May 2021: Master of Education in the Health Professions Update

MEHP Faculty, Alums, and Collaborators Win JHU Discovery Award

MEHP Program Director Toni Ungaretti and collaborators from across Johns Hopkins have been honored with a Johns Hopkins Discovery Award for their research project proposal, “From Jedi Knight to Jedi Master: Discovering the New Master of Health Professions Educator Leader.”

The awards, issued by the university’s vice provost for research, support innovative, collaborative research projects among investigators universitywide. Co-investigators include Rachel Salas, MD (MEHP ’18); Sharon K. Park, PharmD (MEHP ’17); Gundula Bosch, PhD (MEHP ’16); and MEHP faculty Richard Milter, PhD, from the Carey Business School; Kathleen White, PhD, MS, RN, from the School of Nursing; Emily Jones, EdD, from the School of Education; Haneefa Saleem, PhD, from the Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Charlene Gamaldo, MD, from the School of Medicine.

“When COVID-19 hit, we noticed that many of our fellows and alumni were called into leadership roles, especially as institutions moved from face-to-face to online instruction,” Ungaretti says. “We noticed that in doing this, they had a calmness and vision about themselves. They inspired people to follow them in very unsettling times, and they worked very effectively as leaders. We were interested to learn what allowed them to do that, to identify those characteristics that allowed them to step forward and lead.”

In doing so, she says, MEHP instructors can better foster those skills during courses, and help nurture these traits among fellows.

Suggested by Salas, the project is named for the MEHP program work teaching those who are in turn teaching medical, pharmacy, and nursing students, among other aspiring allied health professionals. The tenets of the MEHP program have always been to help learners develop leadership skills and become interprofessional health educator leaders, Ungaretti says.

Stay tuned for their findings.

Ungaretti, Harnett, and Jones Present at Education Conferences

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped MEHP Program Director Toni Ungaretti, PhD, from promoting the MEHP program and educational research at multiple conferences over the past year:

• At the Ireland International Conference on Education (IICE), Ungaretti and MEHP faculty member Christina Harnett, PhD, an associate professor in the Johns Hopkins University School of Education’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, presented their paper, “Beyond Oz: Lifting the Curtain on the Impact of Health Professions Education Programs.”
• At the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting, Ungaretti organized a panel discussion, “Reimagining and Reinventing Health Professions Education in COVID’s Environment: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity,” which showcased papers from six institutions. Within this symposium, Ungaretti and MEHP Assistant Professor Emily Jones, EdD, presented on, “The Crisis/Opportunity of COVID on Established Online Global Health Professions Education Programs: Accepting Educational Responsibility.”

New Course Added to MEHP Program

The MEHP program is pleased to announce a new course for the 2021–2022 academic year. Critical Issues in Health Professions Education: Survey Design will be offered as a 1.5-credit, six-week course during the fall semester, Oct. 11, 2021, through Jan. 16, 2022. Surveys are becoming increasingly common when evaluating educational processes and conducting research. The course will go over several topics including defining constructs for surveys, formatting surveys, and bolstering response rates.

Kohlenberg Appointed to ASCH Committee

MEHP Fellow Samuel Kohlenberg, PhD, MA, LPC, BCB, DipABLM, a clinical psychophysiologist, licensed professional counselor, and behavioral health educator in Denver,  was recently appointed to the Clinical Hypnosis Education and Training Committee of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH). His poster, “Domains of Learning in Standards of Training in Clinical Hypnosis,” was accepted to the ASCH-ERF annual scientific meeting.

Merlo Publishes Medical Professionalism Book

MEHP Fellow Gia Merlo, MD, MBA, a clinical professor of nursing and psychiatry and a senior adviser on wellness at New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing, has written the book Principles of Medical Professionalism. The text emphasizes an often-neglected aspect of medical professionalism: how and why physicians ought to focus on self-care, happiness, and well-being as they advance through the process of socialization into the medical community of practice.

Procop Takes Top Post at Pathology Board

MEHP Fellow Gary Procop, MD, MS, medical director and co-chair of the Cleveland Clinic’s Enterprise Laboratory Stewardship Committee and director of molecular virology, virology, mycology, and parasitology at the hospital, has been named CEO of the American Board of Pathology.

Rider Presents Capstone Work at Conference

MEHP Fellow Ashley Christine Rider, MD, a clinical instructor of emergency medicine at Stanford University, presented her capstone project this spring at the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine conference. The title is, “Precision Pharmacy Education: A Mixed-Methods Needs Assessment to Identify Formal Pharmacy Curricular Needs for Emergency Medicine Residents in Order to Improve Prescribing Practices and Interprofessional Understanding.”

Gupta, Amadio, and Ungaretti Present at the Canadian Conference on Medical Education

At the Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME), Ronish Gupta, MD, FRCPC (MEHP ’20), of the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario; and Jennifer Amadio, MD, FRCPC (MEHP ’19), of Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at the University of Toronto’s University Health Network, along with MEHP Program Director Toni Ungaretti presented their abstract, “Perceived Effectiveness of a Graduate Education Degree for Health Professionals: A Program Evaluation.”

Amendola Named InnoVAtor of the Month

Michael Amendola, MD, FACS, FSVS (MEHP ’19), division chief of vascular surgery at the Central Virginia VA Health Care System and professor of surgery at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine, was named an InnoVAtor of the Month by CVHCS.

Amendola was honored for taking on a novel role in health care as the clinical champion of 3D printing at CVHCS and has been selected as a fiscal year 2021 senior innovation fellow for the Veterans Health Administration Innovation Ecosystem. He is working with stakeholders throughout the enterprise to develop a 3D printing education curriculum, establish a national 3D printing database, and formalize the clinical champion mentorship program. In his fellowship, Amendola will further develop and define the role of the 3D printing clinical champion so the position may be expanded to other medical centers throughout the VA.

Dumenco Publishes Capstone Paper

Luba Dumenco, MD, FACP (MEHP ’18), assistant dean for medical education at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, published a paper about her capstone project in the journal Academic Medicine. The title is, “Outcomes of a Longitudinal Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Preclerkship Curriculum.”

Salas Receives Promotion

Rachel Salas, MD, FAAN (MEHP ’18), has been promoted to professor of neurology and nursing at Johns Hopkins. She is director of the neurology clerkship and director of interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPCP) for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and serves as a faculty adviser for the MEHP program.

Syed Launches Professional Group for Women Ophthalmology Professors

Misha Syed, MD (MEHP ’18), a professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and residency program director in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, co-founded a program called Women Professors in Ophthalmology. The group aims to help women in academic ophthalmology navigate the process of getting promoted and being successful in academia.

Nemec Receives Promotion

Eric Nemec, PharmD (MEHP ’17), director of research and assessment at Sacred Heart University in Trumbull, Connecticut, has been promoted to clinical professor.