On behalf of the Educational Scholarship Committee, we’d like to congratulate those who have completed this year’s IAMSE Medical Educator Fellowship Program.
The Fellowship program is designed to develop well-rounded medical education scholars with additional evidence of specialized achievement that enhances and supports career advancement.
Medical Educator Fellows Completing the Fellowship in 2021:
Judith Aronson – University of Texas Medical Branch (USA)
Kathy Pittman – Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (USA)
Please join me in congratulating our new fellows. If you are interested in the IAMSE Fellowship program, please visit our website here.
I hope you will join me in congratulating Amber J. Heck, Texas Christian University and University of North Texas Health Science Center, on being awarded the Medical Science Educator (MSE) 2021 Outstanding Reviewer Award. Dr. Heck was presented with this honor during the International Association of Medical Science Educator’s (IAMSE) virtual annual meeting on Thursday, June 17, 2021.
2021 Medical Science Educator Outstanding Reviewer Amber J. Heck
This award is an initiative of the Editorial Board of Medical Science Educator, the peer-reviewed journal of IAMSE. The award is presented annually to recognize one of the journal’s reviewers for their outstanding peer review efforts over the past year. The recipients are selected based on several criteria including reviewer performance and delivering the reviews in a timely manner. Congratulations Dr. Heck!
Thank you, Peter GM de Jong, PhD Editor-in-Chief, Medical Science Educator
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate Nehad El-Sawi on receiving the Edward Patrick Finnerty Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual IAMSE Meeting in June. This award is bestowed upon an individual member who has demonstrated a 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.
2021 Edward Patrick Finnerty Lifetime Achievement Award winner Nehad El-Sawi
Nehad El-Sawi is the Assistant Provost for Innovations and Educational Enhancement at Des Moines University Medicine & Health Sciences. Dr. El-Sawi received her doctorate degree in Microbiology from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; master of sciences from University of Dayton, Ohio and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at University of California School of Medicine at Irvine. She has completed numerous postgraduate educational advancement programs including the Harvard Macy programs for Educators in the Health Professions; and Leaders in Healthcare Education; the University of Maastricht School of Medicine Program for Expanding Horizons in Problem-Based Learning in Medicine; the AAMC Medical Education Research Certificate; and the National Association of Community Health Center training of New Medical Directors.
Dr. El-Sawi has been actively engaged in medical student education for more than twenty years and has extensive experience, at both established and new medical schools, in curriculum design, student academic assessment, program evaluation, faculty development and accreditation and is an invited faculty at Harvard Macy Institute for Educators in Health Professions program.
During Dr. El-Sawi’s career, she had the opportunity to lead several medical education ventures, held offices in numerous professional organizations, and chaired regional and international conference programs. Her contribution to medical education has been recognized with several awards including the Missouri Governors’ Award for Excellence in Teaching and regional CGEA AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) Best Research in Medical Education Established Investigator Award. It is noteworthy that Dr. El-Sawi is a charter member of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) where she served on its Board of Directors twice, chaired the Program Committees for the 2005 (Los Angeles) and 2012 (Portland) annual meetings, chaired the Webcast Audio Seminar committee for seven years, and continues to serve on it as a committee member. She has also served on other IAMSE committees, regularly presented at annual conferences and published in Medical Science Educator.
It is with sincere appreciation and gratitude to her continued efforts and outstanding support that we bestow this award to our dear friend and colleague, Nehad El-Sawi. Congratulations, and thank you for all that you do for IAMSE.
The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) is pleased to announce that the archives for “Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education: Health Systems Sciences,” the 2020 Spring series of the Webcast Audio Seminars are now online!
The Webcast Audio Seminar archives are located on the IAMSE website under the Events heading as Web Seminars. Here, you will be able to search the archives or browse by year and series.
More information is coming soon for the upcoming Fall 2021 series. Keep an eye on your inbox! If you have any issues accessing the archives please just let us know at support@iamse.org.
It’s not too late to join the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) the newly revised Medical Educator Fellowship (MEF) Program. In addition to updates to the existing program to enhance engagement, mentorship, and collaboration, IAMSE will now offer members and non-members the option of completing the MEF Program 100% virtually, from any location around the globe.
