Leadership

Director
Melissa Klein, MD, MEd

Curriculum Chair
Barry Solomon, MD, MPH
Priya Garg, MD

Research/Evaluation Chair
Becky Blankenburg, MD

Cohort Leaders

C10
Jessica Goldstein, MD
Julia Aquino, MD

C9
Donna D’Alessandro, MD
Leora Mogilner, MD

C8
Hans Kersten, MD

Advisor Leader
Priti Bhansali, MD

Online Learning Managers
Teri Turner, MD, MPH, MEd
Leora Mogilner, MD
Robert Riss, MD
Rita Nathawad, MD

Alumni & Friends
Jean Petershack, MD
Nick DeBlasio, MD, MEd
Elena Huang, MD

Portal Managers
Virginia Niebuhr, PhD
Elizabeth Hanson, MD
Robert Riss, MD

The ESP is a 3-year national faculty development program for academic pediatric educators who wish to build their skills in educational scholarship and leadership. The program aims to teach scholars to develop, implement, evaluate and disseminate educational interventions and other types of educational scholarship. For more information, contact us at ESP@academicpeds.org,  or follow us on twitter at #BeAScholarESP.

What is Educational Scholarship?

Educational scholarship is the dissemination/sharing of sound educational research or dissemination about a systematically developed and evaluated curriculum, educational intervention or educational innovation.

Curriculum Outline

To complete the program and receive a Certificate of Excellence in Educational Scholarship, participants will be required to:

  1. Enlist the support of your department for the program: Scholars will be expected to commit 10% FTE to the program in order to complete the full curriculum, including projects, over 3 years. A tuition fee of $5,600 will be charged to all scholars for their three years in the program, due at time of enrollment. An additional application fee of $125 is charged at the time of submission of the application.
  2. Attend the full duration of three instructional sessions (9 hrs each over three years) at the PAS meeting. This didactic component of the program is offered each year on Friday before the PAS meeting begins. The courses include both presentations of concepts and practical, hands-on activities with many opportunities for collegial interactions.
  3. Develop an Educator Portfolio per the Educator Portfolio Instructions. Review and feedback on educator portfolios will be provided by ESP faculty advisors.
  4. Conduct a mentored educational project and provide evidence of a successfully peer-reviewed national presentation or publication related to the project. The self-directed, experiential component of the program will be a mentored project in educational research, innovation, or evaluation, usually conducted at the Scholar’s home institution. Applications to the program must include a project proposal. Development of creative content and formats for educational projects is encouraged. Program faculty are available for discussion of project ideas prior to application submission. Projects may be modified after enrollment in the program with approval by the ESP Executive Committee. For certification of completion of the Program, projects must culminate in a peer-reviewed publication or peer-reviewed presentation at a national meeting (e.g. AAMC, COMSEP, APPD, or an equivalent organization).
  5. Scholars are responsible for finding their own mentors before they apply. If you are unable to do so, program administrators will facilitate connection with a mentor. For assistance in identifying a mentor, contact the APA Office at least 2 months prior to the application deadline. Each Scholar will also be assigned a national advisor to discuss projects, review educator portfolios and provide career counseling.

Apply

This program targets present or future faculty in academic pediatrics who wish to build their skills in educational scholarship. Pediatric generalists, hospitalists, and faculty from all pediatric subspecialties are welcome. Applicants must be or become a member of the Academic Pediatric Association. The selection of participants is based on a review of the application materials described below and a determination of the applicant’s ability to successfully complete all of the components of the program.

The application includes a personal information sheet, an agreement to participate, commitment to pay a one time tuition fee, statements from supervisor and mentor, letters of reference, and a brief biographical sketch, as well as a project description.

We will be accepting applications in Fall 2024.

Current Scholars

Scholar Program Portal

Alumni

Scholars Lists by Cohort:

