News

Educational Scholarship Grant Applications Due January 15

The International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) wishes to encourage and support scholarship in medical science education, and therefore announces the 2019 educational scholarship grant program. IAMSE will award research grants up to the amount of $5000 for a 2-year grant period.

All IAMSE members are eligible to submit a grant proposal. Preference will be given to new projects, and must be relevant to the mission of IAMSE. The results of funded projects must be presented at a future IAMSE meeting. The initial funding award will be announced via email, and at the 2019 IAMSE meeting.

Applications are to be submitted via the online application form here by January 15, 2019.

All information regarding the IAMSE Educational Scholarship Grant, including the application process, eligibility, proposal format, and evaluation criteria can be found on the IAMSE website here.

IAMSE Fall 2018 WAS Session 3 Highlights

[The following notes were generated by Mark Slivkoff.]

 IAMSE Webinar Series, Fall 2018

Speakers: Kirsten Brown, PhD, MA and Katherine Chretien, MD – The George Washington University, Washington, DC
Title: Using Social Media as an Educational Tool
Series: Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education: Technology in the 21st Century

  • Brown and Chretien set out to cover the following agenda:
    • State of social media use
    • Why use social media
    • Overview of social media in medical education
    • Buff and Blue Instagram case study
    • Reflective writing class blog case study
  • Approximately 69% of the American public uses some aspect of social networking sites (Pew Research Center, 2017)
  • Although young adults were among the earliest of the social media adopters, older adult usage has also surged (Pew Research Center, 2017)
  • Approximately 55% of accredited medical schools also have current student groups on Facebook (Kind, Genrich, Sodhi, & Chretien, 2010)
  • Most used platform is YouTube, followed by Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram
  • The latter three platforms are far more popular among the younger crowd (18-24 year olds)
  • Why use social media in medical education?
    • Enhance social learning, connection, community
    • Harness power of social media as interactive, communication tools
    • Optimize its benefits for education (e.g., Bialy and Jalai, 2015; Hennessey et al., 2016; Jaffar, 2013; Pickering and Bickerdike, 2016)
  • Social media platforms offer an untapped potential for medical education
  • The most relevant learning theory (Ileris, 2007) resides with Social Connections:
    • Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977, 1978)
    • Communities of practice (Wenger, 2000)
    • Connectivism (Siemens, 2005)
  • Recent reviews by Cheston et al. (2013) and Sterling et al. (2017) offer much insight into the use of social media in medical education
  • If you’re interested in using social media, where do you start? You need to ask yourself some questions:
    • What are my educational goals?
    • What social media platform do I want to use?
    • How will this add value to the traditional approach?
    • What outcomes will I measure?
  • When considering the platform, you must address:
    • Its strengths and features
    • Is the site going to be public or private?
    • Who will be the moderator?
    • Who commonly uses the platform?
    • Do you have experience with the platform?
  • Brown, an anatomist, uses Twitter to supplement her coursework. Her site is “Buff and Blue Anatomy”
  • She asked herself the same questions mentioned above before beginning her journey:
    • The goal was to the bridge the gap in formal instructional time
    • The platform was of choice was Instagram
    • The value to be added was novel, instant feedback, formative assessment
  • The details of her work, and the students’ perception of it, were covered in detail and will be described in her ongoing study. She needs one more batch of data after this Fall of 2018 before completing her manuscript. She did report that:
    • Instagram was a useful supplement to traditional anatomical instruction
    • Content and timing of the posts are important for student engagement
    • Most popular posts were those of encouragement and candid photos of faculty (and not of quizzes)
  • Brown described her main lessons learned to date:
    • Respondents overwhelmingly found that the @BuffBluetAnat Instagram was a useful supplement to traditional anatomical instruction.
    • Those that viewed and interacted with the account more frequently rated it significantly more useful than those who viewed and interacted it with rarely
    • Instagram enables interactions and connections between users that can foster learning by tapping into informal educational opportunities and maintaining student motivation
  • Chretien also described her use of a WordPress blog a few years ago.
  • She also addressed the same questions before she started:
    • Her goals were centered on reflection, student professional development, and discussion
    • The social medial platform of choice was a blog
    • The value added includes asynchronous learning, issues can be discussed as they happen, active dialogue, and anonymity
    • The desired outcomes included satisfaction, engagement, and reflectivity
  • Chretien discussed the instructions which she gave to her clinical students which provided a sufficient synopsis of her project:
    • “Requirement: A minimum of two reflective posts per 4- week rotation, with the first post within the first 2 weeks to ensure classmates have a chance to read and respond to your writing. There is no length or subject requirement, but the posts must be reflective, that is, not just telling a story but reflecting on how this experience affects you or changes the way you think about something. Commenting on other classmates’ posts is encouraged. The facilitator will read every post and give feedback in the form of comments. Participation is required but not graded.”
  • Her evaluation of the experiences were detailed in a paper (Chretien et al. 2008). Some of the major points:
    • 91 students participated, 177 posts. 1/3 left comments
    • 53% chose anonymous name
    • Most students enjoyed writing posts, reading posts, and found instructor’s comments helpful.
    • Post themes: being humanistic, professional behavior, understanding caregiving relationships, being a student, clinical learning, dealing with death and dying.
    • 8/177 posts not reflective
  • And some of her described lessons learned:
    • Participation was variable
    • Students wrote about sensitive issues
    • Hidden curriculum elements revealed, discussed
    • Burden of logistics
    • Not true anonymity in many cases
    • Faculty comments could spur deeper reflection
    • No professionalism or patient privacy issues
  • To wrap up, Drs. Brown and Chretien reminded us of the important considerations when it comes to the use of social media in medical education:
    • Public versus private
    • Outcome measures
    • Patient privacy
    • Professionalism
    • Expertise in the platform
    • Learner buy-in
  • Encouraged all of us to innovate!

