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Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Faculty Affairs and Professional Development

Faculty Learning Communities on Research in Medical Education

FAPD and Indiana University School of Medicine Office of Educational Affairs are sponsoring faculty learning communities (FLCs) on research in medical education (RIME). FLCs are a peer-led group of faculty members who engage in an active, collaborative, two-year-long program, structured to provide encouragement, support and reflection.

Join a community of four to six faculty members with shared interest in a medical education research area such as:

  • Artificial intelligence
  • Assessment of clinical competence at the milestones
  • Biomedical science education
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion
  • Health equity
  • Interprofessional education
  • Mentoring
  • Pre-clinical instruction
  • Telehealth
  • Wellness

Applicants will be assigned to one of the FLC groups based on their preference. An experienced mentor will be assigned to guide each FLC group.

Goals

  • Produce scholarly products such as: peer-reviewed journal articles, MedEd Portal submissions, and/or conference presentations
  • Network formally and informally with other IU School of Medicine faculty interested in educational scholarship

Why Join?

  • Create a support network of faculty interested in conducting educational scholarship
  • Collaborate with other faculty interested in conducting research on these specific research topics
  • Improve skills in educational scholarship
  • Learn more about available institutional resources to conduct educational scholarship

Submit an application

Apply Now

Apply by March 31 to join a Faculty Learning Community.

Monthly Education Sessions

FLC members will be required to participate in monthly education sessions on fundamentals of medical education research. These sessions will be held from January-June and July-December. These sessions are a co-requisite for participating in the research groups.

  • Purpose: To build research and scholarship skills
  • Available online via Zoom and recorded
  • The educational sessions are open to members from all FLCs
  • The sessions are planned by the FAPD and the Office of Educational Affairs

Topics selected for these monthly sessions will provide basic guidance in medical education research. The topics covered will include:

  • Introduction to medical education research
  • IRB
  • Quantitative research methods
  • Qualitative research methods
  • Program evaluation
  • Survey design

Community Group Meeting

After being accepted into a FLC, members will be assigned a community group, based on their area of interest. These groups will meet approximately once a month via Zoom to conduct short writing sprints, check-in on goals, run data analysis or complete other project tasks.

Membership Roles

Planning Committee Members: Planning committee members are representatives from the FAPD and the Office of Educational Affairs. They will arrange topics and speakers for the monthly education sessions and be available to support community meetings.

Mentors will:

  • meet monthly with their assigned FLC and develop agendas and action items
  • facilitate conversations about setting goals and expectations
  • provide high-level support on the FLC scholarly project
  • provide guidance to the FLC group members on the research and publication process
  • help FLC group members identify appropriate publication outlets and conferences
  • serve as a liaison to the planning committee members

Community group members will:

  • attend the monthly education sessions and community group meetings
  • actively participate in community group meetings and commit to work in between meetings to advance the project
  • work collaboratively with the mentor and other group members to brainstorm ideas on their scholarly project
  • assume responsibility for completing assigned action items
  • communicate with their mentor on specific project needs
  • work with group coordinator on timeline and assigned tasks

The community group coordinator will:

  • attend monthly community group meetings
  • manage FLC community group communications (including scheduling meetings, sending reminders)
  • keep time, track action items from previous meetings, and follow-up on task assignments
  • maintain a project plan and timeline for the FLC’s group project
  • facilitate quick reflection during the last five minutes of community group meetings with mentors and members

Time Commitment

Participation in an FLC will take approximately four to seven hours per month.

  • One to two hours per month will be spent between the monthly education sessions (if not already completed) and the community group meetings.
  • Members should expect to spend about three to five hours a month (outside of the meeting time) working on RIME FLC-related scholarship.

Because of this time commitment, all applicants are encouraged to seek support from their department chair/division director. FLC activities and outcomes can be an important part of the annual report documentation, as well as for the purposes of promotion and/or tenure.

Certifications of Completion

FAPD and the Office of Educational Affairs will award certificates of completion to participants who attend all six monthly education sessions and at least 75 percent of their community group meetings.

 

Oversight Team

Office of Educational Affairs:  Christen Dilly, MD; Komal Kochhar, MBBS, MHA; Abby Klemsz, MD, PhD; and Elizabeth Ryan, EdD

FAPD: Tara Hobson, PhD; Matt Holley, PhD and Megan Palmer, PhD