Innovation In Medical Education Research Articles

Future of Medical Education

The last few decades have seen tremendous progress in the field of medical education that includes several innovations in curricular design, instructional designs, delivery and assessment. The theme chosen for our recent International Medical Education Conference (IMEC), “Future of Medical Education”, is essentially to explore how innovations in medical education would influence and impact the way health professionals are trained in the future. The factors that influence the need for a change in medical education has been different at different times; linking clinical education with teaching hospitals in the early part of the century and approaches to learning in the 60’s and 70’s were influential in brining about the earlier changes. In the current scenario, changing societal needs and expectations, the role of regulatory bodies in setting and adhering to global standards, advancements in information technology and technological advances in patient management and health care delivery have necessitated a change in our approach. For medical education to keep pace with these changing expectations is a major challenge. All of the above factors have influenced medical education in a major way and have redefined the roles of the teachers and students. Concomitant to these changes in medical education were the development and progress in medical education research. Research in medical education has contributed substantially to the understanding of the learning process. Educators and institutions today prefer to use evidence to guide educational decision making. Gone are the days when such decisions were largely adopted by personal preferences. Measuring the progress and outcome of medical education has now become a necessity.

Introduction

In his editorial for the July 2009 issue of Medical Education1 Kevin Eva wrote about witnessing the globalisation of medical education while attending a conference in Pakistan. Just as the conference Kevin and I attended in Pakistan illustrated an exciting development in medical education, I believe this issue of Really Good Stuff is another means of witnessing the globalisation of medical education. Not only is there a great breadth of topics and range of countries represented here, but this issue represents the largest number of Really Good Stuff abstracts we have ever published and that is a testament to the globalisation of medical education as well. We received a record number of submissions for this issue and there were enough ‘really good’ ones to require that more abstracts be published (Thank you, Kevin). There are 17 countries represented by the abstracts published and there were more than 25 countries represented by the submissions for this issue. Really Good Stuff was created as a vehicle to nurture and promote the sharing of new ideas, challenges and solutions to medical education across the continuum and around the world. Because Really Good Stuff represents medical schools throughout the world, it offers a snapshot of the universal nature of the problems faced by medical educators. The abstracts published in this issue provide a glimpse into the ways that schools in India are addressing student well-being; peers are used for tutoring in the Netherlands and for mentoring in Saudi Arabia; and a Chinese medical school where medicine is no longer a foreign language for patients. The importance of promoting an interprofessional, team-based approach to patient care is highlighted in reports from Malawi and Canada and the varied uses of the internet and computer technology are illustrated in reports from Brazil, the US, and the UK. The interest in Really Good Stuff remains high, as demonstrated by the number of submissions received. However, many schools do not submit anything. There are hundreds of medical schools throughout the world. At almost every one of these schools there is activity underway in medical education innovations. Yet these schools are not represented here because they did not submit anything. My hope is that future issues will feature 40 or more different countries. Just as the number of submissions has grown, so have the number of reviewers for Really Good Stuff and the number of different countries they represent and I want to acknowledge the important contributions made by each of the reviewers, both in shaping the contents of this issue and in shaping the direction of Really Good Stuff. Without their thoughtful suggestions and their commitment of time and energy to the review process, there could be no Really Good Stuff. My particular thanks goes to the staff of Medical Education, especially Sue Symons and Amanda Dove, for their unflagging support, guidance, and patience with me throughout the production of Really Good Stuff.

Innovation in veterinary medical education: the concept of "One world, one health" in the curriculum of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Calgary

'One World, One Health' is a foundation concept in veterinary medicine, much like comparative medicine. However, teachers of veterinary medicine often fail to identify it or speak of its importance within the veterinary curriculum. The resurgence of interest in the 'One World, One Health' concept aligns well with the underlying principles on which the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) has been newly founded. This concept is therefore a key component of the UCVM programme, and one that is well highlighted for those studying in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) course and graduate students.

