International FAIMER Institute

The program is offered entirely online using a blended approach of synchronous and asynchronous learning to educate Fellows in four curriculum themes of the program:

• Project Management and Evaluation – Fellows apply concepts and methods learned to their individual education innovation projects. Key topics include developing a theory of change to guide project planning and evaluation, designing project evaluation, and some basics of research and evaluation including data types, data collection techniques, analysis, and reporting of data.
• Education Methods – This curriculum theme focuses on how people learn, how to assess what they have learned and provide feedback, and how to teach in large and small groups.
• Leadership and Management – This curriculum theme focuses on leadership and management concepts in six contexts: understanding self, understanding and leading others, understanding and leading teams, understanding and leading within the organization, building and leading regional/national communities of practice (COP), and participating in a global COP for improving health to meet community needs.
• Research and Scholarship – This curriculum theme focuses on educational research design and methods (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed), integration of research and scholarship with the Fellow’s FAIMER project, broadening the view of scholarship to align with the current missions of health professions schools, and strategic planning for the career spectrum between researcher/educationalist and scholar/practitioner.

Participants’ education innovation projects are the focal point for the application of learning. Each participant proposes an education innovation project that is endorsed by their institution in their initial application to the International FAIMER Institute, and if selected as a FAIMER Fellow, the participant will work towards implementing their project at their respective institution. Education innovation projects focusing on education methods, leadership, community health, and program evaluation will be given priority in the fellowship selection process.

The International FAIMER Institute faculty includes a team of global faculty who design, teach, and provide support for International FAIMER Institute courses; and project advisors who provide mentoring and support for Fellows' innovation project design and implementation. Visit the faculty page for a full list of global faculty and project advisors.

The International FAIMER Institute employs a variety of approaches to learning that ensure Fellows’ success:

• Project-Based Approach – An education innovation project is the focal point for the application of learning at the Institute. Fellows apply leadership, management, education methodology, and sound research design as they plan and implement their projects.
• Interactive, High-Engagement Teaching – The Institute uses participants’ projects as the “laboratory” to apply their learning, and models high engagement teaching and learning techniques that Fellows can use at their own institutions.
• Positive, Appreciative, Strengths-Based Approach – The curriculum has fully integrated positive, appreciative, and strengths-based approaches to learning and leadership. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI, Year 1) helps Fellows understand the natural strengths of their personality.
• Community of Practice – Our long-term goal is for all FAIMER Fellows to become a global community of practice, a group informally bound together by personal connections and understanding, shared expertise, and passion for improving academic health centers and the people they serve. Concepts to build a community of practice are woven throughout the curriculum.
• Cultural Sensitivity – FAIMER brings international health professions faculty from different cultures together to, in part, enhance Fellows’ cultural competency. Understanding, respecting, and successfully interacting with those whose world views, values, behaviors, communication styles, customs, and practices are different helps increase one’s own cultural competency.
• Transformational Learning Model – The International FAIMER Institute is intentionally designed as a transformational learning experience for Fellows. The design is grounded in the theory and principles of team-based learning, reflection, dialogue, and the creation of a trust-based, challenging, and supportive learning environment.

The International FAIMER Institute is divided into two distinct yearlong programs with the education innovation project being the link throughout the fellowship. The Year 1 and Year 2 programs begin in June and end the following May. Each fellowship cohort should expect significant interactive group work with their colleagues in their cohort. The Year 1 and Year 2 cohorts should also expect interactions and group work between their different cohorts.

Year 1 (Online): June 2025 through May 2026
Year 2 (Online): June 2026 through May 2027

2025-2026 International FAIMER Institute Timeline:

To successfully participate in the International FAIMER Institute, a Fellow must have access to:

• Computer equipment
• Smartphone or tablet
• Internet access
• Word processing software (e.g. Microsoft Word)
• Presentation software (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint)
• Zoom