News

A Review from Medical Science Educator from Dr. Kurt Gilliland

This month the IAMSE Publications Committee review is taken from the article titled Generation Z: What’s Next? published in the Medical Science Educator by Geoff Talmon.

As a member of the Publications Committee, I wanted to share an interesting article in Medical Science Educator, the journal of IAMSE, on Generation Z students. The name of the article is Generation Z: What’s Next? by Geoffrey A. Talmon (Medical Science Educator, published online August 13, 2019).

Faculty members are aware that, as we get older, our students are always young and belong to generations that are one, two, or even three below us. The newest generation to enter medical education is Generation Z, those who were born from 1990 to 2010. Dr. Talmon’s article (and his address on this same topic at the recent IAMSE meeting in Roanoke, Virginia, USA) carefully evaluates this generation so that we as faculty can best bridge the gap between “us and them” and teach effectively.

Generation Z makes up the largest percentage of the US population and is the most diverse to date. Dr. Talmon points out that they were “products of the post-9/11 world, a time of economic liability, political polarization, and multiple foreign wars.” He adds that they are accustomed to reading negative media and seeing popular figures in scandals, but he points out that they have also witnessed significant advances in equality. Generation Z students thus seem to have “a higher prevalence of risk aversion, financial frugality, and an expectation that they will need to work harder.”

Dr. Talmon discusses the extensive use of technology by Generation Z students in all facets of their lives. This generation expects on-demand, low-barrier access to all information that is preferred to be in bite-sized pieces with real-time feedback. A negative consequence, he explains, can possibly be a difficulty to form conceptual connections or to distinguish fact from opinion online.

As faculty, we are encouraged to develop curricula that include linkage of concepts, the framing of questions, reflection activities, and asynchronous video-based content, all with real-time feedback. Meanwhile, Dr. Talmon advises that we as faculty must become adept at helping students select appropriate external online resources. Dr. Talmon concludes by emphasizing the importance of face-to-face interactions (even if they are virtual) and personal experiences and discussions. As faculty continue to learn about this generation, we will be able to connect with these students and develop effective, student-centered curricula.

This article pairs nicely with one on Generation Z students who are entering graduate medical education: Is Medical Education Ready for Generation Z by Jodie Eckleberry-Hunt, David Lick, and Ronald Hunt in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education (August 2018).

You can access Dr. Talmon’s article and many others like it at www.iamse.org by following the link to Medical Science Educator.

Kurt Gilliland, PhD
Associate Dean for Curriculum
Associate Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
IAMSE Publication Committee

*Reminder* Call for IAMSE-ScholarRx Educational Research Grants

The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is still accepting applications for the IAMSE-ScholarRx Educational Research Grant Program.

All IAMSE student members are eligible to submit a grant proposal. Applications are to be submitted on the submission page found here by January 15, 2020.

All information regarding the IAMSE-ScholarRx Educational Research Grant Program, including the application process, eligibility, proposal format, and evaluation criteria, can be found on the IAMSE website here.

Thank you,
IAMSE Student Professional Development Committee

Good things happening? Share with IAMSE!

The next issue of the membership newsletter of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE), IAMSE Connects, will be published in February. The purpose of this newsletter is to connect the IAMSE membership with information about our society, about opportunities to get involved with IAMSE, and about each other.

We are very pleased to dedicate one section of this newsletter to recognize the professional accomplishments of our members but we need your help! Have you received awards or promotions or landed a great new job in the last year? We would like to know about it and celebrate your professional accomplishments in our newsletter.

Please send your news to Cassie Chinn at cassie@iamse.org or submit it online here for inclusion in the next edition. Sorry, we can only include professional accomplishments in the newsletter, but welcome you to share your personal news on the IAMSE Facebook and Twitter pages! Thanks for your help!

Deadline: January 6, 2020

Thank you,
Jennifer Baccon
Chair, IAMSE Membership Committee

Know of Any Can’t-Miss Events? Share Them in Medical Science Educator

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 for inclusion in the March issue: January 5, 2020

Thank you,
Peter G.M. de Jong, PhD
Editor-in-Chief

Last Chance to Submit Applications for the Faculty & Student Travel Awards

 

The deadline for submitting applications for the 2020 Travel Awards is quickly drawing near. The IAMSE Conference Travel Awards support students or junior faculty to attend the IAMSE Annual Meeting.