The primary goal of the MEF is to support the development of well-rounded healthcare education scholars through a program of targeted professional development and application of learned concepts to mentored research projects. The program is designed for healthcare educators from all backgrounds who wish to enhance their knowledge and productivity as educational scholars.
As a prerequisite, applicants are required to complete the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME) Program.
Applications for the next cohort will be accepted until July 1, 2021.
IAMSE 2021 Fellowship Program Kick-Off Meeting Presenters: Amber Heck and Kelly Quesnelle Date and Time: Tuesday, July 27, 2021 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM (EDT)
Join IAMSE Educational Scholarship Committee Chair Amber Heck and IAMSE Publications Committee Chair Kelly Quesnelle as they welcome the 2021 cohort of the Medical Educator Fellowship participants. This workshop will be a virtual session run through Zoom. A camera/microphone will not be required for attendees, but a microphone is encouraged to communicate with other mentors/mentees.
For questions about the Fellowship or how to register, please contact support@iamse.org. We thank you for your interest and look forward to supporting you in achieving your professional goals in educational scholarship.
Our association is a robust and diverse set of educators, researchers, medical professionals, volunteers and academics that come from all walks of life and from around the globe. Each month we choose a member to highlight their academic and professional career, and see how they are making the best of their membership in IAMSE. This month’s Featured Member is 2021 IAMSE Annual Program Chair, Mark Hernandez, PhD.
Mark Hernandez, PhD Associate Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine
How long have you been a member of IAMSE? I have been a member of IAMSE since 2009.
Looking at your time with the Association, what have you most enjoyed doing? What are you looking forward to? I have always enjoyed meeting new colleagues at the annual meetings, who I get to see again later in future meetings. This year I will complete my role as Chair of the 2021 Program Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors. (These roles have been) the most meaningful as I have been able to contribute despite the challenges and disruptions caused by the global pandemic, and the rapid changes impacting health sciences education. I am looking forward to a successful 2021 Program that will inspire all to re-engage in the dialogue for the future of health sciences educators. With leaders based in 5 different countries, the team worked very hard to plan a program that will be unique and inspiring. I will also look forward to and continue to engage at IAMSE events after the 2021 Annual Meeting as a member in different ways by presenting work and continuing to follow the webinar series.
Looking ahead to #IAMSE21, what opportunities will attendees see in this virtual meeting that they have not seen at an IAMSE meeting in previous years? I think this will be a unique meeting as we believe the meetings after 2021 will have an in-person component, but which will also have a virtual option for those who are not able to attend. This program is about health sciences educators and students. We want to engage the students more than before as they will be our future educators. We also want to engage the audience located in different time zones. When the World Cup or Olympics take place every four years, we all look forward to live experiences, staying up late and getting up early to watch the events live as the replay is just not the same experience. However, at the IAMSE meeting, those who want to watch the recorded sessions can still engage live with the plenary speakers for a Q&A live forum later in the evening at 6:00 PM ET. This is a unique opportunity for IAMSE to engage live audiences in the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition, we will also have one of our IAMSE members who is a licensed and very talented yoga instructor provide virtual mindfulness exercises. These sessions will be held throughout the week to create a relaxing experience via Zoom after the long day of sessions and networking to prepare us for the next full day of virtual events.
What session or speaker are YOU most looking forward to this year? Similar to the analogy of the World Cup or Olympic Games we all want to see the plenary talks and sessions, but it is really about the new presenters who will surprise us with enlightening talks and poster presentations. I am looking forward to all the sessions, poster sessions, and in particular, the plenary talks.
My own personal favorite speaker will be the one delivered by Dr Hirumi (aka 2c). He is a professor of Instructional Design and Technology at the University of Central Florida and will bring a unique perspective as evident by his impressive portfolio. I have met 2c before and engaged in dialogues about the direction of medical education. Sometimes it seems when the medical education world rapidly transitioned to emergency remote teaching due to the pandemic, there were some theories that perhaps worked. I look forward to learning what Dr. Hirumi has learned during the past year to support education theories to share with the IAMSE audience.
