The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences promotes educational research and scholarship in the health sciences in order to advance our understanding of teaching and learning and to inform policy and practice within and beyond the University.
Educational research has all the elements of any scientific research discovery including clearly defined research questions and well-articulated goals. Topics focus on instructional approaches and teacher training with the global aim of educational research that informs teaching and learning practices and policies.
Embedding scholarship in practice: we have several successful examples of embedding scholarship within educational service such as the Assessment and Evaluation Unit and the Steinberg Centre for Simulation and Interactive Learning for health professions training. Partnering clinicians and education researchers may enable a more rapid response to the educational knowledge needs.
Key to our success will be capitalizing on our recently strengthened partnerships with the Directors of Education of the McGill–affiliated CIUSSSs and MUHC. Our intention is to work together to be responsive to their knowledge needs with respect to evidence-based pedagogical strategies that are appropriate for clinical environments.
The new Institute of Health Sciences Education, which replaced the Centre for Medical Education, is a key entity with regards to supporting and advancing research and scholarship in health science education, and other hubs of educational research activities exist within departments and schools that are discipline-specific. Several departments have developed graduate programs with an education stream, relying on coursework within the Faculty of Education.
In addition to the new Institute, other resources and opportunities are being explored to foster advanced training in health science education. Examples of resource support might include:
i) fellowship training opportunities
ii) stipends for clinicians across health professions that support engagement in educational scholarship
iii) new tenure track positions in health science education
iv) resource support for knowledge translation efforts
v) seed funding for educational innovation in clinical and university contexts
vi) greater recognition of educational scholarship as part of promotion criteria.
The ongoing concern with respect to a lack of adequate recognition of teaching innovation and educational scholarship warrants further discussion with stakeholders. Impacts on educational excellence and success stories need to be better highlighted using communication strategies within the Faculty and University, and more broadly.
Read the full Education Strategic Plan (PDF).
Comments and participation is welcome throughout the Education Strategic Planning exercise and we can be reached via: admin-vdeducation.med [at] mcgill.ca (subject: ESP)