Katharine Yamulla, M.A., Is Named Senior Director of Competency Based Assessment and Clinical Skills Education
Katharine Yamulla, M.A., will be responsible for leading the development, implementation, and ongoing refinement of competency-based clinical skills assessments that align with a new, highly integrated medical student curriculum and Core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) for medical students.
In her new role as senior director of competency-based assessment and clinical skills education, Katharine Yamulla, M.A., will be responsible for leading the development, implementation, and ongoing refinement of competency-based clinical skills assessments that align with a new, highly integrated medical student curriculum and Core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) for medical students. Ms. Yamulla also serves as director of the Clinical Skills and Simulation Center.
“Katie is now responsible for mapping the goals and objectives of the clinical skills curriculum of the School of Medicine to related competency-based assessments and for the oversight, longitudinal tracking and remediation of students not meeting clinical competency benchmarks. Furthermore, she will play a central role in the development of individualized plans for these students to ensure their success and to promote self-awareness,” explains Jennifer L. Koestler, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education and associate professor of pediatrics and medicine.
“I am very much looking forward to taking on this new role, to further create and deliver a holistic and innovative clinical skills curriculum that encourages an individualized approach to student learning, promotes best practices in student self-reflection and educator-student feedback, strengthens the educator-student-patient relationship, and ensures that our assessments are appropriate to the developmental level of each learner,” Ms. Yamulla says. “It is important that this new approach accurately aligns with institutional and national competency requirements,” Ms. Yamulla says.
A leader in her field, Ms. Yamulla serves on various leading advisory boards and planning committees including the Society of Simulation in Health Care, the Directors of Clinical Skills Courses, the Association of Standardized Patients as well as the United States Board of Medical Examiners. She has presented numerous peer reviewed workshops at professional meetings of the aforementioned societies and has gained national recognition for her efforts in the execution of best practices providing quality feedback, as well as the creation of holistic and individualized assessment tools.
“I am very passionate about using simulation and experiential learning as a partner to the curriculum and am looking forward to contributing to a more robust faculty development program on clinical skills training and assessments,” Ms. Yamulla says.