IAMSE Pre-conference Workshop Highlights

Early Bird Registration Deadline: APRIL 1

The 19^th Annual IAMSE meeting is taking place from June 13^th through June 16^th, 2015. Saturday, June 13^th is a pre-conference and faculty development workshop day, and we would like to highlight some of the sessions for you. We look forward to seeing you in sunny San Diego!

Flipping the Classroom: Integrating Active Learning into the Curriculum

Presenters: John Szarek, Kathryn Huggett, William Jeffries

The one-hour lecture remains the traditional unit of medical education, particularly for the foundational sciences. However, it is generally agreed that most lectures limit engagement and therefore promote only “passive” learning and do not promote long-term retention. Medical educators have thus been investigating techniques to promote active learning, which promotes longer term retention and deeper understanding of scientific concepts. In active learning, the student often participates as a partner in the teaching and learning of the group as a whole. This approach is well-suited for the integration of basic and clinical sciences. A variety of active learning techniques, collectively known as “flipping” the classroom, have emerged as a way to expand the boundaries of learning within the confines of the traditional large group setting. After participating in this session, participants will be able to:

 1. Define active learning and explore barriers to active learning in health sciences teaching

2. Explain how active learning strategies can promote integration of basic and clinical sciences

3. Describe methods for introducing active learning into large group settings

4. Describe strategies for selecting and curating curricular content

5. Engage in demonstrations of the “flipped” classroom and develop strategies for introducing it into their own teaching. 

This session is intended for basic science and clinical faculty members of health sciences schools who engage in large group teaching and/or who are involved in course/curriculum planning. Faculty members who are developing active learning strategies for the first time, as well as those who have experience using these strategies but seek additional ideas for content and implementation are welcome. 

Basics of TBL in a Day

Presenters: Sandy Cook, Kevin Krane

TBL 101 - This is the single best introduction to TBL. It is conducted in a TBL format, participants must prepare ahead, take an IRAT, and engage actively with their assigned team members. The structure, process, and essential characteristics of an effective TBL module are emphasized. By the conclusion of this workshop, the participant will be able to:

1. Explain the key components of a successful TBL module.
2. Outline how they would construct a TBL module from a set of objectives.
3. Describe how they might convert a course/lecture they already teach into a TBL module.
4. Illustrate how to transform a small group into a productive learning-team.

The afternoon session will focus on writing an effective TBL Module
By the conclusion of the afternoon, the participant will be able to:

1. Describe how to construct a Group Application Exercise that promotes group cohesiveness.
2. Identify how to use the four S's in the design of GAE question.
3. Demonstrate at least two different formats for the display of team productivity.
4. Explain how the 'power of why' in question writing generates so much learner engagement.

Getting Started with Interprofessional Healthcare Education at Your School

Presenters: Richard Vari, Patty Vari

Curricular revisions to include Interprofessional Education (IPE) activities have recently intensified in health science schools spurred in part by accrediting bodies and the direction of national health agencies. In 2011, national objectives were defined in the US and several centers for IPE have now been created to assist faculty and practitioners in designing curricular programs and extending the outcomes into interprofessional practice. This workshop is for faculty and curriculum planners who are just beginning to consider designing and implementing IPE into their educational programs.

The morning session will provide an introduction into the rationale for IPE and an analysis of the major challenges that will be facing curricular revision. Examples of successful strategies to overcome these challenges will be presented. Individual workshop participant schools and programs will be discussed and analyzed in order to provide insight into strategies for planning and implementation.  An overview of the resources available to begin this type of curricular reform will be provided.

The afternoon session will allow participants to experience a “hands-on” mini-immersion into actual IPE content. The goal is for participants to become familiar with IPE objectives and content from an interprofessional student perspective.  The session is grounded in the IPEC Core Competencies and will include work in small teams.  Experiencing IPE rather than just hearing about the concepts will better equip the participants to more fully understand the importance of effective team building. Topics will include: individual personality profiles and how they can affect team function, establishing trust in a team, roles and scopes of practice of members of the healthcare team, and how to identify dysfunctional teams and offer corrections. Specific case scenarios will be explored by the teams to provide a practical application of these IPE concepts.

