GUMC Launches Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education
Posted in News Release
WASHINGTON – Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) today announces the launch of the Center for Innovation and Leadership in Education (CENTILE).
CENTILE will amplify faculty’s efforts to create, maintain and grow educational programs across all sectors of GUMC through excellence, innovation and leadership in teaching. GUMC’s School of Medicine, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, the biomedical graduate research and education programs, and the School of Nursing & Health Studies provide public health, medical and scientific instruction to undergraduate and/or graduate students.
CENTILE will explore the development of new educational programs, provide administrative resources to support existing educational programs and monitor the impact of GUMC’s educational programs on students to ensure they are of the highest quality.
Aviad Haramati, PhD, a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular & cellular biology, proposed CENTILE’s creation during the GUMC-wide Strategic Planning Initiative and will serve as its inaugural director.
Haramati says CENTILE’s scope and priorities will be decided by GUMC educators, helping those who cultivate the art of learning “become scholars and leaders of health professions education.”
He says, “Effective teaching is an essential part of what makes a great medical school. I care deeply about helping faculty succeed in that role.”
“The work of Dr. Haramati and CENTILE elevates the centrality of teaching at GUMC, perhaps for the first time,” says Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, executive vice president for health sciences and executive dean of the medical school. “Historically, excellence in education was not necessarily recognized, and I’m hopeful this work will inspire future generations of faculty members at GUMC to embrace teaching excellence. It’s simply the right thing to do.”
Haramati’s own excellence in the classroom has been recognized with several honors including nine Golden Apple awards from medical students at Georgetown. In 2004, Haramati was selected by faculty and alumni for induction into the Magis Society of Master Teachers at Georgetown. He has also received the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teaching Awardfrom the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Haramati helped create the International Association of Medical Science Educators and served as its first president. The guiding principle of the group, which now has members from more than 40 countries, is that all who teach sciences fundamental to medical practice should have access to the most current information and skills needed to excel as educators.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis – or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical Translation and Science Award from the National Institutes of Health.
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