Issue 81, January 2025

Happy New Year! The new year (or really any milestone) is a great time to take stock of where we are and set goals and ambitions for the future. In this Excerpt, I'd like to share a little of what I see coming in 2025, and the goals I have for us educationally and as a team.  I will focus primarily on Medical Education and the Office of Education Units in this newsletter to keep the length manageable. But I call your attention to the OT and PT Annual reports for great information about these outstanding programs that lead the nation in reputation and innovation. I intend to speak to graduate student education (master’s and PhD training) in an upcoming issue. Full Excerpt

Terrance Kummer, MD, PhD, has been named Assistant Dean for Medical Student Research and Scholarship at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Kummer is currently the Director of EXPLORE, a longitudinal program that helps WashU MD students find and explore their academic niche in medicine. Dr. Kummer will continue in this role while also assuming broader responsibility for student scholarly experiences within the Gateway Curriculum. In this new role Dr. Kummer succeeds Dean Koong-Nah Chung, who retired on January 3rd after nearly three decades serving the medical community. Full Announcement

We are excited to announce that Dr. Jaron Asher will be joining the Office of Education beginning February 3rd as Staff Psychiatrist. In this role, Dr. Asher will care for our School of Medicine student population through his work with Student Health Services. He will report to Dr. Caroline Day and lead our Graduate Medical Education mental health program, overseeing the team of mental health providers who support our residents and fellows. Dr. Asher brings a wealth of experience and expertise in adult psychiatry and adolescent mental health, and we are confident that he will be a valuable addition to the Office of Education’s mental health services team.
Full Post | Access Student Mental Health Services

Dr. Lauren Roland will take over as the new Research Pathway Co-Lead, joining Dr. Dorina Kallogjeri, effective immediately. Dr. Roland is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. She is the recipient of a number of governmental and private research grants and awards and has published extensively in the clinical literature. Her research interests are broad but currently focuses on sinusitis. Dr. Roland succeeds Dean Koong-Nah Chung. We thank Dr. Chung for her invaluable and substantial contributions and her devotion to medical student education. Welcome to the EXPLORE team, Dr. Roland! 

Community Service Project
Date/Time: Monday, January 20, 2025, Noon-2:00PM
Location: Danforth University Center (DUC) Tisch Commons
Assemble dental hygiene kits for the Youth and Family Center, care packages for the unhoused and blankets for area animal shelters and cards for local senior citizens. 

38th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration
Date/Time: Monday, January 20, 2025, 2:00-2:30PM
Location: Graham Chapel 
Additional information can be found here. 
The commemoration theme is "Responsibility," inspired by the quote: "Ultimately individual responsibility lies not in the external situation but in the internal response." from Dr. King's sermon, "Accepting Responsibility for Your Actions." Harvey Fields, PhD, Founding Dean and Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of STEM at Harris-Stowe State University, will deliver the keynote address. A reception will follow in the DUC Tisch Commons.

Both events are free and open to the public. Donations of canned goods and hygiene items will be gratefully accepted.

The Office of Government and Community Relations has launched WashU Advocates, a new program empowering students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends to become effective advocates for issues central to the university’s mission. In alignment with WashU’s Here & Next Strategic Plan, this program underscores the university’s dedication to addressing societal challenges and advancing strategic initiatives that support education, research, and healthcare.

Developing Faculty Competencies in Assessment
Application Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025, 11:59PM
View Dates, Learn More & Apply Here
This course supports faculty skill development in learner assessment and in designing and enhancing assessment programs. It is intended for faculty program leaders and front-line faculty assessors across all WUSM health professions. An ACGME collaboration.

Qualitative Research Methods for Education Scholarship
Application Deadline: Sunday, March 2, 2025, 11:59PM
View Dates, Learn More & Apply Here
This virtual certificate course will provide in-depth work in qualitative research methods. Scholars will develop their own qualitative studies, for research, program evaluation, or other education scholarship. Questions: academyofeducators@wustl.edu. A MERU collaboration.

