Biography

Gerald Stapleton has held leadership roles in the field of education since the 1970s having first been appointed as a middle school principal in 1975 after 7 years of teaching in the public schools of northern Indiana and earning a Master of Science in Educational Administration from Purdue University. After additional studies in educational leadership at Purdue and serving as a principal in a private school in Hinsdale, Illinois, Mr. Stapleton took on leadership roles in corporate training where he was regional manager for training operations for two national retail organizations.

In 1999, Mr. Stapleton joined the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Medicine and took on the challenge of creating an online Core Curriculum intended to prepare UIC’s medical residents to meet the general competencies requirements established by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The program was recognized by the Sloan Consortium as the most outstanding online program in 2002 and was adopted by more than 25 Graduate Medical Education programs across the country from New York to Hawaii with a total enrollment over 18 years of more than 15,000 residents over the next 18 years.

As Director for Distance Education and Faculty Associate in the UIC COM Department of Medical Education, Mr. Stapleton also guided the development of numerous other educational programs at all levels of the health professions education continuum dealing with such topics as environmental medicine, geriatrics, patient safety, quality improvement, health policy, global studies, and telemedicine. Mr. Stapleton has been at the forefront of research and application of cutting edge educational methodologies such as the use of web-based learning, video conferencing, simulation, virtual patients, active learning, and virtual reality in the design of courses for health professionals.

Mr. Stapleton is currently pursuing a PhD in Curriculum Studies with a focus on Health Professions Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His dissertation topic is centered on the teaching and evaluation of medical professionalism. Other professional activities include his leadership role in the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH) where he is the immediate past chair of a special interest group focused on the integration of serious game design and virtual environments in educational activities for the health professions. Mr. Stapleton has presented his research at both national and international forums and in several medical education journals.

Mr. Stapleton’s other professional and volunteer activities include serving on the Board of Directors for the Portes Foundation and serving with his wife as captains for a team of volunteers who provide shelter for homeless individuals in Chicago’s western suburbs for the past 20 years.