Role of Basic Science in Clinical Decision Making (Integration across all four years)

Presenters: Leslie Fall, Amy Wilson-Delfosse, Daniel Wolpaw, Shannon Grap

This interactive faculty development course will walk participants through a process of designing curricular elements to support the continuous integration of foundational sciences and clinical medicine across medical education programs. Specifically, this workshop will address:

1) the inclusion of clinical reasoning and skills into the more traditionally basic science portions of the curriculum;
2) meaningful assessments of basic sciences within a clinical context including the use of essay exams for a large class;
3) a return to basic sciences during clerkship training;
4) the development of conceptual frameworks to guide integrative curriculum design;
5) challenges, barriers, and necessary resources.

While examples will be provided from the Western Reserve2 Curriculum of Case Western Reserve University, a 4-year graduate entry medical education program in the United States, it is anticipated that this workshop will be relevant for all health professions educators, regardless of discipline or geographical location.

Aligning and Assessing Competencies, Milestones, and EPAs

Presenters: Tracy Fulton, Carla Lupi, Cheryl Valentine

Undergraduate medical educators are increasingly considering incorporation of Enstrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) into their curricula, to improve patient safety in residency training and to bridge the curricular divide between UME and GME. EPAs allow the operationalization of competency-based assessment in the workplace, focusing educators and learners on critical activities to be assessed. The AAMC has published a set of Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency, outlining 13 work activities that a day 1 intern should be able to perform with indirect supervision only. Several schools nationwide are participating in a program to further refine and pilot these EPAs in the UME setting. Other schools have developed their own EPAs. This workshop will provide a general introduction EPAs for the uninitiated, and will describe opportunities for medical science and other educators to approach EPAs from different curricular perspectives, including the program, competency, course and session levels. Participants will practice mapping their course or program objectives onto EPAs, and developing milestones that allow for early steps in assessment of EPAs.

At the close of this session, the participant will be able to:

1. Discuss the concept of entrustment, and the relationships between entrustable professional activities (EPAs), milestones and competencies

2. Describe the mapping of institutional educational program objectives to EPAs

3. Describe an initial approach to incorporating EPAs into a UME curriculum, using one of the 13 AAMC Core EPAs for Entering Residency as an example

4. Identify opportunities in individual courses and sessions to contribute to the learning and assessment of EPAs and milestones

Pedagogy and Skills for Just in Time Teaching Videos

Presenters: Jon Wisco, David Morton

In recent years, the Flipped Classroom (FC) and Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) pedagogies have emerged as an innovative approach for medical education. In FCs, content is delivered prior to classroom time, often using internet-based videos or readings, so that time in class can be dedicated to promoting higher-order thinking skills such as application, synthesis and evaluation. JiTT adds a component of providing formative assessments prior to class, so that the class time lesson can be tailored to meet the educational needs of the students. Based on principles of active learning the FC should lead to better retention, but results are mixed on the benefit of the FC compared to the traditional lecture.1,2,3 One reason for the mixed results could be the quality of the content (often in the form of video’s) provided to the students.

This workshop is for faculty who are just beginning to consider producing and/or implementing FC in their curriculum. This session will provide hands on instruction creating and producing video’s for the FC using the video camera on your personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop, PowerPoint/Keynote, tablet and other common digital equipment. Examples of successful strategies to overcome common challenges will be presented. Examples from Brigham Young University and University of Utah will be discussed to provide insight into these various strategies. 

Objectives: at the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the philosophy behind the flipped classroom and Just-in-Time Teaching

2. Describe a the most common strategies in creating and producing videos and materials for the flipped classroom

3. Learn how to produce at least one flipped classroom resource (participants need to bring a laptop and PDA)

4. Develop strategies to implement flipped classroom and Just-in-Time Teaching pedagogies in their own curriculum

For the full list and more details regarding the pre-conference workshops and faculty development courses, please click here.

