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The Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award

                

Background

Why did the ACGME establish the Courage to Teach Award?

The ACGME recognizes that program directors face many challenges in administering a residency program. Those finding innovative ways to teach residents and to provide quality health care in this environment should be celebrated.

Who is Parker J. Palmer?

Parker J. Palmer is a highly respected writer and traveling teacher who works independently on issues in education, community, spirituality, and social change. In 1998, "The Leadership Project," a survey of eleven thousand educators, named Palmer as one of the thirty "most influential senior leaders" in higher education and one of ten key "agenda-setters" of the past decade" "He has inspired a generation of teachers and reformers with evocative visions of community, knowing, and spiritual wholeness." Palmer is senior associate of the American Association for Higher Education and senior adviser to the Fetzer Institute, for whom he designed the Teacher Formation Program for K-12 teachers. Author of such widely praised books as The Company of Strangers, the Active Life, To Know As We Are Known, The Courage to Teach, he holds a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

Instructions for Nominations

Who is eligible for the Courage to Teach Award?

Program Directors from all disciplines, including fellowships.

What are the criteria for selection?

The program director:
  1. works in a fully-accredited residency program;
  2. has at least five years' experience as program director;
  3. demonstrates dedication and effectiveness in teaching residents;
  4. models behaviors that are value-based and highly principled;
  5. is an exemplary role model;
  6. has contributed innovation and improvement in the learning environment from which the field
            can learn; and
  7. participates in a national program directors’ association, if there is one for the specialty, e.g.         Association of Program Directors in Surgery, Association of University Professors in         Ophthalmology, etc..
How do I apply?

The following information, sent together electronically, is requested:
  1. a completed application form;
  2. a total of three letters of support from the following (if a group is nominating, each group may         submit one letter):
    • department chairs,
    • program directors,
    • residents,
    • faculty members,
    • other institutional representatives, including the Dean and CEO.
    The letter should state the reasons for the nominee's selection, and include a brief summary of         the nominee's significant contributions to graduate medical education in:
    1. curriculum and teaching;
    2. leadership;
    3. mentorship;
    4. patient care and safety;
    5. program development, innovation and improvement;
    6. research;
    7. resident and faculty development;
  3. a curriculum vitae

Where do I send the material?

The application may be downloaded from the ACGME website and e-mailed with support letters and curriculum vitae to Emily Vasiliou at evasiliou@acgme.org.

If you have any questions, you may contact Emily at evasiliou@acgme.org or by phone at 312/755-7486. All materials (application form, support letters, and curriculum vitae) must arrive by e-mail in one batch. Material received by piecemeal will not be accepted.

What is the deadline for nominations?

The deadline is July 2, 2008. Any nominations received after that will not be accepted.

How many nominees will be selected to receive the award?

A total of ten program directors will be selected.

What is the award that will be given?

Each program director will receive a check for $1,000 and a plaque. Travel expenses will be paid by the ACGME for each recipient and a guest to travel to the ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Texas to receive their award.

When will the award winners be announced?

Selections will be made by the ACGME Awards Committee at its September 2008 meeting; afterwards, the ACGME CEO will send a congratulatory letter to the recipients and nominators. The recipients will be acknowledged at the March 2009 ACGME Annual Educational Conference. Award recipients will also be invited to attend a special retreat in May 2009. Award announcements will be published in a press release and the ACGME Bulletin, as well as posted on the ACGME website.