Program for Academic Clinician Educators (PACE)
In 2016, the Department of Medicine created the Program for Academic Clinician Educators (PACE) to support the career development of its clinician-educators. These faculty members make crucial contributions to the success of our department, by developing and improving innovative educational programs, and engaging in educational research to guide how we teach and assess health professions learners.
The PACE program will provide each Scholar with financial support, which may be used for medical education research, innovative program development in education, salary support and/or career development of the Scholar. The Division Head or Dean must pledge to protect at least 10% of the effort/time of the Scholar for the duration of the award. Each Scholar will be expected to participate in an education scholarship “Works in Progress” group for additional project support and mentorship, and program progress will be evaluated annually with continued year of funding contingent on demonstrated progress during the initial year of support.
Congratulations to the 2024–25 PACE Scholars!
Lisa Chu, MD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Hematology with an interest in medical education and a clinical focus in classical hematology. The transition period from internal medicine resident to first-year fellow subspecialist can be variable and daunting, as fellows are required to rapidly learn and synthesize knowledge and provide specialized expertise in a new field. Dr. Chu’s PACE project seeks to explore and describe the transition from internal medicine residency to hematology-oncology. The primary research question being: what are fellows’ lived experiences during their first year as a hematology-oncology physician? By better understanding the concerns, challenges, and perspectives of first-year fellows as they take on their new role, this will hopefully inform future interventions to improve the fellowship experience.
Catherine Callister, MD is an assistant professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine. She is passionate about optimizing both learner and preceptor experiences in medicine, and this is a key part of her work as the Associate Director of Preceptorship for the DOCS (Developing our Clinical Skills program) and the Director of Education for the Division of Hospital Medicine. She also has worked to create an addiction medicine curriculum for internal medicine residents. She is excited to participate in the PACE program and hopes that her PACE project will allow her to use both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the barriers and facilitators that lead physicians to precept a first-year medical student in the DOCS program. She hopes to use that data to develop an intervention to improve the preceptorship experience for both students and preceptors.
Returning Scholars
Samuel Porter, MD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Hospital Medicine who focuses on quality improvement and training physician leaders. His background in systems improvement goes back to before medical school, and he has been continually involved in healthcare performance improvement projects since that time. He currently acts as the associate director of quality for the Division of Hospital Medicine where he manages or coaches a suite of almost a dozen different quality efforts in the division. He has created curricula for teaching healthcare improvement fundamentals, how to collect and analyze clinical data for quality improvement, the economics of healthcare, and healthcare leadership. He hopes to build on his experience to create exemplary educational programs for trainees who wish to become agents of transformative change in the healthcare system.
Rachel Quaney, MD, MAEd, is an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Quaney’s PACE project aims to improve the process of gathering faculty feedback from trainee physicians by utilizing a group approach, entitled Teaching Assessment Committee (TAC). The facilitator-led group process of TAC includes soliciting and aggregating feedback, which capitalizes on peer dialogue and ensures anonymity. Dr. Quaney hypothesizes that this can mitigate feedback biases and minimize perceived issues with confidentiality in order to improve the quality of feedback delivered to faculty members.
Christine Sailer, MD, is an assistant professor in the Division of Cardiology. ACLS recertification is required every two years, however, studies suggest – and most clinicians agree – this is insufficient to maintain high-quality resuscitation practice. Dr. Sailer has developed and piloted a one-hour, cardiac arrest simulation curriculum for internal medicine residents rotating in the ICU. Assessment of resident performance has demonstrated a marked intra-simulation improvement in time to first shock, percentage of time on the chest, and leadership and communication scores. Through the support of the PACE grant this year, Dr. Sailer will expand the curriculum to multiple ICUs and aims to identify the optimal simulation frequency to prevent skill attrition. If successful, this curriculum would demonstrate the efficacy and feasibility of implementing short, repeated simulation within the time constraints of gradual medical education, and could be used as a template to teach trainees other skills via simulation.
