“I can’t think of another time when I would be asked to spend five hours a week with smart, curious people from varying disciplines and discuss topics that I would never, in my usual schedule, think I have time to learn about. The time spent learning from the other students in my cohort was a luxury not often found in most of my colleagues’ professional lives. The program opened my eyes to learning about topics that actually do affect everything I do from adult education to EBM to facilitating small groups to leadership principles – but instead of discussing those topics only in the context of my daily responsibilities of teaching and seeing patients, I was able to read about theories that inform those topic areas, question those theories individually and in a group setting, and then try to apply them in all the practical assignments we were asked to do in each course.”
—Sian L. Spurney, MD: Cohort 6
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine/Hospital Medicine
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“The Master Teacher Leadership Development program not only changed how I approach teaching medical and allied health students but, more importantly, changed me. It is true that I learned how to practice adult learning techniques, how to incorporate evidence-based medicine in a basic science course, and how to be a more effective facilitator in team or group activities. More significantly and personally, however, the program gave me confidence in my teaching and leadership skills, not confidence to the point of hubris, but confidence that I can be a more positive team member with my colleagues and a better teacher for all my students.”
—Frank Slaby, PhD: Cohort 6
Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“As the sole nurse in Cohort 6 of the MTLDP, I feel that my learning experience and professional practice was positively influenced through interactions with my physician and professor peers. I was able to relate to their challenges in engaging in meaningful, interactive discussion and educating in patient care situations or in the classroom. Together we worked on how to implement that in our respective professions. The experience has given me the tools and theories to better understand adult education and leadership. My hope is that I am a more effective nurse educator and leader to my nursing peers and that I will continue to utilize the network of MTLDP peers to continuously improve and grow.”
—Heather Walsh, MSN, RN, CPN: Cohort 6
Professional Practice Specialist
Respiratory Care Unit & Short Stay Unit
Neuro-Ortho Care Unit & Surgical Care Unit
Children's National Medical Center

“My MTLDP experience helped me truly understand that learning is the shared, dynamic responsibility of an individual posing a question and the responder. I learned that superb teachers offer guidance but not necessarily answers to challenging questions and dilemmas.”
—Tanya Hinds, MD: Cohort 6
Instructor in Pediatrics
Pediatrician
Children's National Medical Center

“The Master Teacher program helped me understand exactly what worked and what hadn’t worked about my own teaching. It gave me both motivation and tools to transform my teaching.”
—Andrea Flory, MD: Cohort 6
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Department of Medicine
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“The MTLDP has already taken my career in a new direction and has offered me the tools needed to successfully become a leader in medical education. I feel empowered as an educator, as an innovator and as a leader.”
—Katherine Chretien, MD: Cohort 5
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Director, Medicine Clerkship
The Veterans Administration Medical Center

“Engaging with the members of my cohort and the course instructors in a unique, adult learning atmosphere has really inspired me to achieve my stated goals. It has unleashed my creativity and enabled me to draw from many venues in order to facilitate learning. I looked forward to every class.”
—Wanda Thompson, PhD, MDiv: Cohort 5
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics; Psychologist
Freddie Mac Foundation Child/Adolescent Protection Center
Children’s National Medical Center

“The Program provides the theoretical foundation and the practical framework to significantly improve your effectiveness as a teacher and educational leader.”
—Michael J. Ward, MGA, EMT/P, MIFireE: Cohort 5
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Undergraduate DE Degree Coordinator
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“I applied the knowledge gained from every class to my team at work and saw amazing turnaround in all aspects: motivation, learning, team interactions, job competency, and personal fulfillment and growth.”
—Renee Roberts, MD: Cohort 5
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics
Director, Anesthesia Support Services
Children’s National Medical Center

