Teaching Scholars Program

Academy of Medical Educators

The Teaching Scholars Program (TSP) offers health professions faculty the opportunity to participate in an 18 month program (September -March) designed to enhance knowledge and skills, and develop future leaders in medical/healthcare education with a focus on core components of educational scholarship and curriculum development. The certificate program culminates in the development of an education research project or a curriculum development project and is built upon the overall goal of developing a cadre of highly skilled educational scholars and leaders on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

 The program consists of several core elements:

• Tuesday Afternoon Seminar Series (occurs throughout the academic year & may meet at least twice a month)
• Curriculum Development Project
• Education Scholarship Project
• Faculty Mentorship and Guidance
• Presentation of Project at the AME Educational and Innovation Symposium  

Core content is covered in the seminar series and continues throughout the Program using a variety of independent learning opportunities to meet the needs and schedules of the TSP participants. The content covers aspects of educational theory, adult learning, and educational methods while focusing on educational scholarship, tools for educational research, curriculum development, innovative application of education technologies, program evaluation, career development and educational leadership. All participants attend meetings on Tuesday afternoons and pursue a medical/healthcare education research or curriculum development project. Content is presented by faculty during the monthly sessions and TSP participants receive guidance and mentoring as they develop important skills and leadership through educational scholarship. 
 
 TSP participants are expected to commit .10 (10%) FTE that is used to: attend all scheduled sessions on Tuesday afternoons; to work on their project; to complete assigned readings and activities; and, to meet with their mentor(s) and/or TSP leadership about their project and career goals.

Requirements to Complete the Program:  

• TSP requires 10% FTE protected time from your department so you may complete the following program requirements:
• Attendance at Tuesday afternoon sessions in person or online, held two times a month from 1:30-4:30pm
• Attendance at a 2-day kick off retreat in August or early September (specific dates TBD)
• A curriculum design or evaluation project
• Submit your final project for peer review and present it as a poster or oral presentation at the annual Education Scholarship and Innovation Symposium. 

Who Can Apply

Faculty from all Schools and Colleges on the AMC are welcome to apply. Following a competitive application process, approximately 20 participants are accepted into each cohort. Six spots within each cohort are reserved for faculty in the School of Medicine. One spot each year is reserved for a fellow whose fellowship is in medical education or clinical education. Fellows and their program directors should contact TSP Leadership specifying the fellow selected to their medical or clinical education fellowship prior to the TSP application deadline. 
 
 All applicants must have the documented support of their Department or Division leadership. Applications must include all components described on the website in addition to a letter from their Dean, department chair, or supervisor/director, extending support for the applicant. Applicants from Schools or Colleges outside the School of Medicine must also include a statement in the letter of support that their School or College agrees to pay the tuition cost of $2,600.00 per applicant. No faculty outside of the SOM will be able to participate without this support from their School/College. 

Applications open Thursday February 1, 2024. The deadline for the 2024/2026 cohort is Sunday March 10, 2024. Please note all applications will need to include a concept for a curriculum development or education research project as well as a commitment of protected time from the applicant’s department/program.

Since the Application form needs to be completed in one setting and will not save, you should have the following items ready.  

Application Material Needed

• Documents Needed 
  • Document of Support from their Department or Division leadership (see Letter of Support Template link) 
  • Current CV
  • Mentors Contact Information 

Application Questions that need to be answered 

• What (if any) previous education or training (resulting in degree, certificate, or other recognition) have you had in teaching, educational scholarship, or leadership? Name and briefly describe the program. 
• What personal / professional goals do you expect to achieve through participation in TSP? 
• Briefly describe an idea you have for a health education curriculum development project and what your role would be in the project. A health educations research project only (not directly associated with a curriculum development project) can be described here as an alternative, but is less preferred. 
• Explain/Describe how your project idea (described in #3) was generated. Include information on any funding or support you have and what major obstacles you anticipate in development and implementation of the idea. Indicate if you have an identified mentor for this project (provide their name and contact information) and what your relationship is with this person. Note that having an identified mentor prior to entry is not required, and we will gladly work with you to identify an appropriate project and/ or career mentor. 
  • Explain / Describe how your project idea was generated. See text above for additional guidelines to answer this item. 

*** Outside School of Medicine applications must include in the statement in the letter of support that their School or College agrees to pay the tuition cost of 2,600 per applicant.