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Award Information

This section contains further detail about the ASPIRE 'Inspirational and Innovative Approaches to Health Professions Education' Award. 

Please take the time to go through this content thoroughly to familiarize yourself with the application criteria and the expert panel involved in the process. Understanding these elements is crucial for a successful application. 

At the end of the content, you will need to fill out the web form to generate the invoice. Completing this form is an essential step in your application process, as it will allow you to proceed with the payment for your selected award. Make sure to provide all the required information to ensure a smooth and efficient processing of your request.

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You can also download pdf versions of this guidance and a sample application form for reference.

About the Award

This ASPIRE award focuses on Inspirational Approaches to health professions and veterinary medicine education.  It recognises institutional excellence in innovations that address important gaps and can demonstrate impact.  These can also include overcoming economic, cultural, technological, or other barriers that move health professions education forward on a local, national, or international level. 

The subject of the submission may also in part be covered in other ASPIRE award programs (e.g., Curriculum Development, Social Accountability), but here the focus is on innovation and exemplary efforts to overcome contextual difficulties.   

The criteria for excellence in this category involve innovations that are well planned (e.g., based on needs assessments), successfully implemented (e.g., overcoming barriers over an extended period of time), well studied (e.g., with robust program evaluations), and programs that inspire others to consider similar improvements (e.g., through presentations and publications). 

Potential Areas of Excellence 

While it is not possible to predict the areas in which institutions may wish to be recognised for their excellence in innovation, here are some creative examples which could be considered for a submission. Highlight how your initiative is different from what is described in the literature, and/or how you overcame unique challenges resulting from your culture, resources, or institution. 

Patients as educators: The institution has developed a unique approach in which patients play a significant role as educators that goes beyond traditional literature and represents a major success for the programme. 

The learning environment: Special attention is paid to the educational environment that facilitates learning and is supportive of learners’ health and well-being in unique and creative ways.  

Interprofessional education: The education programme has significant elements of interprofessional training, and has creatively overcome the typical challenges of such multi-professional initiatives. 

Educational innovation and research: Staff are encouraged and supported in the scholarship of learning and teaching.  The resulting innovations are fully integrated into the curriculum.  

Learners as peers and future educators: Learners are encouraged to develop an interest in education and acquiring the relevant skills is fully integrated in the curriculum.  They are supported to participate in health profession education courses and conferences. 

International flavour: A school engages in international collaborations related to innovation in education and research. International placements for staff and students are encouraged.  A joint degree with another school may be offered. 

Expert Panel

• Elizabeth Kachur (Chair), USA
• Annette Burgess, Australia
• Vishna Devi Nadarajah, UK
• Alexandra Dumitra, Romania
• Barry Issenberg, USA 
• Michelle McLean, Australia
• Vagelis Papageorgiou, UK
• Harm Peters, Germany
• Tomas Petras, Slovakia

Prospective applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the panel chair for an informal discussion before beginning their application. The examples provided by the reviewers are shown below under the respective criteria. These examples are intended to be indicative and not exhaustive. You may have other evidence that would be equally important and which support your case for excellence. 

Criterion 1

Needs Assessment

Describe how you determined the need of this initiative.  Provide evidence of a needs assessment and describe how the goals of the initiative are aligned with the needs assessment.  For example, was it:  

• Because of accreditation requirements or efforts to align with the school’s mission, organisational priorities and objectives.  
• Based on local, national, global data, performance gaps, logistical challenges the school was facing.   
• Tailored to the needs of your community and health system challenges. 

You should present a clear rationale of how the need for this initiative was determined.  For example: 

• Provide evidence on how the goals are aligned with the needs assessment. 
• Provide evidence on how it helps to improve educational practice

Criterion 2

Planning

The inspirational initiative was planned in a systematic manner, involving key stakeholders (students, faculty, primary target group) in the planning.  

• What the theoretical or conceptual framework underpinning the planning of this initiative.  Use references from the literature, theories, or best practices. Here are some examples you might explore: https://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/ 
• Provide evidence on how the design of the initiative addresses the purpose/goals described in Criterion 1. 
• Illustrate how you engaged your educators, learners, key stakeholders in the development and adoption of the initiative. 
• Provide evidence on how your program has had an impact on the organizational climate. 
• Describe if and how program fosters inter-professional experiences, develops teamwork, and addresses community needs. 

Criterion 3

Criterion 4

Evaluation of the inspirational initiative  

The school has a systematic evaluation strategy to determine the impact of the inspirational initiative and evidence that the initiative has had a positive effect on the learning environment. 

• Provide evidence of the evaluation that was done to determine the impact of your program.    
• Provide evidence on how the evaluation was guided using a rigorous and standardised process for developing and implementing outcome measures that assesses the outcome of and impact of the initiative. 
• Provide any tools used to evaluate and demonstrate how they link to the goals. 
• Provide evidence on the outcomes of your evaluation and next steps. 
• Describe how and to whom you have communicated the results and impact of the initiative.  
• What are your future plans for enhancements or revisions based on evaluation findings?

Ready to apply?

Before deciding to apply for this award, we recommend that you spend some time discussing the application criteria and required evidence with your team. If you have any questions, please reach out to us prior to submitting your application.

Applications for this award are by invitation only. If you would like to be considered for the award, please submit a letter of intent by November 18th 2024.

Submit a letter of intent