Overview

Graduate Certificate in Academic Medicine (GCAM) participants focus on developing a solid base of core academic skills and a commitment to a career of teaching, scholarly investigation, and leadership in academic medicine. 

The curricular content will include the following topic concentration areas: Clinical Teaching, Curriculum Design, Professional Academic Development, and Research/Scholarly Activity Skills.

Format

Courses are offered in a hybrid format, with a blend of in-person (on-campus), and both synchronous and asynchronous online activities. Course content is designed in support of culminating real-world projects intended to be immediately useful in the academic setting for the participant. 

The training schedule has been formatted to optimize the learning experience and minimize the time participants are away from home and their program/department. Both format and content are focused on meeting the needs of today’s academicians and academic institutions.

Specific training dates are selected each year with consideration of other activities, including state and national meetings, holidays, and the like.

Each course is offered once per academic year and must be completed, in order, during one academic year. 

Program Goals and Objectives

Overall Goal

Develop academic skills of participants in the areas of clinical teaching, curriculum design, professional academic development, and scholarly activity.

Objectives

Clinical Teaching:

• Demonstrate increased knowledge and understanding of the learning sciences conceptual framework and evidence-based processes which provide a basis for effective clinical teaching. 
• Assess personal clinical teaching skills, develop improvement goals, and demonstrate progress toward reaching those goals. 

Curriculum Design:

• Identify and describe the six steps of curriculum development: problem identification and general needs assessment; needs assessment of targeted learners; goals and objectives; educational strategies; implementation; and evaluation and feedback. 
• Apply curriculum design skills by writing a medical education curriculum.
• Critically apply skills in curriculum design, development, and evaluation to their own experiences and educational learning projects in medical education scholarship. 

Professional Academic Development:

• Recognize and discuss skills needed (leadership, team building, communication, identifying bias, and involvement) to assume leadership and promotion within their area of specialty. 
• Demonstrate techniques learned for giving feedback, presentation skills, and curriculum development through the implementation of a micro-teaching experience. 
• Create and develop an academic portfolio that reflects personal teaching philosophy and future career goals. 

Scholarly Activity:

• Identify and describe the characteristics, structural components, and limitations of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research and their roles in academic medicine. 
• Conceptualize, design, and construct a (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods) research proposal encompassing an original research question, literature review, and alignment between methodology, analysis, and results. 
• Critically evaluate scholarly literature through investigations in evidence-based medicine and journal clubs. 

Admission and Application Procedures

To be considered for admission into the HSC Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (TCOM) GCAM, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• The applicant must hold a minimum of a graduate degree in a health sciences related area from a recognized institution.
• Applicants must have an academic appointment within a health professions education program, medical school department, or medical residency program, or provide evidence of the intention to secure such a position in the near future. 
• Submit complete, official transcripts from their highest degree-granting institution.
• The application package must include:
  • Completed online application
  • Two online completed reference forms (one preferably from current employment expressing support for participation in the certificate program)
  • Personal Statement (one double-spaced page)
  • Describe your career goals and how completing this graduate certificate aligns with those goals

The application package and official transcripts must be completed and submitted online. Information can be emailed to fdc@unthsc.edu. 

UNTHSC TCOM
Office of Educational Programs
Faculty Development Center
ATTN: Applications
3500 Camp Bowie Blvd.
Fort Worth, TX  76107
or fdc@unthsc.edu

For additional information contact:

Sharon Manson, EdD
Faculty Development Center Director
Phone: 817.735.5459
Email: Sharon.Manson@unthsc.edu