This award was established to acknowledge outstanding faculty whose teaching portfolios and instructional effectiveness merit special recognition.
Dr. Min Simpkins was selected for her innovative work with the CoPE project, leadership in developing a faculty learning community for the College of Medicine-Tucson, and for her many examples of involvement in the national research on evidence-based instruction in Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Min Simpkins led a team that developed the cutting-edge course, “CoPE – Communication and Professionalism Education for Emergency Medicine Interns.” CoPE is a novel educational program and curriculum to teach first-year residents communication skills for difficult situations, including challenging conversations with consultants, as well as empathetically delivering bad news to patients and their families.
The top choice in a national search to become the new assistant dean for Faculty Development in the COM-T, Dr. Min Simpkins directs the college’s leadership development program for faculty called “Learning to Lead.” In addition, she envisioned, implemented, and leads the College of Medicine Peer Advancement Societies (COMPAS) Program.
Dr. Min Simpkins earned the coveted Emergency Medicine Academic Teaching Award for three years in a row. In 2015, her gift of innovative teaching earned her selection into the prestigious Academy of Medical Education Scholars (AMES) at COM-T. In 2019, this elite group of educators honored her distinguished teaching and educational leadership by electing her as the Chair of AMES.
As the Diversity Champion for the DEM, Dr. Min Simpkins teaches medical students, residents, fellows, and faculty to recognize and address unconscious bias and increase awareness to promote equity for those within the LGBTQ community and other diverse communities. Dr. Min Simpkins serves on the Steering Committee for Women in Academic Medicine and assists in efforts related to teaching, networking, professional development, and professional recognition. Dr. Min Simpkins serves as co-chair and leads faculty development for the program addressing racism. And as COM-T Assistant Dean, she is an ex-officio member of the Faculty Diversity Advisory Committee and leads efforts to build a hiring toolkit for departments to attract and successfully recruit a diverse faculty to teach diverse students.
Dr. Min Simpkins developed evidence-based instructional practices with her research and publications focusing on education in emergency medicine. Nationally, she works with the free open access platform of Academic Life in Emergency Medicine (ALiEM), creating content for the Approved Instructional Resources (AIR) Series. She collaborates with this national team to review online educational materials and writes multiple choice questions based on AIR’s validated content. Their AIR Series is widely used across the country in many emergency medicine residencies for active learning engagement by their residents. AIR research has resulted in three manuscripts for Dr. Min Simpkins and her national research collaborators.
Currently, Dr. Min Simpkins is working on research and program evaluation of the COMPAS program and Learning to Lead, and collaborating with the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix Leading and Inspiring Faculty Trajectories (LIFT) program.