & Marty Kerrigan, MD - Debriefing the Unthinkable: Approaching Emotionally Activating Topics in Simulation
Alex Croft, MD & Ernesto Romo, MD - Beyond the Basics: Generative Al for Revolutionary MedEd
Adam Rodman, MD, MPH, FACP - Flourishing-Focused Advising: Harnessing Milestones 2.0 Well-Being Assessments to Cultivate Trainee Thriving
David Vermette, MD, MBA - Communicating Impact through the CTIR & Executive Summary
Michelle Miller-Thomas, MD
2024 Academy Awards
- 2024 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Janice Hanson, PhD, EdS, MH/ Professor of Medicine
Nigar Kirmani, MD/ Professor of Medicine
Linda Pike, PhD/ Alumni Endowed Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics - 2024 EXEMPLARY EDUCATOR AWARD:
Brendan O’Connor, MD/ Associate Professor of Psychiatry Matthew Parsons, MD/ Professor of Radiology
Monica Shokeen, PhD/ Associate Professor of Radiology - 2024 RISING STAR AWARD:
Kelly Currie, MD/ Assistant Professor of Surgery
Tyler Fraum, MD/ Assistant Professor of Radiology
Peter Kang, MD/ Associate Professor of Neurology
2024 Academy Inductees
- Ellen Binder, MD
- Kathleen Byrnes, MD
- Kelly Currie, MD
- Kate Dunsky, MD
- Seth Goldberg, MD
- Sara Greer, MD
- Erin Hickey, MD
- Celina Jacobi, MD
- Dorina Kallogjeri, MD, MPH
- Amanda Mack, OTD, OTR/L, CLC
- Ali Mian, MD
- Sydney Nykiel-Bailey, DO
- Frank O’Brien, MD
- J. Westley Ohman, MD
- Kerri Ohman, MD
- Jeramia Ory, PhD
- Kristen Prufrock, PhD
- Shuddhadeb Ray, MD, MPHS
- Kaytlin Reedy-Rogier, MSW
- Casey Reimer, PhD
- Amy Riek, MD
- Matthew Rosengart, MD, MPH John Schneider, MD
- Alison Snyder-Warwick, MD
- Brian Stotter, MD
- David Vermette, MD, MBA
- Jason Wagner, MD
- Ashley Weinhold, MD
- Susan Wiltrakis, MD
- Darcy Wooten, MD
- Joanna Yang, MD, MPH
- Lisa Zickuhr, MD, MHPE
Academy Grants & Impact
“Mary Klingensmith, Donna Jeffe, and I initiated the small grants program in 2019 with financial support from the Office of Education, as a collaborative effort between the Academy of Educators and the Medical Education Research Unit. The first year, we funded one grant. Since then we have funded two to four grants each year, supporting education scholars at WashU who have a vision for education research, curriculum development, and other education scholarship. It has been rewarding and inspiring to see increasingly sophisticated grant proposals and funded projects, which enhance WashU’s voice and influence in health professions and science education.”
Janice Hanson, Professor of Medicine, Small Grants Committee of the Academy of Educators
SMALL GRANTS FUNDED:
- The Art of Becoming: Using Narrative Medicine for Transformative Learning in Neurology Residency Cathy Dai, MD
- Exploring Students’ Lived Experience with Assessment in a CBME Curriculum Deborah Engle, EdD, MS
- Enhancing GI Fellow Colonoscopy Competency through Magnetic Endoscopic Imaging: A Prospective Educational Study Cassandra Fritz, MD, MPHS
Designing a Rigorous Program Evaluation of the Leadership Development Program for Women Trainees in Medicine for Scholarship & Dissemination
“The FWIM Trainee Leadership Development Program is an 8-month long certificate pathway for trainees in the department of medicine to gain critical leadership skills & knowledge to support their career advancement in medicine. For the third iteration of the program during AV 24-25, which commenced Sept. 2024 & concluded May 2025, we used the AoE Small Grants funding to create & implement a model for program evaluation. During this time period we collected pre & post course quantitative & qualitative data & in-session data to look for outcomes & impact. The grant helped us conduct a follow up survey of graduated trainees from prior cohorts & a focus group session of trainees as well. The overall impact of the program has been very positive – there is a significant increase in self-reported confidence in key leadership competencies, increase in overall skill implementation & knowledge. The one-to-one mentorship we provide through the program, the unique resources including worksheets, books, role play etc and the networking opportunities have also been highly rated by trainees.”
– Gayathri Krishnan, MD, Small Grant Recipient AY 23-24
How Surgeons Talk & Teach- A Linguistical Analysis of Operative Teaching
“The Small Grant from the Academy of Educators has been a catalyst for innovation in surgical education at WashU. Through our project, How Surgeons Talk and Teach, we’ve launched a first-of-its-kind analysis of real-time operative dialogue, uncovering how language shapes surgical teaching and autonomy in the OR. This work is already being implemented in our department and is laying the groundwork for a new, evidence-based approach to training the next generation of surgeons.”
– Michael Awad, MD, Small Grant Recipient AY 23-24
Your Input Matters
Looking Ahead
Academy At A Glance
Academy Awards
- Nomination Cycle: Mid March – Mid May
- View Process:
- Nominees are current faculty at WashU Medicine
- Rising Star = Nominees have less than 6 years as faculty in an academic setting
- Exemplary Educator = Nominees have between 6-19 years as faculty in an academic setting
- Lifetime Achievement = Nominees have at least 20 years as faculty in an academic setting
Peer Observations
- Offered Year-Round
- View Process:
- Complete the “Submit Request” form at the link above
Academy Membership
- Application Cycle: Early May – Late June
- View Process:
- Membership is open to individuals with a faculty appointment at WashU Medicine (any rank or track)
- A minimum of three years’ experience as an educator in a faculty, non-trainee role is required
Special Workshop Requests
- Offered Year-Round
- View Process
- Complete the “Request a Workshop” form at the link above
- Note: Special workshops arranged through the Academy are exclusively designed for the faculty educators at WashU Medicine
Promotion
Responses from Academy Membership Renewal
“The Academy has connected me with mentorship (Dr. Spencer) crucial to my development and promotion, workshops (including specifically about promotion as a medical education leader), a large cohort of faculty supporters/references, and a sense of purpose to redouble my efforts after promotion.”
“I hope to make excellent, strong connections for my growth potential in GME. I would like to develop scholarship related to my clinical area of focus, which is beneficial to my learners as it is underrepresented in our field as far as expertise. Connections through this academy will be of great importance.”
“Being part of the AOE likely did assist in promotion as being part of the education community.”
“I was recently promoted, and am very sure that activities within the Academy contributed to this outcome.”
“Academy advocacy for recognition of education activities has brought visibility to the work of educators that I do not believe existed prior to the Academy.”
“The advocacy to ensure education roles are actually deemed valuable as part of the promotion process has been huge.”
“AoE has made me a stronger and better-connected educator. I am also better prepared to file for promotion because of the AoE activities (e.g., Education Day, Promotions for Educators).”