Medical Education Retreat

To Accreditation & Beyond:

Advancing Educational Excellence

VTCSOM Medical Education Retreat 2026

Join us on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 (12:00 – 5:00 PM) for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM) Medical Education Retreat, a collaborative gathering of educators, learners, and institutional partners focused on strengthening our curriculum and preparing for continued excellence in medical education.

This year’s retreat will center on a comprehensive, data-informed review of the curriculum across all phases, with a focus on alignment, integration, and accreditation readiness to support learner development and residency preparation.

This session will provide valuable insights into how accreditation can serve not only as a regulatory requirement, but as a catalyst for meaningful reflection, alignment, and improvement across a medical education program. Attendees will gain practical perspectives on strengthening curriculum, enhancing assessment strategies, and fostering a culture of continuous quality improvement in preparation for accreditation and beyond.

All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend the opening session

Keynote Speaker

Heather Heiman, MD, FACP, a professor of medicine and medical education, is the senior associate dean for medical education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UI COM), the nation’s second-largest medical school, with campuses in Chicago, Peoria, and Rockford. In this inaugural role, she provides college-wide leadership for undergraduate medical education, including curriculum oversight, assessment and evaluation, instructional design, and registration and records. Dr. Heiman has served as a medical education dean at UI COM since 2019, where her accomplishments include developing a longitudinal physician advising model to enhance faculty mentorship; building a program of longitudinal clinical skills assessment; enhancing support for learners with academic challenges; and restructuring both the Chicago Office of Student Affairs and college-wide Office of Educational Affairs to better serve the needs of learners, faculty, and staff. Dr. Heiman played a key role in preparing UI COM for its 2026 LCME accreditation survey visit.

A practicing general internist, Dr. Heiman is nationally recognized for her contributions to competency-based medical education and physician assessment. She serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and previously chaired the ABIM Approval Committee for the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment, helping to develop a novel assessment modality for continuing certification. Dr. Heiman came to UI COM after sixteen years on faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she served as medical director of the Clinical Education Center and was a leader in curriculum renewal. She has published on curriculum redesign and standardized patient education.

Dr. Heiman received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. She completed her internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Afternoon Sessions (Open with RSVP)

2 Riverside Circle, Room M210
1:00 – 5:00 PM

Interactive sessions will focus on a whole curriculum review to strengthen and advance the medical education mission at VTCSOM, including:

•  Whole curriculum review across Phases 1–3
• Curriculum alignment and integration
• Assessment strategy and competency mapping
• Identification of strengths, gaps, and opportunities
• Accreditation readiness and continuous quality improvement (CQI)
• Strategic priorities for the future of medical education

These sessions are designed to support institutional priorities, curricular innovation, and continuous improvement, while fostering collaboration across the VTCSOM community.

Afternoon sessions are open to all participants; however, please RSVP here