Board Director News
Vu Nguyen, MD: 2024 AAP Innovation and Impact in Education Award Recipient
Dr. Vu Nguyen, a member of the ABPMR Board of Directors (BOD), has been recognized as the recipient of the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) Innovation and Impact in Education Award for 2024. This award recognizes an AAP member for outstanding new developments and improvements in education that benefit academic PM&R and the physiatric community.
In addition to his service on the BOD, Dr. Nguyen has been an active ABPMR volunteer for more than 12 years as an oral examiner, vignette writer, standards setting writer, and exam proctor.
Dr. Nguyen has constructed multiple innovations in medical education that have far-reaching effects on the specialty of PM&R. They include the development of a quality curriculum, the development of entrustable professional activities (EPA) and observable practice activities (OPA), the PM&R READI consultancy and the use of the debate as a teaching tool.
Dr. Nguyen is internationally recognized for quality curriculum and competency based medical education development at the GME level. The curriculum he developed in 2011 at his residency was recognized by the ACGME as a “best practice”. It teaches by utilizing multi-modal approach with annual didactics, quarterly quality conferences, participation in hospital quality committees, IHI modules asynchronous learning, participation in system-based process improvement project with presentation at annual quality conference, and participation on root cause analysis teams in cases associated with morbidity and mortality.
He is noted for developing EPAs and OPAs in PM&R. In 2013, he developed a set of 63 OPAs for his residency and shared it with colleagues via national symposiums. He and a few program directors published two papers and presented them at multiple national settings outlining the process to create EPAs and OPAs.
Another area of national impact is his creation of PM&R READI, a consultancy that aims to increase residency slots and improve the quality of education in PM&R. In the consultancy, the AAP sends GME experts to various institutions to assist them in improving their program or to create a new program. Dr. Nguyen participates in all reviews. The consultancy has assisted half a dozen programs and has successfully assisted 2 programs to achieve ACGME accreditation.
Congratulations to Dr. Nguyen for this well-deserved recognition.