Questions asked after seminar:
(Note that some questions and/or answers have been reworded for clarity)

Can a learning management system (LMS) such as Blackboard provide the same experience as social media platforms?
No. Students already use Blackboard for email, and we wanted to use other software that was different. The built in blog in Blackboard is not unique as well. Furthermore, programs like Instagram are driven by apps which makes use easier.

Are quizzes and examinations still administered via traditional means?
Yes, they are. All quizzes in Instagram are purely supplemental.

Do you recycle the content, or new you create new material each year?
Brand new sites/content are posted yearly. Old posts may show up but they are captured as images and placed appropriately.

Have you run into professionalism issues?
No. There have been some minor issues in Blackboard and Wikis, but overall there have been no major issues.

Do you get any pushback from students regarding the WordPress blog? Do they ask questions such as “how does this help me get into residency”?
There has been very little pushback. If anything, students appreciate not having to express themselves face-to-face. Blogging is a better alternative.

Can you share your list of references?
Yes! We will send out after this presentation.

How much time do you spend on your social media “work”?
About 1 hour per day but of course this varies depending on the week. Overall, it takes a considerable amount of time.

 How do you get academic credit doing this work, outside of publications?
The work is related to the scholarship of teaching and learning, with an emphasis on innovating educational technology.

Board of Director Nominations Now Welcomed Until November 20

It’s time once again to begin thinking about selection of those to serve on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).

IAMSE is currently seeking self-nominations and alternate nominations of candidates from across the membership. International members are particularly invited.

The Board of Directors is the governing body that determines the direction of IAMSE and all our various programs and activities.

This Spring, four of the Director positions become subject to election and the formal “job descriptions” for IAMSE Director are posted here.

What is the role of a Board Member? The Board Member is expected to be an advocate for the organization and to bring fresh ideas to IAMSE. In addition, each Director will be in charge of an IAMSE-sponsored project.

What is the time commitment for the Board Member? The term is for three years, renewable once. Board meetings are held via conference call every two months, with additional business conducted through e-mail.

If this opportunity to expand your influence in medical education while advancing the work of IAMSE fits your personal career goals, then the Nomination Committee invites you to submit your nomination for Board of Director.

We look forward to hearing from the IAMSE membership and thank you for your continued commitment to the IAMSE mission.

Thank you,
Cathy Pettepher, Chair
IAMSE Nomination Committe

IAMSE Fall 2018 WAS Session 2 Highlights

[The following notes were generated by Mark Slivkoff.]

