SHAPE

The Shaping Healthcare through an Academy of Professional Educators (SHAPE) at Corewell Health in West Michigan, was established in 2020 with the generous support of Corewell Health Foundation West Michigan.

Image of doctor working with nurses
Image of doctor working with nurses

More about SHAPE

Click on each title below to learn more about what SHAPE offers to its members. 

There are over 70 institutions across the nation with Academies of Educators that help promote the educational mission of a hospital, health system, or department. With the development of SHAPE, Corewell Health West has joined the Academies Collaborative, an affiliate of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 

Since its inception, over 100 Corewell Health West physicians and educators have joined the SHAPE community to further develop their teaching capabilities and exchange knowledge and best practices in medical education. SHAPE leadership has also become active in the Communities of Practice group at Corewell Health to make meaningful connections with other community-led organizations across the system. 

The mission of SHAPE is to create a community of physicians and medical educators who promote a culture of educational excellence to improve health care outcomes through teaching expertise. SHAPE provides educators with the following: 

  • Access to mini-grant applications for educational initiatives and scholarship
  • Innovative scholar awards to provide educators the opportunity to attend a national educational training conference
  • Teaching and educational scholarship consults 
  • Teaching and educational scholarship consultants
  • Monthly educational and research colloquium talks
  • A system-wide multispecialty community of educators to share best practices in medical education

The SHAPE steering committee and Corewell Health in West Michigan Office of Medical Education would like to thank the philanthropy of the Corewell Health Foundation West Michigan for their generous support of this initiative.

Visit the Academies Collaborative for more information.

There are over 70 institutions across the nation with Academies of Educators that help promote the educational mission of a hospital, health system, or department. With the development of SHAPE, Corewell Health West has joined the Academies Collaborative, an affiliate of the Association of American Medical Colleges. 

Since its inception, over 100 Corewell Health West physicians and educators have joined the SHAPE community to further develop their teaching capabilities and exchange knowledge and best practices in medical education. SHAPE leadership has also become active in the Communities of Practice group at Corewell Health to make meaningful connections with other community-led organizations across the system. 

The mission of SHAPE is to create a community of physicians and medical educators who promote a culture of educational excellence to improve health care outcomes through teaching expertise. SHAPE provides educators with the following: 

  • Access to mini-grant applications for educational initiatives and scholarship
  • Innovative scholar awards to provide educators the opportunity to attend a national educational training conference
  • Teaching and educational scholarship consults 
  • Teaching and educational scholarship consultants
  • Monthly educational and research colloquium talks
  • A system-wide multispecialty community of educators to share best practices in medical education

The SHAPE steering committee and Corewell Health in West Michigan Office of Medical Education would like to thank the philanthropy of the Corewell Health Foundation West Michigan for their generous support of this initiative.

Visit the Academies Collaborative for more information.

New members are always welcome!. If you are interested in joining SHAPE and are part of the Health Care Education field at Corewell Health in West Michigan,  please complete our online application or you would like more information, email SHAPEmeded@corewellhealth.org.

 

Benefits to members at Corewell Health in West Michigan: 

 

  • Recognition for your dedication to medical education and teaching
  • Developing individual skills as a teacher and researcher
  • Enhancing your role in medical education
  • Access to mentorship from educational leaders
  • Building, creating, and participating in faculty development workshops
  • Access to scholarship grants and awards to fund educational scholarly projects
  • A community of like-minded, passionate clinician educators
  • Expanding your professional network
  • Tools to work toward promotion and tenure

SHAPE is co-chaired by Justin Triemstra, M.D., and Rachelle Pichot, Ph.D. Please direct questions to SHAPEmeded@corewellhealth.org.

Image of Cassandra Kearney, PhD
Cassandra Kearney, PhD

Faculty development specialist

Portrait of Rachelle Pichot, PhD
Rachelle Pichot, PhD

Cook Graduate Medical Education (GME) Research Advisor 

Image of Justin Triemstra, MD.
Justin Triemstra, MD

Associate designated institutional official

Image of Cassandra Kearney, PhD
Cassandra Kearney, PhD

Faculty development specialist

Portrait of Rachelle Pichot, PhD
Rachelle Pichot, PhD

Cook Graduate Medical Education (GME) Research Advisor 

Image of Justin Triemstra, MD.
Justin Triemstra, MD

Associate designated institutional official

SHAPE’s steering committee consists of leaders across the medical education community.

Portrait of Alexis Asaro, MPA
Alexis Asaro, MPA
  • Administration Support Coordinator
Image of Stephen Doyle, DO
Stephen Doyle, DO
  • Pulmonology and critical care medicine fellowship
  • Associate program director
Image of Ron Ford, MD
Ron Ford, MD
  • Plastic surgery integrated residency
  • Program director
Portrait of Amber Hubbell, EdD, MPH
Amber Hubbell, EdD, MPH
  • Faculty Development Specialist 
Image of Beth Prentice, MD
Beth Prentice, MD
  • Pediatric Service Line
  • Medical Director

