Challenges in medical education are two-fold: 1) schools of medicine are undergoing a trend toward diminishing content in basic sciences, and 2) schools in the allied health professions are attracting a broad range of student backgrounds and professional goals. These challenges are compounded by the emphasis on translational research appropriate for immediate clinical applications or the possibilities of commercialization, in the face of reduction in basic science research support. We have addressed these challenges in our advanced graduate student and postdoctoral training by providing teaching opportunities that require our trainees to direct their content specifically to the professional needs of the allied health care audience, while employing instructional methods that promote active learning and clinical applicability. By this method, we expect to contribute a pool of academic educator-researchers that can fulfil the needs of future biomedical education.
PRIME Program at Wake Forest
Seminar Downloads
Allyn C. Howlett received her BS in biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University and Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Rutgers University. She did her postdoctoral work at the University of Virginia, and took her first academic appointment at Saint Louis University in the department of Pharmacological and Physiological Science. Dr. Howlett was the Director of the NIDA-sponsored Neuroscience of Drug Abuse Research Program at the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical-Biotechnology Research Institute at North Carolina Central University of the University of North Carolina system. She is currently a professor of Physiology and Pharmacology and the Director of the Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology Ph.D. training program at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Howlett has trained numerous post-doctoral, pre-doctoral, M.S., summer program or medical students, and MARC U*STAR and MBRS-RISE undergraduate research programs. Dr. Howlett contributes lectures to medical, health professional and graduate courses, and is course director for two of these. Dr. Howlett is an Adjunct Professor in the department of Physical Therapy at Winston-Salem State Univ. (WSSU), where she oversees the team-taught courses in Applied Physiology and in Pharmacology in the doctoral in Physical Therapy program. Dr. Howlett developed a WFU Graduate School professional development course for advanced graduate students and post-doctoral trainees to gain a mentored experience in college level teaching at participating neighboring academic institutions. Through the NIGMS Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA) K12 program, Dr. Howlett and the WFU Graduate School are partnering with Life Sciences and Physical Therapy departments at WSSU to provide career development for highly-motivated post-doctoral scholars whose career goals are to become academic researcher-teachers in the health professions.