Principles of Medical Education: Maximizing Your Teaching Skills
- Continuing Education
This live online CME program explores best practices to optimize student engagement, medical teaching, and mentoring. Both new instructors and seasoned educators will discover new ways to inspire medical students, residents, fellows, and colleagues, including how to make the most of cutting-edge educational technology. Ranked among Harvard Medical School’s highest-rated CME courses, Principles of Medical Education is a uniquely comprehensive exploration of effective teaching at the bedside, in ambulatory settings, and in the classroom. Note: Space is limited.
- Live Online
This program uses state-of-the-art streaming technology to present sessions online in real time. Participants can attend from any location, and can interact with faculty via live chat.
Additionally, all sessions will be recorded and made available to participants for on-demand online viewing for 90 days after the end of the course.
All live streaming and recorded sessions and workshops are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and other relevant credits, up to the approved maximum. (Note: Evaluations must be completed within 30 days in order to receive CME credit.)
$1,695
This is the full tuition. A $200 early registration discount is available.
Please note that enrollment is limited to ensure the quality of the education. Early registration is strongly recommended.
Please see the full table below.
Early Registration Deadline:
Continuing Education Credits
Earn up to:
» 27.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
» 27.75 ANCC contact hours
» 19.25 Live AAFP Prescribed credits
» 27.75 ECME Credits®
» Commensurate credits through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
2.5 Days + Optional 1.5 Days of Workshops
This 2.5-day interactive, hands-on course, ranked among the highest-rated Harvard Medical School CME courses, presents the most evidence-based, effective approaches to teaching medical students, residents, fellows, and colleagues.
You also have the option to extend your learning experience with one or both tracks of the skills development program, "Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator."
On This Page
Overview
The Techniques and Strategies That Significantly Improve Student Engagement, and Teaching and Mentoring Effectiveness
Incorporating best practices, newer principles of adult learning, and widely available technologies into your teaching can significantly improve your ability to engage and inspire students, residents, fellows, and colleagues. This special program, ranked among Harvard Medical School’s highest-rated CME courses, is a uniquely comprehensive exploration of best practices for teaching medicine at the bedside, in ambulatory settings, and in the classroom.
The 2026 curriculum helps medical educators to:
- Leverage artificial intelligence in your teaching
- Provide more effective feedback that motivates change
- Utilize active learning strategies in small and large group teaching settings
- Deliver more impactful and engaging lectures
- Characterize best practices for mentor-mentee relationships and identify ways to leverage mentorship opportunities to help you thrive at work
- Optimize evaluation of trainee competencies
- Improve engagement and interactivity for in-person and virtual teaching sessions
- Enhance critical thinking and self-directed learning among students
- Describe real-time strategies to address unprofessional behavior
- Identify strengths and weaknesses of various assessment tools
- Incorporate various forms of technology, including digital media and artificial intelligence, into your teaching
- Create an action plan for implementing and sustaining effective change as leaders in medical education
- Identify strategies to recognize and mitigate bias
- Describe personal and organizational strategies to improve the well-being of yourself and your trainees
Case-based and hands-on learning are a hallmark of this course, with significant participant interaction and active modeling of instruction techniques. Whether you are newer to teaching or a seasoned educator and mentor, this course will give you modern tools and practices to optimize skills transfer and learner success.
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Areas of focus in which attendees will deepen their skills include:
- Interactive Lecturing
- Bedside Teaching
- Effective Mentoring
- Impactful Feedback
- Developing Curricula
- Assessing Learners
- Learner Engagement
- Teaching Critical Thinking
- Teaching and Maintaining Wellness
In addition to being live streamed, all sessions and workshops will be recorded and placed in the online course library, enabling registrants to view them at their convenience. Recordings will be available for viewing for 90 days after the conclusion of the course. All live streaming and recorded sessions are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and other relevant credits, up to the approved maximum. (Note: Evaluations must be completed within 30 days in order to receive CME credit.)
Developed and Offered By:
Continuing Education courses are developed by faculty from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals and accredited by Harvard Medical School. This course is offered by the Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Participant Types
Medical personnel of all specialties involved in the practice of medical education, including:
- Physicians
- Nurse Practitioners
- Physician Assistants
- Nurses
- Pharmacists
- Psychologists
- Veterinarians
- Dentists
Schedule
This program is among the highest-rated Harvard Medical School CME courses, and space is limited to ensure the quality of the education.
Participants of Principles of Medical Education can customize their learning experience, choosing from either of two add-on workshop options in the program "Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator." Please note that space is limited for these special sessions—available on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration is advised. Full descriptions here.
All schedule times are Eastern Daylight Time.