Thank you,
Jon Wisco
2015 IAMSE Program Chair

IAMSE 2015 Plenary Speaker Highlights

The 19^th Annual IAMSE Meeting is just around the corner, and we would like you to get to know some of our keynote speakers! We have four plenary speakers this year, and we hope you enjoy their presentations.

Suzanne Stensaas: From Hobby Time to Real Time: Integrating Technology in the Curriculum [University of Utah]

Suzanne Stensaas is a neuroscientist who since l986 has been primarily involved in teaching neuroscience, pathology and the use of new technologies in medical education while on the faculty at the University of Utah and Weill Cornell Medical College. Since retiring in 2012 she has been involved with creating a neurology curriculum for Africa, a series of brain dissection videos and consulting. Using videodiscs and computers she created a project, Slice of Life, which morphed into an annual workshop of medical educators interested in sharing their uses of technology. Self-described as a “living fossil”, she spans the geologic record of the evolution and extinction of projects and platforms.

Leslie Fall: Integration through Collaboration [Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth]

Dr. Fall serves as the Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and is an inaugural member of Geisel’s Academy of Master Educators. She is a Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine) as also serves as the Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Fall has been deeply involved in the continuum of medical education serving as a pediatric clerkship director and residency program director, as well as leading many faculty development efforts throughout her career. A Geisel graduate herself, she completed a medical education fellowship at Michigan State University (1995) and the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program for women (2013). Her innovative approach to teaching clinical skills using a developmental coaching paradigm (www.doctor-coach.org), co-developed with Dr. Kim Gifford, has resulted in numerous invited national workshops, visiting professorships and recent publications.

Dr. Fall is also the co-founder, President and Executive Medical Director of MedU (www.med-u.org). Founded in 2006, MedU is a non-profit social enterprise with a mission to advance medical education through collaborative development, dissemination and research of technology-enabled medical education programs. The majority of US and Canadian medical schools subscribe to at least one of MedU’s virtual patient courses (CLIPP, SIMPLE, fmCASES, CORE) with over 30,000 registered new users per year and over 1,000,000 case sessions completed annually – a success which far exceeds that of any other e-learning program in medical education anywhere in the world. Dr. Fall and her fellow co-founder, Dr. Norm Berman, have received numerous national medical education awards for their work developing MedU. Dr. Fall lives in Hanover, NH with her husband and three children.

Deirdre Bonnycastle: Reading Your PowerPoint Isn’t Teaching [University of Saskatchewan]

Deirdre Bonnycastle has been a teacher for 42 years and a medical faculty developer for 12 of them. Technology has always played a role in her teaching and she was an early adopter of classroom computing. She is best known for The Medical Education Wiki, an open access faculty development site.

Paul Worley: Integration through Assessment of Students, Faculty, and Curriculum [Flinders University]

Professor Paul Worley is the Dean of the School of Medicine at Flinders University. A practicing rural doctor, he has a passion for increasing the profile, impact and social accountability of medical schools and their students through creating mutually beneficial partnerships with clinicians, health services, government and community agencies, the wider research community, and professional bodies. He is recognized internationally as a leader in community-based medical education and research.

Have you registered for the 19^th Annual IAMSE Meeting? The early bird deadline is April 1^st, so make sure you register before then if you want the reduced rate!

Thank you,

Jonathan Wisco
2015 IAMSE Program Chair

IAMSE Call for Manuscripts

Dear colleagues,

Medical Science Educator, the journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators IAMSE, is planning to publish two special journal sections dedicated to the topic of “Integration”. Integration is an important concept in medical education in general. Think of integration of basic science knowledge in clinical teaching, or integration of clinical cases in the basic science curriculum, or even integration of several disciplines or pedagogies into one teaching unit. We want to explore the effects and outcomes of integration, and like to learn what institutions are doing in this field, how methods are tested and what the results are.