Innovations in Medical Education: Getting Closer to Our Goals

Innovations in Medical Education: Getting Closer to Our Goals

Innovation and Re-orientation in Medical Education and Research: Challenges for Ibrahim Medical College

doi: 10.3329/imcj.v1i1.2886Ibrahim Med. Coll. J. 2007; 1(1): i-ii

Short-Term Outcomes Of A Near-Full PBL Curriculum In A New Taiwan Medical School

Problem-based learning (PBL), which incorporates principles of adult learning, is an important innovation in medical education. The use of PBL in health professional curricula is becoming more widespread. The curriculum design and the ways of implementing PBL are different among schools. More evidence is needed before a full PBL curriculum can be successfully implemented in an Asian medical school. Fu Jen Medical School is the first school in Taiwan to adopt a near-full PBL approach for the 3rd and 4th year curriculum (the medical education in Taiwan is mostly a 7-year undergraduate program). Fu Jen Medical School launched the interdisciplinary case-based, small group learning and integrated curriculum in 2002. This study investigated the short-term outcomes of this PBL curriculum, evaluated from several aspects. First, the self-directed learning readiness of the medical students before and after they entered the PBL curriculum was investigated using the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS). Second, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 5th and 6th year medical students and clinical instructors to understand the impact of PBL on the learning of clinical medicine. Finally, the passing rates in the Taiwan Medical Licensure Examination were compared with those of other medical schools in Taiwan. After 1 year of PBL, medical students at Fu Jen Medical School showed significant increases in the total SDLRS score, and in the subscores for learning strategy and self-assessment. These changes persisted until the end of 2 years of PBL. Students in their clinical years claimed that they were more active in learning, and had better learning skills and confidence in self-directed learning as compared with students from lecture-based curricula. PBL helps their clinical reasoning process, self-directed learning abilities and the use of knowledge in basic science to explain the clinical problem. On the other hand, the students thought that PBL had limited breadth and depth in clinical medicine and could not give them enough confidence in facing the national licensure examination. The initial batches of medical students (students from the first three cohorts) had the highest passing rate for Part 1 (basic sciences in medicine) and students from the first two cohorts had a 100% passing rate for Part 2 (clinical medicine) of the Taiwan Medical Licensure Examination. A near-full PBL curriculum in Asian medical schools is feasible and could encourage students to improve their self-directed learning abilities, learn adequate knowledge in basic sciences, and experience positive effects on learning clinical medicine. Better preparation of students for integrated learning of basic and clinical sciences are still needed, as is an emphasis on tutor training to improve the effectiveness of tutorial discussions.

Integrating assessment innovations in medical education

The role assessment plays in driving learning should not be underestimated. An understanding of assessment processes is clearly important for all those involved in teaching, as well as examiners and candidates. So how do we best assess learning outcomes? This article provides a balanced foundation in the theory of modern medical education for those involved in assessment at any level.

A Small-Group Reflection Exercise for Increasing the Awareness of Cultural Stereotypes: A Facilitator's Guide