IAMSE Webinar Series, Fall 2018

Speakers: Instructional Design Team of The University of New England including Christopher Malmberg, Olga LaPlante, Wendy DiBrigida, David Bass-Clark
Title: The Role of Instructional Design in Health Science Course Development
Series: Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education: Technology in the 21st Century

  • The University of New England (UNE) offers numerous online courses in which thousands of students enroll.
  • This presentation focused on the role of the Instructional Design Team (ID Team), specifically related to the university’s Science Prerequisites for Health Professions (SPHP) online program (https://online.une.edu/science-prerequisites/courses/).
  • SPHP is a fully online option at UNE. Enrollment is open, and approximately 4,500 students enroll per year.
  • SPHP:
    • Includes 17 health science and math courses which run for 16 weeks
    • Enrolls non-matriculated students
    • Is fully online, self-paced, and asynchronous (rolling student enrollment)
  • The presenters (4 of the 8 members of the Instructional Design Team) set off to cover the following objectives:
    • Outline the course development process
    • Discuss design challenges
    • Discuss strategies for active learning in the online environment
    • Show the value of Instructional Designers
    • Illustrate some of the research-based innovations
  • Two specific courses were discussed in this presentation: Pathophysiology and Medical Physiology.
  • Each 16-week course takes 32 weeks to develop. The process ends with the launch of the course.
  • Various Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are involved in course development, including medical professionals, offline and online teaching faculty.
  • During design and development there is great attention devoted to curriculum standards:
    • The course must be authentic and rigorous.
    • Offline and online courses must be equal (pathophysiology = pathophysiology).
  • There are challenges in ensuring the equality of courses. Outcomes, activities and assessments must be the same.
  • Outcomes are addressed first by both the Subject Matter Experts and the Instructional Design Team.
  • The outcomes are vetted by a separate committee, then the SMEs and ID Team order the outcomes into learning activities.
  • There is thus a “backward” design when building these self-paced health science courses, and well stated learning objectives are a must.
  • There are challenges specific to the self-paced nature of these courses:
    • Customizable experience
    • Peer interactions
    • Time management
  • The customizable experience is about being able to track the student’s progress. This is done by:
    • Providing assignments which allow for immediate feedback.
    • Having tasks that must be completed before moving forward (Adaptive Released)
    • Building in numerous self-tests and practice quizzes
    • Providing study guides
  • The challenge of the lack of peer interactions is addressed by having the students present via video. Students must upload video presentations, the content which varies by course.
  • Time management, another challenge, is addressed through the following mechanisms:
    • Courses are 16 weeks
    • Suggested timelines are in the syllabus and course modules
    • Reminders about the pace of the course are sent out with assignments
  • The lack of in-person laboratories also poses a challenge in online courses.
  • It is imperative therefore that there are engaging activities along the way. UNE approaches this challenge by including the following in their courses:
    • Virtual, dynamic lab experiments (through third party vendors)
    • Physical lab experiments with materials delivered directly to students’ houses (through a third party vendor)
    • Media-rich scenarios and case simulations (including comic cases)
    • Student presentations (which are also used to alleviate the lack of peer-to-peer interactions, as noted above)
  • There is a continuous development cycle for all online courses taught at UNE. Redesign allows for opportunity to implement research-based solutions.
  • Innovative examples that have been implemented include:
    • Memory Palaces and the Method of loci
    • Virtual reality and 3D Space
    • Interactive Narratives (Articulate Storyline software used)

Questions asked after seminar:
(Note that some questions and/or answers have been reworded for clarity)

Can you elaborate on the video assignments?
Videos are about 5 minutes and do not need any accompanying media to elaborate on concepts. Students are encouraged to speak as if they are talking “at the moment” .

Do you think that any kind of learning can occur in an online environment, or are there limitations?
Labs are challenging, but some things are actually easier online due to the asynchronous learning.

In the virtual labs, do all the students get the same results?
Not necessarily since there are questions within the assignments requiring subjective answers. Students get pointed in the same direction. (Pearson’s PhysioEx lab simulation software provides such assignments.)

How do you do summative assessments?
Examinations, video presentations, PowerPoint presentations. Medical Physiology incorporates readings. And so forth.

How do you incorporate remediation?
Students must connect with their instructors. (This question wasn’t really addressed by the ID Team) 

How many hours do you dedicate to interaction with the Subject Matter Experts?
Depends on the course. In the SPHP, the SMEs are assigned to a particular course. During the 32 weeks of course development, the SMEs work together (via shared docs or other means).

Can you elaborate on the anatomy dissection?
Hands On Learning, a third party vendor, supplies materials and pre-fabricated dissections to the students. Students are prompted to take pictures during the dissections. These pictures are uploaded.

