Distinction in Medical Education (DIME)

Distinction in Medical Education (DIME) recognizes those students who have taken leadership roles in medical education and have developed and implemented a scholarly project related to the field of medical education. DIME will be awarded to those unique students who have dedicated significant time to and demonstrated excellence in at least one of five areas: teaching, mentoring, education administration, curriculum development or curriculum assessment, as well as individuals who have taken a scholarly approach to their work in education.

DIME applications will be accepted yearly for fourth year medical students. All graduating medical students are welcome to apply during the open call period. If you have any questions about applying for DIME, please contact Anna Horton at anna.horton@mssm.edu.

  • Distinction in Medical Education is awarded at graduation, similar to Distinction in Research.
  • Applications will include: an educator portfolio (included in the application), a letter from the student’s mentor supporting his/her application and endorsing his/her submitted scholarly product (see below), and a letter of support from Student Affairs. The application must also demonstrate the scholarship derived from the student’s work. First authorship is required however group projects with an explanation of the student’s critical role may be considered. The application must document one of the following:
    • An accepted oral presentation at a national conference (peer-reviewed)
    • A poster presentation at a national conference (peer-reviewed)
    • An educational/teaching product (slide sets, resource materials, web-based cases, written, oral or standardized patient examinations or surveys, etc) accepted in MedEdPORTAL or similar peer-reviewed educational repository
    • An educational/teaching product or assessment instrument (see above bullet for examples) of publishable quality in MedEdPORTAL or similar peer-reviewed educational repository
    • Other evidence of scholarship/dissemination: Teaching product, curriculum or assessment that is adopted by other educators or incorporated into The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai curriculum
    • Applications will be reviewed and final decisions on awarding DIME will be made by a committee of faculty educators and will also consider:
      • Quantity (Number of learners affected and/or impact of their project)
      • Quality (Sufficient quality of scholarly contribution)
      • Dissemination (Contributions to the education community)
  • Detailed instructions are included in the application.