Education / Faculty Development / Faculty Development Workshop and Seminar Series

Faculty Development Series in the Health Professions

This in-person workshop series is designed to provide active learning experiences for participants.

Thursday, April 23, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Ditch the Status Quo: Expand Your Innovation Capacity with Design Thinking!

Jessica C. Shand, MD, MHS

Design Thinking is an evidence-based, human-centered approach used to solve complex problems in engineering, education, research, and healthcare. This interactive workshop will introduce faculty to the fundamental principles of design thinking and how it can accelerate problem-solving, particularly where it is difficult to move past status-quo assumptions and practices. The workshop material is designed to be equally impactful regardless of whether the faculty participants’ primary academic focus is clinical, education, research, or quality improvement.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Understand the 5 basic principles of Design Thinking, particularly how the empathy-centered design approach can solve complex problems in healthcare.
Be able to frame (or reframe) a problem in your clinical, research, education, or quality work in Design Thinking terms.
Recognize how the Design Prototype approach can overcome assumptions and mitigate fear of failure when solving complex problems.

Accreditation: The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Certification: The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Thursday, April 30, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Engaging the Adult Learner: Puzzle Based Approaches for Faculty Development

Kaitlin Mitchell, MD; Marie Mayer, MD; Shante White, MD; Michelle Snyder, C-TAGME; Rena Gresh, C-TAGME

This workshop explores how gamification and escape-room methodologies utilize adult learning principles of Knowles’ Andragogy and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory.1 Using gamification methodologies, faculty will learn how to deepen engagement and enhance teaching. Faculty will participate in hands-on breakout activities and leave with practical tools for integrating puzzle-based learning into their curriculum.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Engage in reflective redesign of their teaching practices
Integrate gamification type activities into their didactic sessions
Modify existing sessions to reduce extraneous cognitive load
Design more engaging orientations, simulations, and workshops

Thursday, May 7, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Accessible by Design: Addressing Barriers in Healthcare Education

Carolyn Stern, MD, FAAFP; Kirstie McCormick, MA

In this interactive workshop, healthcare faculty will explore effective strategies for creating coursework and meetings that are accessible by design, to improve the educational experience of all learners at the University of Rochester. Participants will learn principles of universal design, accessibility vs accommodations, and how to cultivate inclusive learning environments. Attendees will collaborate in small groups to analyze real world scenarios, share experiences, and develop actionable plans that they can implement in their own educational settings. This session is essential for educators committed to fostering accessibility in healthcare education.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Distinguish between accessibility and accommodations to prioritize proactive (as opposed to reactive) teaching & course design.
Apply at least 1 of the 3 core principles of UDL (Engagement, Representation, and Action/Expression) to identify and remove specific barriers in healthcare curricula.
Develop a concrete action plan to remove one existing barrier in their current teaching or administrative workflow as a starting point for creating an actionable “accessibility audit.”

Certification: The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Thursday, May 14, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Strategic Mentorship and Network Mapping for Interprofessional Career Growth

Shasha Cui, EdD, MBA; Sarah Peyre, EdD

Developing a purposeful academic identity requires more than disciplinary expertise, it relies on intentional mentorship, strategic relationships, and a clear scholarly vision. Yet many faculty, especially early-career scholars, enter academia without guidance on how to build these foundations intentionally. Drawing from the facilitators’ own mentor-mentee experience, including developing an interprofessional research project from outside the primary discipline. This interactive workshop will demonstrate how intentional relationship-building can support innovation and interdisciplinary scholarship. It will also provide a practical approach for using mentoring relationships, social network mapping, and reflective planning to clarify and pursue one’s academic direction.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Recognize the importance of strategic mentoring and interprofessional relationships in academic career development.
Identify key components of their current mentoring and professional networks, including potential gaps.
Describe basic strategies for building and strengthening mentoring relationships to support their academic goals.

Monday, May 18, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Reflection in Medical Education: Arguably as Important as Learning to Diagnose

Patricia Luck, MBChB, MPhil, MSc; Nicolas Mercado, DrPH, MS, HEC-C

This workshop will introduce participants to the Photo/Tiny Story developed by faculty in the Department of Health Humanities & Bioethics at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry and detail how it’s been integrated across all four years of our undergraduate medical education, as well as resident and faculty development. Participants will have an opportunity to produce and discuss a Photo/Tiny Story of their own in response to a prompt set by the facilitators.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Explore the iterative process and vertical dimensions of critical reflection that the Photo/Tiny Story promotes.
Integrate the Photo/Tiny Story as an experiential learning strategy into professional development by each participant creating one.
Discuss and critique the value of reflection and Photo/Tiny Story in clinical education

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 | 4:00pm – 5:15pm | Louise Slaughter Conference Room 1-9555

Don’t Go It Alone: Collaborating with Interdisciplinary Stakeholders and Allies to Tackle Challenges in Health Professions Education

Sarah E.A. McConnell, PhD; Martha J. Gdowski, PhD

This workshop will explore the challenges and inertial barriers of identifying and solving problems in medical education with a goal of developing strategies for supporting trainees throughout their longitudinal training. As an example, we will share the process of creating a series of brief video modules on academic and professional skills for Phase 1 medical students at the University of Rochester Medical School, emphasizing the stakeholders and allies we identified and how we engaged with them, and the specific benefits and outcomes that resulted from these collaborative efforts. We will also signpost potential opportunities to apply these principles across the continuum of medical education and health professions. Participants will be invited to reflect on unsolved challenges in their own work and to engage in cycles of prompted individual thought and small- and large-group discussion to identify challenges, design solutions, share ideas, and reflect on insights.

Learning Objectives:
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

Identify key challenges in their missions
Design workable solutions to address these challenges
Identify and engage relevant interdisciplinary stakeholders and allies