Scholar Program Portal for Cohorts 

FAQs

  • Who selects the scholars and how many will be selected? The Academic Pediatric Association's Educational Scholars Program Executive Committee directs selection of scholars. A cohort of  approximately 30 scholars is chosen every 3 years. The next application cycle will be in 2021.
  • What does the Educational Scholar's Program cost?
    Cost of program is the responsibility of the scholar:
    $125 application fee
    $5600 tuition
    10% professional time for 3 years
    Travel to PAS meeting x 3 years
  • Why is there an enrollment fee? The ESP is expensive to operate, with 50 faculty engaged in managing and evaluating the program, planning the curriculum, teaching at PAS, directing intersession activities, and advising individual scholars. The fee makes it possible to sustain a high quality program.
  • What are the criteria for acceptance? We are looking for scholars with outstanding credentials and recommendations, a dedicated mentor, and documentation of institutional support, as well as a sound and innovative project proposal that is likely to have a positive impact on education. Project proposals are evaluated on the following criteria:
      • Relevance to ESP Goals (important educational topic, scholarly approach)
      • Innovation in topic or approach
      • Feasibility of accomplishing project objectives (e.g., time, resources, technical capability)
      • Quality of methods (e.g., sound design, reasonable timeline, methods appropriate to purpose, methods described with nuanced understanding, well constructed tools)
      • Quality of project evaluation (e.g., both process and outcome measures, appropriate respondents, sound tools)
      • Potential for dissemination (e.g., clarity of written proposal, experience with dissemination methods, sound plan, past peer review successes)
  • Will the program accept fellows as well as faculty? No
  • Is this program designed only for new faculty members, or can mid-career faculty also apply? We include a mix of new faculty and those with more experience who want to develop new skills to enhance their academic repertoire. Individuals in education leadership roles are appropriate.
  • Can pediatric subspecialists apply? Yes, sub-specialists are welcome and encouraged to participate. The focus of the program is education, not any particular specialty. Past scholars have represented a wide range of disciplines within pediatrics.
  • Must the Scholar be an MD to apply? No, the program will accept qualified applicants who have a pediatric faculty appointment (including MDs, DOs, PhDs), or a faculty appointment related to pediatrics in another department (e.g., Emergency Medicine). They also may be a community faculty member with a genuine commitment to academics who teaches pediatrics to students or residents.
  • Does the ESP provide financial or travel support to Scholars? No, we have no funds for this purpose. Your supervisor's support for the tuition fee, time protection, project costs, and travel to the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting will be required for you to participate. Some Scholars may have access to grant support, e.g. through faculty development grants, to supplement local resources.
  • What exactly does the 10% time commitment mean? Does it mean a salary commitment? The ESP will not subsidize the scholar's 10% time commitment. Negotiation of the supervisor's agreement to protect 10% of the scholar's time is the responsibility of the scholar. Our expectation is that Scholars will be doing projects that are a direct and valuable contribution to their department or institution and that fit into their current job commitments, or can be negotiated to become a part of the Scholar's job commitments. Program participation should also benefit the department by making the Scholar more effective as an educator, and more promotable.
  • What is meant by a project in educational scholarship? Projects can be focused on the development, implementation, evaluation and/or dissemination of educational interventions or evaluation methods by a creative, planned and rigorous process that is consistent with best practices in the field and reviewed by peers for excellence. Scholarly projects are described, with examples, at ESP Project.
  • How should I choose a mentor? Your mentor does not need to be a pediatrician or a member of your department, but should have expertise in a key area related to your project. An educator may be a better choice than a clinical content expert. A good mentor is approachable and available, and personally committed to the mentee's success. Mentors should also be experienced and widely respected, so they can help their mentees to network with senior colleagues and gain visibility in their field. Ideally, a Scholar's mentor is local, to facilitate frequent meetings, but that is not a requirement. Scholars must make their own arrangements with mentors, but the ESP faculty can help identify a potential mentor upon request. The mentor's letter and qualifications will be reviewed critically as part of the application.
  • What is an ESP national advisor advisor? In addition to the home mentor, all scholars will be assigned a national advisor.  This advisor will track your project’s progress and help troubleshoot, if needed.  The national advisor’s main role is to offer career guidance, so he/she will also review your CV and educator portfolio.
  • What are the requirements for successful completion of the program?
    • Enlist the support of your Department for the program: The first online course will begin in February 2022. Scholars must commit 10% FTE to the program in order to complete the full curriculum, including projects, over 3 years, and pay the $5600 enrollment tuition fee.
    • Attend 3 PAS teaching sessions over 3 years: The didactic component of the program will include a core curriculum taught in three full-day sessions, offered each year at PAS for three consecutive years.
    • Participate in all online courses, which are asynchronous learning activities with discussions assigned on the ESP Portal.
    • Develop an Educator Portfolio using the ESP template.
    • Conduct a mentored project in educational scholarship and provide evidence of a successfully peer reviewed presentation or publication related to the project.
  • What will I get out of the program? Being in the ESP will give you: a Certificate of Excellence in Educational Scholarship with a letter of acknowledgement to your supervisor, help with implementation of a substantial educational project, a peer-reviewed publication or presentation to add to your curriculum vitae, a systematic learning experience to enhance your skills as an educational scholar, a carefully crafted educational portfolio useful for future promotion reviews, expert career guidance, and valuable networking with a national group of like-minded academic peers.