Deadline for submission is December 15, 2019.
 
Please note that we have separate forms for faculty and students. Applications for faculty travel grants can be submitted here and the student applications can be submitted here.

Check out the IAMSE Webcast Audio Seminar Series Archives!

The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is pleased to announce that the archives for “The Learning Environment in Health Sciences Education,” the 2019 Winter Series of the Webcast Audio Seminars are now online!

The Webcast Audio Seminar archives are located on the IAMSE website under the Events heading as Web Seminars. Here, you will be able to search the archives or browse by year and series.

If you have any issues accessing the archives, please just let us know at support@iamse.org.

IAMSE Educational Scholarship & Curriculum Innovation Grant Applications Due January 15

The application deadline for the Educational Scholarship and Curriculum Innovation grant  proposals is quickly drawing near! The deadline for submitting applications is January 15, 2020.
Applications are to be submitted on the submission page found here before the deadline. Instructions for grant proposals may be found here and on the grant submission page.
Looking for information on the IAMSE-ScholarRx Educational Research Grant Program for students? Visit this page for more information!

Say Hello to Our Featured Member Cheryl Vasan!

Our association is a robust and diverse set of educators, researchers, medical professionals, volunteers and academics that come from all walks of life and from around the globe. Each month we choose a member to highlight their academic and professional career, and see how they are making the best of their membership in IAMSE. This month’s Featured Member is Dr. Cheryl Vasan.

Cheryl Vasan, DPT, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Camden, NJ, USA

How long have you been a member of IAMSE?
I have been a member of IAMSE for 8 wonderful years.

In your years with the association, what have you been up to? Committee involvement, conference attendance, WAS series, manuals, etc.? How have you interacted with IAMSE?
Over the years, I have attended the annual meetings which I have found to be very energizing. I have been very fortunate to have been selected to give several focus sessions at the annual meeting which have covered such topics as continuous quality improvement in medical education, remediation in an integrated preclinical medical curriculum and self-directed learning and whether it leads to life-long learning. I have also taken advantage of the WAS series. I have always found the webinar series to be timely and relevant to what is happening in the world of medical education and have come away with ideas that I have incorporated into my teaching and scholarship. To this end, I really enjoy reading the articles in Medical Science Educator and have been fortunate to have several articles published in the journal.

What are you working on professionally? Research, presentations, etc.
I am the basic science co-course director for the Skin and Musculoskeletal Course (SMS) and I am always working on ways to make learning gross anatomy engaging and relevant for the medical students that I teach. One thing students struggle with when learning anatomy is the volume of information that they need to master. They often feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to approach what they are learning in lecture and through dissection. To help decrease student anxiety and help them focus on what is important during dissection, I decided to create a student gross anatomy laboratory guide utilizing the principles of Cognitive Load Theory. The guide provides the students with relevant information for each dissection session. The information includes but is not limited to which faculty will be teaching a given lab, which lectures compliment a given lab session, and which structures the students are responsible for identify on the cadaver at the conclusion of each session. The guide was piloted this past April in the SMS course and feedback from the students has been very positive, so much so that I am currently working on versions of the guide for all of the organ-system blocks where gross anatomy is taught. In addition, I am in the process of completing a study on an innovative approach to enhance medical student performance in anatomy practical examinations. 

As a member, what is a standout benefit that keeps you engaged in IAMSE?
The standout benefits for me are the diversity of the membership and the warm, welcoming environment of the association. Everyone I have met through IAMSE is genuinely interested in helping each other become the best medical/health science educator that they can be and that is a beautiful thing. 

Anything else that you would like to add?
Whether you are a first-time member and new to medical/health science education or a veteran member of the association, everyone is made to feel like they are important and that they belong at IAMSE.

