Learning Environment Committee
The Learning Environment Committee was formed to ensure the best educational experiences for our medical students, staff, and faculty by continuously proactively addressing, monitoring, and responding to issues in the learning environment across the WWAMI region.
History of the committee
In 2010, the school was cited for challenges in the learning environment based on our students’ experiences of mistreatment as reported on AAMC Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) results. This is a nationwide issue, but our rates of students reporting mistreatment were higher than the national average. The school made considerable efforts to ameliorate the situation, and the 2013 GQ showed improvement to near the national average of mistreatment. As a result, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the medical school accrediting body, found the school compliant in 2014. However, the 2015 GQ showed increased rates of student mistreatment, so the inaugural version of the Learning Environment Committee was launched in 2016. A number of interventions were deployed which resulted in notable improvement. However, in 2018, mistreatment numbers were still higher than the national average. LCME again deemed the school non-compliant regarding student mistreatment.
Restructuring of the committee
A new structural paradigm that provides for an overarching body with the authority to effect substantive change in the learning environment across UW Medicine was instituted. This model is centered on the idea that the learning environment touches all aspects of UW Medicine: It includes not only students, but anyone who is interacting in that environment, including nurses, therapists and other clinical staff, faculty, residents, researchers, and fellows. The overarching body, the Learning Environment Steering Committee, is chaired by Dr. Tim Dellit, Chief Medical Officer of UW Medicine. Others serving on this steering committee include undergraduate and graduate medical education leadership, chief medical officers, chief nursing officers, chairs, as well as other administrators working to enhance the learning and working environments. The steering committee will oversee subcommittees or “arms” responsible for various areas of the learning environment. As a result of the restructuring, the inaugural Learning Environment Committee became the Student Arm of this larger body.
Membership
The Student Arm aims to achieve representation from across the School of Medicine and WWAMI so that its members can benefit from rich perspective.
| Chairs (Voting) | Last Name | First Name | Site |
| Co-Chair | Maestas | Raye | SEA |
| Co-Chair | Whipple | Mark | SEA |
| Voting Members | Last Name | First Name | Site |
| Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC) | Combs | Heidi | SEA |
| Assistant Dean for Student Support, Student Affairs | Tolbert | Gerald | SEA |
| Center for Health Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (CEDI) | Morales | Leo | SEA |
| Clerkship Director | Mendiratta | Vicki | SEA |
| Clinical Clerkship Administrator | Fear | Sara | SEA |
| Clinical Dean – Regional | Monger | Robert | WY |
| Clinical Dean – Seattle | TBD | TBD | SEA |
| College Faculty | Jackson | Molly | SEA |
| Departmental Chair | Esselman | Peter | SEA |
| Foundations Block Lead | Willford | John | WY |
| Foundations Dean | Teintze | Martin | MT |
| Foundations of Clinical Medicine (FCM) Faculty | Leinicke | Tanya | AK |
| Learning Environment Director | Frank | Melinda | SEA |
| MSA Student Representatives (MSA) | Jeong | Lily | SEA |
| Member At Large – Regional | Worth | Dustin | ID |
| Member At Large – Seattle | Kiefer | Meghan | SEA |
| MSTP Student Representative | TBD | TBD | SEA |
| Organization of Student Representatives (OSR) | Devaraju | Monica | SPO |
| Regional Foundations Representative | Fuerst | Peter | ID |
| Rural Programs | McCarthy | John | SPO |
| Student Affairs | Wood | Sarah | SEA |
| Ex-Officio Members (Non-Voting) | Last Name | First Name | Site |
| Center for Leadership & Innovation in Medical Education (CLIME) | Jauregui | Joshua | SEA |
| Communications | Blakeley | Kim | SEA |
| Data | Campion | Michael | SEA |
| Dean of Education Strategy | Wenrich | Marj | SEA |
| Educational Quality Improvement (EQI) | Kim | Sara | SEA |
| Evaluation | Schaad | Doug | SEA |
| MSA Student Representatives – Foundations MS2 | Blekkenk | Parker | MT |
| OSR Student Representative – Foundations MS1 | TBD | TBD | TBD |
| OSR Student Representative – Clinical MS3 | Herridge-Meyer | Zannah | SEA |
| OSR Student Representative – Clinical MS4 | Marceau | Eric | MT |
Minutes
Please click here to view what the committee is currently working on. (Coming soon.)