We are pleased to share that the 2024 Colin Woolf Excellence in Program Development and Coordination Award was awarded to Latika Nirula, CFD Director, and Shaheen Darani, Director of Faculty Development in the Department of Psychiatry, for their collaborative Workshops for Psychiatry Teachers and Educators.

About the Award

The Colin R. Woolf Awards recognize outstanding contributions to continuing professional development. They recognize excellence in the following categories: program development and coordination, long term contributions to continuing professional development, and sustained excellence in teaching in continuing professional development.

About the Programming

In the summer of 2021, the Department of Psychiatry partnered with the CFD and planned to offer six workshops that were tailored to psychiatry teachers in 2022. The goal of this series was to support psychiatry faculty interested in developing their careers in teaching.

The CFD Workshop Series for Psychiatry Teachers and Educators series were interactive and incorporated teaching/learning principles. Educational methods included experiential learning, role play, and small group discussion. This innovative initiative engaged psychiatry faculty as facilitators to ensure content relevance. From conducting a needs assessment to performing a program evaluation, the team aimed to identify participants’ intention to change and their actual practice changes. They retrospectively surveyed workshop participants three-to-six months post-workshop on their self-reported changes in knowledge and confidence, changes in practice, and facilitators/barriers of change. Lessons learned from this project were used to inform the delivery of future faculty development and CPD events by the department and at the CFD.

About the Team

The Program Planning Committee, includes Latika Nirula & Lindsay Baker (representing the CFD as the Co-Program Directors), Shaheen Darani (representing the Department of Psychiatry as the Co-Program Director), Certina Ho, Wei Wei, Eulaine Ma, Lindsay Baker, and Sanjeev Sockalingam.

“The CFD was grateful to partner with the Department of Psychiatry, and specifically Dr. Darani and the program planning team, to bring aspects of our award winning programming to this audience in a truly customized way. Being able to bring together a community of passionate educators in the Department was inspiring. Their commitment to their own faculty development and to enhancing the teaching and learning environments was amazing to witness.” – Latika Nirula

“The Department of Psychiatry was thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with the CFD on the development and delivery of this truly customized program for psychiatry faculty. As our evaluations illustrate, this award-winning program has had immense impact on the career development of our faculty teachers and educators. The CFD’s close attention to education pedagogy, commitment to innovation, and thoughtful planning in the design and delivery of this program was truly inspiring to learn from and witness.“ – Shaheen Darani

The Program’s Impact

“I had the opportunity to attend all 6 workshops as part of the series and doing so has greatly enhanced how I teach and engage in educational programming. I am incredibly grateful of the opportunity I had to participate in the CFD Workshops in Psychiatry and strongly believe the planning committee is highly deserving of an award celebrating the innovative and high caliber faculty development program they developed.” – Workshop Participant