Michael Parker, MD
Rabkin Fellow in Medical Education
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Fellowship Project:
Creation of a faculty development guide for first-time basic science tutors
Dr. Michael Parker is a Senior Interactive Media Architect in the Center for Educational Technology at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Parker received Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. Before becoming a physician, he worked in the software industry and then studied exercise physiology at University of Colorado while performing biomechanical analysis of U.S. team cyclists at the Olympic Training Center. He went to medical school at University of Colorado and returned to Boston for internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He now combines his computer and medical knowledge to create interactive Web-based animations and simulations to enhance medical education. He also has multiple teaching roles at HMS, including lecturer and tutor in the Human Systems course. The interactive diagrams Dr. Parker created as co-author of a respiratory physiology textbook were recently honored with the 2006 Frank Netter Award. He is very interested in how to effectively use new online tools for teaching, and is working to help Harvard Medical School develop its presence in HarvardX/edX, one of the leading MOOCs (Massive Online Open Course entities).
As a Rabkin Fellow, Dr. Parker worked on developing an electronic tutor guide (e-tutor guide) to help first-time basic science tutors become more effective teachers. Working with a fifth year medical student, Dr. Parker interviewed many of the best and most experienced tutors across the first two years of the Harvard Medical School curriculum. These interviews with faculty served to gather a rich set of stories, suggestions, and guidance that form the basis of a practical handbook. The guide is being created in a Web-accessible format as well as a printable version, and will serve as a reusable faculty development resource for tutorial leaders.