Judy Shea selected by NBME as recipient of 2011 John P. Hubbard Award

Posted March 31, 2011

The NBME is pleased to announce that Judy A. Shea, PhD was selected as the recipient of the 2011 John P. Hubbard Award. The award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the pursuit of excellence in the field of evaluation in medicine. Susan M. Spaulding, a member of the 2011 Hubbard Award Committee, announced Dr. Shea’s selection at the Annual Meeting of the NBME Membership on March 31, 2011.

In presenting the award, Ms. Spaulding stated: “I am pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2011 Hubbard Award is Judy Shea, in recognition of her sustained contributions to advancing the methodology of evaluation in medicine. Dr. Shea’s career in the field of assessment spans almost 30 years. She has consistently made significant contributions to the theory and understanding of the field, and she has applied these to relevant questions and issues. Her work has been exemplary in contributing to the level of evaluation at local, regional, and national levels. Major contributions by Dr. Shea and her colleagues include multiple studies applying, examining, and improving absolute standard setting methods. The Hubbard Award Committee described Dr. Shea’s standard setting work as ‘profound,’ with its substantial impact on medical education processes and in multiple organizations. Other areas of major contributions include conceptual and practical work in medical education program evaluation; advancing more generally the science and application of measurement; instrument development; and leadership and service. 

“Dr. Shea has an extensive record in fostering the development of evaluation methods and measurement techniques. This includes her very early promotion of video assessment for evaluating authentic clinical performance. Looking at the current developments around assessment in the workplace, she was 20 years ahead of us. Her expertise as a psychometrician, her creativity, and her ability to work with medical professionals in the field have led to a plethora of new assessment and evaluation approaches in numerous areas of medical education: ground breaking work on the evaluation of clinical faculty, program evaluation tools, the mini-clinical evaluation tool, video assessment, chart-stimulated recall, oral case presentation skills, patient satisfaction tools, and more. She also has an extensive record of instrument development and validation in clinical-based areas. In all, she has made a huge contribution to the development of new assessment procedures in medical education, which has influenced assessment practices worldwide.

“Dr. Shea also has a record of personal contributions to research and development of assessment methodology. Her accomplishments in assessment in real life settings, clinical and educational, are impressive and important. She has a solid track record of connecting rigorous measurement with the role of assessment as an instrument for providing feedback to learners, including faculty. Her long and varied list of publications gives ample proof of that. The magnitude of the impact and the volume of her work were recently highlighted in a Review of Medical Education Research where she was identified as one of the most productive researchers in the field.

“Dr. Shea’s scholarship and national leadership in medical education research, recognized by her receipt of multiple national awards, and the wide dissemination of her work have enhanced the work of others in the field. The impact of her mentoring on students, colleagues, and co-workers is described as ‘exceptional.’ Colleagues note that she is uncompromising in her commitment to quality and rigor and seemingly possesses unbounded patience for those who genuinely want to learn.

“Dr. Shea’s contributions are extremely impressive and her expertise is widely respected. For her contributions to measurement, to scholarship and knowledge in the field, and to providing answers to questions of wide interest and concern, the Hubbard Award Committee considers Dr. Shea to be extremely deserving of this high honor.”

Dr. Shea is professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She is associate dean of Medical Education Research and director of the Office of Evaluation and Assessment in the Academic Programs Office, School of Medicine. Prior to joining Penn she was a senior psychometrician at the American Board of Internal Medicine.

The NBME established the John P. Hubbard Award in 1983 in special tribute to the late John P. Hubbard, MD. Honoring Dr. Hubbard as a principal, guiding force of the NBME, this award acknowledges his creative and inspired leadership of the organization during his 25-year tenure as its chief executive. Dr. Shea deservedly joins the ranks of the distinguished individuals whom the NBME has honored over the years with this prestigious award. Dr. Shea’s selection as the recipient followed a call for nominations published widely in the spring of 2010. The 2011 Hubbard Award Committee, chaired by Professor Dame Lesley Southgate, included as members Antoinette F. Hood, MD, Michael Jodoin, PhD, Susan R. Johnson, MD, MS, Susan M. Spaulding, and Patricia N. Whitley-Williams, MD.

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