News

IAMSE – What Conferences Are You Attending? Let Us Know!

As you may know, IAMSE maintains a listing of Medical Education Conferences on our website. We’d like to expand our listing of conferences, but to do this, we need your help!

Will you be attending any Medical Education Conferences this year or next year? If you are, please let us know! You can send this information to us via email at support@iamse.org.

Currently, the listing of conferences is located on the IAMSE website under the Events heading as Events of Interest. Here, you will be able to find information on other conferences that may be of interest to you.

IAMSE – Administrative Office Closed November 23-24

As those of us in the United States prepare for Thanksgiving, we would like to extend a sincere THANK YOU for being a part of our success and daily lives.

The IAMSE Administrative Office will be closed on November 23-24, 2017 for the Thanksgiving holiday. We will resume normal business hours November 27.

We are truly grateful for the support you have provided to us at IAMSE. As we begin looking forward to 2018, we are excited for the new opportunities that may lay ahead.

IAMSE – Publications Committee MSE Article Review

Every month, the IAMSE Publications Committee reviews published articles from the archives of Medical Science Educator or of its predecessor JIAMSE. This month’s review is taken from MSE, volume 27.

Physicians are faced with the fast pace of medical innovation and also need to understand the importance of evidence-based medicine in both clinical and non-clinical settings. Additionally, there is a significant need to train individuals who will enter into academic medicine and who will pursue careers as physician-scientists. Medical schools are faced with the challenge of providing experiential opportunities for their trainees that foster critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills in order to train the next generation of physicians to meet the challenges associated with the evolution of medical practice and to understand the importance of research in medicine. One approach that has been recommended by the American Association of Medical Colleges is to provide opportunities for medical students to engage in research. Many institutions offer summer research programs for medical students, but it is essential to assess the outcomes associated with such programs in order to determine their effectiveness and how such programs should evolve to continue to foster the acquisition of skills and knowledge that will enable the physicians of tomorrow to meet the changing landscape of medical practice. To begin to address these questions, students and preceptors who participated in the Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) were surveyed to understand short- and long-term outcomes associated with the program after 15 years. The findings of the survey and their implications are discussed in a recent study entitled Faculty and Student Evaluations of a Medical Student Summer Research Program: a 15 Year Analysis, published in the Medical Science Educator, Volume 27, (pages 75-82), 2017, by authors T Ho, A Agarwal, J Khambhati, S Sarfaty and AE Hirsch from Department of Radiation Oncology at BUSM.

The authors determined that the MSSRP has played a strong positive role in exposing students to research and that overall, there was a high level of satisfaction on the part of both students and preceptors who participated. Importantly, it was determined that the highest level of satisfaction for students correlated strongly with preceptor availability and the potential for the ongoing studies to result in tangible outcomes such as publications. Conversely, preceptors expressed their highest level of satisfaction in connection with students who were able to integrate effectively into existing research teams. These findings strongly support the importance of having strong mentorship, and providing a collaborative environment. They also support the importance of fostering the ability of students to work in a team. Importantly, it was also determined that research during the first year of medical school has a significant impact on student attitudes towards the role of research and their likelihood of pursuing research throughout medical school and beyond. Finally, exposure to research opportunities in the first year appeared to affect the choice of a medical specialty and the competitiveness of residency programs to which students applied. In summary, the MSSRP at BUSM effectively promotes the development of physicians with an appreciation of the importance of evidence-based medicine and the role that physician scientists play.

IAMSE – Winter 2018 WAS Registration Now Open!

Registration is now open for IAMSE Webinar Series Winter 2018! Sessions begin on Thursday, January 11, 2018.

Competency Based Education: Where are we now and where are we going?

The Winter 2018 IAMSE Web Seminar Series focuses on the current state of Competency Based Education across the health professions and its future directions. The series begins with an overview of current assessment theories, tools and practices and explains how these have been adapted to better reflect learners’ attainment of competency within a competency based framework. This is followed by a session that explores the relationship between memory and learning and describes strategies to better prepare and equip learners to achieve success within a competency based framework. The AAMC Core EPA work group next provides an update on the integration of “entrustment activities and entrustment assessment tools” into a competency based framework. The following presentation explores the benefits, challenges and outcomes of incorporating Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) into competency based medical education. The series closes with an appraisal of the Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum (EPAC) curriculum as a content-focused, “continuous” competency based model that spans undergraduate and graduate medical education. Upon completion of this series, participants will be better able to describe the evolution of competency based education in the health professions. Participants will also be able to identify opportunities within their own institutions for adopting and adapting a competency based educational framework.

