Dorene F. Balmer PhD

Dr. Dorene F. Balmer is the Director of Research on Pediatric Education at The Children’s Hospital Philadelphia (CHOP), Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Associate Fellow at the Center for Public Health Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania.

In her current role, Dr. Balmer supports faculty and trainees in their pursuit of educational scholarship and helps lead CHOP’s newly founded Center for Leadership and Innovation in Medical Education. She provides direct consultation and mentorship for qualitative research methodology for projects ranging from NIH-funded research to single-site, department-funded studies. Her independent research agenda focuses on implicit learning, clinical learning contexts, identity work, and career construction. In line with these foci, she often integrates theory from the social sciences into her research. More and more, Dr. Balmer’s studies involve longitudinal qualitative research, in which she and her co-investigators follow individuals (e.g., trainees, and clinical educators) for up to 10 years. She is a past recipient of the Academic Pediatric Associations’ Ray Helfer Award for Innovation in Pediatric Education.

In addition to research, Dr. Balmer leads large-scale program evaluation efforts, including the evaluation of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum [EPAC]. She also provides oversight to local and national research teams (e.g., the American Board of Pediatrics’ Subspecialty Pediatrics Investigator Network).

Dr. Balmer is an associate editor at the Journal of Graduate Medical Education, serves on the Association of American Medical College’s Research in Medical Education (RIME) committee, and is the incoming co-chair of the American Education Research Association’s (AERA) Division on Education in the Professions.