title: Creating an academy of medical educators: how and where to start.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  While most faculty members want to improve as teachers, they neither know where their educational strengths and weaknesses lie nor where or how to begin to effect a change in their teaching abilities. The lack of actionable, directed and specific feedback, and sensible and sensitive metrics to assess performance and improvement complicates the attainment of educational excellence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this article was to outline a series of specific steps that medical education programs can take to enhance the quality of teaching, promote teaching excellence, elevate the status and value of medical educators, and stimulate the creation of innovative teaching programs and curricula.
  
  
  METHODS
  To achieve these goals at the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators was formed. The academy had the following goals: (1) create within our institution a mission which advances and supports educators, (2) establish a membership composed of distinguished educators, (3) create a formal organizational structure with designated leadership, (4) dedicate resources that fund mission-related initiatives and research, and (5) establish a plan for promoting teachers as well as enhancing and advancing educational scholarship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Hospital for Special Surgery Academy of Rheumatology Medical Educators was recently formed to address these goals by promoting teaching and learning of musculoskeletal skills in an environment that is supportive to educators and trainees and provides much needed resources for teachers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development of a pilot academy of medical educators represents one of the high-priority goals of those institutions that wish to elevate and enrich their teaching through a structured, proven approach.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Special Surgery, 535 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021 USA ; Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065 USA.
authors.forename: Jessica R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Berman
authors.forename: Juliet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aizer
authors.forename: Anne R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Bass
authors.forename: William L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Cats-Baril
authors.forename: Edward J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Parrish
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Robbins
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Paget
keywords: academy; medical education