Pioneering New Paths in Medical Education
"This program provided a comprehensive foundation in evidence-based teaching methods, curriculum design, and learner assessment, areas that many faculty in academic medicine don’t often focus on."
Hooman Mir, DPM, MSci, FAPWCA, is a DPM physician by training and a full-time tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Podiatric Medicine, with a deep background in podiatric medicine, academic medicine, and surgical education. By the time he enrolled in the Training to Teach in Medicine program at Harvard Medical School, Mir had already created virtual training labs, surgical training workshops, taught surgical anatomy, and led academic initiatives in the United States and abroad. Still, he recognized a critical gap in his professional development: formal training in medical education.
Interested in how Hooman Mir's journey has progressed? Read his updated interview.
“I saw an urgent need for transformative teaching methods in medical education, especially in diabetic wound care,” Mir explains. After the pandemic disrupted traditional instruction, he noticed physician students were struggling to re-engage. “I was introduced to the Training to Teach in Medicine program, and I saw it as a unique opportunity to gain the educational skills we often don’t receive in medical or residency training.” Mir is also proud to be the first Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) to complete the program and to be inducted into the Harvard Club of Boston.
Transformative Impact on Teaching and Personalized Medicine
Mir credits the program with reshaping both his teaching philosophy and career trajectory. “The program was completely transformative for my career,” he says. “It provided a comprehensive foundation in evidence-based teaching methods, curriculum design, and learner assessment, areas that many faculty in academic medicine don’t often focus on.”
He quickly integrated lessons from the program into his course design at UTRGV, applying learner-centered strategies in courses such as Language of Medicine and Lower Extremity Anatomy. “I wanted to create an environment where physician students actually retain what they learn, not just memorize for an exam,” he explains.
The experience also motivated Mir to pursue a PhD in medical genetics with a concentration in personalized medicine for diabetic populations at UTRGV, School of Medicine. “That decision was 100% the result of the Training to Teach in Medicine program,” he says. “It reinforced the value of precision medicine and the collaborative practices needed to manage diabetes effectively.”
Capstone and Mentorship Spark Global Innovation
For his capstone project, Mir developed a 3D visualization-based training technique for diabetic wound classification, an approach inspired by gaps he had observed in both clinician and patient education. “We don’t have effective tools to teach patients how to care for diabetic wounds,” he notes. “My project addresses that by using immersive technology to help patients recognize the seriousness of their condition and seek timely treatment.”
The project has since been implemented as part of his World-Wide Surgical Amputation Workshop series, which Mir delivers on prestigious international medical stages, including Imperial College London, Barts Institute & Barts School of Medicine, and beyond. These workshops serve as global platforms for surgical education, where the next generation of physician leaders engage directly with cutting-edge technology.
Mir also highlights the mentorship he received during the program as a defining part of the experience. “The relationship with Harvard Medical School faculty was incredibly collaborative. I’m still working with some of my mentors on new projects,” he adds.
To those considering the program, Mir offers this advice: “It’s rigorous and time-intensive, but absolutely worth it. This program will empower anyone who wants to become a leader in academic and surgical education.”
Alumni Ambassador Insights
Updated as of March 2026
- What motivated you to enroll in the Training to Teach in Medicine program, and what were you hoping to gain from the experience?
What initially drew me to the Harvard Training to Teach in Medicine (T2T) program was a very simple but powerful realization: being involved in academic medicine does not automatically translate into being a great educator.
As a podiatric physician deeply embedded in academic medicine, and actively involved in pre-clinical curriculum design at UTRGV School of Podiatric Medicine, I was constantly asking myself—How do we move beyond teaching information and instead shape clinical thinkers?
At the time, I was already working at the intersection of anatomy education, medical simulation, emerging immersive technologies like Anatomage, and curriculum development aligned with student outcomes. But I wanted a formal pedagogical foundation—a framework grounded in evidence-based teaching, cognitive science, and educational theory.
What I hoped to gain—and ultimately did gain—was a structured language of teaching (how we design, deliver, and assess learning), a deeper understanding of how students learn, not just what they learn, and the ability to translate complex clinical concepts into meaningful, retained knowledge.
T2T was not just about teaching better—it was about teaching with intention, precision, and impact.
- How has the program influenced your professional growth or opened new opportunities in your career?
The impact of the T2T program on my career has been both transformational and catalytic. It fundamentally shifted my identity—from someone who delivers content to someone who designs learning experiences.
Following the program, I began to take on leadership roles such as LEA (Learning Environment & Assessment) Module Lead, contribute more strategically to pre-clinical curriculum development, and align teaching with measurable student outcomes and competency-based frameworks.
It also allowed me to expand my work beyond traditional teaching into medical simulation consulting, where I design immersive patient cases, collaborating with organizations like ScholarRx, integrating clinical reasoning into digital platforms, and working with Anatomage, advancing 3D immersive anatomy education and virtual dissection.
One of the most exciting outcomes has been my ability to bridge disciplines by bringing together anatomy, clinical medicine, simulation, and technology, and creating immersive, case-based learning environments that mirror real clinical decision-making.
In many ways, T2T gave me the credibility, confidence, and educational framework to lead innovation in medical education—not just participate in it.
- What advice would you share with professionals considering the Training to Teach in Medicine Program?
My advice is simple: if you care about how future clinicians think, not just what they know—this program is for you. Too often in medicine, we assume teaching is intuitive. It is not. Teaching is a skill. Teaching is a science. And teaching is a responsibility.
The T2T program will challenge you to rethink your approach to education, push you to move from content delivery → learner-centered design, and equip you with tools to create engaging, high-yield, and lasting educational experiences. But more importantly, it will connect you to a community of educators who are passionate, innovative, and committed to shaping the future of medicine.
My strongest recommendation is to come into the program not just to improve your lectures, but to redefine your role as an educator. Because at the end of the day, the goal is not to produce students who can recite medicine—it is to develop clinicians who can think, adapt, and lead in an ever-evolving healthcare landscape.
Written By: Pamela Searle