HAPS lost a dear friend when Gail Jenkins passed away earlier this year. Gail was a dynamic teacher and long-time HAPS member. Gail loved teaching. Most of all, she loved to make difficult concepts in anatomy and physiology easily comprehensible to her students. To accomplish this, she employed the “Keep is simple, Sweetie” (KISS) approach. When facing a difficult concept, she’d urge her students to “KISS” it by using everyday analogies or tools to visualize and simplify the subject. Her students loved this approach.
In Gail’s honor, Wiley Publishing, in partnership with HAPS has established the Gail Jenkins Teaching and Mentoring Award, an annual award recognizing a HAPS member who demonstrates the use of engaging learning activities that help students comprehend difficult concepts and to recognize those willing to mentor other instructors in this approach. The award includes a $1000 cash award and waiver of the 2017 Annual Conference registration fee. Award recipients will present a workshop during the workshop sessions in Salt Lake City.
To qualify for the award, applicants must be HAPS members engaged in teaching anatomy and physiology, must provide an explanation of how engaging learning activities are incorporated into their classes, must provide an abstract of a workshop to be presented at the 2017 conference, and must provide a letter of recommendation from a colleague with direct knowledge of the applicant’s teaching and student interaction. Applicants who can demonstrate a spirit of sharing this approach and mentoring their colleagues will be given preference.
Online applications can be found on the HAPS website. The application deadline for this and all the other HAPS scholarships is December 1st.
HAPS expresses its thanks to Wiley Publishing for their support in the establishment of this award.
This is a perfect way to honor Gail’s memory. She was fantastic at cutting through the fog so students could get the concepts.