By Deborah Wormser

The UT System Kenneth L. Shine, M.D. Academy of Health Science has awarded UT Southwestern Medical Center a grant under its program to encourage best practices in health education.

The program is called Leadership Now! and the primary investigator is Dr. Byron Cryer, Associate Dean for Faculty Diversity and Development.

“All first-year medical students were eligible for the program, which will run from April to October and will provide four leadership-development modules to optimize performance during medical school and encourage their entry into careers in academic medicine,” Dr. Cryer said.

The modules are “Personal Leadership,” “Communicating with Impact,” “Handling Conflict and Feedback,” and “Effective Time Management.” The program also will provide participants with faculty mentors and increase the first-year students’ contacts with UT Southwestern faculty, he added.

Ultimately, the program’s impact will extend past the UT Southwestern community via the creation of web-based videos of the career development modules, which can be simulcast to medical schools throughout the UT System, he said.

The program may also be expanded to another institution within the UT System, Dr. Cryer added.

The program's goals included improving education through innovation, breaking down silos for medical students, and introducing tailor-made, easily disseminated professional development materials to improve education throughout the UT System. The project is a collaboration between UT Southwestern’s Offices of Undergraduate Medical Education, Student Diversity and Inclusion, and Faculty Diversity and Development, he explained.

Campus collaborators include Dr. Helen Yin, Associate Dean for the Office of Women’s Careers; Dr. Christina Ahn, Director, Office of Faculty Diversity & Development and Office of Women’s Careers; Dr. Shawna Nesbitt, Associate Dean, Minority Student Affairs; Dr. Robert Rege, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education, and Dr. Thomas Moore, Program Coordinator, Office of Faculty Diversity & Development.

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Dr. Cryer holds the John C. Vanatta III Professorship.

Dr. Yin holds the Margaret Yin Chair for the Advancement of Women Faculty, and the Peter and Jean D. Dehlinger Professorship in Biomedical Science.