Imperial College London offers educational professional development to Clinical Teaching Fellows and Clinical Educators through a series of workshops and associated assignments. The core series of workshops have been accredited by the Academy of Medical Educators at their level 2 Professional Standards (MAcadMedEd), and the advanced series are mapped to their level 3 standards in the educational research & scholarship domain (FAcadMedEd). 

These workshops are provided internally to Imperial College’s associated clinical teaching sites, and externally to Healthcare Trusts looking for professional development that is targeted to educators in the clinical workplace. 

The course draws on theories of adult learning, respecting the range of prior knowledge of learners, and helping them to develop practical competencies that they find relevant and important to their professional careers. Activities are pitched at an appropriately challenging level through learner’s needs analysis and self-selection of activities. Our educational approach concentrates on what the learner does, rather than what the teacher does, and will include evidenced strategies for active learning such as pre-reading, questions to encourage critical thinking, team activities, peer-observation and formative assessments with effective agenda-led feedback. Ongoing independent professional development will be supported through a fortnightly online webinar/discussion group, encouraging the development of a longitudinal, self-supporting community of practice giving members opportunities to showcase and get feedback on their work.

Assessment is by portfolio, which includes some directed assignments to ensure the course learning objectives are met, but is otherwise curated by the owner to evidence their attainment and progression against the values and standards of AoME, and supported by regular review and feedback from peers and faculty.