Small Grants Program
Application Deadline: Sunday, March 30, 2025, 11:59PM
Learn More & Apply Here
Projects must be focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning, rather than biomedical discovery or application. Proposals may originate from any unit within the School of Medicine. The principal investigator must be a WashU Medicine faculty member. Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded based on a competitive review process. Questions: Contact MERU. A MERU collaboration.

Date/Time: Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 12:30PM-1:30PM
Location: Virtual, Information | Registration
Gain the knowledge and techniques to remain grounded and balanced during these dynamic times. Learn how to safeguard your mental health and maintain emotional wellness amidst our evolving political climate. Dr. Megan Keyes, PhD and Adjunct faculty at the Brown School and founder of Trauma Empowered Consulting, will highlight science-driven strategies for navigating the uncertainty and stress that often accompanies political change. 

Date/Time: Monday, February 3, 2025, 2:00PM-5:00PM
Location: EPNEC Auditorium & Lobby, Information | Registration
Join us on National Women Physicians Day as we celebrate and learn from the stories of women leaders at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The keynote address will be given by Dr. Susan Hingle, MD, President of the AMWA, which will followed by a discussion panel and networking reception.

View details & register for all events here.
AI for Educators Series (four sessions)
Date/Time: Series begins Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, 1:00-2:30PM

Teachfest Royale: An 8-Minute Didactic Challenge
Date/Time: Tuesday, February 4, 2025, Noon-1:30PM
Cheer on the contenders from Anesthesiology, DOM-Hospital Medicine, DOM-Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medicine, OB/GYN, Occupational Therapy, Pediatrics, Pathology & Immunology, and Surgery for this school-wide 8-Minute Didactic Challenge. 

Ready, Set, Mentor! Interprofessional Speed Mentoring Luncheon
Date/Time: Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 12:00PM
Location: In-Person (Calendar invite sent with location)

Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 11:30AM-1:00PM
Location: FLTC, location will be sent upon registration
Register Here | More Information
Learn how to recognize different manifestations of grief in health profession trainees, develop an approach to supporting a trainee experiencing grief using the TEARS framework, and explore changes to improve support for trainees experiencing grief.

Date: March 19, 2025, 6:00PM | Submission deadline Jan. 24, 2025
Location: Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall, Danforth Campus
Details and submission link here
WashU medical students, occupational therapy and physical therapy students, residents, fellows, and faculty are invited to the third annual In Our Words event, where visual artwork and personal stories are submitted and recited live. The 2025 theme is “Identity."

Heath Rutledge-Jukes, a Phase 2 medical student, has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in the category of Education. Congratulations, Heath! Read about the innovative test-prep company that Heath co-founded here. 

Amanda Emke, MD, MHPE is part of a research team that just received an NBME Emerging Innovator Grant. This grant was created from a recognition that equitable assessment practices and educational programs can support a stronger healthcare system with the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare disparities while also enhancing educational experience of learners. The research team is conducting an ethnography of medical school competency committees and has also received grant support from the Ilene B. Harris Legacy Research Fund and GEA National Grant. The current NBME funding supports a sub-study that examines how bias and bias mitigation may manifest in competency committees. Grant details here.  

Congratulations to Matt King who sang the national anthem at a Minnesota Timberwolves game in December. Matt performed in an a cappella group called Higher Ground in college and has sang the national anthem for the Oakland A's many times. Great job, Matt!

Gary Burnison, Korn Ferry CEO, shares what he plans to unsubscribe from in 2025, and it’s more than email. Unwanted habits and behaviors on the chopping block include hearing (rather than listening), being interesting (instead of being interested), and hunkering down (instead of taking risks). Full Article

This AM Last Page, published in Academic Medicine, looks at the use of artificial intelligence in medical education. Large Language Models (LLMs) are a type of generative artificial intelligence (AI) that produce realistic-sounding language in response to text prompts, giving generative AI the capability to simulate human discourse in various domains. Download and read the full PDF here.

In this article, published in Academic Medicine, the authors propose a repurposing of the concept of entrustment to help guide the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in health professions education (HPE). Entrustment can help identify and mitigate the risks of incorporating generative AI tools with limited transparency about their accuracy, source material, and disclosure of bias into HPE practice. Download and read the full PDF here.

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