OPEN ACCESSFebruary 25, 2009A Small-Group Reflection Exercise for Increasing the Awareness of Cultural Stereotypes: A Facilitator's Guide Christopher DeGannes, MD, FACP, Kamilah Woodson Coke, PhD, Tanya Bender Henderson, PhD, Kathy Sanders-Phillips, PhD Christopher DeGannes, MD, FACP Howard University College of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author , Kamilah Woodson Coke, PhD Howard University School of Education Google Scholar More articles by this author , Tanya Bender Henderson, PhD Howard University School of Business Google Scholar More articles by this author , Kathy Sanders-Phillips, PhD Howard University College of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.668 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractAbstract Introduction: Due to the findings that conscious and unconscious stereotypes play a contributing role in racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare, several authorities recommend cultural competence training for healthcare providers. The first step in effective cultural competence training is increasing learners' awareness of racial and ethnic disparities; the presence of unconscious personal stereotypes, biases, and assumptions; and the impact of such stereotypes on healthcare delivery. Methods: In order to address this we created this 150-minute small-group reflection exercise to increase participant's awareness of their biases. Through self- and group-reflection, participants additionally become aware of the potential influence of unconscious stereotypes on healthcare delivery. Results: This exercise was used with 114 second-year medical students in groups of 10–15 with one facilitator. After completing the exercise, 49% of students agreed and 44.7% strongly agreed (93.7% combined) that they were more aware of the influence of unconscious stereotypes and assumptions on providing effective patient care. Additionally, after completing this exercise 41.7% agreed and 49% strongly agreed (90.7% combined) that they were more aware of their own personal stereotypes and assumptions regarding groups different from themselves. Discussion: This exercise is an effective first step in any cultural competence curriculum to improve participants' awareness of unconscious stereotypes they might have about different cultural groups. Educational Objectives By the end of this session, learners will be able to: Understand unconscious cultural stereotypes.Identify potential impact of unconscious stereotypes on patient care.Increase awareness of the influence of unconscious stereotypes on medical decision-making. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Cultural Competence Self Reflection Exercise Facilitator's Manual.pdf To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. Cited ByPerdomo J, Tolliver D, Hsu H, He Y, Nash K, Donatelli S, Mateo C, Akagbosu C, Alizadeh F, Power-Hays A, Rainer T, Zheng D, Kistin C, Vinci R and Michelson C (2019) Health Equity Rounds: An Interdisciplinary Case Conference to Address Implicit Bias and Structural Racism for Faculty and Trainees, MedEdPORTAL, 15, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2019.West T, Loomer K and Wyatt T (2019) How Diverse Is Your Universe? An Activity for Students to Reflect on Ethnoracial Diversity During Orientation, MedEdPORTAL, 15, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2019.DallaPiazza M, Padilla-Register M, Dwarakanath M, Obamedo E, Hill J and Soto-Greene M (2018) Exploring Racism and Health: An Intensive Interactive Session for Medical Students, MedEdPORTAL, 14, Online publication date: 1-Jan-2018. Copyright & Permissions© 2009 DeGannes et al. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike license.KeywordsHumanistic EnvironmentCultural GroupsRacismSelf-ReflectionHealth Equity ResearchStereotypesStereotyped Behavior Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Prior Presentations DeGannes CN, Woodson-Coke K, Henderson TB, Sanders-Phillips K. Development of a cultural competence small group reflection exercise to increase the awareness of unconscious assumptions and stereotypes amongst healthcare providers. Poster presented at: 30th Annual Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) Meeting, Innovations in Medical Education; 2007; Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Loading ...

Cleveland Health Sciences Library Stakes New Ground for Libraries in Symbolic Hyperlinking of Undergraduate Medical Curriculum Syllabi

Cleveland Health Sciences Library (CHSL) supports health sciences programs at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). The CWRU School of Medicine (SOM) made a major innovation in medical education in the 1950s by introducing the organ-system-based Western Reserve curriculum, which influenced many other medical schools. CWRU SOM again assumed a leadership role with its WR2 curriculum, introduced in 2006. CHSL has staked out new territory for the role of libraries in medical education by taking responsibility for embedding page- and paragraph-level hyperlinks in the SOM's “e-Curriculum” documents. This article discusses the background to, and implications of, this innovation. CHSL staff expect demand for these services to continue and become central to the library's identity.

Integrating teaching innovations in medical education

Teaching is changing, but the goal remains the same. This article provides a balanced foundation in the theory of modern medical education for those involved in teaching at any level.

Medical education in Australia: Much has changed but what remains?

Australia is a young country in medical education terms. Traditionally courses followed a 6-year British model with a pre-clinical/clinical divide. There is no national licensing system. After graduation there are two postgraduate years followed by specialist training. From the mid-1990s there has been considerable expansion and innovation in medical education. There are now 19 medical schools with a mix of 4-, 5- and 6-year courses. The creation of rural clinical schools has fostered new clinical placements and community-based programmes. Indigenous health is a priority. There is a nationally accepted curriculum framework in Indigenous health for all medical schools. Clinical teaching remains as a significant challenge especially with the increasing number of medical schools and students. There are also important issues in aligning a teaching hospital-based system with the health services of the future. Medical education research is a developing discipline. There is an emerging national recognition of research and schemes to promote young researchers. The Medical Schools Outcomes Database project is providing an important impetus to career choice and outcomes research. While the period of expansion may have ceased, Australian medical education still faces considerable challenges posed by a new health care reform agenda.