How does curriculum design development differ between your online and offline (traditional) courses?
Main difference is that you have to be very aware of the social dynamics that don’t happen online. A benefit about online design is that you don’t have to worry about scheduling rooms and times.

Did you develop the labs?
No. One example of third party vendor is Pearson (PhysioEx).

What software is used for student recordings?
Many students and faculty use Screencast-O-Matic, which is free. Many students use their phones and respective software on their computers to edit (Mac = QT; Windows = Movie Maker). We are starting to use the built-in tools of Zoom as well.

Do online courses require more faculty time?
Course planning takes a lot of time, but once the course launches the workload greatly decreases. You hope that the course almost runs itself.

IAMSE Fall 2018 WAS Session 1 Highlights

[The following notes were generated by Mark Slivkoff.]

In case you missed the first session in the Fall Webcast Audio Seminar Series last week, here is a quick recap!

IAMSE Webinar Series, Fall 2018
Speaker: Jill Jemison of The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine
Title: They said “flip” and we said “How high”?
Series: Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education: Technology in the 21st Century

  • Larner College of Medicine, one of the oldest medical schools in the nation, is transitioning to a curriculum which will be lecture free by 2019.
  • Full reporting on the curriculum will be completed by 2020, in time for an LCME visit in 2021.
  • The major players involved in this transition include:
    • Senior Associate Dean for Education
    • Medical Curriculum Committee (curriculum implementation)
    • Office of Medical Student Education (operations)
    • Active Learning Task Force (“Larner Methods”, SOPs, policy)
    • Active Learning Team (pedagogical change and instructional design)
    • Teaching Academy (evaluation, assessment, and scholarship)
    • Technology Services
  • Technology Services, led by the Chief Information Officer (Jill Jemison, who presented this webinar) is “laying the track in front of train”. In 2013, LCME recognized this group as being a strength of the institution.
  • Specifically, Technology Services of this large university medical school (budget of about $3.5 million) is focused on:
    • Infrastructure
    • Applications
    • Database
    • Education Technology
    • Audio Visual
    • Technicians
    • Support
  • The technology plan is evolutionary, not revolutionary; changes have been and will continue to be based heavily on data and analytics.
  • Education infrastructure includes:
    • Blackboard as the Learning Management System (LMS), Oasis for scheduling, and ZAP for admissions
    • Extensive “homegrown” systems including those used for examinations, curriculum management, peer assessments, preceptor assessments, competency tracking and generation of medical student performance evaluations (MSPEs)
  • Major philosophy of Technology Services focuses on the aforementioned homegrown systems in addition to always owning their data.
  • The college’s data is stored in a data warehouse (COM DATA Warehouse) which serves as the only data hub for all in house and external software.
  • There is a strong focus on course evaluations which form of large part of the data.
  • There is heavy use of colorful, detailed course calendars. Colors differentiate pre-work activities, sessions, workshops, laboratories, independent learning, et cetera. Highlighting (clicking on) events in the calendar brings up a side panel which displays relevant objectives, facilitators, and other information.
  • This extensive mapping allows for the calculation of contact hours which, after being added to preparation time (more preparation time for flipped sessions), further allows for a value in $ to be totaled for each faculty member.
  • The $ amount ostensibly demonstrates that teaching is valuable. [Currently, this “financial side” of the new curriculum is only being presented to the department chairs.]
  • Faculty members from all sites (main campus and clinical sites) have access to a teaching “kit” which includes all the necessary components for video recording and editing:
    • Microsoft Surface Pro 4
    • Android tablet (for clerkships)
    • Microphone and headphones
    • Office 365 including OneNote
    • Camtasia
  • The student learning environment consists of rooms which have been rebuilt for active learning.
  • Some final words on vendors. When contemplating various software solutions (marketed by vendors), be sure to keep the following in mind:
    • Don’t duplicate tasks, and be careful of companies who say they can do everything
    • Go into vendor discussions with a clear purpose
    • Test, test, and retest the software in real world situations
    • Always own your data

Questions & Answer Session

What product do you use to map?
None, but they are looking at a third party.

Do you use the teaching incentives and contact hours in the clerkships?
No, only in preclinical settings.

Do the prep hours differ between sessions?
Multiplier is higher for active learning.

How often do students work asynchronously?
Not often, only during indepedent prepping. And attendance is mandatory.

