Center for Learning and Professional Development

ANNUAL REPORT 2025

CENTER FOR LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Welcome

The Center for Learning and Professional Development (CLPD) is dedicated to advancing continuing education, healthcare simulation and graduate medical education (GME) at our rural academic health system. Through a cross-functional, integrated approach, we deliver a comprehensive strategy that combines shared resources and expertise to enhance professional development and interprofessional education. Our commitment is to innovate and apply evidence-based, learner-centered methods that support the growth and development of healthcare professionals.

Led by an interprofessional team of administrative and clinical leaders, CLPD plays a crucial role in shaping the future of healthcare education. Our staff of 75 multidisciplinary professionals collaborates to design, implement, and sustain programs that impact a broad range of healthcare professionals. This includes, and is not limited to, practicing individuals and teams from throughout our hospital systems and those involved in specific training programs including residents, fellows, and learners in medicine, nursing, and allied health fields. Our work not only benefits local healthcare professionals but extends its reach regionally, fostering growth and excellence across the healthcare continuum.

Our teams

CLPD is comprised of 4 teams: Accredited Continuing Education (ACE), Graduate Medical Education (GME), Learning Design and Systems (LDaS), and Simulation-Based Education and Research & Interprofessional Continuing Education (SBERI).

Our mission/vision

We use our expertise to co-create inspiring learning experiences for healthcare professionals.

Matt Charnetski speaking at CLPD all hands

The Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center Moose

Accomplishments

Design and Delivery

To comply with accrediting body rules for owners and employees participating as activity planners or speakers, ACE created a detailed form to vet their relationships. AI prompts were integrated, streamlining the review process, analysis, documentation and decision making.
LDaS increased learning content proficiency by over 21% by offering microlearning. Microlearning, an educational method that provides content in short focused sessions, was utilized in 11 activities and resulted in over 7,000 questions answered by staff.

A grant award, Psychiatry Managing Challenging Behaviors, supported the CLPD team by funding 10% of a Learning Experience Designer for CY25, helping to offset operational expenses.
The SBERI team completed a redesign, update, and expansion of our Teaching with Simulation Instructor Course (TWSIC) to mirror current best practices and expanded to include introductions into simulation research and human simulation practices.

Number of accredited continuing education activities in FY25

Live Activities

RSS/NRSS

Enduring materials

IPCE Activities

Accomplishments

Quality and Continuous Improvement

Members of the CLPD Leadership team graduated from the Conaty Breakthrough Leadership Program in April 2025. During the year long program the team embarked on a project entitled “Strategic & Educational Priorities in Harmony: Orchestrated Wicked Learning Solutions in Action” which aimed to enhance the CLPD development process by more closely linking educational activities to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center quality scorecard or Dartmouth Health strategic initiatives and collaboration between educators and quality/strategy leaders. Participants included Matthew Charnetski, MSMS, Cara DeLura, BA, Terri Farnham, BA, Chelsea Nolan, MS and Maxwell Vergo, MD.

In July 2025 a GME-wide standardized remediation process was implemented to provide guidance, expertise, and support to program directors working through academic remediation. An internally developed tracking mechanism provides oversight, automation and assistance in the remediation process and through a sustained partnership with the Office of General Counsel, is supported by a new Academic Remediation and Due Process Policy and Procedure and associated workflows.
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) activity in 2025 included successful site visits for Allergy & Immunology, Hospice & Palliative Medicine and Otolaryngology, approval of a new Interventional Pulmonology Fellowship (start 2026) and the acceptance of the first fellow into the new Consultation Liaison fellowship program.
Simulation-Based Education and Research & Interprofessional Continuing Education at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center achieved five-year accreditation from The Society for Simulation in Healthcare and received full accreditation in core, teaching/education, assessment and evaluation, research, and systems integration. This was the second round of re-accreditation demonstrating that our program is functioning at the highest standards.

Simulation in the Patient Safety Training Center

GME Alumni Statistics

2025 alumni that report they are ready for unsupervised practice

2023 Alumni that would choose DH for training again.

2024 alumni that are compliant with ACGME case log requirements

Accomplishments

Recruitment, retention and workforce development

Members of the SBERI and CLPD team engaged in scholarly activity throughout the year. Supporting a number of in-house projects resulting in at least five conference presentations, four published articles, and at least two articles being prepared or in the process of peer-review.
Established the Conifer GME Resident/Fellow Professional Development fund which supports GME trainees in professional development experiences that will enhance their current and future leadership capability and growth. In the past year examples of activities funded include: a Mountain Medicine course, ACS Residents as teachers, LEADderm Conference, Certificate in Strategic Healthcare Leadership, and Women in Leadership Certificate Program amongst many others.

