By Alexandra Brodin
Scheie Vision Summer 2020
The Scheie Eye Institute congratulates Thomasine N. Gorry, MD, MGA, on her appointment to Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education and Continuing Education and Improvement (CME/CEI) for the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM), effective January 2020.
As an Associate Dean of CME/CEI, Dr. Gorry supports the educational needs of practitioners and clinical teachers within PSOM. She works to create learning opportunities for healthcare providers, which ensures that patients receive the best possible care and that practitioners feel fully engaged in their roles and education.
For Dr. Gorry, her work as Associate Dean of CME/CEI is intrinsically related to her background in quality. She is the Vice Chair for Quality and Safety at the Scheie Eye Institute and an Associate Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology. She hopes to continue to drive innovation in the health system through improvements in education services and resources.
“In short, Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education and Improvement (CEI) are a natural extension of my clinical work and my work in quality,” Dr. Gorry explained. “I believe CME is an under-utilized mechanism to advance learning and innovation. At Penn and in medicine, education is constant. Innovation is constant. We want CME/CEI to be an engine that supports this work.”
These efforts are especially crucial in light of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which coincided with Dr. Gorry’s transition to Associate Dean. The outbreak required prompt and sweeping changes to educational platforms, in addition to creating an urgent need for educating clinicians and staff on best practices and other issues related to the virus.
“COVID-19 forced rapid transition in care delivery and education. If we are lucky, the new position will seize the opportunities that the crisis presents to develop innovative education solutions,” said Dr. Gorry. “With the help of a great CME team, the division pivoted to rapid online content development, transitioning from in-person conferences to virtual conferences.” One example of this is the weekly departmental Grand Rounds, which quickly adopted a video conference platform in accordance with social distancing guidelines.
The Scheie Eye Institute is grateful to Dr. Gorry for her crucial and multi-faceted efforts to advance patient care, education, and research across PSOM. We look forward to all the ways she will continue to further innovation in each of these areas.