Center for Professional Development

The University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM) Center for Professional Development is dedicated to cultivating interprofessional and interdisciplinary relationships as a pathway to support the UIWSOM mission and Socratic method of teaching.

Communities of Practice model image. Three circles forming a triangle with lines pointing to a circle in the center. The circles have the text "Domain" (top), "Practice"(right), "Community"(left) and "Communities of Practice" (center)Communities of Practice Model

Interprofessional and interdisciplinary relationships are essential for the success of our faculty, staff, and learners. Our approach to professional development is based on the Communities of Practice (CoP) model. CoP refers to groups of people who interact on an ongoing basis by sharing concerns and engaging in deepening their knowledge and expertise on common practices (Abigail, 2016). CoP is comprised of three components displayed below that will support UIWSOM.

Domain determines common ground for sharing knowledge. Community creates social structure for interactions. Practice involves specific knowledge that is shared, developed, and maintained by the community.

Reference: Abigail, L.K.M. (2016). Do Communities of practice enhance faculty development? Health Professions Education, 2, 67-74.

Our faculty library is housed in the Center for Faculty Development. The Office of Faculty Affairs is working hard in continuing to add high-yield resources available for check-out. At this time, our faculty library offers books that support our mission and the University of the Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine guiding principles. Books topics include principles and practice of osteopathic medicine, medical education, instructional strategies, curriculum design, professionalism, faculty development, mentorship, and leadership skills. Faculty are encouraged to provide a list of resources they feel would be useful for professional growth.

We have an electronic library coming soon! Resources will focus on areas such as, but not limited to, curriculum and instruction, leadership, mentoring, women in medicine, diversity, and management.

The Center for Faculty Development is located in Building 1, Rm B125. If you would like to reserve the center for a meeting or training, please check availability through the Outlook calendar.

In the Center for Professional Development, you will find the How-To Guide for Active Learning. The manual titled How-To Guide for Active Learning is a second in a series of IAMSE manuals prepared by the IAMSE Publications Committee. These manuals are designed as resources to share with medical educators to improve our facilitation and learning among our students. Please be sure to stop by and take a look.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Overview of Active Learning Research and Rationale for Active Learning
Chapter 2: The Flipped Classroom: Freeing Up Class Time for Strategic Active Learning
Chapter 3: Team-Based Learning
Chapter 4: Games as a Teaching and Learning Tool in Medical Education
Chapter 5: Questioning, Brainstorming, Think-Pair Share, Jigsaw, and Clinical Case Discussions
Chapter 6: An Andragogy Suited for Facilitating Education of the Adult Medical Millennial Learner
Chapter 7: Active Learning in ‘The Cloud’: Using ‘Social’ Technologies to Expand the Medical Classroom
Chapter 8: Audience Response Systems Used as Information Retrieval Practice
Chapter 9: Socratic Questioning to Engage Learners
Chapter 10: Organ Recitals: A Large Group Active Learning Technique
Chapter 11: A Metacognitive Perspective: Keys to Effective Active Learning and Potential Barrier

Through our collaboration with Harvard Business Review, we are proud to offer a podcast library for you to enjoy. Below are the podcast library themes available.

  • Women at Work: Conversations about the workplace, and women’s place in it.
  • HRB IdeaCast: A weekly podcast featuring the leaders in business and management.
  • Dear HBR: The advice show for workplace dilemmas. We take your questions and offer a better way forward.
  • After Hours: Harvard professors discuss news at the crossroads of business and culture.
  • The Anxious Achiever: Rethink mental health and work, with candid stories from leaders who’ve been there.
  • Cold Call: Harvard Business School’s legendary case studies, distilled into podcast form.
  • Exponential View: How AI and other exponential technologies are transforming business and society.
  • FOMO Sapiens: Leaders overcome FOMO and choose what they want in work and life.

The Office of Faculty Affairs collaborates with the Center for Teaching and Learning (located at the Broadway campus) to ensure faculty are supported on various levels. Be sure to check out their website for additional resources. The Center for Teaching and Learning is located in the Administration Building, Room 212. Dr. Susan Hall is the Director; she can be reached at (210) 283-5030, hall@uiwtx.edu. You may also contact her Administrative Assistant, Kathy Allwein at (210) 283-6359 or kallwein@uiwtx.edu.