In 2025 GME was successful in starting the process of strategically growing eight current training programs by increasing permanent resident/fellow complement (FTE) by 30 positions over the next several years.
Gained approval from project Chief Officer-sponsors to move forward with the Learning Ecosystem redesign project. This closed out phase 1 of the project. The approval paved the way for new learning management, performance, clinical competency and talent development platforms.
Completed phase 2 of the Learning Ecosystem Redesign project executing on the contracts with two technology vendors and initiating a people data workstream to improve the employee data so it is platform-ready for implementation

Featured New Employees

Click and drag to scroll through the new employees or use the circle navigation below.

Taniya Arora

NEW HIRE
Taniya Arora, MS
GME Program Coordinator – Ophthalmology and GME Support

I have a unique position which allows me to work within two worlds at once: as an administrative support to the GME office, as well as a program coordinator for the Ophthalmology residents. I really enjoy this dual exposure along with the perspective that it brings, and appreciate the constant opportunity to learn from and connect with individuals from all levels within the hospital.

Jennifer Callahan

NEW HIRE
Jennifer Callahan, MEd
GME Program Coordinator – Internal Medicine

As program coordinator, I manage the daily administrative operations of the residency program, acting as the primary support to the Program Director and residents. At my core, I love to help people and I get to do that every day in my job here. I also love the people I work with and the team environment that we have in internal medicine!

Vanessa Corneau

NEW HIRE
Vanessa Corneau, BA
GME Program Coordinator – Neurology

I am the program coordinator for the Neurology Residency program. I manage the daily operations of the residency program which includes scheduling, budgets, recruitment etc. I work alongside Dr. Mary Feldman the program director and Dr. Jared Quast the associate program director to ensure we are meeting standards and providing a great program for our residents. I have been enjoying getting to know everyone in the department and look forward to seeing how the academic year goes.

Tennille Doyle

NEW HIRE
Tennille Doyle, BA, C-TAGME
GME Programs Manager

As GME Programs Manager, my main responsibility is supervision, professional development and support of our 32 Program Coordinators, as well as assisting with ACGME Program accreditation support, offsite rotation agreement processing and oversight, and serving as the Veterans Administration liaison. What I love most about my new role is that I get to work with such an amazing GME team here at DHMC! As a former Program Coordinator myself, being able share my knowledge and experience with our PC team is wonderful, but getting to know them and supporting them and their goals is what I’m passionate about.

Kyra N. Monsam

NEW HIRE
Kyra Monsam, BS
GME Program Coordinator – Infectious Disease and Leadership Preventive Medicine

As the program coordinator for the Infectious Disease Fellowship and Leadership Preventive Medicine Residency, I help to support the programs administratively as well as being a member of the program’s leadership team. I work to support our trainees and ensure that the programs continue to run smoothly. What I enjoy the most about my role is creating connections with the trainees and faculty of my programs, as well as the other members of the GME Team. I am lucky to be surrounded and supported by such amazing individuals!

Rachel Balannik

NEW HIRE
Rachel Balannik
GME Program Coordinator – Interventional Radiology & Neuroradiology

I’m the Program Coordinator for the Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology fellowships, where I support fellows and residents through the duration of their training program. I especially enjoy being a go-to resource for the trainees and helping create an environment where they can thrive both professionally and personally.

Sean Perry

NEW HIRE
Sean Perry
Simulation Technician

As a Simulation Technician, I set up and operate equipment for realistic training scenarios, including programming simulators, managing audiovisual systems, and using props and “moulage” (special effects makeup) to create a lifelike environment. I help prepare simulation rooms, maintain equipment, troubleshoot technical issues, and support faculty and students during and after training sessions.

What I enjoy most about being a Simulation Technician is helping the development of learners and being a part of training that can impact a patient’s healthcare experience and care.

Initiatives

Design and Delivery

Click to enlarge

Universal Skills (formerly Safety Behaviors) curriculum design and development occurred during FY25. Utilizing a User Experience framework, the Learning Design and Systems team collaborated with the DH System Patient Safety leader to forward an educational initiative to foster a safer, more inclusive healthcare culture.

