The Education Pillar of UNC SOM’s Strategic Plan, Accelerate Forward Together, awarded six teams with Curricular Innovation and Pilot Funding grants for FY27.
- Staci Keene, Mariama Evans & Michelle Bartlett: Will pilot a UNC Medical Student Summer Pathology Fellowship.
- Clint Cappiello: Development of a surgical anatomy elective for MS4s to better prepare for surgical residencies.
- Anne Peery & Andrew Schneider: Will develop a nutrition rotation and Grand Rounds initiative as part of a multidisciplinary nutrition rotation for medical students and trainees.
- Matthew Billard & Tiffany Garbutt: Developing the Storytelling and Research Training (START) Program, which aims to use narrative writing instruction as a tool to build a foundation of writing skills and offer low-stakes opportunities for students to practice writing, and assist students in using these skills to assemble and submit a first-author paper to a scientific journal.
- Amanda Saad et al: Trial a Pediatric Emergency Department Bingo Card that incentivizes residents to complete additional skilled procedures in a fun, engaging way.
- Dana Doctor: This educational initiative addresses a critical gap in undergraduate medical education by providing structured, skills‑based training in violence risk assessment and crisis intervention prevention.
Additionally, three teams were awarded with development grants for FY27:
- Margaret Fennell: Completion of training in pediatric point-of-care ultrasound (POC).
- Ana Felix: Participation in the AMA Coaching Summitt to improve coaching of medical students under new Advisory College model.
- Lauren Baumgardner: Completing a Foundational Certificate in Narrative-Based Medicine from the University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine.