Since its founding in 1980, the goals and the activities of the ASE have been predicated on seeking and promulgating educationally and scientifically sound answers to the many complex questions, issues and concerns that are integral to the advancement of surgical education. In 1993 the ASE established the ASE Foundation to secure and distribute grant funds to researchers, educators and clinicians interested in investigating such questions and issues.

One of the Foundation's most popular and recognized initiatives for this purpose is the Surgical Education Research Fellowship program (SERF), a one year, home-site fellowship designed to equip investigators with the skills and knowledge needed to plan, implement and report research studies in the field of surgical education. Following acceptance into the SERF program, each fellow is carefully matched by the program's faculty with a SERF Advisor, a respected and knowledgeable researcher who will serve as the fellow's mentor and consultant on their particular project.

A maximum of 16 fellows is accepted every year. Funding is provided by the ASE, ASE Foundation and the fellow's tuition.

There are numerous benefits to participating in this prestigious fellowship. The primary benefit is that this unique fellowship affords the opportunity for motivated individuals to become proficient in a skill set highly valued by their home institutions as well as the field in general. As new knowledge relevant to surgical education is the key to the growth and development of the discipline, those educators with the requisite, specialized skills and credentials become important members of departments and institutions that are committed to securing leadership and prominence in the field.

In addition, through working with their SERF Advisor and meeting with other SERF participants, fellows establish an invaluable, life-long network of colleagues who share their career aspirations and interests.

What are the SERF Program Objectives?

The objectives of the SERF program are as follows:

• Access and review the surgical education research literature.
• Design an educational research project using appropriate methodologies.
• Manage an educational research project.
• Translate educational research into academic presentations or publications.
• Establish a network of surgical education research colleagues.

Who Can Apply?

Members of the Association for Surgical Education who are interested in pursuing educational research. For more information on becoming a member of the Association for Surgical Education, visit here.

How Does One Apply?

Applicants must complete the SERF Application Form and submit it with required attachments by January 17, 2011. A maximum of sixteen fellows are accepted each year.

What are the Costs Involved?

Tuition is $1500.00 plus the cost of the textbook. Other expenses include travel to the two seminars and SERF Forum.

What are the Fellowship Requirements?

The SERF program is primarily designed to allow fellows to conduct reading assignments and research activities at their home institutions under the guidance of their Advisor.

However, during their fellowships SERF fellows are required to attend and participate actively in two, one-day seminars and the SERF Forum. The first seminar is held in conjunction with the Spring ASE Annual Meeting. The SERF Forum is also held at this meeting, one year from the start date of every program. The second seminar is held during the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress.

SERF participants are generally expected to complete course requirements in one year. Fellows pursuing survey, descriptive or basic experimental design studies typically complete their project in twelve months. Fellows conducting research requiring larger sample sizes, instrument development and / or more sophisticated experimental studies may have up to three years to complete their fellowship.

In the course of the program, SERF fellows are expected to:

• Collaborate with their Advisor on the design and development of the project;
• When completed, submit an abstract or paper (either co-authored or approved by their Advisor) to a peer-reviewed forum or journal.

Who are the SERF Faculty?

Kimberly Schenarts, PhD,
SERF Program Director
Professor of Surgery
Brody School of Medicine 

at East Carolina University

Dr. Schenarts earned her PhD in Adult and Continuing Education Administration with strong emphasis in Educational Psychology from Michigan State University in 1993. She was a faculty member in the Department of Surgery at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine for over 15 years, and most recently served as Professor and Director of Surgical Education with the University of Texas-Houston. She is presently a Professor of Surgery with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University.

Her research and academic interests are primarily in the areas of: Career Development in Faculty, Residents and Medical Students; Curriculum & Program Development, and Evaluation. Her publications, both in manuscripts and book chapters reflect these interests. She is the recipient of several teaching awards at UT-Houston. Dr. Schenarts has consulted with numerous organizations including: the American College of Surgeons, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, and the Fellowship Council. Dr. Schenarts is a past-president of the ASE.

Rebecca Henry PhD
Professor of Medical Education
College of Human Medicine
Michigan State University

Rebecca Henry received her Ph.D. from Michigan State University in educational psychology, majoring in Learning and Cognition with a minor in Statistics and Research Design. She has conducted national program evaluations in health professions education funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and consulted on program evaluations sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Macy Foundation, Hartford Foundation and the Secret Service. Dr. Henry currently directs a performance based assessment initiative that is a comprehensive clinical skills exam for third year medical students. She has been actively involved in teaching research skills to physician faculty from surgery, medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology for 20 years.  

Reed Williams PhD
Professor of Surgery Vice Chair for Educational Affairs Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Dr. Williams earned a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Indiana University at Bloomington in 1970. He is currently Professor and Vice Chairman for Educational Affairs in the Department of Surgery at Southern Illinois University.  His research has focused primarily on clinical performance assessment. He was on the NBME Clinical Skills Steering Committee that oversaw development of the USMLE Standardized Patient examination. Recently he has focused on establishing the limitations of traditional clinical performance evaluation methods and has a review paper on this subject that was published in the fall 2003 issue of Teaching and Learning in Medicine. He is currently co-investigator for an ASE Foundation funded project investigating intra-operative decision making and is principal investigator for a second ASE Foundation grant investigating Information Transfer and Communication Practices Among Surgeons when Transferring Responsibility for Patient Care. Dr. Williams has served the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) as Chairman of the Research in Medical Education (RIME) Conference. He served the National Board of Medical Examiners as an At-large member of its Board of Directors from 1994-2002 and as a member of its John P. Hubbard Award Committee. In 2000, he received the Merrel Flair career award for outstanding contributions to medical education from the AAMC. In 2006, he was the recipient of the John P. Hubbard Award.  This award is given to individuals recognized as making significant contributions to the pursuit of excellence in the field of evaluation in medicine.