Drs. Patricia Kao, Timothy Yau, and Steven Cheng, Academy of Educators inductees.
The Division of Nephrology is proud to announce that four of our faculty members – Patricia Kao, MD, MS, Timothy Yau, MD, Steven Cheng, MD, and Benjamin Humphreys, MD, PhD – were among 42 Washington University School of Medicine educators inducted into the newly created Academy of Educators.
The Academy of Educators is led by Mary Klingensmith, MD, the Mary Culver Distinguished Professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Surgery at WashU School of Medicine. Dr. Klingensmith is the founding director of this program, which seeks to nurture a culture of excellence in education across all WashU Medical Campus departments and programs. As part of its overall objective, members of the academy will work together to help other faculty members adopt creative and high-yield teaching methods.
Mary Klingensmith, founding director of the Academy of Educators program.
“It’s a wonderful time to be involved in education at the school of medicine, as the support of the Academy will nurture educators in ways that have not existed before,” says Dr. Klingensmith. “In addition, it is wonderful to see so many faculty in the Division of Nephrology receive this acknowledgment of their education excellence through their election to the Academy.”
This past spring, the academy launched a Teaching Scholars Program, a 12-month certificate program for faculty who want to learn more about curriculum design, assessment methods and leadership. In addition, the academy just debuted the Foundations in Teaching Skills (FITS) Certificate Program, which targets junior educators, as well as faculty who want to incorporate teaching excellence into their careers. The academy will also encourage the development of innovative teaching methods by providing small grants to faculty members to implement new curricula and programs.
The academy inductees from our division are valued and respected teachers.
Dr. Patricia Kao, with the support of the Division of Medical Education, launched the Washington University Teaching Physician Pathway (WUTPP), In 2016.
In 2018, Dr. Kao received an AAIM (Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine) Innovation Grant to study different assessment tools of resident teaching that measure learner engagement and the activity of the classroom. A recipient of the prestigious Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellowship, Kao also received a 2018 Distinguished Service Teaching Award, which is given in appreciation of exemplary service in medical student education. In 2016, Kao, with the support of the Division of Medical Education, launched the Washington University Teaching Physician Pathway (WUTPP). WUTPP is the first structured resident teaching physician pathway here at WashU. Initially developed for medicine residents, WUTPP prepares select trainees with the required knowledge and skills to become inspired clinician educators. Due to the success of WUTPP under Kao’s leadership, the program has now expanded to include residents from general surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, and pediatrics. Kao is also the program director for the Clinical Fellowship in Medical Education, which she spearheaded in 2018. This fellowship provides advanced training in the scholarship of teaching for interested medicine residency graduates. In addition, Kao is an associate program director for the Medicine Residency Program.
Dr. Timothy Yau at the Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Awards in Medical Student Education presentation ceremony.
Dr. Yau and Dr. Cheng were both recently appointed to the WashU School of Medicine’s Phase 1 Integrated Curriculum Design team tasked with the development of a new curriculum for the 2020 entering class of medical students. It has been 20 years since the last curriculum renewal. Dr. Yau is on the new curriculum’s Clinical Skills/Immersions team, which will integrate clinical skills into the preclinical curriculum. Earlier this year, Yau received a Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Awards in Medical Student Education, an award presented for the recognition of outstanding teaching and commitment to medical education and is one of the highest honors School of Medicine teachers can achieve. Yau has also received seven Distinguished Service Teaching Awards since joining the faculty in 2011. He was appointed social media editor for the American Journal of Kidney Disease in 2017 and is currently on the faculty of the Nephrology Social Media Collective.
Dr. Cheng will help develop a new curriculum for the 2020 entering class of medical students.
Dr. Cheng is on the new curriculum’s Basic-Clinical Sciences Integration Team, which will create the core outline for all major modules within Phase 1 and will inform the foundational components of Phase 2, including content outline and mapping. He has received multiple awards for his exemplary skills in medical education. In 2018, he received the Distinguished Service Teaching Award for Course Director of the Year (Class of 2020), in 2017 was awarded the Distinguished Professor of the Year Award (Class of 2019), and in 2015 received the Course Master of the Year (Class of 2017). In 2012, Cheng was a recipient of the Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Award for Medical Student Education.
On Twitter, follow the Division of Nephrology @WUNephrology, Dr. Kao @kao_patricia, Dr. Cheng @RenalRhapsody, Dr. Yau @Maximal_Change, Dr. Humphreys @HumphreysLab, and Dr. Klingensmith @meklingensmith.
Read more about the Academy of Educators and Dr. Klingensmith here.