January 11 – Competency-Based Medical Education: Understanding the Principles – Presented by Linda Snell

January 18 – Integration, competence and expertise: Preparing learners for the future – Presented by Nikki Woods

January 25 – Generating Trust in Entrustment: an update from the AAMC Core EPA Pilot Group – Presented by Kim Lomis

February 1 – Continuity, LICs and Competency-based Education – 2018 – Presented by Molly Cooke

February 8 – Competency based education across the UME-GME continuum: the EPAC program – Presented by Debbie Powell

For more information or to register, please click here.

IAMSE – Reminder: Board of Directors Nominations Due 11/20!

As a reminder, IAMSE is currently seeking nominations and self-nominations of candidates to serve on the IAMSE Board of Directors. International members are particularly invited.

The Board of Directors is the governing body that determines the direction of IAMSE and all our various programs and activities. This Spring, four of the Director positions become subject to election. The term for an IAMSE Director is for three years, renewable once.

The formal “job descriptions” for IAMSE Director are posted here. To submit your nomination or self-nomination by November 20 at 5 PM ETplease click here.

IAMSE – Reminder – Educational Scholarship Grant Applications Due December 15!

As a reminder, IAMSE is currently accepting applications for the IAMSE Educational Scholarship Grant program. The deadline for submitting applications is December 15, 2017. Applications are to be submitted on the submission page found here before the deadline. Instructions for grant proposals may be found here.

All IAMSE members are eligible to submit a grant proposal. Preference will be given to new projects, and must be relevant to the mission of IAMSE. The results of funded projects must be presented at a future IAMSE meeting. The initial funding award will be announced via email, and at the 2018 IAMSE meeting.

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.

Organizational Development Committee: Responsible for pursuing federal, foundation, corporate, and private funding on behalf of IAMSE. This committee also oversees the marketing outreach of IAMSE.

In general, we expect members of the committees to be available for a one hour monthly phone meeting and accessibility by email. If you would like to be considered for a position on any of these committees, please send a brief statement of your interest and qualifications to brandi@iamse.org by December 15.

We hope that you will consider becoming involved in this important and collegial work.

For additional information or questions please contact brandi@iamse.org.

IAMSE Exhibiting at NVMO Meeting

The IAMSE booth will be exhibiting at the annual meeting of the Netherlands Association for Medical Education (NVMO) in Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands on November 17-18, 2017. IAMSE will also deliver a special discussion session with Yvonne Steinert, Patricia S O’Sullivan, and Neil Osheroff titled “Turning our faculty from teachers into educators: a threat or a challenge?”. If you plan on attending this meeting, don’t miss this session and do not forget to swing by the IAMSE booth and say hello!

Information on the 2017 NVMO meeting can be found here.

We look forward to seeing you there!

#IAMSE18 – Call for Abstracts Reminder – Due 12/1

The deadline for poster abstract submission is quickly drawing near! As a reminder, IAMSE is currently accepting Oral and Poster abstract presentations to be presented at the 22nd Annual IAMSE Conference. The 2018 IAMSE Meeting will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from June 9-12, 2018. The IAMSE meeting offers opportunities for faculty development and networking, bringing together medical science educators from many professional disciplines and spanning the continuum of health care education.

All abstracts for Oral and Poster presentations must be submitted in the format requested through the online abstract submission site.

Please click here to submit your abstract
Please note: The first time you enter the site, if you have not already done so previously, you will be required to create a user profile.

The deadline for submission is  December 1, 2017 at 5 PM ET! Authors will be notified with a decision regarding their abstract submission by March 1. There is no limit to the number of abstracts you can submit.

Students who would like feedback on a draft of their abstract prior to final submission should email it to the Student Professional Development Committee, care of Mary Dereski (dereski@oakland.edu), by November 6, 2017.