Featured conferences

Early and Late Goals of Care Trainings

Early Goals of Care Training

In response to growing demand, EARLY and LATE Goals of Care Trainings have expanded. Designed for all disciplines, they equip healthcare professionals to lead proactive, patient-centered conversations about treatment and goals, especially for seriously ill patients.

Stroke Certification & Certified Neuroscience RN Review

Stroke Conference

The Stroke Certification Course for RNs and the Certified Neuroscience RN Review Course were held over the summer to support nurses pursuing specialty certifications, demonstrating advanced knowledge, skills, and practice in modern nursing.

Geisel Academy Teaching Bootcamp

Geisel Teaching Academy Bootcamp

In collaboration with the Geisel School of Medicine, a six-part bootcamp series covered communication skills, generative AI, clinical teaching, active learning, interprofessional education (IPE), and small group facilitation. It targeted healthcare educators, clinicians, and professionals aiming to enhance patient care through interprofessional practice.

Initiatives

Quality and Continuous Improvement

The GME Office conducted a follow-up food insecurity survey in 2025 sent to all GME trainees. Response rates were well below the 2022 response numbers (2025 35% vs. 64% in 2022) and revealed that the vast majority of trainees are not concerned about running out of and/or having enough money for food (2025 84% vs., 64% in 2022). In stark contrast to the 2022 survey, in 2025, 1.8% of residents/fellows who responded (n=3) screened positive for food insecurity whereas 9.1% did in 2022 (n=25). Concerns expressed in 2025 focused on the cost of living, time to grocery shop, and food selections provided at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Received ongoing support from the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation for continuing education, team development, and public health initiatives, aiding healthcare outcomes in rural areas.

Collaboration with QGenda (clinical scheduling platform) and MedHub (resident management system) vendor consultants to redesign the yearly changeover process for resident schedules in QGenda.
The Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) is responsible for continuously monitoring the learning and working environment, looking for ways to improve the learner experience. Over several years, ACGME surveys identified that GME learners were concerned about the impact of other learners in the training environment. As a result, the Learning Environment Subcommittee of the GMEC worked to identify the impact of other learners, trying to gain specificity on the who, what and where of the impacts that lead to non-compliant responses in surveying. Their final report identified the opportunity to perform procedures and medical decision making/treatment plan in the SICU and MICU as the areas of greatest impact. With this specific knowledge in hand, continued partnership and collaborative efforts will ensure that learners from other disciplines and GME trainees are provided the necessary procedural and learning experiences for high quality patient care.

Initiatives

Recruitment, retention, workforce development

January 24, 2025 was the inaugural Healthcare Continuing Education (CE) Professionals Day. This day offered us the opportunity to show our appreciation for the hard work and dedication of CE professionals who make a meaningful impact in the healthcare field by hosting a reception.
GME leadership collaborated with the Associated Resident Council, a forum for GME trainees, on several projects in 2025. Still ongoing, these include parking needs for residents/fellows who transition back to DHMC mid-day from local rotations, as well as an exciting effort on ways we can support trainees in their “4th trimester” after childbearing/adopting during their training. We are currently exploring policy ideas, mentorship, and resourcing support equipment post-delivery.
SBERI staff in collaboration with nursing education leadership and The Dartmouth Health Career Institute to continue offering experiential learning for the Nurse Residency Program, Onboarding new Nurses, and expanding the knowledge and skill of instructors throughout both programs.

International Medical Graduates (IMGs) face unique challenges that can impact both their clinical development and overall well-being. GME is working to build programs that provide support to IMGs prior to and throughout their training. To better understand the issues, we added additional questions to the 2025 GME Graduate Survey as well as surveying incoming IMGs, program leadership, and current trainees to learn about the stressors and thoughts for possible solutions.
SBERI and ACE supported regional and international simulation outreach through partnerships with Dartmouth College and the Department of Pediatrics to reach out to Yarmouk University in Jordan and collaboration/reinvigoration with and of the New England Healthcare Simulation Consortium to support the offering of a regional simulation conference in November.
The CLPD team held its third “All Hands” half day retreat. Topics included senior leadership updates, CLPD leadership inspirational insights, applying “Working Genius” results in the workplace, and the CLPD Conaty team presented their final project.

Conclusion

CLPD is proud of the work completed this year to expand and improve educational opportunities across our health system. We look forward to 2025 – 2026 and another year supporting the work of our colleagues and learners throughout Dartmouth Health.

For more information please email clpd.support@hitchcock.org or click on a link below to visit our websites: