The Quill & Quirk Writing Lab: A Medical Education Researchers Community of Practice

The GW SMHS Center for Faculty Excellence is offering a professional development program writing lab aligned with the educational pillar, designed and led by Dr. Zareen Zaidi Associate Director for Education Research and Scholarship, to help faculty develop:

•    Essential writing skills for medical education research and grant application
•    Basic skills for the ethical use of AI tools to enhance the research process
•    A community of practice to undertake, collaborate and support scholarly writing

The Lab will consist of 2-day intensive face-to-face sessions from 9:00 am to 5 :00pm at Ross Hall on October 17th and 18th 2024.  This will be followed by once a month remote or in-person (depending on the groups preference) hour-long writing meetings for the rest of the academic year.

Applications are open! The deadline to apply is September 16th, 2024.
Application Process and Submission

How to Apply

Download the Application Form Here.

The application process consists of submitting the following documents by September 16th, 2024:

  1. A medical education research question (This program focuses ONLY on medical education scholarship not clinical research, program evaluation alone or QI projects)
  2. A targeted call for proposals or grant application URL. Examples include (but not limited to)
    1. AAMC Grants
    2. GW SMHS Center for Faculty Excellence Grant
    3. Specialty education grants such as: https://www.saem.org/about-saem/academies-interest-groups-affiliates2/saem-foundation/apply-for-a-grant/what-we-fund
  3. A completed form by the Chair of the applicant’s department agreeing to release the applicant from all duties on October 17th and 18th 2024

Applications should be submitted using this link

Additional information:

  • We encourage 1-2 individuals to collaborate and apply together (with a single research question & target grant)
  • We encourage interprofessional collaboration and diversity of team members
  • No IRB approval is required upon application but will addressed as part of the lab
  • Application does not mean acceptance to the program as participants will be selected based on the research question and feasibility of the proposal
  • This is a professional development opportunity and does not have any funding associated for selected candidates, rather it will help them apply for funded opportunities
  • The face-to-face intensive sessions will help kick start the grant writing proposal and introduce participants to basic AI tools for medical education research, while the subsequent meetings will be used to complete and refine the proposal
  • The yearlong interactions will also be designed to encourage building a community of practice of medical education scholars and spin-off collaborative projects

Questions?

Inquiries about the proposal content should be addressed to Zareen Zaidi zzaidi@gwu.edu or Tayla Beckles tbeckles@gwu.edu.