This month, the Indiana University Indianapolis Center for Teaching and Learning will recognize members of the campus faculty and staff who have participated in sustained professional development and service activities offered by the center.
Among the honorees will be Kathleen Eggleson, PhD, an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Education Specialist for the Department of Medicine. Eggleson has participated in a variety of programs aimed at advancing excellence in teaching, learning and student success offered by the Center for Teaching and Learning as well as Faculty Affairs and Professional Development (FAPD).
Here, she shares about her experiences and why she’d encourage others to participate in professional development opportunities:
Faculty Affairs and the Center for Teaching and Learning regularly hosts webinars, workshops and events to keep faculty informed and engaged. What programs have you participated in?
IU School of Medicine faculty members are fortunate to be eligible for a wide variety of professional development experiences through so many different avenues. For example, through a range of sources I have completed four cohort-based professional development series, where a group of faculty learners convenes regularly over time: Leadership in Academic Medicine (LAMP) was offered through FAPD; Creating Racially Inclusive Classrooms was offered through the Center for Teaching and Learning at IU Indianapolis; the Advancing Women Mentoring Program was offered through the Office for Women at IU Indianapolis, and Health Equity Research Scholars (HERS) was led by the HEALer collaborative and sponsored by the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI); the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center and IU Health's Chief Health Equity Officer.
I am now in the middle of another series, the Spring 2025 IU Indianapolis Center for Teaching and Learning Campus Read of Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom by Kelly A. Hogan and Viji Sathy.
In addition to series, I have participated numerous individual events.
To highlight a few, the Academy of Teaching Scholars through FAPD offered crucial support to faculty as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on education became apparent in 2020, such as “Best Practices For Developing Online Presence” and “Selecting and Choosing the Right Technology to Engage Learners”. The Center for Teaching and Learning offered a pair of sessions on trauma-informed teaching ("Beyond Theory: A Practical Approach to Trauma-Informed Teaching & Learning" and "A Deeper Dive Into Trauma Informed Teaching”) as well as education fundamentals like "Teaching Foundations: Creating and Using Rubrics Effectively".
Would you recommend this type of programming to other faculty members? How has it helped you?
The ways professional development can bear fruit may not be obvious in the moment or on a CV, but I can share some specific examples of the ways professional development has helped me.
In the Creating Racially Inclusive Classrooms series offered by the IU Indianapolis Center for Teaching and Learning, a capstone project was required. My project created a novel curricular resource that not only met the goal of successful incorporation into the first-year medical student curriculum, but it also led to presentations on the capstone work at the IU Indianapolis E.C. Moore Symposium on Excellence in Teaching, IU School of Medicine Education Day (recognized with best in category honor) and the Annual Medical Humanities Conference of Western Michigan University.
I was honored to be invited by the Center for Teaching and Learning to present on my capstone work as an exemplar for the next cohort in the Creating Racially Inclusive Classrooms series.
All of this followed from me taking the leap to sign up for a professional development series that offered the promise of knowledge I could directly apply in the classroom, which it delivered on.
Some sessions led to awareness of specific practices I then implemented, such as making weekly videos to increase my online presence to learners during the pandemic, which students expressed appreciation for. Professional development programs allowed me to develop as a mentor (Advancing Women Mentoring Program, IU Indianapolis) and access guidance as a mentee (LAMP, IU School of Medicine).
Regarding peer review, I have received both peer review and related professional development from FAPD and have now accepted their invitation to serve as a peer reviewer for other educators. In December 2025, I will co-present a professional development session at the invitation of FAPD.
Generally, why do you think it’s important for faculty members to participate in professional development? How does good professional development improve medical education?
Teaching and learning go hand in hand, where engaged educators embrace lifelong learning, skill development, and continual improvement. Good professional development offers medical educators a catalyst for growth that ultimately benefits their learners and colleagues. Professional development also offers educators an avenue to gain experiential understanding of the learner perspective, which can inform and refine their approaches to serving learners with excellence in the educator role.
Please explain your role as an educational specialist for the Department of Medicine? What are some of your UME and GME goals and responsibilities?
As the Department of Medicine’s Education Specialist, my work for the Internal Medicine Clerkship starts each rotation with a presentation on study skills and the Individual Learning Plan at orientation. I then offer individualized responses to students’ Individual Learning Plans. Upon their request, I meet with 1:1 with individual students to discuss their experiences and/or facilitate an evidence-based structured exercise with multiple choice questions, Self-Regulated Learning. I review all mid-rotation feedback and reach out to students who may benefit from additional support. Finally, I monitor end-of-clerkship evaluations and assist the clerkship team with improvements.
With GME, my work includes attending meetings with Key Clinical Educators in the residency, presence at the annual pre-match rank order meeting, involvement with approvals for the research elective and with explorations of developing a more comprehensive research elective in the future, collaboration with Dr. Vannerson and Dr. Sharp on study and potential enhancement of IMPACT faculty peer review, and availability to meet 1:1 with residents upon recommendation or their request.