Cortny Williams, PhD, assistant professor in the basic sciences department at University of Western States (UWS) has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) Travel Award.
The IAMSE Conference Travel Award, in the amount of $1,500, is awarded to applicants to aid expenses such as registration, lodging and airfare to attend the annual meeting.
“After attending IAMSE last year, I left feeling super-charged, with so many angles to improve myself as an educator and researcher,” said Dr. Williams. “I used a new teaching technique I learned on the very first day after returning from the conference. It was so rewarding and motivating, because students clearly enjoyed the exercise and had a deeper understanding of why we’re learning.”
Dr. Williams will be presented the travel award at the annual meeting in Las Vegas on June 9, 2018. After completing the full training, she will also be presented a certificate for Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME). Along with the great recognition, Dr. Williams will deliver a platform presentation on her research about student study strategies.
The mission of IAMSE is to advance health profession education through teacher development and to ensure that the teaching and learning of medical science continues to be firmly grounded in foundational sciences and the practices of teaching.
“When I chose to make teaching the primary focus of my career 10 years ago, I struggled with leaving bench research behind,” said Dr. Williams. “I love reading, developing hypotheses, analyzing data and writing. I made a choice just one short year ago to pursue education research. Transitioning from basic sciences animal research to education research after a 10-year gap took bravery! Receiving this award is humbling. This is incredibly motivational to keep up the research, develop my ideas and work toward becoming an expert in the field.”
Dr. Williams joined the UWS faculty in 2010 and teaches biochemistry and physiology. She earned her PhD in molecular microbiology and immunology in 2006 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Oregon Health Sciences University in 2008.
