IAMSE is pleased to announce that the association’s founder, Roger Koment, PhD, will be our guest of honor at the 2017 IAMSE Meeting in Burlington, Vermont.
Roger Koment received his PhD in Medical Microbiology from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, and his initial direction was to pursue a medical research path. Following completion of a fellowship at the University of Miami, he joined the faculty at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine where, as a professor and medical research scientist, he helped train more than 1,500 medical students, scores of graduate students, and uncounted numbers of baccalaureate students in the fundamental principles of infectious disease. Many more students, residents, and physicians were impacted through his teaching, including well over 1,000 international physicians he helped prepare for the USMLE.
The concept of IAMSE began in 1988, when Dr. Koment organized the Special Interest Group on Basic Science Education within the AAMC Group on Educational Affairs (GEA). He wanted to insure that basic scientists were involved in the planning for training physicians for the 21st century of medical practice. In 1993, he and others decided to create an organization that would be independent, yet parallel, to this Special Interest Group, called the Basic Science Education Forum (BSEF. Between 1993 and 1997, the Basic Science Education Forum attracted individual members from over 400 medical institutions among 87 countries. Three meetings were convened (in 1993, 1995 and 1997). By mid-1996 it became evident that managing a global organization of such proportions with only the efforts of volunteers already holding full-time faculty appointments would no longer be feasible. On June 22, 1997, during the Third Biennial International Conference in Charleston, SC, Dr. Koment announced the dissolution of the Basic Science Education Forum and the formation of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) in its place. This action became effective on July 1, 1997.
IAMSE members owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Roger Koment for his vision and his perseverance and tenacity to establish this vital and vibrant educational organization. We look forward to honoring him at the 2017 Annual Meeting, in Burlington, VT.
If you’re not yet registered for the 2017 IAMSE Meeting, please be sure to do so online at www.iamseconference.org! We look forward to seeing you there!
The 2015 Institute of Medicine report on “Improving Diagnosis in Healthcare” notes that diagnosis and diagnostic errors have been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of healthcare. One of the primary roles of medical training programs is to help learners develop medical decision-making skills, and to do so with graduated levels of independence. Effective cognitive integration of the basic and clinical science concepts plays an essential role in enhancing diagnostic accuracy for novice clinicians. Furthermore, deliberate practice in transferring knowledge obtained in one clinical context to solve a new problem, or the same problem in another context, is critical to the development of clinical expertise.
solving. Meanwhile, the basic science knowledge of clinical instructors is often encapsulated, challenging their ability to help students integrate basic and clinical science concepts. A process for “unpacking” clinical instructors’ knowledge and reinforcing its connections to clinical decisions would facilitate student activation of their basic science knowledge, improving both diagnostic accuracy and long-term retention. In return, students who are able to use basic science concepts to defend clinical decisions may improve the “diagnostic accuracy” of their clinician preceptors’ entrustment decisions.
l reasoning, cognitive integration and encapsulation, participants will identify key clinical decision-making points relevant to common clinical scenarios. In collaborative teams of basic scientists and clinicians, workshop participants will discuss underlying basic science concepts which inform these decisions, potential decision-making pitfalls, and the role of basic science application in avoiding patient harm.
There has been considerable recent discussion and literature on advantages of active learning modalities in health science education, especially as a way of replacing lecture for large groups. Clickers, Team-Based Learning, Games, Flipped Classroom all can enhance student engagement, learning, and retention. But which one to choose? There is scant literature on comparisons between them, yet experienced faculty know that each has strengths and weaknesses regarding faculty development and technology demands, student/faculty acceptance, and fit for student learning styles and for specific curricular topics. This workshop will actively examine these strategies with an eye towards the methods’ strengths and weaknesses, helping the attendee make decisions on which one(s) best suit their classroom or institution. The workshop will rely on the collective wisdom of attendees and of the workshop leader, who has taught in all the above methods in both pre-clinical and clinical settings.
IAMSE is once again pleased to offer the very successful, AMEE-sponsored course: Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME), led by two distinguished educators: Prof. Ronald Harden, University of Dundee and Prof. Aviad Haramati, Georgetown University. The ESME course requires a separate registration and is held on a full day prior to the IAMSE conference, continues with special discussion sessions during the conference, and concludes with a full afternoon on the final conference day.
curricular planning, teaching and learning methods, assessment strategies, educational scholarship and the teacher as a leader. The course is ideal for faculty educators who are eager to learn about the principles of health professions education or for seasoned individuals interested in exploring new ideas and trends. Upon completion of the ESME course (with certificate), participants are eligible to enroll in the IAMSE Fellowship program.
As Site Host, I am excited to remind you that the 21st Annual IAMSE Meeting will be in Burlington, Vermont, USA, on the beautiful campus of the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont. Burlington is the educational, medical, financial and cultural epicenter of our state and is a popular year-round vacation destination. The pre-conference workshops and the main IAMSE meeting (which has received a record number of abstracts) will make use of our excellent university facilities and will feature world-class speakers and facilitators. There will be a daily wellness and fitness program and we are planning a social program for families and friends of attendees. The annual IAMSE Gala Dinner will take place at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain, which features interactive science exhibits along beautiful vistas. You will find the city easy to get to, with direct air service at the Burlington International Airport by American, Delta, United, JetBlue and Allegiant airlines. The city is 220 miles northwest of Boston, 285 miles north of New York City and just 100 miles southeast of Montreal.