Please note that program changes/substitutions may be made without notice.
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Effective Teaching: Setting the Stage
Not eligible for AAFP credit
8:00-8:30 am
Teaching in the 21st Century: Leveraging the Science of Learning
8:30-9:20 am
Break
9:20-9:30 am
Skills and Strategies to Improve Small Group Teaching
9:30-10:40 am
Break
10:40-10:50 am
Teaching Professionalism in 2026: Strategies for the Front Line
10:50-11:50 am
Morning Wrap-up with Course Directors
11:50 am-12:00 pm
Break
12:00-1:00 pm
Clinical Bedside Teaching: Effective Techniques and Overcoming Barriers
1:00-2:00 pm
Break
2:00-2:15 pm
Defining, Teaching, and Assessing Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning
2:15-3:15 pm
Break
3:15-3:30 pm
Strategies to Reduce Implicit Bias
3:30-4:50 pm
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
Teaching in the Brave New World: Medical Education in the Age of AI and other Emerging Technologies
8:00-9:15 am
Break
9:15-9:30 am
Designing and Delivering More Effective Lectures: Techniques for Better Learner Engagement
9:30-10:15 am
Break
10:15-10:30 am
Feedback: Making it Powerful, Effective, and Efficient
10:30-11:15 am
Break
11:15-11:30 am
Academic Career Advancement: Strategies for Personal and Professional Growth
Not eligible for AAFP credit
11:30 am-12:30 pm
Break
12:30-1:30 pm
Assessment of Learning: Determining Competence
1:30-2:30 pm
Break
2:30-2:45 pm
Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity Through Better Time Management
2:45-3:30 pm
Break
3:30-3:45 pm
Coaching for Success: Supporting Trainee Well-Being and Your Own
3:45-4:45 pm
Thursday, March 26, 2026
Curriculum Design: Best Practices for Creation, Implementation, and Evaluation
8:00-9:15 am
Break
9:15-9:30 am
Mentoring for the Future: Mentoring to Combat Burnout and Attrition
9:30-10:30 am
Break
10:30-10:45 am
Leading Effective Change in Medical Education
10:45-11:45 am
Taking it All Home: Embedding New Skills in Daily Practice
11:45 am-12:00 pm
End of Principles of Medical Education Course
12:00 pm
Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator
TRACK 1: Taking Your Teaching to the Next Level
Optional Half-Day Skills Development Program
1:00 - 5:00 pm
Taking Your Teaching to the Next Level
1:00-1:15 pm
Using Advocacy Inquiry to Improve Difficult Conversations with Learners
1:15-2:30 pm
Break
2:30-2:45 pm
Strategies to Elevate Whiteboard Mini Lectures
2:45-3:45 pm
Power Up Your PowerPoint to Improve Your Lectures
3:45-5:00 pm
Friday, March 27, 2026
Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator
TRACK 2: AI in Medical Education: A Teacher’s Guide to Preserving Thinking in This New Era
The Future is Now: Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education
8:00-8:30 am
Avatars, Scribes, and Voices, OH MY! An Overview of Current Tools and How and Why to Use Them
8:30-9:15 am
Break
9:15-9:30 am
Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Human Intelligence? Medical Education Opportunities and Challenges
9:30-10:30 am
Caring, Connectedness, and Communication: Can We Use AI?
10:30 am-12:00 pm
Break
12:00-1:00 pm
AI-Assisted Review of Lessons Learned Thus Far
1:00-1:10 pm
AI Innovations in Assessment, Feedback, and Coaching
1:10-2:10 pm
The Basics of Prompting for Health Professions Educators: Creating Cases and Multiple Choice Questions to Improve Your Teaching
2:10-3:40 pm
Break
3:40-4:00 pm
AI in 2026: View from a Learner
4:00-4:45 pm
Closing Remarks
4:45-5:00 pm
Optional Add-On Skills Development Program
Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator
Participants of Principles of Medical Education can customize their learning experience, choosing from the following add-on options. Please note that space is limited for these special sessions—available on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration is advised.
TRACK 1 - Taking Your Teaching to the Next Level
One half-day: Thursday Afternoon, March 26, 1:00 – 5:00 pm
TRACK 2 - AI in Medical Education: A Teacher’s Guide to Preserving Thinking in This New Era
One full day: Friday, March 27, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Optimized for Distance Learning
The March 2026 program has been optimized for distance learning. In addition to being live streamed, all sessions and workshops will be recorded and made available to participants for online viewing for 90 days after the end of the course.
This video archive will ensure that participants who live in different time zones or who have scheduling conflicts do not miss out on any sessions that are important to them. In addition, participants can review sessions that they watched during live streaming to reinforce key learning points.
