Catalog Home Carver College of Medicine Medical Education Program

Medical Education Program

The Medical Education Program is dedicated to providing medical faculty members with formal training in medical education. The program is coordinated through the Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education.

Graduate Program

The program offers the Master in Medical Education (M.M.E.).

Master in Medical Education

The Master in Medical Education requires a minimum of 30 s.h. of graduate credit. The program is designed to prepare medical faculty members to educate health professionals. It offers an opportunity to specialize in theory and practice of curriculum design, effective teaching, assessment, and other aspects of medical education.

Graduates of the program should be able to:

• design evidence-based education programs and materials with appropriate scope, sequence, and focus for intended learners;
• deliver effective instruction to individuals and small or large groups in classroom, laboratory, or clinical settings;
• evaluate the effectiveness of educational instruction, using formative and summative methods;
• understand basic principles of educational measurement and be able to apply them to medical education;
• use assessments to promote learning and to assess learning progress and status; and
• understand basic principles of, and be able to interpret and use, educational research.

The M.M.E. may be completed in as few as two years or as many as five. Students may begin the program in fall semester, spring semester, or summer session. Some of the required courses are offered online, and required on-campus courses have evening meeting times.

The curriculum includes 24 s.h. of required courses and 6-9 s.h. of electives. Students may tailor some course selections to their individual interests. The program's faculty provides substantial student advising and consultation.

M.M.E. students must register for at least one course each academic year in order to maintain satisfactory progress toward the degree.

During their first semester, students file a plan of study. Each student's plan must include a description of the student's goals, intended graduation date, and a list of courses the student plans to take each semester he or she is working toward the degree. The study plan must incorporate all of the courses required for the degree and must include any requests for transfer credit. The plan must be approved by the director of the M.M.E. program and by the student's advisor. Subsequent revisions of the plan must have the advisor's approval.

The Master in Medical Education requires the following course work.

Students who do not do clinical teaching may substitute another course for 050:702 Clinical Teaching in Medical Education. Students may enroll in 050:714 Current Issues in Medical Education more than once, counting the credit earned in additional enrollments toward the 6-9 s.h. of electives. Students who take both 050:703 Educational Research and Evaluation and 050:713 Assessment in Medical Education may count one of the two courses toward electives.

Students must have completed at least 18 s.h. before enrolling in 050:720 Portfolio Project. In the portfolio, students integrate the materials they have developed over the course of the program into a document. Three faculty members review the project and evaluate the student's participation in the program.

Electives require approval of the student's advisor. They may include courses in the M.M.E. program as well as those offered by relevant departments and programs (e.g., College of Education, Tippie College of Business). Graduate-level courses are numbered 100 or above.

Admission

Applicants should hold an M.D. degree and must have performed satisfactorily on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Basic sciences applicants without an M.D. must hold an equivalent degree and must have performed satisfactorily on an admission test equivalent to the MCAT.

Applicants whose first language is not English and who do not hold a baccalaureate or advanced degree from an accredited university in the United States, English-speaking Africa, Australia, Canada (except Quebec), New Zealand, or the United Kingdom must submit scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Application materials must include an official transcript showing medical course work and medical degree, or equivalent for basic sciences applicants (current and former University of Iowa students do not need to request a UI transcript or transcripts previously submitted to the University); a letter of reference from the applicant's department head and two additional letters of reference; and a 300-500 word essay describing the applicant's interest in medical education and in the Master in Medical Education program.

Additional application information and forms are available on the Master in Medical Education web site. Application materials should be submitted to the University of Iowa Office of Admissions.

Application deadlines are July 15 for fall semester entry, November 15 for spring semester entry, and April 15 for summer session entry.