Heather Heiman, MD, FACP
Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education
About
As the Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education, Dr. Heiman is responsible for the development, implementation, oversight, and evaluation of the MD program across the college's three campuses, with direct responsibility for the Office of Educational Affairs personnel in the areas of assessment and evaluation, instructional design, and educational planning. The role also involves direct responsibility for the Office of Curricular Affairs and Student Affairs on the Chicago campus.
Dr. Heiman is an associate professor of medicine and medical education and was recruited to the college as associate dean for medical education at the Chicago campus in 2019 through a national search. She was instrumental in guiding the Chicago campus student body as we navigated the COVID pandemic, and she spearheaded the launch of a new physician and staff advising model in Chicago. Since assuming the interim college-wide role in 2022, she has initiated a number of improvements in the operations of the Office of Educational Affairs. She championed and is co-leading the Technology Optimization Project for Educational Data (“TOP-ED”), assessing and procuring new college-wide software solutions for managing the MD program. Prior to her arrival at UI COM, Dr. Heiman served for 16 years on the faculty at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, where she directed clinical skills education and was medical director for the standardized patient center.
Dr. Heiman received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School and completed a residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In addition to her clinical skills assessment experience, she has expertise in medical knowledge assessment, currently serving as chair of the of American Board of Internal Medicine’s approval committee for the Internal Medicine Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment and a member of ABIM’s board of directors. She maintains an active primary care practice in Academic Internal Medicine at UI Health.