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College of Medicine offers medical students micro-credential in teaching
Academic Medicine Pipeline Program badge of completion.

College of Medicine offers medical students micro-credential in teaching

The program prepares students for a future in academic medicine

September 13, 2019 at 11:15am

This fall, the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine will start offering a micro-credential in teaching. The newly launched Academic Medicine Pipeline Program (AMP2) is a 4-year professional development program designed to prepare medical students for a future in academic medicine.

Program administrators Samantha Lemus-Martinez and Jessica Lewis, who have Ph.D.s in education, say the idea for developing the program started with a growing interest from students who wanted to learn how to teach. It also was inspired by the university’s vision and strategic focus on competency-based education.

Micro-credentials are like certifications. They are sometimes called mini-degrees or digital badges. AMP2 focuses on four pillars of education: curriculum, assessment, instruction and research. Over their four years in medical school, students participate in a series of lectures, workshops and online classes and get a badge after completing each pillar or competency. Additionally, faculty mentors will work with AMP2 students on academic research projects dealing with teaching and learning.

Sarah Stavros, a first-year medical student, signed up for AMP2 because she loves the opportunity that medicine gives them "to educate others, both patients and peers.” She feels this program will expand her competencies and build a foundation she can use throughout her career.

Micro-credentialing is becoming popular in higher education as schools look for innovative ways to identify and promote skills and behaviors necessary for students’ personal success.

For Collin Goldstein, another medical student interested in the program, it’s all about sharing knowledge. “I’m interested in learning how to teach because I’ve learned the profound impact of knowledge. When we teach, we are giving those who listen a gift,” he says. “This gift unlocks a part of the world around us that was previously inaccessible.”