Exploring Educator Identity in Health Professions Education with Dr. Ashley Shelton & Hannah Turner

In this episode of Faculty Feed, we’re joined by Dr. Ashley Shelton, Senior Instructional Designer for Continuing Education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine, and Hannah Turner, a third-year UofL medical student. Together, they explore their research on educator identity—examining how clinicians grow into educators and what that evolution means for teaching and learning in the health professions.

Ashley and Hannah unpack the motivation behind their study and key findings on how participation in the Health Professions Education (HPE) program shapes clinician-educator identity. They introduce concepts such as identity merging, the unexpected experience they describe as “wobble,” and why intentionality matters in teaching practice. The conversation also emphasizes the value of community, interprofessional learning, and the influence of power dynamics in the development of educator identity.

Educator Identity Framework by Van Lankveld et al.

Health Professions Education Program at UofL

Recommended Reading: Make It StickDo you have comments or questionsabout Faculty Feed? Contact us at FacFeed@louisville.edu.We look forward to hearing from you.