Society for Early Education Scholars (SEEDS)

The goal of the Society for Early Education Scholars (SEEDS) is to cultivate the next generation of clinician educators. The SEEDS Program is a year-long mentored education program designed for fellows planning careers as clinician educators or education scholars. This program will develop educational leaders and scholars through participation in a focused year-long curriculum with mentored teaching opportunities.

SEEDS will cover medical curriculum design and assessment, practical teaching skills, hands-on mentored teaching activities, participation in the Duke DOM educator community, presentation skills, novel use of technology in education, and the opportunity to complete a mentored scholarly education project. This program will provide fellows with required skills for successful future careers as clinician educator scholars and leaders of the future.

SEEDS will equip fellows with evidence-based, innovative teaching skills. In this program you will actively engage with the rich network of colleagues and faculty throughout Duke in an environment of collaborative learning, support, and shared success. Graduates of SEEDS will receive a certificate of completion.

SEEDS fellows will

1. Enroll in the Duke GME Medical Education Leadership Track (MELT), a year-long, primarily didactic program that teaches basics of medical education theory, practice, and assessment (fellows who have completed the program at Duke will not be required to repeat the program).
2. Be paired with a faculty clinician educator to both learn and directly practice presenting up to two didactic teaching sessions to a diverse group of learners. 
3. Participate in a capstone DOM education day, in which they will either deliver an educational presentation co-developed with their mentor, present results of a scholarly education project, or reflect on their participation in SEEDS.
4. Complete a teaching fellow rotation within their specialty or a 1-2 week rotation as teaching attending on the Durham VA Medical Center general medicine teaching service, paired with a hospitalist who will help supervise the clinical care and give feedback on the fellows’ teaching. Fellows in three-year training programs who have completed the above experience may choose to spend 2 weeks as a rounding attending on general medicine at the DVAMC.
5. Be invited to Department of Medicine Education Lab Meetings, where they will network with DOM educators and have an opportunity to present their own works-in-progress for feedback

Four SEEDS fellows who specifically apply to pursue scholarly work in education will complete a scholarly education project for publication or presentation. For these fellows, a project mentor and a mentorship committee will be established to ensure project success.

Eligibility/Application

• Any fellow within the Duke Department of Medicine is eligible to become a SEEDS Scholar.

• Applicants will be asked to write brief narratives indicating their interest in the program and how it will advance their career development.

• Candidates will be recommended by either the program director of the fellows respective program.

• Please discuss this additional course of study with your program director before applying. Your Program Director will be asked to complete a recommendation for you to be accepted into the program. Your PD will be asked to confirm that you are in good standing within the program, and importantly, that you will have adequate time to complete the requirements of the SEEDS curriculum.

• Fellows interested in pursuing the optional educational project will submit a brief description of their idea. Note, only 4 projects will be selected.
• Applications are due June 9, 2024. Anticipated program start is August 2024.