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MERIT
February 2024 Update
Celebrating Black History Month at McMaster 2024
 
February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the contributions and achievements of Black, Caribbean, and African diasporic peoples. 
 
This year’s theme for Black History Month (BHM) at McMaster is From Continent to Diaspora: Celebrating Black Resistance
 
For a full listing of events, visit the website HERE 
Faculty of Health Sciences
Education Scholarship Fund 
 
This award is to promote and support scholarship (research and innovation) in health sciences education in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS), McMaster University.  
 
Award: Up to two awards of $25,000 each  
 
Deadline: March 3, 2024 at 11:59p.m.
 
Click HERE for more information.
Health Professions Educator Award 2024
 
Annually, the Health Science Education MSc Program (HSED) and MERIT recognizes outstanding contributions to health professions education and education scholarship from the Faculty of Health Sciences through the Health Professions Educator Award.  
 
The award is designed to encourage and reward the continued excellence of health professions education and health professions education scholarship within McMaster University. Nominees will be senior faculty and leaders in their respective professional schools that have made substantial contributions to education in the Faculty of Health Sciences including teaching, mentorship, educational scholarship, or research, throughout their careers. Presented by HSED and MERIT, at the Norman Education Research Day.  
 
Do you know someone worthy of this distinction? Nominate them today!  
 
Deadline to submit nomination: April 22, 2024 at 11:59 p.m.     
 
Information and nomination form can be found 
John C. Sibley 2024 Award for Excellence in Education for Part Time Faculty

 The John C. Sibley award is presented annually to a part-time faculty member in the Faculty of Health Sciences who has contributed in an outstanding manner to the education of health professionals (preferably in more than one sector). The award, which includes a citation and a cheque in the amount of $2500.00 (gross), is presented at John C. Sibley Award Lecture in April of each year. A permanent plaque in the 2E area (HSC) serves as a record of the awardees.

The John C. Sibley Award is named in honour of Jack Sibley who became Associate Dean, Education in 1979 and was known for his interdisciplinary approach to community health, both locally and internationally.

Nominations are now being requested for this prestigious award, which highlights the importance of part-time faculty in fulfilling the academic mission in more than one sector. The nominees will be evaluated according to the following criteria: 
  • Development and evaluation of innovative educational activities in the health sciences
  • Support of interprofessional education
  • Sustained commitment to the academic mission
  • Impact on teaching and learning in FHS programs and initiatives.

Selection Process:
The selection committee will review all nominations and make a recommendation to the Vice Dean, Education of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The nomination package should include:
  • an updated CV.
  • a detailed letter by the proposer highlighting the nominee’s contributions in each of the criteria areas.
  • two supporting letters commenting on the special contributions of the nominee in line with the criteria.

If you know of an eligible part-time faculty member, we would strongly encourage you to submit a nomination.

Please send appropriate documentation in pdf to Dr. Rob Whyte, Vice Dean, Education and Chair, Sibley Selection Committee by email to mcarthj@mcmaster.ca.
 
Application Deadline: March 8, 2024

Award will be presented at the Sibley Lecture & Awards Ceremony, co-hosted by MERIT on Wednesday, April 17, 2024! 
Education Innovations Profile 

 

EYE MAC is a multidisciplinary not for profit community project, bringing together Hamilton’s eye care professionals, school boards and McMaster University to deliver high-quality, free vision screening to school children. Often children with poor vision are unaware and do not complain or seek help. This contributes to 1 in 4 children in classrooms having undiagnosed vision problems that may affect their learning, as 80% of a child’s learning is dependent on good vision. School-based vision screening programs identify children with reduced vision and amblyopia, and connect them to eye care professionals, promoting not only early diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions, but also access to better vision and improved learning potential. 

 

In order to accomplish this, EYE MAC, under the leadership of Dr. Yasmin Jindani and Dr. Kourosh Sabri, trains non healthcare providers to go into schools in the community to perform vision screening, where children with reduced vision are identified and referred to local optometrists for further care and treatment.  MERIT has partnered with EYEMAC to create a competency-based training curriculum that efficiently trains these volunteers in order to perform this screening effectively.  Last year, the program screened 10,711 total kids in Hamilton schools with 3,510 children having been identified as needing further assessment, with plans to expand the screening program in the future.

 

For more information about EYE MAC visit their website HERE  

 

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Do you know of an outstanding education innovation that deserves recognition? 

  

MERIT invites you to submit nominations for our Education Innovations Profile

 

This new segment will be featured in our monthly newsletter to spotlight educational initiatives in the Faculty of Health Sciences.  
 

Here's what we need:

  • A concise 100-word description of the innovation.
  • 1-3 hyperlinks to relevant websites and/or publications. 
  • Names and positions of the key team members behind this innovation. 
  • An image is encouraged but not necessary. 

  

Don't miss this opportunity to share your or someone else's remarkable work with our community! 

 

Submit your nominations to merit@mcmaster.ca

 

Submissions accepted on a rolling basis.

The Game Changers podcast, brought to you by McMaster Continuing Professional Development Office, is dedicated to exploring the stories of local, bold, and diverse game changers in academia!  

 

This series serves as an educational and inspirational resource, bringing together, highlighting, and celebrating the experiences of these individuals through rich and meaningful stories. The goal is to honor equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI), and Indigenous reconciliation priorities, which academic institutions have sought to prioritize. However, meaningful change can only occur when voices are heard and ideas are nurtured — and Game Changers aims to do exactly that. 

 

New episodes launch monthly, offering narratives that showcase the triumphs and resilience of equity-deserving groups in STEM. 

 

Check out the series HERE

In this month's MERIT Video Spotlight, we look back at Dr. Amin Madani exploring how deep learning for computer vision can be used to provide real-time guidance to surgeons and augment their performance.  

 

Click HERE to watch the video

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MERIT is on YouTube! Check out our MERIT Rounds archives, scientist profiles, research day plenaries, and more.   

   

Make sure you subscribe to the MERIT YouTube channel for all things HPE!   
Feel free to share with your colleagues!

 

SUBSCRIBE HERE 

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