Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education

Program Overview

Alleviating human suffering around the world begins with effective medical education

Over the past several decades, the sciences informing general and health professions education have grown in prominence and potential such that master’s programs in this field are now distinguishing components of leading universities. Further, the skills associated with this degree are increasingly viewed as requisite areas of competence for leaders in education and educational administration.

The mission of the HMS Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education (MMSc-Med Ed) program is to give those who already excel in one of the health sciences disciplines an opportunity to turn their specialized knowledge and skill towards the advancement of health professions education. Through research, skill building and innovation, the MMSc-Med Ed program seeks to transform health professions education in the service of advancing health sciences and health care nationally and internationally. Graduates of our program are well-positioned to lead progress and make transformative change.

MMSc-Med Ed ensures that learners receive training in research methods and skills to conduct evidence-based research in medical education. Additionally, learners receive a command of the foundational and emerging content domains in health professions education.

Program Goals

The Master of Medical Sciences in Medical Education is a two-year program with two primary goals:

• To give students a solid foundation in the theories and principles underpinning health professions education, such as the science of learning, strategies of curriculum development and education design, adult learning theories, integration of education technology and principles of assessment.
• To provide students with comprehensive tools and protected time to engage in research on the most important issues in the field. Our research objective includes empirical work and hypothesis testing using quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The program is committed to flexibility in order to address participants' unique goals. Modifications to the recommended coursework sequence may be feasible.

Research Focus

In the first year of the program, students develop and refine a research project that will ultimately become their thesis project during the second year of the program. Students are given benchmarks for completing this process through Works in Progress sessions, in which they present their project ideas and receive feedback from faculty and classmates. Additionally, each student has regular meetings with the Program Director to ensure their research is on track. The program helps students craft an individualized team of mentors to allow the research to be successful.

During the second year of the master’s degree, students work on a thesis project for 75-80% of their time.

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