Image of Candace Smith-King, MD
Candace Smith-King, MD
  • Vice president, academic affairs
  • Designated institutional official
Image of Maximiliano Tamae Kakazu, MD
Maximiliano Tamae Kakazu, MD
  • Pulmonary disease and critical care medicine fellowship
  • Program director
Portrait of Kris Windorski, PhD, MS
Kris Windorski, PhD, MS
  • Faculty Development Specialist
Image of Sheila Waslawski, MD
Sheila Waslawski, MD
  • Pediatrics Residency
  • Associate Program Director
Portrait of Alexis Asaro, MPA
Alexis Asaro, MPA
  • Administration Support Coordinator
Image of Stephen Doyle, DO
Stephen Doyle, DO
  • Pulmonology and critical care medicine fellowship
  • Associate program director
Image of Ron Ford, MD
Ron Ford, MD
  • Plastic surgery integrated residency
  • Program director
Portrait of Amber Hubbell, EdD, MPH
Amber Hubbell, EdD, MPH
  • Faculty Development Specialist 
Image of Beth Prentice, MD
Beth Prentice, MD
  • Pediatric Service Line
  • Medical Director

Image of Candace Smith-King, MD
Candace Smith-King, MD
  • Vice president, academic affairs
  • Designated institutional official
Image of Maximiliano Tamae Kakazu, MD
Maximiliano Tamae Kakazu, MD
  • Pulmonary disease and critical care medicine fellowship
  • Program director
Portrait of Kris Windorski, PhD, MS
Kris Windorski, PhD, MS
  • Faculty Development Specialist
Image of Sheila Waslawski, MD
Sheila Waslawski, MD
  • Pediatrics Residency
  • Associate Program Director

Services provided by SHAPE

Click on each title below to learn more about what SHAPE offers to its members.

Monthly research colloquium

Monthly meetings to discuss ongoing medical education research at Corewell Health in West Michigan or an interactive discussion on recently published educational articles in top-tiered journals to discuss hot topics in medical education. The goal is to enhance future educational scholarships and approaches to teaching across our medical community.

Clinical teacher program

In addition to monthly journal clubs, research colloquium, and asynchronous learning opportunities, SHAPE partners with the Clinical Teacher Program, a hybrid course on enhancing faculty’s teaching skills.

Sponsoring keynote at Research Day

Annually, SHAPE partners with Research Day at Corewell Health in West Michigan to highlight medical education by sponsoring a key educational researcher in the broader medical community.

Monthly research colloquium

Monthly meetings to discuss ongoing medical education research at Corewell Health in West Michigan or an interactive discussion on recently published educational articles in top-tiered journals to discuss hot topics in medical education. The goal is to enhance future educational scholarships and approaches to teaching across our medical community.

Clinical teacher program

In addition to monthly journal clubs, research colloquium, and asynchronous learning opportunities, SHAPE partners with the Clinical Teacher Program, a hybrid course on enhancing faculty’s teaching skills.

Sponsoring keynote at Research Day

Annually, SHAPE partners with Research Day at Corewell Health in West Michigan to highlight medical education by sponsoring a key educational researcher in the broader medical community.

SHAPE offers one-on-one consulting on ongoing medical research projects with experts in qualitative and quantitative research methods. SHAPE also provides educational research modules available via workday on key research topics listed below.

Note: Links listed here require network access

  • Conducting Qualitative Research: This course is designed to introduce key concepts of and approaches to qualitative research. It is intended to be a starting point for anyone interested in investigating experiences and phenomena through a qualitative approach.
  • Presenting your Research: This course is designed to introduce key concepts and approaches to presenting research. It is intended to be a starting point for anyone who has been asked to present on a scholarly or academic talk/poster presentation.
  • Medical Education Research 101: This course is designed to introduce the medical education research field. It is intended to be a starting point for anyone interested in investigating a phenomenon related to medical education.
  • Curriculum (re)Design Projects: This course is designed to introduce you to curriculum development design and research. It is intended to be a starting point for anyone interested in creating research related to the medical education curriculum.

Medical education research grants

To better serve our SHAPE members, we are moving to a rolling deadline process. There is no longer a fixed application submission date, you can apply for funding whenever you are ready with your project (until grant funds are exhausted).

To apply, you must be a SHAPE member and the maximum funding request is $4,000. Funds are available for internal candidates only.

Using this template, (note: requires Network access) your proposal will include:

  • Abstract (250 words), Statement of problem and objectives, Background or literature review, Methods, Anticipated outcomes, Impact on patient care, quality and/or safety, Plan for dissemination, Project timeline (not to exceed 12 mo. after IRB approval), Letter of support, References, Budget justification, Biosketch or two-page CV

The proposal must be focused, or integrated, with medical education. You can complete the online application to apply for a grant

Funds can be used toward a variety of project needs. Most commonly, funds are used to:

  • Support/pay for standardized patients in a simulation study

  • To purchase technology or materials for a project (i.e., tablets, computers, software, etc.)

  • Pay publication fees for open-access journals

  • Support an expert speaker for a didactic curriculum

  • And so much more

Medical education projects cover a variety of topics, and you are likely already doing medical education research without even realizing it! A few examples below:

  • Curriculum redesign or development

  • Quality improvement projects

  • Simulation scenarios and educational training

  • Various faculty development initiatives

  • Professional identity

A consult service designed to provide peer-to-peer feedback on teaching. If you are interested in learning more, email SHAPEmeded@corewellhealth.org

Each year, one member of SHAPE receives the SHAPE Medical Educator Award. This award is for SHAPE faculty members who stand out in their role as medical education researchers, teachers, and innovators.

Interested in joining SHAPE?

New members are always welcome.