Kulamakan (Mahan) Kulasegaram PhD
Scientist - The Wilson Centre
Associate Professor and Director of the Office of Education Scholarship Department of Family & Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
Temerty Chair in Learner Assessment & Program Evaluation
Dr. Kulamakan (Mahan) Kulasegaram is a Scientist at the Wilson Centre and Temerty Faculty of Medicine where he is the Temerty Chair in Learner Assessment and Program Evaluation. Additionally, he is an Associate Professor and Director of the Office of Education Scholarship in the Department of Family & Community Medicine.
Mahan's research advances our understanding of how assessment can be used to enhance learning. At the learner level, using theories from psychology and psychometrics, his research explores how assessment practices can enhance the transfer of learning - an important step for developing clinical expertise in medicine. At the level of the education program and system, he studies how assessment 'big data' can be used to improve program practices and outcomes. His research addresses the entire continuum of training from undergraduate to continuing education and reexamines the entire context of assessment - the objectives, process, tools, learners, and assessors. The next stage of this research - supported by the Temerty Chair in Learner Assessment - is utilizing assessment big data to understand opportunities to optimize programs and their impact on learners, teachers, and eventual clinical care. He is developing models with national and international collaborators to facilitate education data sharing within and between institutions as well as identifying best practices in this new area for medical education. Notably, in 2021-22, he co-lead the development of a national consensus statement on principles for ethical and equitable data-sharing governance informed by national stakeholders in medical education followed by an international Ottawa consensus statement (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38306211/). His program of research has led to significant changes in the practice of assessment at the University of Toronto and other institutions. Mahan also conducts research in instructional & curriculum design, as well as in admissions and selection to medical education. He is currently accepting PhD students in all of the above areas.
Keywords: assessment, big data, transfer of learning, clinical reasoning, curriculum, admissions, medical education
Current Fellows and HPER Doctoral Students
Qiuyue Fang
Qiuyue Fang is a Research Fellow at the Wilson Centre, and a PhD student in the Health Professions Education Research (HPER) doctoral concentration offered by the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, in collaboration with the faculty of the Wilson Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. Her doctoral research focuses on the artificial intelligence (AI) usage in health professions measurements and assessment, along with big data analytics. She is interested in exploring advanced AI methodologies to enhance accuracy and efficiency in clinical education. Qiuyue previously served as a Test Development Officer at the Health Human Resources Development Center of National Health Commission in China, and also worked as a Research Assistant at the Asia Pacific Action Alliance on Human Resources for Health in Thailand. She completed her Master of Medical Science in Global health from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in China. Qiuyue is also the recipient of the Currie Fellowship at the Wilson Centre from 2024-2028.
Supervisor: Kulamakan (Mahan) Kulasegaram
Conrad Tsang
Conrad Tsang is a Research Fellow at the Wilson Centre and a PhD student in the Health Professions Education Research concentration at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. His scholarly interests are in how medical school and residency admissions shape equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the physician workforce. Conrad is the recipient of the Currie Fellowship at the Wilson Centre from 2022-2026.
Clinically, Conrad is a subspecialty resident in Occupational Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also a staff physician in Public Health & Preventive Medicine and in Family Medicine, having done his previous residencies at UBC. He has been the Chief Resident for all three programs. Conrad completed his BHSc at McMaster University, MD at the University of Alberta, MPH (Quantitative Methods) at Harvard University as a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow, and MSEd (Medical Education) at the University of Pennsylvania as the Lougheed Fellow. His clinical interests are in caring for marginalized workers and health care workers, as well as changing policy to promote their health, safety, and wellness.
Supervisor: Kulamakan (Mahan) Kulasegaram