What interesting things are you working on outside the Association right now? Research, presentations, etc. My other personal interest as an educator is international medicine and global health. I am currently serving as Clerkship director of International Medicine Elective, and in a year when world travel was disrupted, we designed a contingency plan for our 4th-year medical students which involved bringing the educators domestically and from abroad, via Zoom, to a virtual global classroom, since our students were not able to travel. Participation in this course will help our students interested in global health prepare for future travel abroad as clinicians when international travel resumes. This is another reason my other favorite plenary speaker is also Camille Bentley from Rocky Vista University who will share with us about the challenges we face in education and the opportunities in Global Health.
Anything else that you would like to add? I hope the camaraderie and connections we make in the Virtual 2021 Meeting are fruitful for the years to come later in Denver, Cancun and beyond.
The IAMSE 2021 Virtual Annual Conference will be held June 12-17. For more information about the week of events, and to register, visit www.IAMSEconference.org.
Proposals are still being accepted for Saturday Professional Development Workshops for the 2022 IAMSE meeting. The annual meeting will be held in Denver, Colorado, USA from June 4-7, 2022.
Proposals will be accepted through July, 1, 2021. The IAMSE Professional Development committee will review all proposals and select 3-4 full-day workshops and 6-8 half-day workshops for the meeting.
A Pre-Conference Faculty Development Course is 3 or 6 hours in length and enrollment is limited. Instructors are asked to combine appropriate amounts of didactic presentation with significant “hands-on” opportunities for participants. For the participants, a certificate of attendance will be available after completion of the course if needed. IAMSE Saturday Professional Development Workshops focus on career/professional development, and the workshops should be useful for advancing the career of the attendee. The broad umbrella areas of focus for these workshops include:
Leadership/Advancement as a Medical Educator
Research/Scholarship/Publications
Instruction/Assessment
Technology
Saturday Professional Development Workshops proposals must include the following information:
Title of the workshop
Name and e-mail of organizer
Facilitator(s) information
Summary of the workshop and how it will advance the career of the attendee
Length of the workshop
Level of the workshop (introductory/intermediate/advanced)
Who should participate
All abstracts must be submitted in the format requested through the online abstract submission site found here.
If you have any questions about submitting your proposal, please contact IAMSE via email at support@iamse.org.
As we put the finishing touches on the 25th Annual IAMSE Meeting, we would like to extend a sincere THANK YOU to the volunteers, attendees, speakers and sponsors that have already made our event a success.
The IAMSE Administrative Office will have limited availability on June 11-18, 2021 while facilitating the meeting. Response times may be delayed as we remotely staff the virtual event. Need help in a hurry? Here are the best ways to find answers to your questions.
Event FAQ Looking for information on how to register as a student, how to switching sessions once the conference begins, or how to view the plenary sessions after they go live? Quickly find answers on the Event FAQ page.
Virtual Help Desk Can’t find your session links? Not sure how to navigate your Event Hub? Need help finding the Oral presentations? IAMSE Admin are ready and waiting to answer these questions and more at the Virtual Help Desk. Beginning Thursday, June 10, we encourage all registered attendees to visit us and ask any questions about the meeting, sessions, technology and any other aspects of this year’s virtual conference! Admin will be available on June 10-11 from 8AM – 9AM and 3PM – 6PM Eastern.
The IAMSE Administrative staff will be unavailable on Monday, May 31st in observance of Memorial Day in the United States. We will resume normal business hours on Tuesday, June 1st.
Implicit bias continues to present a significant challenge with respect to the practice of medicine and contributes to decision-making on the part of physicians that in turn contributes to health disparities experienced by individuals from diverse backgrounds. This problem has been recognized in the medical community and calls have been made to address implicit bias in medical education. However, many efforts to address implicit bias fall short in terms of not only raising awareness of implicit bias by trainees, but in terms of actually changing the degree of implicit bias that individuals experience. This is in part due to the fact that, although efforts may be relatively successful in terms of raising an individual’s awareness of implicit bias, it is extremely difficult to impact in a meaningful way the level of implicit bias that any given individual has towards those from different groups/backgrounds. This is likely a reflection that changing one’s level of implicit bias requires a long-term, sustained set of interventions in which one’s awareness of implicit bias is constantly being raised through a diverse array of activities/experiences.