Innovation in medical postgraduate education: a pilot study

Although widely criticized for its didactical inadequacy, the accepted form for medical postgraduate training is still the symposium. One of its great deficiencies is the inability for participants to put new (scientific) findings into a personal medical context by means of discussion and reflection. To meet the didactical demands an innovative approach to postgraduate education was developed and tested with gynaecologist as teachers and general practitioners as participants. The first results with five courses are very positive: in comparison to the symposium, the new approach stimulates internalisation of provided knowledge much more, information retention is much higher and the reactions of participants are overwhelmingly enthusiastic. A short outline of the didactic model and its procedures is provided.

Report of Colloquium III: Challenges for Pediatric Graduate Medical Education and How to Meet Them—A Quality Improvement Approach to Innovation in Pediatric Graduate Medical Education

Participants of the third colloquium of the Residency Review and Redesign in Pediatrics (R(3)P) Project concluded that pediatricians who practice ambulatory, hospital-based, a combination of ambulatory and hospital-based, and subspecialty pediatrics are sufficiently different to justify differences in general pediatric residency training. This conclusion along with others of previous colloquia led to the creation of a list of goals for innovative change in residency education and a draft of a quality improvement process by which they might be achieved.

Special announcement: an updated mission statement and a new publisher for the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia

The most immediately apparent change to the Journal is reflected in its updated mission statement: ‘‘Excellence in research and knowledge translation in anesthesia, pain, perioperative medicine, and critical care’’. Following a period of consultation with the Editorial Board, we agreed on the importance of building on the mission first introduced in 2000, while highlighting the Journal’s broad, yet defined, mandate. The updated mission statement reflects the editorial, scientific, continuing medical education (CME), and related content that is published in the Journal. As to advancing new knowledge, the Journal publishes reports of original investigations, meta-analyses and cohort studies, and a limited number of clinically-related basic science studies originating in Canada and internationally. With regard to knowledge translation, the editorial and scientific content continues to focus, to the greatest extent possible, on a bench-to-bedside approach, and special articles will address innovation in medical education and topics of broader perioperative medical interest to our readership. Also, readers increasingly turn to their journals as an invaluable and effective means to advance their continuing medical education. In this regard, the Journal’s commitment to foster the development of accredited CME content is reaffirmed. Within the context of a specialty journal, the Journal’s updated mission statement also reflects the fact that the scope of its content is expansive. While anesthesia remains a core clinical, research, and educational activity for many readers of the Journal, anesthesiologists are recognized experts in acute and chronic pain and in the expanding field of perioperative medicine. Critical care medicine is the final content domain of the mission statement. Modern critical care medicine is a multidisciplinary field involving specialists in anesthesia, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and neonatology. Going forward, we anticipate that contributions to critical care medicine, from both Canadian and international authors, will increasingly reflect the roots of these multidisciplinary backgrounds. While the mission statement has been updated, the Journal title will remain in all instances: Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d’anesthesie. We are very proud to publish in Canada’s two official languages, and the English and French versions of the mission statement reflect this unique element of the Canadian linguistic heritage of the Journal. In order to advance the mission of the Journal, we anticipate some restructuring and expansion of the Editorial Board. We look forward to developing a senior editorial team to ensure our ability to capture interesting and innovative content, to provide excellence in editorial peer review, and to publish according to the best internationally accepted standards of scientific reporting. Soon, new associate editors and guest editors will be appointed, D. R. Miller, MD (&) Department of Anesthesia, The Ottawa Hospital, General Campus, Room 1409, 501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1H 8L6 e-mail: dmiller@ottawahospital.on.ca

"Mind the Gap": Seven Key Issues in Aligning Medical Education and Healthcare Policy

To ensure an adequate supply of physicians for the future, Canadian faculties of medicine have been expanding and modifying physician training at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels with the intention of producing more physicians and addressing long-standing challenges in the Canadian physician workforce. While these medical education initiatives may partly address these goals, the lack of alignment between health services policy and education policy may well lead to failures and disappointing results. The authors argue that changes in related healthcare policy are required both to support the intended outcomes and to sustain innovations in medical education. From their perspective as medical educators, the authors describe seven key gaps in this alignment, identify those who are in a position to address them and call for ongoing opportunities to identify, discuss and address alignment of policy with other initiatives at the national and provincial levels.

