The HAPS Institute offers working Anatomy and Physiology instructors the opportunity to earn graduate credits or just gain Professional Development in a variety of flexible formats tailored to their busy schedule.
The HAPS Institute offers working Anatomy and Physiology instructors the opportunity to earn graduate credits or just gain Professional Development in a variety of flexible formats tailored to their busy schedule.

This might surprise you (!) but we Anatomy and Physiology instructors are usually pretty busy people.  HAPS, as usual, aims to support us by offering opportunities for professional development via HAPS Institute (HAPS-I) courses.  These courses are designed to broaden our understanding of our subject by enabling us to participate in interactive learning communities made of peers who are also teaching anatomy and/or physiology.  HAPS-I courses include both subject-specific content as well as practical teaching and learning methodology and in this way exemplify the mission of HAPS as a whole.  Additionally, each course provides participants with the opportunity to publish their work in the peer-reviewed Life Science Teaching Resource Community.  Courses are available in two separate tracts to maximize flexibility for participants, allowing them to earn graduate credits or simply participate in the course for professional development.

The next round of HAPS-I courses are scheduled to begin between August 24 and September 15.  I’d personally like to take all of them.  Dr. Margaret Weck’s course on Rational Course Design “briefly reviews the major concepts associated with the “backwards design” model of rational course development, which stresses the value of thinking through the ultimate outcome goals (both in content mastery and cognitive skill development) for a course as a first step the course design process.”  I want to take that class!  And Dr George Ordway’s course on Advanced Cardiovascular Physiology will “provide college-level instructors with an opportunity to develop their understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, including key cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for function of the heart and blood vessels.”  Oooh!  I want to take that class too!  And then Dr. Chad Wayne will be offering THREE classes on reproductive physiology.  Whaaaat?!?!?!  I want to take ALL of those classes!

And not only does HAPS offer these amazing courses, they also offer scholarships to support you in TAKING these cool courses. In fact, the next scholarship deadline is August 15.  To be eligible for this scholarship, you need to be a HAPS member in good standing, you must be a regular full-time employee teaching anatomy and physiology, and you must have a teaching load that includes at least one section/class of anatomy and/or physiology.

So pick the fall HAPS-I course you’d like to complete, and apply for that HAPS-I scholarship by August 15.  And then vote on which class you think should I take!

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