David Turner, MD, Chosen to Lead ABP Competency-Based Medical Education

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Dr. David TurnerThe American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) has selected David A. Turner, MD, to be Vice President for Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME), beginning Sept. 9, 2020. Dr. Turner will succeed Carol L. Carraccio, MD, MA, who will retire June 30.

Currently, Dr. Turner is with the Duke University Hospital and Health System, where he is Associate Director, Graduate Medical Education; Associate Professor with Tenure, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Critical Care; and Section Chief, Pediatric Intensive Care. He is board certified and maintaining certification in General Pediatrics and in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

“Dr. Turner has a strong background in both research and experience in competency-based medical education,” said ABP President and CEO, David G. Nichols, MD, MBA. “He has an excellent track record in collaboration with medical education groups, including the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD). We believe he is well suited to enhance the implementation of CBME within the medical education community.”

Competency-based medical education (CBME) has changed how we think about medical education. It begins with identifying patient and population health needs. Having identified those needs, CBME defines the competencies the learner must achieve to meet them and develops a curriculum to help the learner achieve them. Skilled observers can assess and measure the learner’s progress through observation in the clinic and provide feedback as the learner progresses toward mastery.

“I am extremely passionate about CBME and our responsibility to develop a thoughtful and meaningful approach to assessment that spans the continuum of medical education,” Dr. Turner noted. “I would be honored to step into the CBME leadership role to help build on the outstanding work of Dr. Carraccio and her team. In the coming years, I believe that we have the opportunity to create a truly transformational change in our approach to assessment across the continuum of medical education.”

Dr. Turner received a BS from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and an MD from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He was an intern, resident and chief resident in pediatrics at Baylor and Texas Children’s Hospital. He completed his fellowship (and was chief fellow) in Critical Care Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. He has been on the faculty at the Duke University Health System since 2008.

He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and 13 study group publications. In 2011, he developed and founded a multicenter collaborative focused on educational research in pediatric critical care, the Education in Pediatric Intensive Care (EPIC) Investigators. He also has been a member of the steering committee of a second network, the Subspecialty Pediatric Investigators Network (SPIN) since its inception. Also, he is associate editor of the Education Section of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

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