Often times when medical professionals add a speciality degree on their resume they are not thinking about a future in education. Now, the University of Florida (UF) has announced a new masters degree program aimed at training doctors to become scholars in their field. UF's colleges of education and medicine have partnered to offer a new 36-hour online program that will include instructional strategies that physicians will be able to use in a clinical education setting. Erik Black, assistant professor of the college of medicine and the college of education school of teaching and learning, said the program will differ from most traditional medical education instruction. "Many health science professionals have been exposed to a monochromatic view of education that is lecture-based and behavioristically driven,” Black noted. "That is not necessarily where medical education is going. Today, there is a growing emphasis on small group learning, team-based learning and constructivist principles of instruction and learning." The program is scheduled to begin next fall. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment opportunities for teachers at the postsecondary level are expected to grow up 15% through 2018, with those who have a doctorate degree on their resumes expected to experience the best job prospects. |