This year, the Professional Development Workshops (PDWS) are offered across four different themes. Participants will receive a Certificate of Workshop Attendance for each workshop completed. Participants who complete two workshops within the same theme will receive a Certificate of Series Attendance listing both workshops and the overarching theme. The themes for the 2025 PDWS are:

• AI in Health Professions Education
• Student Development Assessment
• Program Evaluation – Kirkpatrick, CIPP, Process Outcomes, Logic Model Tools
• Methods for Health Sciences Education Research

Below, we look at the AI in Health Professions Education Professional Development Workshops:

AI in Health Professions Education

Workshop 1: Large Language Models (LLMs) and Their Applications in Health Professions Education
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM MDT
Presented by Dennis Bergau, Orest Boyko, Jamie Fairclough, Alex In, Lise McCoy, Douglas McKell, Diego Niño, Amy Stone, and Thomas Thesen

This immersive hands-on workshop prepares participants to leverage Generative AI (GAI) tools in medical education. Through faculty-guided practice and collaborative learning, participants develop critical skills needed to evaluate, implement, and responsibly apply LLMs in their teaching practices. 

This workshop is designed for medical science educators, curriculum designers, and academic leaders who have started exploring AI in their workflows. Whether you’re relatively new to AI or have been using it regularly, this session will help you advance your skills in enhancing teaching, assessment, and data-informed decision-making in medical education. Ideal for those who have basic familiarity with AI tools ad want to expand their capabilities – from those who have just begun experimenting to those ready to explore more advanced options.

Workshop 2: Optimizing Teaching Assessment with AI
Saturday, June 14, 2025, 12:30 PM – 3:30 PM MDT
Presented by Dennis Bergau, Orest Boyko, Jamie Fairclough, Alex In, Lise McCoy, Douglas McKell, Diego Niño, Amy Stone, Thomas Thesen, and Claudio Violato

This hands-on workshop guides participants through advanced applications of Generative AI (GAI) in teaching and assessment, emphasizing practical implementation and ethical considerations. 

This workshop is designed for health professions educators (HPE), curriculum designers, and academic leaders who are interested in leveraging AI to enhance teaching, assessment, and data-informed decision-making while addressing the practical and ethical challenges of integrating AI into HPE. Ideal for those who have experience with AI tools or have completed introductory AI training and want to expand their expertise.

For more information on both of these AI in Health Professions Education PDWs, including presenter information, key learning objectives, and workshop schedules, click here. (Each PDWs theme has it’s own tab). 

All PDWS will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Registration for each workshop will be an additional fee of $140.00 USD during registration. Already registered? You can still add PDWS to your schedule by modifying your registration. To do so, you may click here.

If you have any questions or would like assistance adding a workshop to your schedule, please contact support@iamse.org. 

Don’t forget to register before the Early Bird deadline on Friday, April 1 to receive a discount on registration costs!

Are you looking for professional skills development opportunities during the IAMSE 2025 Conference this June in Calgary, Alberta, Canada? Sign up for up to two Professional Development Workshops (PDWS)! Solicited directly from the IAMSE Professional Development Committee on behalf of the Board of Directors, PDWS are IAMSE’s sanctioned workshops that lead to certificates of attendance for specific topics related to the society’s faculty development focus areas. Using the conceptual framework of micro-scholarship, PDWS serve as skills development stepping stones toward each of the IAMSE faculty development areas:

• Teaching
• Learner Assessment
• Curriculum Development
• Advising and Mentoring
• Educational Leadership and Administration

This year, the PDWS are offered across four different themes. Participants will receive a Certificate of Workshop Attendance for each workshop completed. Participants who complete two workshops within the same theme will receive a Certificate of Series Attendance listing both workshops and the overarching theme. The themes for the 2025 PDWS are:

• AI in Health Professions Education
• Student Development Assessment
• Program Evaluation – Kirkpatrick, CIPP, Process Outcomes, Logic Model Tools
• Methods for Health Sciences Education Research

All PDWS will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025. Registration for each workshop will be an additional fee of $140.00 USD during registration. Already registered? You can still add PDWS to your schedule by modifying your registration. To do so, you may click here.

If you have any questions or would like assistance adding a workshop to your schedule, please contact support@iamse.org. 

Don’t forget to register before the Early Bird deadline on Friday, April 1 to receive a discount on registration costs!

Thank you,
Stefanie Attardi, Professional Development Committee Chair
Diego Niño, Professional Development Committee Vice-Chair
Jon Wisco, Professional Development Workshops Task Force Chair

The Annual Conference of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) offers many opportunities for faculty development and networking, and brings medical sciences and medical education across the continuum together. This year’s theme is “Integrating Generations: Are We Ready for the Next 25 Years of Health Professions Education?” Featured plenary speakers include Will Bynum (Duke University, USA), Teresa Chan (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada), Thirusha Naidu (University of Ottawa, Canada), and Yvonne Steinert (McGill University, Canada).

