International Speakers

John (Jack) R. Boulet, PhD

Vice President
Research and Data Resources
Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

Dr. Boulet is Vice President, Research and Data Resources, for the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG^®).  For the past 18 years, Dr. Boulet has worked on the development and validation of performance-based credentialing assessments in medicine.  He has published extensively in the field of medical education, focusing specifically on measurement issues pertaining to performance-based assessments, including objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and various mannequin-based simulation methodologies.  He has also investigated workforce issues, concentrating on the quality of international medical education programs, the international migration of healthcare workers, the contribution of international medical graduates (IMGs) to the labor force in the United States, and the quality of care provided by IMGs.  Dr. Boulet currently serves on the editorial boards for Advances in Health Sciences Education: Theory and Practice, Education for Health, and Simulation in Healthcare.  He is a deputy editor for Medical Education.

Katharine Boursicot, MD

Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Assessment and Medical Education Research
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
Singapore, Republic of Singapore

Katharine Boursicot, BSc, MBBS, MRCOG, MAHPE, NTF, SFHEA, FRSM joined the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine in Singapore in March 2014, as Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Assessment and Medical Education Research. She graduated from the University of London with an Honours BSc in Anatomy and MBBS from the Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. She worked as a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in London for eight years, then moved into full time medical education. Since 2000, she has led the reform of assessment at the undergraduate medical schools at Barts and the London, Cambridge University and St George’s University of London and been invited to advise on numerous national and international assessment initiatives. In 2007, Katharine was awarded a UK Higher Education Academy National Teaching Fellowship, in recognition for her influence in raising standards and dissemination of evidence-based good practice in medical education in the UK and internationally. Katharine was the Treasurer for ASME for six years and chaired the Board of Management of the prestigious journal Medical Education. She founded an annual conference dedicated to medical education research, which is now in its 8th year. In recognition of her outstanding contribution to ASME, she was awarded the President’s Medal in 2013. She has published widely and is an Associate Editor and a regular reviewer for several leading medical education journals. She is the Series Editor for the OUP companion volumes to their Handbooks of Medicine series, with six volumes published and another three in press (Oxford Assess and Progress series).

Janet Grant, PhD

Honorary Professor, University College London Medical School
Professor Emerita of Education in Medicine, The Open University, UK
Director, Centre for Medical Education in Context [CenMEDIC] & FAIMER Centre for Distance Learning

Janet is Director of CenMEDIC (the Centre for Medical Education in Context) and the FAIMER Centre for Distance Learning in London. She is, Honorary Professor in University College London Medical School, Honorary Professor in Plymouth University College of Medicine and Dentistry, and Emerita Professor of Education in Medicine at the UK Open University. She is Special Adviser to the World Federation for Medical Education. Her interests are in policy research, regulation, educational development, continuing professional development and curriculum. CenMEDIC runs an international distance learning Master’s course on accreditation and assessment in health professions education for the US Foundation for the Advancement of International Medical Education and Research [FAIMER]. Her Centre also developed and manages Sci59, the online psychometric Specialty Choice Inventory. Janet has extensive experience as a regulator in both medical education and legal education. She is author of The Good CPD Guide [Radcliffe Publishers, 2012].

John J. Norcini, PhD

President & CEO, Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education & Research (FAIMER)
Philadelphia, USA

FAIMER has an active research program on international health professions education and physician migration, global fellowship programs for faculty from health professions schools, and databases of recognized medical schools around the world. For the 25 years before joining the Foundation, Dr. Norcini held a number of senior positions at the American Board of Internal Medicine. His principal academic interest is in the assessment of physician performance. Dr. Norcini has published extensively, lectured and taught in many countries, and is on the editorial boards of several peer-reviewed journals in educational measurement and medical education.

Trudie E. Roberts, MD

Professor and Director, Leeds Institute of Medical Education President, Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE)
Leeds, UK

Professor Trudie E Roberts, BSc MB ChB PhD FRCP FHEA FAoME is Director of the Leeds Institute of Medical Education, University of Leeds, England. Professor Roberts graduated from Manchester with a degree in Medicine and a BSc in Anatomy. She undertook her early medical training in Manchester and her research in Manchester and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. In 1995 she was appointed Senior Lecturer in Transplant Immunology at the University of Manchester. In 2000 she was appointed Professor of Medical Education at the University of Leeds. She was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2006. In 2009 she was appointed Director of the Leeds Institute of Medical Education. She was a council member of the General Medical Council from 2009 until 2012 and Chair of the Association for the Study of Medical Education until July 2013. She was a council member for the Royal College of Physicians of London from 2010 until 2013 and is currently a Censor for the College. In September 2013 she became President of the Association for Medical Education in Europe. Professor Roberts’s main interests and expertise are in the areas of assessment of competence, professionalism, and transitions in training and education.

Ara Tekian, PhD, MHPE

Associate Professor and Director of International Program (DME)
Associate Dean, Office of International Education
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine

Dr. Tekian is Associate Professor and the Director of International Affairs at the Department of Medical Education (DME), and the Associate Dean for the Office of International Education at the College of Medicine, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He joined DME in 1992, and is involved in both teaching courses offered in the Master’s of Health Professions Education (MHPE) program and advising graduate students. He also teaches one of the major courses in the Masters in Patient Safety Leadership program. Prior to joining DME, he was the founding Director of the Medical Education Department at King Saud University, College of Medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1983 – 1990). He served during the 80s and 90s as a consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) for projects in the Division of Development of Human Resources for Health. He also served as consultant to the Ministries of Health and Education in most of the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Dr. Tekian established a number of medical education departments/ units in the Eastern Mediterranean countries. Dr. Tekian is an internationally recognized scholar and leader in health professions education.  He has organized and conducted over 200 workshops in more than 45 countries and 60 cities. His consultations and workshops have focused on curriculum development, assessment, program evaluation, and patient safety. He has received numerous honors and awards. In 1996, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Tashkent University in Uzbekistan. Dr. Tekian was the recipient of the 1997 Teaching Recognition Program Award from the University of Illinois (UIC) Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.  He is also the recipient of the 2012 ASME (Association for the study of Medical Education) Gold Medal Award which is one of the most prestigious international awards in medical education. In 2014, he was honored by receiving the most revered Lifetime Achievement Award by the Armenian American Medical Society. He has served as the President of the Division of Education in the Professions of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) from 2009 – 2012, which is a major venue for presentation of scholarship in health professions education.  AERA is the leading international professional association for the field of education. His scholarship in health professions education is reflection in publications in the premiere medical education journals. He is the senior author of the book “Innovative Simulations for Assessing Professional Competence: From Paper-and-Pencil to Virtual Reality” published in 1999.