Enrollment is also limited to ensure the quality of this interactive program.
Participant Experience
More than 2500 clinical educators have participated in this program. These participants have changed their teaching practice after taking this course. Comments include:
“What was outstanding in this course? The education on concept mapping, effective feedback, making lectures more memorable, self-care and preventing burnout, and...the JOY that was manifested throughout—on the part of both faculty and attendees.”
Read more comments from other participants.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:
- Identify principles of adult learning in order to:
- Assess their learners' needs,
- Design an educational intervention
- Establish learner-centered learning environments
- Employ venue-specific teaching skills for:
- Ambulatory teaching
- Bedside teaching
- Large-group presentations
- Small-group/case-based teaching
- Recognize effective learner assessment strategies and provide effective feedback in order to set educational expectations
- Foster critical thinking skills so learners may effectively use questions to promote clinical decision-making
- Engage in reflective practice in order to identify effective teaching techniques
Course Faculty
Course Directors
- Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology
- Associate Dean for Curriculum
- Harvard Medical School
- Associate Director, Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Director, Medical Intensive Care Unit
- Director, External Education, Carl J. Shapiro Institute for Education and Research
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Steven P. Simcox, Patrick A. Clifford, and James H. Higby Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Dean for External Education, Harvard Medical School
- Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medicine and Medical Education, Harvard Medical School
- Director of the Academy, Harvard Medical School
- Director of the Center for Education, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- Chief of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
K. Meredith Atkins, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology
Huma Farid, MD, Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology
Laurie Fishman, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Jason Freed, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Margaret Hayes, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
Carol Hughes, Operations Director, BIDMC, Shapiro Institute
Ted James, MD, Associate Professor of Surgery
Ryan Nelson, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Kerri Palamara McGrath, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
David H. Roberts, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
Adam Rodman, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Richard Schwartzstein, MD, Professor of Medicine
C. Christopher Smith, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
Carrie Tibbles, MD, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine
Quinn Capers IV, MD, FACC, FSCAI, Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine
Morgan Soffler, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, New York Medical College; Associate Program Director, Sleep Fellowship, Westchester Medical Center
Course Fees
Fee Disclaimer
Registrations for Harvard Medical School CME programs are made via our secure online registration system. At the end of the registration process, a $10 non-refundable processing fee will be added to your registration.
Upon receipt of your paid registration, an email confirmation will be sent to you. Be sure to include an email address that you check frequently. Your email address is used for critical information, including registration confirmation, evaluation, and certificate.
Please review the cancellation policy.
Early Registration Deadline:
| Role | Course Fee | Early Registration Course Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Physician (MD/DO) | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| Nurse (RN/APRN) | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| PA | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| Psychologist | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| Resident/Fellow | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| Social Worker | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
| Allied Health Professional / Other | $1,695.00 | $1,495.00 |
OPTIONAL ADD-ON SKILLS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: Mastering the Skills of the Modern Medical Educator | |
Track 1: Taking Your Teaching to the Next Level One half-day: Thursday, March 26, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm (Space is limited) | $395 |
Track 2: AI in Medical Education: A Teacher’s Guide to Preserving Thinking in This New Era One full day: Friday, March 27, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm (Space is limited) | $790 |
All attendees of Principles of Medical Education will receive comprehensive electronic reference materials.
All sessions of the course and workshops will be recorded as they are live streamed and placed in the online course video library, so that registrants can review the programs for which they registered at their convenience. The video library will be available for 90 days after the conclusion of the course.
Accreditation
The Harvard Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 27.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
A maximum of 27.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ is available:
- Principles of Medical Education (March 24–26) : 17.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
- Add-On Program, Track 1 (Thursday, March 26, 1:00 – 5:00 pm): 3.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
- Add-On Program, Track 2 (Friday, March 27, 8:00 am – 5:00 pm): 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
Harvard Medical School designates this live activity for a maximum of 27.75 ANCC contact hours.
The AAFP has reviewed Principles of Medical Education: Maximizing Your Teaching Skills and deemed it acceptable for up to 19.25 Live AAFP Prescribed credit(s). Term of Approval is from 03/24/2026 to 03/26/2026. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) states that AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ are acceptable for continuing medical education requirements for recertification. We would also suggest that learners check with their state licensing board to ensure they accept reciprocity with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for re-licensure.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has an agreement of mutual recognition of continuing medical education (CME) credit with the European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS). Additional information regarding this agreement may be found on the European Union of Medical Specialties website.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada recognizes conferences and workshops held outside of Canada that are developed by a university, academy, hospital, specialty society or college as accredited group learning activities.