The Arky Award

  • Ron Arky, MD Professor of Medicine and Director of the Francis Peabody Society at the Harvard University School of Medicine, has been a steadfast leader and supporter of medicine school learning communities.

    Ron has also been an important benefactor for the LCI, providing a generous gift to enable us to being as an organizations.

    This award is names after Dr. Arky as a means to continually appreciate his contributions to the LCI and to the learning communities movement. This award is given annually to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the development of learning communities in medical education.

  • Professor of Medicine

  • Assistant Dean for the Colleges

  • University of Washington, School of Medicine

  • She is passionate about learning communities in medicine; she is the past Chair and on the Board of Governors for the Learning Communities Institute (LCI).

  • 2024: Dave Hatem, MD

    2023: Jason Noah, MEd

    2022: Lars Osterberg, MD

    2021: James Wagner, MD

    2019: Amy Fleming, MD

    2018: Meg Keely, MD

    2017: Peter Denson, MD

    2016: Erika Goldstein, MD

    2015: Robert Shochet, MD

Susan Shultz Award for Professional Staff

  • Since the inception and formation of the LCI, Susan Shultz has played an invaluable role in contributing to the success of the organization. As the LCI Administrator, Susan has provided key organization support, as well as being a key member of the leadership team. Moreover, Susan has provided consistency to the organization, and serves a reminder that our most precious asset are the people who are part of the LCI, and she models the ideals of service, relationship, caring, and compassion, that are at the heart of the organization. 

    In 2021, Ron Arky, made a generous contribution to the LCI for the establishment of this award, to honor Susan’s legacy and to recognize professional staff, at the various LCI institutions, who make a significant contribution of the development of learning communities on their local campuses, in the LCI, and the broader medical education community.

  • 2024: Jennifer Vanecko

    2023: Julie Calcavecchia

    2022: Lauren Parker

    2021: Susan Shultz

  • Kathryn Pauli, MA, MEd

    Director of Learning Communities and Manager of Well-Being and Integrative Medicine

    UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine

  • Kathi has provided strategic leadership as Director of Learning Communities and Manager of Well-Being and Integrative Medicine. She played a central role in the design and launch of our school's comprehensive learning community framework in 2023, guiding its growth with vision, innovation, and a steadfast commitment to students' professional and personal development.

    Kathi's contributions extend well beyond University of Nevada Las Vegas. As Co-Chair of the Learning Communities Institute Administrator and Professional Staff Committee, she has elevated the voice and impact of professional staff nationally.

Louise E. Arnold Excellence in Research or Innovation Poster Session Award

  • This award honors Dr. Louise E. Arnold who was a key leader in the Learning Communities Institute since its inception and a luminary in medical education. Dr. Arnold made substantial contributions to the academic medical education literature, most notably in the area of professionalism for which she was a national and international expert.

    She generously gave her time, expertise, and kindness through mentoring countless students, residents, and faculty. This award is given in Louise’s spirit of innovation, generosity, and generativity. This award acknowledges and celebrates a poster that embodies excellence in innovation and/or research that advances or has the potential to advance learning communities in medical education.

2025 Winner:

How Group Closeness Shapes the Relationship Between Personality and Engagement in Medical School Learning Communities. 

Angela Herrera, Rubaab Wahid, Jasmin Kumar, Sunny Zhang, Amy Stone.

Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.

Program Innovation Award

  • The purpose of this award is to recognize institutions and their programs that are leading the way in learning communities movement in medical education.  The award seeks to recognize programs that:

    • Find new and innovative ways to utilize the learning communities framework

    • Contribute to the research or literature surrounding learning communities in medical education

    • Serve as a model for other institutions in the areas of curriculum, mentoring, career advising, wellness programming, or other support of student professional identity formation

2025 Winner:

Newcastle University

  • 2024: Baylor College of Medicine

Newcastle University has one of the largest UK medical degrees with approximately 1800 students located in a variety of university, community and hospital placements across the North-East of England. Consequently, challenges arise in students developing a sense of belonging to the medical school, including forming meaningful relationships with their peers and teaching faculty. To address these challenges, the School of Medicine drew on insights from research based on Learning Communities in US medical schools and secured funding to recruit 34 clinical Personal and Professional (PPD) Tutors, and a Clinical Teaching and Research Fellow and launched the Learning Communities programme.

The two aims of the programme are:

1: To foster a sense of community – building longitudinal relationships between students and staff and connecting students across years.

2: To deliver an education strand within the learning communities that shapes and supports students’ professional development – teaching aspects of the art of medicine that do not fall under a particular specialty or domain.

2026 LCI Research Mini Grant Program Awardees

  • From Prematriculation to Professionalism: Assessing Learning Communities for Pathway vs. Traditionally Sorted Medical Students. Research team led by Dr. Jessica Lewis, Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University.

  • Only 1 Step Ahead: Improving Wellness in Second Year Medical Students Preparing for Step 1.  Research team led by Dr. Rebecca Latch, Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine.

The 2027 Mini Grant Call for Proposals will be available late November, 2026.