This is a principle that holds true across all health professions, which is why UAB created the Healthcare Educators Academy. Funded with a grant from the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation endowment fund, the Healthcare Educators Academy has the following goals:

• Create and support a community of leaders in education and a culture of excellence in teaching.
• Foster the careers of educators in health professions.
• Provide programming to improve the skills of teachers.
• Stimulate and support the creation and implementation of innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and assessment.
• Support educational research and scholarship in health professions education.

The academy is composed of a steering committee with members representing UAB’s Schools of Medicine, Health Professions, Public Health, Dentistry, and Nursing; 12 faculty mentors; and 12 faculty mentees.

Robin Lanzi, a professor in the Department of Health Behavior, was chosen as a faculty mentor and Gregory Pavela, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Behavior was chosen as a faculty mentee of the academy.

The academy officially launches this month with a reception on September 17 to welcome the inaugural participants.