Although the issue of implicit bias has been raised in medical education and is an issue that is of great significance with respect to addressing health disparities, the inclusion of implicit bias training as a single unit or class in the curriculum is most likely not sufficient to change the overall impact that implicit bias has on the practice of medicine. In the study by Ruben and Saks a multidisciplinary, longitudinal intervention was created to reduce implicit bias towards skin tone, to raise awareness of implicit bias and to determine whether exposure to the intervention, which took place during the first year of medical school would result in changes in implicit bias among the participants. The program used a multidisciplinary approach in which students were expected to visit an art museum and then participate in a medical anthropology lecture followed by a sociological discussion pertaining to implicit bias in medicine. In parallel, the investigators assessed implicit bias in a control group that did not participate in the program. The investigators took the Harvard Implicit Association Test for Skin Tone and took a survey to assess awareness of implicit bias before and after the program.
The study demonstrated that both the experimental and control group of students exhibited a clear bias towards light skin and that this bias was not significantly impacted by participating in the program. Although, a power analysis supported the conclusion that those in the experimental group were trending towards a decrease in their implicit bias towards light skin. All participants indicated that they were aware of implicit bias, but importantly, the results suggest that those who demonstrate a stronger bias tend to be less willing to recognize implicit bias in themselves. A promising result of the study was that those who were in the experimental group expressed a much more developed and complex understanding of what implicit bias is and how it affects health care than those in the control group.
In conclusion, this study demonstrates that medical students are aware of implicit bias, but that individuals may not necessarily be willing to acknowledge their own implicit bias. The study further demonstrates that even with a year-long, multidisciplinary program, it is difficult to alter the degree of implicit bias on an individual basis, but with a sustained approach, it is possible to begin to impact the degree to which individuals understand how implicit bias plays a role in their decision making and that of the medical community at-large. This study supports the conclusion that isolated classes or units offered once within the overall medical curriculum are not likely to significantly impact implicit bias and its contribution to health disparities. Rather, there needs to be a focus on integrating implicit bias training throughout the curriculum and to utilize a range of approaches to foster student exploration of their own implicit biases.
Louis B. Justement, PhD Professor, Department of Microbiology Director, GBS Immunology Theme Director, Undergraduate Immunology Program University of Alabama at Birmingham
We would like to extend our congratulations to two Junior Faculty and ten students who have been awarded the 2021 IAMSE Travel Award. These awards support junior faculty and aspiring educators to attend the IAMSE Annual Meeting. Made possible in part by Aquifer, each award is meant to cover expenses related to attendance at the IAMSE annual meeting, such as conference registration, lodging, and airfare. While we are not holding an in-person event in 2021, funds will be made available to attend a future IAMSE annual meeting.
The awardees for 2021 are:
Junior Faculty
Kyle Bauckman Nova Southeastern University Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine
Jorge Cervantes Texas Tech University Health Sciences Cente
Students
Lindsey Ades Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Samantha Benevides Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Zachary Bennett Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Shahar Laks Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Anna McKenzie Medical College of Georgia
Ellen Ribar University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Michael Sandak Mercer University School of Medicine
Tanner Stumpe Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
Moira Sullivan Medical College of Georgia
Jessica Zimo University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Congratulations to this year’s award winners. We look forward to seeing you in the future.
In every issue of Medical Science Educator, we publish an announcements section. In this section, we share information that is of interest to the readership of the journal. Individual IAMSE members wishing to post medical education related announcements in the Journal are invited to send their requests to the Editorial Assistant at journal@iamse.org. Announcements may be IAMSE-related, announcements from other medical education organizations, medical education conference information or international issues affecting medical education. Announcements will be published at the Editor’s discretion.
Deadline for inclusion in the next issue: June 15, 2021
