Medical education becomes new KI research field
Karolinska Institutet is making a long-term investment in medical education research. A new visiting professorship and research grant are two elements of the initiative, which is co-financed by the Gunnar Höglund and Anna-Stina Malmborg Foundation.
Research into medical education leads to more highly skilled healthcare workers and, ultimately, to saved lives and improved public health. KI is now launching a three-pronged initiative in this research field comprising a visiting professorship, a new research grant and the financing of an internal research network.
President Annika Östman Wernerson has earmarked SEK 9 million to invest in the initiative, the grant element of which is co-financed to the tune of SEK 1.5 million by the Gunnar Höglund and Anna-Stina Malmborg Foundation.
The project is led by KI’s two professors of medical education, Anna Kiessling and Terese Stenfors.
“Karolinska Institutet is exceptionally well-placed for conducting research in medical education, and this initiative is a big step towards our tapping this potential,” says Professor Kiessling of the Department of Clinical Sciences, Danderyd Hospital, KI.
Internationally renowned visiting professor
An international leader in the field has been offered and has accepted the new visiting professorship. The name will be publicised once the appointment has been formally finalised, which is expected to be within a month or so.
“The person has been selected on account of their interesting research and experience of establishing a strong research environment at their home university,” says Professor Stenfors of the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics at KI.
The new research grant is available to researchers who are either employed at Karolinska Institutet or who work in healthcare in Stockholm and have a research affiliation with the university.
Applications for the grant, which is worth a total of SEK 4.5 million over three years to be shared by two to four applicants, will invited from non-professors who hold a PhD and who have published their first paper in the field. The call will open on 13 November and close on 10 January.
The third arm of the project is resources for a network of researches in medical education at Karolinska Institutet. The network was created in 2022 and has thus far been run on a non-profit basis.
“With a budget, the network will be able to take on a more important role and become the forum that’s so needed for research into medical education at Karolinska Institutet,” explains Professor Stenfors. “We’re all dispersed around 19 departments, which is basically good but something of a challenge.”
Something to gather round
Numerous external reports from the past few decades have identified medical education as a research field in which Karolinska Institutet has great potential, with relatively voluminous scientific production and at least 60 involved researchers.
KI is also held in high esteem and has a large international network in the field by virtue of its role as the awarding body for the international renowned Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education (KIPRIME).
There is also a fellows programme associated with KIPRIME for younger researchers of the highest international standard.
“What Karolinska Institutet’s research into medical education has been lacking is something to gather around,” says Professor Kiessling. “This initiative is an attempt to put this right. It’s important to the country that we have strong medical education research in order that we can train skilled healthcare professionals, for whom there’ll always be a need.”