George E. Miller

{{Short description|American physician and medical educator}}

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| name = George E. Miller

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| birth_date = June 19, 1919

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| death_date = November 7, 1998

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| known_for = Research in medical education

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| alma_mater = University of Pennsylvania{{cite journal |title=Remembering George Miller |journal=DME Bulletin |date=May 1999 |volume=5 |issue=3 |url=http://cores33webs.mede.uic.edu/dme/warp/bulletins/may99/george.html |access-date=12 December 2022}}

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| discipline = Medicine

| sub_discipline = Medical education

| workplaces = University at Buffalo, University of Illinois Chicago

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| notable_ideas = Miller's pyramid of assessment

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George E. Miller (1919 – November 7, 1998) was an American physician and a key figure in the development of the field of medical education.

From 1955 to 1959, Miller served as Coordinator of the Project in Medical Education at the University at Buffalo,{{cite book |author1=Kamin, Carol |author2=Downing, Steve |author1-link=A History of the Department of Medical Education (DME) at the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UIC): Contributions to Moving the Field Forward |editor1-last=Schwartz |editor1-first=Alan |title=Moving Medical Education Forward: Scholarship from the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago -- Commemorating the 50th Anniversary, 1959-2009 |date=2009 |publisher=UIC DME |location=Chicago, IL |isbn=978-0-578-02425-7 |pages=15-8}} creating a pilot multidisciplinary research team that served as a proof of concept for the study of medical education. Miller subsequently established the Office of Research in Medical Education (ORME) at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1959,{{cite web |author1=Department of Medical Education |title=Setting Standards in Medical Education for 60 Years (1959-2019) |url=https://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/departments/academic-departments/medical-education/celebrating-60-years |website=College of Medicine |publisher=University of Illinois Chicago |access-date=12 December 2022}} creating a model for medical education departments and centers within medical schools internationally.{{cite journal |last1=McGuire |first1=Christine |title=George E Miller, MD, 1919–98 |journal=Medical Education |date=May 1999 |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=312–314 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-2923.1999.00420.x}}{{cite journal |last1=McGuire |first1=Christine |title=In Memoriam: George E. Miller, MD (1919–1998) |journal=Advances in Health Sciences Education |date=1 January 1999 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=1–2 |doi=10.1023/A:1009858731859}}

Through his consulting relationship with the World Health Organization,{{cite book |editor1-last=Miller |editor1-first=George |editor2-last=Fülöp |editor2-first=Tamás |title=Educational Strategies for the Health Professions |date=1974 |publisher=World Health Organization |location=Geneva |isbn=9241300612}}{{cite journal |last1=Abrahamson |first1=Stephen |title=George E. Miller, MD, 1918-1998 |journal=Teach Learn Med |date=January 1999 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=62 |doi=10.1207/S15328015TLM1101_15}} Miller was instrumental in promoting faculty training and degree programs in the area of medical education in the United States and worldwide.

Under Miller's direction, the renamed Center for Educational Development (CED; now the Department of Medical Education{{cite web |title=Department of Medical Education |url=https://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/departments/academic-departments/medical-education/ |website=College of Medicine |publisher=University of Illinois Chicago |access-date=12 December 2022}}) established new standards for the medical school--including a comprehensive assessment system in place of individual departmental judgment--that became an influential model in the field of medical education and resulted in a restructuring of US National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) licensing examinations.

Miller's research led to the development of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Research in Medical Education (RIME) Conference in 1962, the formation of the Society of Directors of Research in Medical Education (SDRME) in 1965, and the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) in 1971. In addition, he chaired the Clinical Skills Steering Committee until 1996. In 1985, Miller was the second recipient of NBME's Hubbard Award for excellence in assessment in medical education.{{cite web |title=Hubbard Award |url=https://contributions.nbme.org/about/hubbard-award |website=NBME Contributions |publisher=National Board of Medical Examiners |access-date=12 December 2022}}

One of Miller's seminal reviews, "The assessment of clinical skills/competence/performance,"{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=GE |title=The assessment of clinical skills/competence/performance |journal=Academic Medicine |date=September 1990 |volume=65 |issue=9 Suppl |pages=S63-7 |doi=10.1097/00001888-199009000-00045 |pmid=2400509|doi-access=free }} introduced a framework now referred to as "Miller's pyramid." This framework describes four levels of clinical assessment, comprising "knows" (assessment of knowledge), "knows how" (assessment of competence), "shows how" (assessment of performance), and "does" (assessment of action).