We are currently soliciting article submissions on this topic and we welcome contributions in the format of Short Communication, Original Research, Monograph or Commentary. See our website www.medicalscienceeducator.org for a more detailed description. All submissions will be peer-reviewed in our regular review process. Accepted manuscripts will be clustered together into a special section in the issues 25(3) and 25(4), or will be published in one of the regular issues in 2016.

 
Manuscripts to be considered for these sections have to be submitted by May 15th, 2015 through our online submission system at www.medicalscienceeducator.org. In your cover letter, please refer to the topic “Integration” to indicate you want to be included in one of these special sections. See our journal website for the Instructions for Authors.

I look forward to receiving your submissions.

Peter GM de Jong, PhD
Editor-in-Chief

IAMSE Publications Committee Journal Review

Dear Colleagues,

Individual members of the Publications Committee periodically highlight articles that they find interesting in Medical Science Educator, the journal of IAMSE, or from its previous incarnation, The Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators.  Having been a course director for the first-year Biochemistry course for twelve years, I was intrigued by the title of a commentary published in a recent issue ofMedical Science Educator:“Teaching and Learning Medical Biochemistry: Perspectives from a Student and an Educator” authored by Mehdi Afshar and Zhiyoung Han from George Washington University of Medicine and Health Sciences (Med Sci Educ 2014; 24(3): 339-341). In this commentary, the authors acknowledge that advancements in medicine and biochemistry are inseparable but admit that many medical students and practicing physicians find learning biochemistry not only burdensome but irrelevant to most clinical practice.  This article examines why medical students have such an adverse reaction to learning biochemistry and how it should be included in the curriculum so that it is better received.

The authors assert that factors that negatively affect student interest in learning biochemistry include redundancy with what students have learned in their undergraduate education, presentation of biochemical principles outside of a medical context, biochemistry content that does not appear on board examination (i.e., not “high yield”), and too much rote memorization that is only remembered for a short period of time.

How should biochemistry be taught in the medical curriculum?  For the authors’ answer to this question, you can access this article and many others at www.iamse.org by following the link to Medical Science Educator.  This article is also Open Access so it can be found at http://link.springer.com/journal/40670 and clicking on “View Open Access Articles.”

William E. Seifert, Jr.
Adjunct Associate Professor
McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics
The University of Texas Medical School at Houston

IAMSE Medical Science Educator - Call for Announcements

Dear IAMSE members, In every issue of Medical Science Educator we publish an announcements section. In this section we share information that is of interest to the readership of the journal. Individual IAMSE members wishing to post medical education related announcements in the Journal are invited to send their requests to the Editorial Assistant at journal@iamse.org. Announcements may be IAMSE-related, announcements from other medical education organizations, medical education conference information or international issues affecting medical education. Announcements will be published at the Editors discretion. Deadline: March 26, 2015. Peter G.M. de Jong, PhD Editor-in-Chief

IAMSE WAS Spring Week 5

"Transforming Health Disparities Through Interprofessional Education, Research and Service"

Presenter: Memoona Hasnain                

March 26, 2015 12:00 – 1:00 pm ET.

Although patient-centered care is a cornerstone of quality designated by the Institute of Medicine, the quality chasm in the United States health care system remains a reality and health disparities continue to widen. With health care reform and redesign, new models of health care delivery need careful integration with innovative models of health professions education. Interprofessional education (IPE) is gaining increasing attention as a critically important approach to optimize the preparation of the future healthcare workforce, to bridge the gap between health professions education and practice delivery, and most importantly, as a vehicle to optimize patient-centered care and reduce health disparities. IPE is now an accreditation standard for some health professional schools in the United States. Traditional health professions education takes place in silos, with limited opportunities for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals to learn and practice in interprofessional teams during their formative years. The goal of the session is to engage participants in a critical thinking process to analyze the untapped potential for addressing health disparities via interprofessional collaborative education and research, through the common pathway of social determinants of health. The presenter will share her work that specifically aims to meet the nationally recognized need to train health professions students in interprofessional teams in community-based settings to reduce health disparities.

Have you registered yet for the WAS Spring 2015 series? There is still space left, so please join us!

Click here to register!