Do you do cadaver dissection?
Yes. Team A teaches Team B on opposite days.

Was the faculty involved in developing the flipped classrooms? Have they published the changes?
A number of faculty have papers, and many have presented at IAMSE.

How much has all this cost?
Been a 20 year effort. Overall budget for IT is $3 million.

Have there been any negative fallout from the disbursement ($) model?
Currently, the numbers are only being rolled out to the chairs.

Can you share with us the process of faculty development?
Teaching academy identifies scholars and excellent teachers (including outiside speakers).

Do you supply Pathoma or Kaplan or other board prep programs?
Library has some, but Osmosis is the main one used.

Know of Any Can’t-Miss Events? Share Them in Medical Science Educator

If you organize or know of a workshop, symposium or educational activity that might be of interest to our educator community, share it  with Medical Science Educator.


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 Editors discretion.

Deadline for inclusion in the December issue: October 1, 2018

The best of the Webcast Audio Seminar Series at your fingertips

Did you know that we archive each season of the Webcast Audio Seminar series? Reaching all the way back to Winter 2011, you can search the topics, speakers and presentations in our webcast series greatest hits collection. 

The Webcast Audio Seminar archives are located on our website under the Events tab as Web Seminars. Here, you will be able to search the archival or browse by year and series.

If you have any issues accessing the archives, please just let us know at support@iamse.org.



The Fall WAS series is BACK beginning Thursday, September 6. Join us at 12PM Eastern for a deeper look at:

• The Current State of Technology in Medical Education
• The Role and Value of Instructional Designers
• Using Social Media as an Educational Tool
• New Opportunities Afforded by Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
• Realizing the Promise of Big Data: Learning Analytics in Competency-Based Medical Education

And the best part is Student Members are FREE!

For more information on the series, student discount code or to register for individual sessions, contact support@iamse.org.

IAMSE on the Road at AMEE 2018

Association for Medical Education in Europe
August 25 – 29, 2018
Basel, Switzerland

The 2018 Association for Medical Educatio in Europe (AMEE) Annual Conference will be taking place in Basel, Switzerland from August 25 – 29, 2018. The IAMSE booth will be present at the conference to exhibit, so if you plan on attending this meeting, don’t forget to swing by and say hello! During the Meeting you will have two opportunities to see IAMSE in action.

Monday, August 27 Aviad Haramati, Peter GM de Jong, Neil Osheroff, Kelly M Quesnelle, Dujeepa D Samarasekera and President Richard C. Vari will be presenting “The role of the Biomedical Sciences in Teaching and Learning Medicine in the 21st Century” a Symposium located in 4D.

IAMSE will be hosting a Meet and Greet from 12:30 – 1:30 on Monday, August 27 before the Symposium.

We look forward to seeing you in Switzerland! For more information on the AMEE Meeting, please click here.

IAMSE Connects #3

Connecting with the Annual Conference

22nd Annual IAMSE Meeting
We had a great time in Nevada in June! Mark your calendars for the upcoming meeting in Roanoke, VA, June 8-11, 2019.

Connecting with our Members

Larry HurtubiseOur 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 Larry Hurtubise, MA.

Christopher Burns, PhD, NRAEMT has been promoted to full professor in the College of Medicine at Roseman University of Health Sciences in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is Professor of Biomedical Science and Director for Case-Based Learning.

Dr. Michiel Schokking recently became a Junior Principal Lecturer (JPL) 2019-2021 in Radboudumc, Nijmegen, Netherlands. In 2017 he finished his Fellowship Program at IAMSE, which helped him to obtain the mentioned JPL at his institution.

Kerstin Höner zu Bentrup, PhD was recently awarded the Presidential Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching at Tulane University. The President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching were established in 2000 and have been given to full-time faculty members who have a sustained and compelling record of excellence in teaching and learning and an ongoing commitment to educational excellence.

Dr. Sateesh Arja received the senior fellowship awarded by Advance Higher Education (formerly called Higher Education Academy), the UK in April 2018. This senior fellowship consolidates the personal development and evidence of influencing other colleagues’ professional practice in the higher education career.  This fellowship also demonstrates the commitment to teaching, learning, and the student experience, through engagement in a practical process that encourages research, reflection, and development.

Melissa Murfin, PA-C, PharmD, BCACP  was promoted from assistant to associate professor this year at the Elon University Department of Physician Assistant Studies.

