Kathryn E. Redinger, MD, has been accepted as a scholar into the prestigious Harvard Macy Institute Program for Educators in the Health Professions.
Dr. Redinger, who serves as chair of the Department of Medical Education at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed), was notified of her acceptance in June and her work in the eight-month longitudinal professional development program will officially begin in October and run through May.
“I’m incredibly honored to join the Harvard Macy Scholars community,” Dr. Redinger said. “I’m excited to bring back new ideas and strategies that not only elevate our curriculum, but also ensure our assessments truly reflect the values we stand for – health equity, human dignity, and the formation of competent, compassionate physicians.”
During her time in the program, Dr. Redinger will participate in two immersive weeklong sessions – a five-day virtual fall session and a five-day in-residence spring session and capstone week at Harvard Medical School – bridged by monthly virtual continuity sessions in between.
The program is designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders in health professions education and Dr. Redinger and other members of her cohort will engage in a comprehensive curriculum that promotes educational innovation, career advancement, self-awareness, professional networking, and the development of impactful educational projects.
Dr. Redinger’s acceptance into the program came on the heels of her taking the helm of the Department of Medical Education in May. In addition to her role as chair, Dr. Redinger serves as assistant dean for Clinical Applications and holds dual appointments as an associate professor in the departments of Medical Education and Emergency Medicine. She is actively involved in curricular development and academic leadership and her educational innovations have been published in Medical Education and the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine.
As part of her application for the program at Harvard, Dr. Redinger was required to submit a project proposal. That project – "Advancing Health Equity Through Clinical Assessment: Studying and Strengthening the Integration of Mission-Aligned Behaviors" – is one that seeks to build upon recent revisions to clinical performance assessment forms at the medical school and evaluate how well those updated tools are capturing values-based competencies such as advocacy, cultural humility, and addressing social determinants of health, and strengthening faculty development and narrative feedback in alignment with the medical school’s mission of promoting health equity and human dignity.
Over the next eight months, Dr. Redinger will complete a literature review, data collection, and qualitative and quantitative analyses to evaluate the impact of the assessment changes at WMed on student development and the learning environment.
“I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to applying what I learn to strengthen our educational programs and institutional culture,” Dr. Redinger said.