Strategies for Incorporating Self-Directed Learning into Basic Sciences Education

Presented by Samara Ginzburg, MD and Joanne Willey, PhD on March 31, 2022 at 12:00 pm

This interactive session will begin with a brief overview of self-directed learning (SDL) in healthcare education and acknowledge some common challenges. The majority of the session will then focus on strategies that can be used in large and small group settings to promote the development of self-regulated learning skills needed for students to become self-directed. We will pay particular attention early learners and the basic science curriculum. We will close with a Q and A and consider lessons learned.

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Presenter Bios

Dr. Samara Ginzburg is the Senior Associate Dean for Education at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. Dr. Ginzburg is a founding member of the leadership team that established this young school of medicine. During the past eleven years, she focused on creating a culture of active learning for the undergraduate medical education program, integral to the Zucker School of Medicine’s mission to mold future physicians into lifelong, self-directed learners. She led the team that pioneered the development and implementation of a hybrid case/problem-based learning program, PEARLS (Patient-centered Explorations in Active Reasoning, Learning and Synthesis), which received the Association of American Medical Colleges, NEGEA Innovation in Medical Education Award. She continues to propel medical education forward, working with UME faculty leadership in operating an educational program that closely integrates basic, clinical and social sciences to train learners capable of putting knowledge into action with the goal of achieving effective outcomes to improve the health of patients. Dr. Ginzburg received her Medical Degree from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She completed a Residency and Chief Residency in Internal Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Dr. Willey earned her BA at the University of Pennsylvania and PhD at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She was involved in the planning and design of the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell. In September of 2014, she assumed the position of Chair of the Department of Science Education and in 2017, was honored as the Leo A. Guthart Professor of Biomedical Science. In addition to her role as Department Chair, Dr. Willey also serves as course director for Human-Microbe Interactions, taken by all second-year medical students.

Prior to joining the medical school, Dr. Willey taught undergraduate microbiology and supported her lab through NSF and NIH funding. Her work focused on natural product biosynthesis by antibiotic-producing bacteria in the genus Streptomyces.