Connecting with the Committees

Organizational Development Committee

The Organizational Development Committee has entered a partnership with the Finance Committee and will work to enhance funding for travel scholarships, grant support, and other needs of the organization.

Student Professional Development Committee

The Student Professional Development committee promotes student inclusion in IAMSE and student success outside the classroom. To accomplish these goals, the committee oversees activities that are primarily directed toward student participants occurring at the annual conference and throughout the year. Specific areas of emphasis include enhancing research and scholarship, networking, and career building opportunities for students. The committee works closely with students and uses their input and feedback to establish our goals and guide activities to accomplish them.

Membership Committee

The Membership Committee has developed 3 goals to fulfill its charge of increasing and retaining members and evaluating the needs of members: 1) Continue to enhance PA educator involvement and membership, 2) Pilot an ambassador program to increase membership from  countries that are underrepresented in the IAMSE membership, and 3) Send a survey to assess the needs of our members.  Stay tuned for updates on these initiatives, and please respond to the upcoming survey!

WAS Committee

The WAS Committee is busy putting the finishing touches on the Fall series, Evolution and Revolution in Medical Education: Technology in the 21st Century, which begins Thursday, September 6 at 12pm EST. Planning is in full swing for both the Winter and Spring series. Stay tuned!

We know you have colleagues who would benefit from IAMSE membership!  Encourage them to join by having them visit our members only site.

Connecting with the Journal

Looking for a great place to publish your scholarly work? Connect with Medical Science Educator, the journal of IAMSE and on Facebook.

Connecting with the Website

Don’t forget to keep your member profile up-to-date. If you haven’t updated in a while, take a minute to do so when you log in here!

 

Don’t miss the Biomedical Sciences track at APMEC 2019

APMEC 2019

In 2018 IAMSE supported the foundation of the Asia-Pacific Biomedical Science Educators Association (APBSEA), a network of enthusiastic basic science educators from several countries in the Asia-Pacific region coming together to share experiences and issues pertaining to health professions education and beyond. Both organizations are pleased to announce the first-ever Biomedical Science (BMS) Track at the 2019 Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference in Singapore. The track consists of 3 main activities:

  • Pre-conference Workshop on “Developing Fair and Holistic Approaches to Evaluate Biomedical Science Educators”
  • Panel Discussion on “Supporting Biomedical Science Educators: A Matter of Self-Esteem, Identity and Promotion Opportunities”
  • Symposium on “Integration of Biomedical Science and Clinical Education: How to Make it Work?”

A big thanks to the APBSEA and IAMSE members for actively contributing to these sessions and making them possible. If you are interested in attending the APMEC meeting, please visit the conference website.

IAMSE Featured Member: Larry Hurtubise

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 Larry Hurtubise, MA.

Larry Hurtubise

While I am relatively new to IAMSE I have been collaborating professionally with IAMSE members for years. IAMSE and the Web Audio Seminar Series (WAS) have offered me opportunities for professional growth in three tangible ways. One is my professional interest is how to meaningfully connect isolated health sciences educators with leading educational thinkers, second is that the topics covered in the WAS augment my own professional development, third, and most importantly is the passionate educators and mentors I have met as a member of the IAMSE community.

As Chair of the WAS committee I am grateful for our committee which works hard to develop a series which address current and pressing topics in health science education. These webinars feature outstanding speakers and our team is always piloting new technologies to improve engagement with participants. I have also benefited professionally from the series and its presentations on topics like competency based medical education, wellness, and medical education research. I frequently reference the series recordings and blog.

Over the years, I have found IAMSE members to be thoughtful and conscientious. As a past Chair of the Generalists in Medical Education I have gotten to know Peter du Jong and Julie Hewett.  I have presented at conferences with members like Bill Jefferies and Giulia Bonaminio and have worked on grant funded projects with Machelle Linsenmeyer and Katie Hugget.  Recently I have gotten the opportunity to learn from Rick Vari and Nehad El-Sawi, past chairs of the WAS committee who are still contributing to the committee and IAMSE. These opportunities for continued professional growth make me grateful for my association with IAMSE members in the past and excited for the future!


Have you registered for the Fall Webcast Audio Seminar Series “Evolution and Revolution in the Medical Education: Technology in the 21st Century“? Reserve your spot for this semester’s seminal and exciting look at the changes in medical education.