“I have found the lessons learned from the Program not only to be invaluable to my teaching, but also to my own learning as well. The course begins with some fundamental principles about how adults learn. It is surprising that, as medical educators, we are never really taught how to teach; especially since there is such a large amount of research in this area. The course taught me to think about how both I and my students learned best, as well as how to incorporate this into teaching. In addition, collaboration with other colleagues in the class has been a tremendous experience. You learn so much from each other, especially since most of your colleagues are in a variety of disciplines. Work within the Program’s class has led to workshops that I have facilitated with some of my Program colleagues at nation medical education meetings, and  should hopefully lead to publication.”
—Matthew Mintz, MD: Cohort 3
Associate Professor of Medicine
Director, Primary Care Clerkship
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“The Master Teacher Leadership Development Program has helped me learn to better identify with adult learners, specifically residents in my Emergency Medicine Residency Program. By understanding that each resident has a unique learning style and need for autonomy, I have improved both my clinical teaching skills and curriculum design of our formal educational sessions. In addition to teaching each one of my residents to become the best physician they can be, I hope to be able to help other faculty develop this understanding in the future. This ‘passing on’ of skills will only perpetuate the tradition of excellence here at GW.”
—Colleen Roche, MD: Cohort 4
Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“The Master Teacher Program provided me with the opportunity to just focus on education for a few hours a week.  It opened up a new world of education to me and challenged and inevitably changed my approach toward teaching and learning. I have been able to apply my learning in my daily work with students, other health professionals and other settings away from the Medical Center. I gained skills in using facilitation, feedback, reflection, qualitative research and curriculum design. I created projects in the Program that I have instituted into my teaching. For example, my Evidenced-based medicine project is the basis for our physician assistant student EBM course.  But the greatest thing about the Master Teacher experience was the synergy of collaborative learning from and along with my classmates who are a group of bright health professionals. It was a powerful example of how to learn.”
—Howard Straker, MPH, PA: Cohort 4
Assistant Professor Physician Assistant Program
Director, Community Medicine
GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences

“The Program was a breath of fresh air for physicians immersed in the process of training new initiates in medicine, from medical students to residents to fellows. We were all self-taught in the art of education, and it was an eye-opening experience to really study about the philosophies, substance and style of education and then to apply that to our medical training. It was a maturing experience, both professionally and personally.”
—Phillip L. Pearl, MD: Cohort 1
Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Neurology
Children’s National Medical Center

“The Program allowed me to find my niche academically. During the classroom year, I was able to thread a common theme for nearly all of the assignments culminating in a workshop given at the 2006 Pediatric Academic Societies’ Annual Meeting, and, hopefully, to be given again in other venues. The knowledge and skills acquired through the program allowed me to develop a child abuse curriculum for medical students, residents and fellows rotating with our team, resulting in increased requests by other departments to have residents rotate with us. The coursework also equipped me with some of the leadership skills needed to take on the role of medical director of the Child & Adolescent Protection Center.”
—Allison M. Jackson, MD, MPH, FAAP: Cohort 3
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Medical Director, Freddie Mac Foundation Child & Adolescent Protection Center
Children's National Medical Center

“The Program was transformational in the way I currently approach teaching. It altered the way I teach with individuals and small groups as well as with large groups. The emphasis on self-learning, questioning rather than simply delivering information, was most useful.”
—Dorothy Bulas, MD: Cohort 1
Professor of Radiology and Pediatrics
Program Director, Division of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology
Children’s National Medical Center
 

“The Program provided me invaluable training, and it was truly a privilege to take part in it. I gained leadership skills that have helped me greatly in all aspects of my career—from my role as clinical leader of a team of healthcare providers to my role helping to direct a clinical fellowship program. The importance of adult learning principles completely changed the way that I approach teaching medical trainees. I now think in terms of ‘facilitating’ the learner’s learning rather than ‘teaching’ in the more traditional sense. Additionally, the courses in evidence-based medicine and qualitative research gave me greater confidence in interpreting the medical literature critically and helping medical trainees do the same. One of the greatest gifts of the program was the opportunity to connect with a small group of exceptional physicians committed to improving medical education.”
—Elizabeth Lindenberger, MD: Cohort 3
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Medical Director, Home Based Primary Care
The Veterans Administration Medical Center