Pre-Conference Workshops

ASME Annual Scientific Meeting 2008: New horizons in medical education
10-12 September 2008  University of Leicester, UK

Wednesday 10th September 9:30am - 12:30pm

1. Sharing resources and good practice in medical and healthcare education development

This session will help participants to:

• identify and evaluate strategies for sharing good practice in medical education development, both on-line and face to face
• evaluate the role of communities of practice in supporting medical education development
• outline, evaluate and enhance methods for on-line sharing of educational development resources using the RAFTT database
• review the materials in the RAFTT database and identify areas for development 
• identify key aims and objectives for 2008 for the educational developers special interest group
• share a range of good practice ideas for medical education development

The workshop will consist of a mixture of presentations, small group work and plenary feedback using flip charts

Facilitators: Nigel Purcell, Reg Dennick, Judy McKimm and Clare Morris
Maximum delegates: 40

2. Getting published

Survival in academia and advancement in training depend, at least in part, on publication, ‘publish or perish’ providing a mantra that is possibly more accurate now than ever before. The positive side of this is that publication is the lifeblood of academic life, providing the main medium for dissemination of ideas and advancement of knowledge, both of which are defining features of the scientific process.  The last few years have seen a significant increase in submissions to health professional education journals, making publishing ever more competitive. Adding further to the challenge is that such journals are slowly ‘raising the bar’ in terms of standards for publication. With this in mind the goals of this workshop will be to provide authors (or potential authors) with a better understanding of what makes a good paper, where the common pitfalls lie with respect to writing and submitting papers, and what goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of the publication process

Workshop participants will consider the following questions and issues through a series of short presentations, and group/individual exercises: 

• What problems have you experienced/do you anticipate related to getting published?
•  What makes a good paper? Why do papers get accepted or rejected?
• The review process – what happens to a paper?
• Style matters
• Peer review – is it all it’s cracked up to be?
• Some big issues including: authorship; ethical aspects of publication; ‘salami slicing’

Facilitator(s): John Spencer, Kevin Eva and Susan Symons
Maximum delegates: 30

3. Producing an electronic curriculum map: the purposes, processes, perks and pitfalls

This workshop will use the Edinburgh experience of developing a common mapping tool to describe two curricula using different approaches: top down where the user interface was initially designed around individual modules (Veterinary Medicine), and bottom up where learning objectives are used as the basic mapped item (Medicine). The workshop will aim to provide:

•  An insight into the technical processes, administrative and educational advantages, and pitfalls of mapping for people who have yet to attempt this process.
• A forum for sharing experiences, and discussion of implications (educational, administrative, financial) of creating and sustaining an electronic curriculum map for people who have already engaged in this process.

 The workshop will be introduced with three short talks by members of the Edinburgh team describing the pedagogical reasons for mapping, and the different approaches used by Veterinary Medicine and Medicine. Delegates will be asked to nominate topics of specific interest to their own situation for discussion in depth in breakout groups. Examples of topics for discussion include:

•  Who owns the curriculum (educational administrator, year heads, module organisers, lecturers) and how does this affect governance and management of the database?
• What are the maintenances issues (technical, academic, financial)?
• What are you mapping against (e.g. competencies)?
• What is the value of mapping for the students?
• What is the value of mapping for academic staff?

A final plenary session will be used to share the outcome of discussions and formulate a consensus of opinion.

Facilitator(s): Patricia Warren, Helen Cameron, Michael Begg and Catriona Bell
Maximum delegates: 20

4. Detecting and supporting undergraduate students in difficulty

Teachers will often come across students who are in academic, personal or professional difficulties that may affect their studies or progress through medical school. They may be in the position of a formally appointed personal tutor, an encounter through a teaching role, or be sought out by a student who is looking for a friendly ear.

This workshop will explore the role of the teacher or personal tutor in detecting and managing students in difficulty, and ways to facilitate an effective professional relationship.

The workshop will consider a range of scenarios through which students in difficulty may present; discuss and develop appropriate strategies for effective management of the student and allow discussion and sharing of experiences of the roles and responsibilites of teachers, personal tutors and other staff involved in such student support.

Course participants should be either those either responsible for development of teachers or tutors who are likely to be encountering students in difficulty. The workshop will be interactive using DVD material developed by the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Leeds, promoting discussion, sharing of experiences and developing best practice models of support through a range of scenarios. The scenarios will be selected on the basis of an initial process of identifying areas the workshop participants would particularly wish to explore.

Facilitator(s): Deborah Murdoch-Eaton
Maximum delegates: 30

5. Developing high quality multiple choice items to assess application of knowledge using patient vignettes

At the beginning of the workshop, each participant will complete a pretest that assesses “testwiseness.” After the first portion of the workshop, these pretests will be reviewed, with participants demonstrating their increased knowledge of MCQ formats and flaws in the process. During small- and full-group item review sessions, participants will practice/demonstrate their proficiency in this area.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will be able to recognize, correct and avoid commonly occurring technical flaws in MCQ phrasing; write (and rewrite) MCQs assessing application of in clinical situations rather than recall of isolated facts; participate effectively in group review of MCQs.

Facilitator(s): David Swanson and Kathleen Holtzman
Maximum delegates: 40

6. The uses of arts in medical training

This workshop will help provide an awareness and appreciation of the use of arts in learning and teaching for students:

• Communication with colleagues and patients
• Professionalism and cultural awareness.
• In confidence-building in interactions with colleagues and patients, performing in clinical examination and oral presentations

 What do the contemporary arts have to offer medical education? How can collaboration with practising artists improve health care in terms of communication, environment, ways of seeing, public engagement, medical outcomes and the advancement of knowledge? Is there a way that arts and medical departments of universities can share knowledge more meaningfully to improve the education of arts and medical students alike and build bridges between science and arts communities?

The session will include a description of the Performing Medicine Project which uses the arts to provide training to medical students and healthcare professionals at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Kings and Imperial.

The second part of the session will provide practical examples of the application of arts work in medical training - demonstrating how theatre and movement techniques may help doctors, medical health professional students broaden their understanding of the human body expanding the potential for a more inspiring, less anxious dialogue between doctor/health professional and patient.

Facilitator(s): Suzy Wilson, Annie Cushing, Olwyn Westwood
Maximum delegates: 25

• ASM 2008 Homepage

All queries should be directed to:-

ASME, 12 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1JE.

Telephone: 0131 225 9111 Fax: 0131 225 9444
Email: jenniferb@asme.org.uk