Thirusha Naidu, PhD

How Not to Haunt the Future –
Global Polycrises Compel Generational Shifts in Medical Science Ideology and Methodology

Presented by: Thirusha Naidu, PhD, University of Ottawa, Canada
Date and Time: Monday, June 16, 2025, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM MDT

In times that call to attention how we value of human life, our diverse ways of knowing and sources of life it becomes imperative to explore how human intervention and interaction are generationally implicated. In this talk I reflect on our emergent awareness of how the inter-related polycrises of global instances of genocide, epistemicide and the destruction of the planet and ecosystems (terracide) highlight gaps in health science ideology and methodology. Reflecting on sociopolitical histories that resulted in past generations creating the conditions for current global crisis. I suggest that accepting past generations limitations and acknowledging contemporary gaps in our knowledge system will catalyse fundamental and essential transformation in research, teaching and scholarship in health and medical science education. I consider how and why we should take responsibility for shifts in ideology and methodology while releasing long-term outcomes to future generations. Consideration of social time, generational consciousness and diffracting and decolonising methodology are ways in which we may alleviate epistemic violence and heal social and intergenerational trauma.
Learning objectives
1. To understand how contemporary global polycrises of genocide, epistemicide and terracide results from the actions of past generations
2. To explore how may avert current and future crises through past generations limitations through expanding current ideologies and methodologies.
3. To reflect on how we can expand awareness, positionality and future orientation as researcher to avert harmful impacts of our current unconscious limitations on future generations.

For more information about speakers, events, and registration, please visit www.iamseconference.org.

We hope to see you in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate John Szarek on being awarded the Edward Patrick Finnerty Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be given out at the 29th Annual IAMSE Conference in June. This award is bestowed upon an individual member who has demonstrated sustained involvement in and commitment to the advancement of the International Association of Medical Science Educators through their many types of service to the organization at the maximal level of performance.
 
The special nature of this award makes it one for which a member may not apply. Rather, it represents the superlative level of recognition that the organization, through selection by its Board of Directors, can provide to a most worthy individual whose work on behalf of IAMSE has shown a consistent history of distinguished accomplishments.

Dr. John L. Szarek serves as Professor and Vice Chair for Curriculum in the Department of Medical Education and Education Director for Simulation at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine. He received his B.S. degrees in biological sciences and pharmacy from the University of Illinois in Urbana and Chicago, respectively. He earned his doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy and completed his postdoctoral training in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Vermont. 

John has been a member of IAMSE since 1999, contributing significantly to the organization’s growth and development through various leadership roles and scholarly activities. He served on the IAMSE Board of Directors from 2004-2006, and 2007-2013, including serving as Secretary from 2012-2013. His commitment to advancing IAMSE is evident through his extensive service, including Chair of the Technology Committee (2006-2009), MedU Science Pharmacology Core Director (2014-2018), and member of the Publications Committee (2010-2023).

Throughout his tenure with IAMSE, John has regularly contributed to the organization’s annual conferences, serving on several program committees (2004, 2005, 2007, 2013) and chairing the 2006 program, held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His expertise in medical education is reflected in his extensive presentation record at IAMSE Conferences, where he has led workshops and focus sessions on topics ranging from simulation-based education to active learning strategies. He has presented several posters, won best poster presentation in 2023, delivered a plenary presentation in 2005, and contributed chapters in three IAMSE Manuals. John was recognized with the IAMSE Master Teacher Award in June 2015.

It is with sincere appreciation and gratitude to his continued efforts and outstanding support that we bestow this award to our dear friend and colleague, John Szarek. Congratulations, and thank you for all that you do for IAMSE.

Peter GM de Jong
President, IAMSE

The Annual Conference of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) offers many opportunities for faculty development and networking, and brings medical sciences and medical education across the continuum together. This year’s theme is “Integrating Generations: Are We Ready for the Next 25 Years of Health Professions Education?” Featured plenary speakers include Will Bynum (Duke University, USA), Teresa Chan (Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada), Thirusha Naidu (University of Ottawa, Canada), and Yvonne Steinert (McGill University, Canada).

Yvonne Steinert, PhD

Faculty Development in the Medical Sciences: Preparing for the Future

Presented by: Yvonne Steinert, PhD, McGill University, Canada
Date and Time: Tuesday, June 17, 2025, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM MDT

Are we ready for the next 25 years of health professions education? How do we best prepare faculty members for the challenges that lie ahead?

Although there is no simple answer to these questions, part of the response may lie in faculty development – how we prepare current and new faculty members for the future. This presentation will focus on 3 possible foci for faculty development: (1) how faculty development can help to promote adaptive expertise and equip medical science educators to respond to change and uncertainty; (2) how faculty development can support professional identity formation and help faculty members uncover core values that should not change; and (3) how faculty development can be inclusive – of different professional backgrounds, different levels of expertise, and different personal and sociocultural backgrounds. In closing, we will also explore how faculty development can move beyond a focus on the individual to address organizational constraints and affordances that will enable the integration of generations and help medical science educators prepare for the future.

For more information about speakers, events, and registration, please visit www.iamseconference.org.

We hope to see you in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!