CDEM Awards

The CDEM Clerkship Director of the Year award recognizes an EM Clerkship Director that has made significant contributions to Undergraduate Medical Education. To be eligible for this award, the nominee must currently be a Clerkship Director of a mandatory, selective, or elective rotation and have served in that role for a minimum of three years. The nominee must be a member of CDEM.

All nomination packets must include:

1. Letter of support/recommendation from nominator specifying which award the candidate is being nominated for and how the nominee fulfills the award criteria (limit two pages).
2. What is the relationship of the nominator to the nominee (e.g., Chair, Residency Director). Self nominations are accepted.
3. Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or teaching portfolio of the nominee.
4. Nominations may also include other supporting documentation, such as a detailed description of curricular innovations; teaching evaluations; letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, or students; funded grant or project applications; and publications. The nomination packets are reviewed and ranked numerically for each award.

In the letter of recommendation, please ensure you address the following:

1. Mentorship: how has the applicant served as a mentor for medical students?
2. Education: how has the applicant distinguished themselves in education? This could be evidence of exceptional achievement in terms of evaluations from learners and/or an exceptional teaching load.
3. Innovation: how has the applicant optimized the curriculum for their students?
4. Program Evaluation: how has the applicant judged the success of their educational program?

The CDEM Clerkship Coordinator of the Year award recognizes an EM Clerkship Coordinator that has made significant contributions to either a 3rd or 4th year rotation. Competitive candidates should model professionalism, display a dedication to the field of EM, and demonstrate a commitment to education and student support. To be eligible for this award, the nominee must currently be a Clerkship Coordinator of a mandatory, selective, or elective rotation. Self nominations are accepted. The nominator must be a member of CDEM. 

All nomination packets must include:

1. Letter of support/recommendation from nominator specifying which award the candidate is being nominated for and how the nominee fulfills the award criteria (limit two pages).
2. What is the relationship of the nominator to the nominee (e.g., Chair, Residency Director).
3. Optional: Although not required, submitting medical student feedback on the nominee is strongly encouraged. If these data are not routinely asked from medical students, we recommend sending an anonymous survey to recent rotators to solicit comments for this section.

The nomination packets are reviewed and ranked numerically for each award.

The CDEM Distinguished Career Achievement Award honors a nationally recognized leader in medical student education at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor who has demonstrated a sustained excellence throughout their career, innovation, and impact in academic emergency medicine. This award celebrates educators whose enduring contributions have shaped the field on a national level, advancing the education and mentorship of future physicians. Bestowed only on special occasions, this honor reflects the highest recognition within CDEM for a career marked by leadership and dedication to medical education. Nominees must be active members of CDEM.

All nomination packets must include:

1. Letter of support/recommendation from nominator specifying which award the candidate is being nominated for and how the nominee fulfills the award criteria (limit two pages).
2. What is the relationship of the nominator to the nominee (e.g., Chair, Residency Director). Self nominations are accepted.
3. Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or teaching portfolio of the nominee.
4. Nominations may also include other supporting documentation, such as a detailed description of curricular innovations; teaching evaluations; letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, or students; funded grant or project applications; and publications. The nomination packets are reviewed and ranked numerically for each award.

The CDEM Innovation in Medical Education award recognizes a medical student educator at any faculty rank who has made a significant and innovative contribution to undergraduate medical education. Competitive applicants will have played a key role in either the development or substantial refinement of the innovation. The nominee must be a member of CDEM. The scope and impact of the innovation will also be considered. 

All nomination packets must include:

1. Letter of support/recommendation from nominator specifying which award the candidate is being nominated for and how the nominee fulfills the award criteria (limit two pages).
2. What is the relationship of the nominator to the nominee (e.g., Chair, Residency Director). Self nominations are accepted.
3. Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or teaching portfolio of the nominee.
4. Nominations may also include other supporting documentation, such as a detailed description of curricular innovations; teaching evaluations; letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, or students; funded grant or project applications; and publications. The nomination packets are reviewed and ranked numerically for each award.

In the letter of recommendation, please ensure you address the following:

1. What is the scope of the medical education innovation (e.g., have other institutions across the country adopted this innovation, is it used regionally, or locally at your own institution)? 
2. Describe how this is innovative.
3. What was the impact of the innovation (provide any data to support/demonstrate the impact)?
4. Describe the specific role of the applicant in the innovation.