Innovative Medical Education at Witten/Herdecke University: Its Idea of Alternative Education and Curriculum

Purpose: Witten/Herdecke University, Germany, is the only private medical school and university that has offered a wide range of new curricula in the early age of innovation in medical education. The aim of the study is to review how the educational goal of this institution is realized in its curriculum. Methods: Descriptive study of the educational goal, foundation history, and structure of WittenHerdecke University’s curriculum, as well as its organizational style, through analysis of the literature and publications. Results: Witten/Herdecke University provides an integrated education that ranges from medicine and music therapy to economics and art. This structure is intended to ensure that students receive the broadest education possible to build their own humanity. The results of its innovative education have been recognized as admirable in recent objective publications. Conclusion: Through its curriculum, Witten/Herdecke University uses a unique approach in educating its students to become sentient, compassionate human beings. Their program shows us that the direction of innovative medical education in recent decades is justified.

How much anatomy is enough?

Innovations in undergraduate medical education, such as integration of disciplines and problem based learning, have given rise to concerns about students' knowledge of anatomy. This article originated from several studies investigating the knowledge of anatomy of students at the eight Dutch medical schools. The studies showed that undergraduate students uniformly perceived deficiencies in their anatomical knowledge when they started clinical training regardless of their school's didactic approach. A study assessing students' actual knowledge of clinical anatomy revealed no relationship between students' knowledge and the school's didactic approach. Test failure rates based on absolute standards set by different groups of experts were indicative of unsatisfactory levels of anatomical knowledge, although standards differed markedly between the groups of experts. Good test performance by students seems to be related to total teaching time for anatomy, teaching in clinical context, and revisiting anatomy topics in the course of the curriculum. These factors appeared to outweigh the effects of disciplinary integration or whether the curriculum was problem-based or traditional.

The history of medical simulation

The historical roots of simulation might be described with the broadest definition of medical simulation: “an imitation of some real thing, state of affairs, or process” for the practice of skills, problem solving, and judgment. From the first “blue box” flight simulator to the military's impetus in the transfer of modeling and simulation technology to medicine, worldwide acceptance of simulation training is growing. Large collaborative simulation centers support the expectation of increases in multidisciplinary, interprofessional, and multimodal simulation training. Virtual worlds, both immersive and Web-based, are at the frontier of innovation in medical education.

Innovation in medical education: how Linköping created a Blue Ocean for medical education in Sweden

Background: The Linköping Health University is an example of a medical school which has succeeded, not only with a major curricular change, transforming itself into a problem-based learning school, but also in contributing to innovations in medical education.Aims: To analyse the Linköping example in order to better understand how to succeed with innovations in medical education.Method: By applying a framework developed within the strategic management literature to the case study, the authors hope to understand how this innovation was achieved.Results: Linköping Health University was able to break boundaries and create a divergent profile through eliminating, reducing, raising, and creating different aspects of the curricula.Conclusions: A strategic management framework can be applied to medical education to better understand innovation. The authors discover that many of the later innovations were in fact more aimed at sustaining the initial innovation rather than creating new trends. It remains unclear from the case study how to stimulate innovation without the use of fear or threats.

Writing for publication in medical education: The benefits of a faculty development workshop and peer writing group

Background: Although educational innovations in medical education are increasing in number, many educators do not submit their ideas for publication.Aims: The goal of this initiative was to assist faculty members write about their educational innovations.Method: Twenty-four faculty members participated in this intervention, which consisted of a half-day workshop, three peer writing groups, and independent study. We assessed the impact of this intervention through post-workshop evaluations, a one-year follow-up questionnaire, tracking of manuscript submissions, and an analysis of curriculum vitae.Results: The workshop evaluations and one-year follow-up demonstrated that participants valued the workshop small groups, self-instructional workbook, and peer support and feedback provided by the peer writing groups. One year later, nine participants submitted a total of 14 manuscripts, 11 of which were accepted for publication. In addition, 10 participants presented a total of 38 abstracts at educational meetings. Five years later, we reviewed the curriculum vitae of all participants who had published or presented their educational innovation. Although the total number of publications remained the same, the number of educationally-related publications and presentations at scientific meetings increased considerably.Conclusions: A faculty development workshop and peer writing group can facilitate writing productivity and presentations of scholarly work in medical education.