University of Vermont College of Medicine Dean Frederick Morin, M.D., and Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education William Jeffries, Ph.D., have announced the appointment of Kathryn Huggett, Ph.D., as the inaugural director of the Teaching Academy at the UVM College of Medicine. Huggett, who was selected after a national search, will be appointed as a professor of medicine and pathology and associate dean and begins her new role at UVM on September 1, 2015. She will succeed Ann Guillot, M.D., professor of pediatrics and director of pediatric nephrology, who has served as interim director of the Teaching Academy since July 2014.

The assistant dean for medical education at Creighton University School of Medicine in Omaha, Neb., since 2010, Huggett has also served as director of medical education development and assessment since 2004. Previously, she was director of the Medical Scholars Program and senior student services coordinator for academic affairs and curriculum at the University of Wisconsin Medical School. She holds a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also earned her bachelor’s degree in political science and master’s degree in public policy and administration.

Huggett will direct the Academy and its support of education and educators at the College of Medicine, and organize the development and implementation of Teaching Academy programs. She will provide educational expertise and collaborate across the academic medical center to facilitate high quality educational programs, medical education research, and faculty development. 

A principal or co-investigator on more than a dozen grants in medical education research, scholarship and faculty development, Huggett has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and educational materials. She is the co-editor of the first and second editions of An Introduction to Medical Teaching, a well-known faculty development manual. She has been an invited presenter nationally and internationally and is a sought-after consultant on medical education and faculty development. She also teaches medical students, residents, fellows and graduate students in lecture, seminars and small groups, and has conducted more than 60 CME sessions for medical professionals. Huggett is a reviewer for numerous medical education journals, including the Medical Science Educator, Academic Medicine, Journal of Graduate Medical Education, and the MedEd PORTAL Repository. Nationally, she serves on the board of directors of the International Association of Medical Science Educators and is past-president of the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education, and a member of the AMA Learning Environment Study Advisory Committee. At the Association of American Medical Colleges, she is a member of the Council of Faculty and Academic Societies, the Group on Educational Affairs, the Medical Education Scholarship Research and Evaluation (MESRE) Section Steering Committee, and also chairs the steering committee for the Medical Education Research Certificate Program.

The Teaching Academy at the UVM College of Medicine was launched in December 2014, with a mission to foster a scholarly approach to medical education, nurture faculty development, and guide curricular innovation. Charter members were inducted in March 2015, and include 53 faculty from across the College who were honored as either Distinguished Educators, Master Teachers or Members.