Medical Education Leadership Academy (MELA)

What is MELA?

The goal of the Medical Education Leadership Academy (MELA) is to create an environment that fosters the career development of a diverse community of nationally recognized leaders in medical education.

MELA's core value is to provide leadership and support for the people who advance the educational mission of the UMSOM through excellence, leadership, diversity, social responsibility, collaboration and communication, respect, accountability, knowledge and scholarship, professionalism and humanism.

About MELA

The University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Medical Education Leadership Academy (MELA) was founded in 2021 and is the institutional body responsible for working with the office of the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education in promoting, valuing and advancing the medical educational mission of the UMSOM.

The Academy builds on the important contributions made by its predecessor, the Pass and Susel Academy of Educational Excellence (est. 2008), which continues to serve as the honorific arm of MELA. This expanded Academy not only recognizes educators, but supports and promotes educational research and scholarship, works to improve teaching among SOM faculty, and provides a community of educators.

The MELA executive board oversees the activities of the organization, provides oversight and direction to MELA and reports to the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. There are three standing committees contributing to the function of MELA:

• Finance
• Membership
• Programming

MELA is also proud to collaborate with the Office of Medical Education, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, the University of Maryland Baltimore Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning, and other offices and departments committed to educational excellence in academic medicine.

Contact Us

Katie Horton, Program Administrator
MELA@som.umaryland.edu