IAMSE – Publications Committee MSE Article Review

As many of you are aware, Publications Committee members agree to provide a monthly review of an article in Medical Science Educator (MSE). We hope to alert you to something you may have missed, or just spur you to revisit an issue you may have already looked at. We want IAMSE members to get the most of their association journal and to consider publishing their own educational research in MSE when the time comes. Remember access to the journal is a benefit of membership and you can do so by logging in at IAMSE.org and then clicking the IAMSE Publications tab.

In the latest issue, September 2017, the following article caught my attention, “Do Pre-Clinical Experiences Adequately Prepare Students for Their Pediatrics Clerkship: A Needs Assessment to Inform Curricular Development” (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40670-017-0422-4). As one of the newer medical schools, even though my school as a BS/MD Program has existed for 40+ years, we are in the process of adding the clinical clerkship years to our curriculum. This article addresses something many at my institution have been thinking about, which is to make sure that our curriculum prior to years 3 and 4 of medical school is adequately preparing our students across the board for their clerkship experiences. In this article, a simple survey was administered over a 2 year period at 4 medical schools under the aegis of a working group of the Council on Medical Student Education in Pediatrics. Although preliminary in nature, the sample size was adequate with more than 500 responses. The 4 sites were diverse in being both public and private and urban and rural, although they were concentrated on the East coast of the U.S. Across all 4 sites, the results were fairly consistent. Thirty-three percent of respondents did not feel that their preclinical curriculum had adequately prepared them for the pediatrics clerkship. The survey showed that 40% of students reported inadequate preparation for pediatric physical examination skills. The open ended comments section suggested that many students felt they needed more pediatric-specific medical knowledge, citing many areas such as childhood developmental milestones, childhood vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases as well as pediatric preventative medicine. Though all schools surveyed were fairly consistent, the school with the most evidence of satisfaction in preparation for the pediatrics clerkship has made a concerted effort to insure that there is dedicated pediatric-specific content in each organ system block. Even with the limitations of this study, which are clearly delineated by the authors, I feel that there is good information to help curriculum committees in reviewing preclinical curriculum content, in our case even as we are putting in place the clinical curriculum.

IAMSE – Winter 2018 Webcast Audio Seminar Series Save the Date!

IAMSE is pleased to announce the Winter 2018 Web Seminar Series!

Competency-based Education – Where are we now and where are we going?

The Winter 2018 IAMSE Web Seminar Series focuses on the current state of Competency-Based Education across the health professions and its future directions. The series begins with an overview of current assessment theories, tools and practices and explains how these have been adapted to better reflect learners’ attainment of competency within a competency-based framework. This is followed by a session that explores the relationship between memory and learning and describes strategies to better prepare and equip learners to achieve success within a competency-based framework. The AAMC Core EPA work group next provides an update on the integration of “entrustment activities and entrustment assessment tools” into a competency-based framework. The following presentation explores the benefits, challenges and outcomes of incorporating Longitudinal Integrated Clerkships (LICs) into competency-based medical education. The series closes with an appraisal of the Education in Pediatrics Across the Continuum (EPAC) curriculum as a content-focused, “continuous” competency-based model that spans undergraduate and graduate medical education. Upon completion of this series, participants will be better able to describe the evolution of competency-based education in the health professions. Participants will also be able to identify opportunities within their own institutions for adopting and adapting a competency-based educational framework.

January 11 – Competency-Based Medical Education: Understanding the Principles – Presented by Linda Snell

January 18 – Integration, competence and expertise: Preparing learners for the future – Presented by Nikki Woods

January 25 – Generating Trust in Entrustment: an update from the AAMC Core EPA Pilot Group – Presented by Kim Lomis

February 1 – Continuity, LICs and Competency-based Education – 2018 – Presented by Molly Cook

February 8 – Competency based education across the UME-GME continuum: the EPAC program – Presented by Debbie Powell

Registration is set to open in November. Please visit http://www.iamse.org for more information.

IAMSE Exhibiting at AAMC and The Generalists Meetings

The Generalists in Medical Education will be holding their 2017 conference on November 2-3 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. This year’s conference theme is “Collaboration for Innovation,” which is about fostering collaborative efforts to support innovation in medical education. Information on this conference can be found here.

The 2017 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Medical Education Meeting will be taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, USA from November 3-7. Click here for more information on the AAMC meeting.

The IAMSE booth will be present at both of these conferences to exhibit, so if you plan on attending these meetings, do not forget to swing by the IAMSE booth and say hello!

We look forward to seeing you there!