Call for Committee Volunteers

Within our association, several committees are operating to help move the organization forward and achieve the strategic goals set by the Board of Directors. The contribution of our members to these committees is crucial and highly appreciated. At the moment, we are seeking a broad representation of professional educators, basic scientists, clinical scientists, and instructional technologists from around the world as volunteers for the following committees:

Membership Committee: Responsible for evaluating the needs of IAMSE’s membership and recommends appropriate ways to meet those needs. The Membership Committee will also develop methods and programs for active membership recruitment and retention. In general, we expect members of the committee to be available for a one hour monthly video meeting and accessibility by email.

Reviewers for the Journal: Medical Science Educator publishes articles which focus on teaching the sciences that are fundamental to modern medicine and health. Coverage includes basic science education, clinical teaching and the incorporation of modern educational technologies. We are currently looking for members who want to become a reviewer. Although expertise in the field is always helpful, the most important goal of our peer review is to judge the manuscript for its quality and appropriateness to be published in our journal and to provide the authors useful feedback. Reviewers might expect about 6 manuscripts to review per year.

In general, we expect members of the committees to be available for a one hour monthly video meeting and accessibility by email. If you would like to be considered for a position on either of these committees, please send a brief statement of your interest and qualifications to support@iamse.org by January 6.
We hope that you will consider becoming involved in this important and collegial work.

Pre-Applications for IAMSE Excellence in Teaching Awards Now Being Accepted

Since 2007, IAMSE has honored medical educators from its membership with two prestigious awards to recognize and promote teaching excellence and educational scholarship in the medical sciences. We now open the nominations for the 2020 Excellence in Teaching awards, which will be presented at the annual meeting in Denver, CO, USA in June.
Early Career Award for Excellence in Teaching and Innovation
This annual Award honors an IAMSE member who has made significant innovations, particularly with respect to teaching, in the short time they have focused their careers toward enhancing teaching, learning and learner assessment. Candidates for this award will be Assistant Professor or equivalent rank, and have demonstrated less than 10 years of educational scholarship.
Distinguished Career Award for Excellence in Teaching and Educational Scholarship
This award recognizes an IAMSE member who has a distinguished record of teaching as well as educational scholarship, including educational research and dissemination of scholarly approaches to teaching and education. Candidates should be Professor, Associate Professor, or equivalent rank, and have demonstrated greater than 10 years of educational scholarship.
Qualified candidates may self-nominate or be nominated by an IAMSE colleague.
Details regarding each award, required application materials, and deadlines can be found here.
 
Please submit the pre-application packet for the Early Career and Distinguished Career awards to support@iamse.org by December 31, 2019.

Thank you,
Dr. Bonny Dickinson

Chair, IAMSE Professional Development Committee

Thank you for your continued support of IAMSE!

We want to say a big THANK YOU for your continued support throughout this year. Because of you, we are able to bring a broad and diverse representation of non-profit and commercial entities forward for consideration during multiple times at our annual meeting each June, as well as at our new regional event in February.

We hope that you will consider exhibiting with us in Denver, CO, USA from June 13-16, 2020 or in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on February 28, 2020. The IAMSE meeting is a perfect place to display educational products and services and engage with meeting participants from around the world. We look forward to meeting our much-valued previous exhibitors again, as well as welcoming our first-time exhibitors.

2020 Event Info Here!

If you have any questions about exhibiting with or supporting IAMSE, please feel free to reach out to us at support@iamse.org.

#IAMSE20 Poster & Oral Abstracts Accepted Until December 1

The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) would like to remind you that abstracts for Oral and Poster presentations are still be accepted for the 24th Annual IAMSE Conference to be held at the Hilton Denver City Center in Denver, CO, USA from June 13-16, 2020. The IAMSE meeting offers opportunities for faculty development and networking, bringing together medical sciences and medical education across the continuum of healthcare education.

Please click here to submit your abstract today.

Submission deadline is December 1, 2019.

There is no limit on the number of abstracts you may submit, but it is unlikely that more than two presentations per presenter can be accepted due to scheduling complexities. Abstract acceptance notifications will be returned by March 15, 2020.