Sponsored by the Academy of Educators, the annual Education Day was held on Tuesday, October 10th, 2023, to celebrate educational excellence across the School of Medicine.
This year’s theme was Climate Change – Adapting the Environment to Today’s Learner. The event featured a variety of educational workshops and roundtables, a keynote address from Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, Vice President for Well-Being at the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and a celebration of sixteen new inductees to the Academy of Educators plus eight education award recipients. A poster session with time for networking wrapped up the day.
Welcome to the Academy of Educators 2023
New Member Inductees
Several Department of Medicine faulty were involved in the planning and programming of the event. Nephrology’s Timothy Yau, MD, and Allergy and Immunology’s Jen Monroy, MD, chaired the Education Day subcommittee for the Academy of Educators along with Rahkee Bhayani, MD, who co-chaired the Engagement subcommittee. Several workshops were led by Department of Medicine faulty including Dennis Chang, MD, Ian Ross, MD, and Carol Faulk, MD. A full summary of the event can be found on the Academy of Educators website.
“The success of Education Day belongs to our entire WUSM education community including all of our attendees, speakers, poster-presenters, tabletop facilitators, awardees, members and supporters, OE leadership, our administrative lead, and the tremendous work of our AoE subcommittees and all that they accomplished this year” shared Abby Spencer, MD, Department of Medicine Vice Chair of Education and Director of the Academy of Educators. “And, the event is a time for us to recognize and celebrate our educators making a difference across the School of Medicine. I encourage all faculty to consider joining the Academy if you’re not yet a member, nominating a deserving educator for an award, and participating in this very special annual event to celebrate our educators and education.”
Two Department of Medicine faculty were inducted into the Academy of Educators and honored with educational awards. Congratulations to the DOM inductees and awardees below:
- Martin Kerrigan, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
- Saiama N. Waqar, MD, MBBS, MSCI, Associate Professor of Medicine
“For me the honor of being selected as a member of the Academy of Educators serves not just as a source of recognition for past academic endeavors, but more importantly as an outstanding opportunity to advance my skills as an educator, a mentor, and leader through the various educational workshops the Academy provides. In addition I look forward to networking with members within and outside of my department to understand how other divisions eliminate or deal with some of the same educational barriers we experience in Medicine, as well as to collaborate on projects in the future.”
Martin Kerrigan, MD
“I am deeply honored to be inducted into the Academy of Educators. Academy membership will enhance my skills as an educator and provide networking opportunities with other education leaders within the medical school. I believe my experiences in educational administration, leadership and educational research will be useful in furthering the Academy’s mission of fostering an environment where education is valued, organizing faculty development programs in medical education and supporting exceptional educational scholarship.”
Saiama N. Waqar, MD, MBBS, MSCI
Thomas De Fer, MD, MACP, Professor of Medicine, Chief of the Division of General Medicine & Geriatrics, received this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2021, and recognizes current Washington University Faculty members with at least twenty years of service as faulty in an academic teaching setting who has shown a lifelong commitment to education and demonstrates excellence in one or more domains or educational service, leadership or scholarship. Congratulations to Dr. Thomas De Fer on this momentous occasion.
“Being recognized for the things that you do is always very rewarding. Being recognized in this way for sustained efforts by one’s talented and respected peers is a truly incredible honor. I am humbled and enormously appreciative for this award. There’s still more to come!”
Thomas De Fer, MD