In this session, speakers from three different schools (one new, one established, and one international) will share their unique experiences and perspectives navigating curricular reform.
Presenter Bios
Yerko Berrocal, MD, MHPE, serves as Associate Dean, Curricular Affairs for Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. In this role, he provides leadership to the Office of Curricular Affairs and is primarily responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating the School’s integrative curriculum.
Prior to this position, Dr. Berrocal was a clinical associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences Education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP), where he served as the Director of the Circulation & Respiration Block and chaired the Phase 1 Curriculum committee. Dr. Berrocal was involved in all aspects of pre-clinical medical education, including the delivery, development, and improvement of the curriculum. Prior to his work at UICOMP, Dr. Berrocal was an assistant professor with a focus on medical education at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (HWCOM), where he held several leadership positions.
Before becoming a medical educator, Dr. Berrocal worked on developing cellular transplantation strategies to repair human central and peripheral nervous system injuries at University of Miami’s Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. He contributed to studies required by the FDA to approve phase 1 clinical trials for patients with spinal cord injuries.
A native of Chile, Dr. Berrocal earned his medical degree from Catholic University Santiago de Guayaquil, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience from the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine. He also received a Master of Health Professions Education from the University of Illinois Chicago.
Dr. Katie Huggett is the Director of the Teaching Academy, Assistant Dean for Medical Education, and Robert Larner, MD Professor in Medical Education at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Dr. Huggett leads faculty development for teaching, assessment, and educational scholarship. In addition, she leads the team responsible for curricular evaluation and serves as the co-chair of the medical school’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) committee. Her research and publications address academic program quality; mentoring and faculty recognition; curricular innovation, especially for substance use disorder education curricula; and interprofessional education (IPE). Dr. Huggett is lead editor of the book, An Introduction to Medical Teaching: The Foundations of Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessment published by Springer. The third edition is now in preparation.
Robert Opoka, MD, MBCH, MMED, MPH
Prof Robert Opoka graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery in 1996 from Makerere University and an MMed in Paediatrics & Child Health in 2003 from Guangxi University, China. He then completed a MPH in Epidemiology at University of California Berkeley, USA in 2007; a MHPE in Medical Education in 2013 from Maastricht University, Netherlands and most recently achieved his PhD in Health Sciences in 2020 from Makerere University.
Previously, Prof Opoka was an Associate Professor and Consultant Paediatrician at Makerere University in Uganda. He is also an adjunct lecturer at the Indiana University in USA, a position he has held since 2017.
He was also instrumental in the introduction of a course in health professionals’ education at Makerere University which is currently in its fourth year. Prof Opoka was the Founder and Executive Director for Global Health Uganda since 2010, Coordinator of the undergraduate training in the department of Paediatrics & Child Health; Head of the Acute Care Unit at Mulago National Referral Hospital and a member of the Teaching and Learning Committee at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University.
Prof Opoka has been actively involved in medical education for the last 10 years including the areas of Problem-Based Learning curriculum at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, the adoption of OSCE clinical methods of assessment both at Makerere University and nationally in Uganda.