The Harvard Medical School - Beth Israel Deaconess Mount Auburn Institute for Education and Research was founded in 1996 to facilitate collaborative planning, management and innovation for education and research programs in a large academic medical center. The Institute, a separately incorporated nonprofit organization, advances the teaching and research activities of Harvard Medical School faculty based at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Mount Auburn Hospital. The Institute has developed processes to evaluate proposals and award "seed" grants for collaborative initiatives in both clinical education and biomedical research. A major effort is underway in clinical education to develop a series of multimedia "virtual" patients that reflect the core clinical curriculum for third and fourth-year Harvard medical students.
The Institute's offices are housed in a new Center for Clinical Education (CCE) located on the lobby level of the Medical Center's ambulatory care center. Serving as a "home base" for Harvard Medical Students enrolled in clerkships at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the CCE includes a study area/lounge with computer workstations featuring databases and multimedia educational programs; two "teaching" exam rooms with videotaping and playback capabilities and one-way mirrors for observation; videoconferencing and telemedicine set-ups; a classroom and a conference/tutorial room.