The CDEM Early Educator of the Year award recognizes a medical student educator at the Clinical Instructor or Assistant Professor level who has made significant contributions to medical student education. The nominee must be a member of CDEM, and as of the nomination deadline, must be less than ten years from residency completion. Extensions to the 10-year eligibility period may be considered for documented parental or medical leave. To request an eligibility extension, please contact Governance@saem.org, prior to the nomination deadline with the dates and duration of the applicable leave. 

All nomination packets must include:

1. Letter of support/recommendation from nominator specifying which award the candidate is being nominated for and how the nominee fulfills the award criteria (limit two pages).
2. What is the relationship of the nominator to the nominee (e.g., Chair, Residency Director). Self nominations are accepted.
3. Curriculum vitae (CV) and/or teaching portfolio of the nominee.
4. Nominations may also include other supporting documentation, such as a detailed description of curricular innovations; teaching evaluations; letters of support from colleagues, supervisors, or students; funded grant or project applications; and publications. The nomination packets are reviewed and ranked numerically for each award.

In the letter of recommendation, please ensure you address the following:

1. Mentorship: how has the applicant served as a mentor for medical students?
2. Education: how has the applicant distinguished themselves in education? This could be evidence of exceptional achievement in terms of evaluations from learners and/or an exceptional teaching load.
3. Scholarly Activity and Academic Service: how has the applicant shown evidence of being productive in terms of educational scholarly activity (whether research, other published works, national committee involvement/presentations, etc.)? 
4. Educational Programs: how has the applicant improved or created educational programs?

Applicants for the CDEM Medical Education Fellow Travel Scholarship should be a medical education fellow; they may be an incoming fellow (after matching but prior to starting), a current fellow, or in their first year after completion of a medical education fellowship at the time of application. This award intends to help a fellow network and help promote their career focusing on undergraduate medical education (UME). Fellows should show achievement and/or interest in UME. The recipient must attend the CDEM business meeting at the SAEM Annual Meeting and present any applicable work they have done; they may also propose a didactic to present at the CDEM business meeting. At which time, CDEM will have the honor in recognizing the fellow for their accomplishment. Award funds are contingent on attending SAEM and CDEM all-member meetings.

The award is up to $1,000 with a maximum of two awards that can be given in any application cycle. All nomination packets must include a letter of support from the medical education fellowship director (limit two pages). If an incoming fellow, current residency program director may instead write the letter if the applicant wishes.

Note: we encourage the nominating program to pledge to fund any additional travel costs to the SAEM Annual Meeting that are not covered in full by this award, if possible. A personal statement detailing the applicant's interest in the award (limit two pages) and curriculum vitae (CV) and/or teaching portfolio of the nominee may also be requested.

Resident Teacher Submission Form: Open

The CDEM Resident Teacher award is given to a resident who has demonstrated skills and interests in teaching, as defined in the criteria below. No more than one award may be given per residency program, but it need not be given each year. Faculty shall select their program's recipient. Candidates can be nominated by either Clerkship Director or Residency Program Director.

• Demonstrated interest in teaching/precepting medical students.
• Demonstrated interest and excellence in teaching physician assistants, nursing students, pharmacy students, etc.
• Participation in a patient education or residency education committee.
• Peer teaching.
• Consistent quality grand rounds and/or conferences presented.
• Valued as a teacher by patients and peers.
• Evidence of community teaching.
• Presentations given at regional or national EM meetings.

The resident selected from each residency program will receive:

• Recognition in the SAEM Pulse magazine
• Certificate of Excellence as a Resident Teacher in EM
• Recognition at the CDEM business meeting at the SAEM Annual Meeting

Please submit your form at least three weeks prior to the date the certificate is needed for residency graduation ceremonies. While we realize that not all residency programs provide the full range of teaching opportunities that we have enumerated, we believe the resident recipient should fulfill as many of the criteria as possible to be considered an exemplary future teacher.

CDEM presents two longevity awards for Clerkship Directors and Clerkship Coordinators, awarded to individuals in their respective positions that have achieved 5-10-15-20-25-30 years of service. There is no nomination process for these awards; but rather, if an individual fits the criteria, they may complete the form to receive a certificate. Certificates are issued in five-year increments only.

The award winner will receive:

• Recognition in the SAEM Pulse magazine
• Recognition on the CDEM website
• Recognition on a slide during the CDEM business meeting at the SAEM Annual Meeting
• Recognition on CDEM social media accounts