Our association is a robust and diverse set of educators, students, 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 monthâs Featured Member is Kelly Quesnelle.
Kelly Quesnelle, PhD
Position: Professor & Chair of Biomedical Sciences
University: University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville
How long have you been a member of IAMSE?
I joined IAMSE in 2014, and attended my first annual meeting in 2015. I have not missed one since!
Looking at your time with the Association, what have you most enjoyed doing? What are you looking forward to?
Since 2015, I have met some amazing individuals while serving on the 2017 annual meeting program committee, as a member of the CAMSE subcommittee of the professional development committee, as past Chair of the publications committee, and now as Chair of the educational scholarship committee. Through these interactions, I have found many friends and mentors in the health science education field, and I have had the privilege of mentoring many of our IAMSE Medical Educator Fellows. On a personal note, my work with the IAMSE cafĂ© has been one of the most rewarding engagements I have had with IAMSE. To connect in an informal way on a regular basis with other IAMSE members from around the world has really improved my well-being at work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and I have been very fortunate to host some extraordinary guests on the IAMSE cafĂ©. As I step down from my role as an IAMSE cafĂ© host after two years, I am looking forward to watching the cafĂ© continue to connect us in the future under the leadership of Jon Wisco, Wendy Lackey, RaĂșl Barroso, and a new IAMSE cafĂ© host. It is exciting to see new faces come into leadership roles in the organization!
Why should people be excited to join your pre-conference workshop âEducator portfolios: Documenting your activities as an educatorâ?
Although many health sciences educators are largely self-directed and self-motivated, recognition for our work as health sciences educators is essential for our sustained career satisfaction and identity formation. The committee for the advancement of medical science educators (CAMSE) was formed under the leadership of Bonny Dickinson and Nicole Deming as a subcommittee of the IAMSE professional development committee to address the concerns of IAMSE members in reward and recognition for our work. As part of this work, the committee created the Medical Science Educator Portfolio Toolkit, which can be used to help educators engage in self-reflection and highlight their work across the five domains of educational activities: teaching, curriculum development, learner assessment, advising and mentoring, and educational leadership and administration. The workshop will explain these domains and walk participants through a hands-on exercise with their own CVs to show how the toolkit can be used to prepare educators for promotion at their home institutions.
What workshop, session or event are you most looking forward to in Denver?
I am really looking forward to the focus session, âFrequency, Dosage and Therapeutic Use of Assessments in an Integrated Curriculumâ by Joe Blumer, Marieke Kruidering, Michael Lee, Steve Schneid, John Szarek, and Naunihal Zaveri on Tuesday morning. I think this will be a robust session on utilizing a diverse array of assessments throughout a health science curriculum, how to identify and remove bias in examination questions, and the implications of USMLE Step 1 moving pass/fail on assessment types in medical education. Looking forward to a great workshop from these outstanding presenters!
What interesting things are you working on outside the Association right now?
I was very fortunate to start a new role at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville this year as Chair of the Biomedical Sciences Department. My most interesting work right now is getting to know the phenomenal educators in the department and working with them as we refresh our pre-clerkship curriculum to keep it vibrant and engaging for our learners in Greenville for many years to come.
Since 2020, I have also been working on an IAMSE-sponsored project with educators from several IAMSE member institutions to study the pathways that lead to careers in medical education and both the positive and negative factors that contribute to identity formation of basic science educators. This has been an exciting project, to interview so many medical educators and to work with such a dedicated research team, led by Ming-Jung Ho at Georgetown University Medical Center and Joanna Brooks at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. We are looking forward to sharing some of our preliminary results at the Denver meeting.
I am also pleased to announce that the third edition of âAn Introduction to Medical Teaching: The Foundations of Curriculum Design, Delivery, and Assessmentâ is now available through Springer. Katie Huggett and Bill Jeffries invited me to edit this edition of their book with them, and I am proud to say that the book contains many chapters by authored by fellow IAMSE members who are experts in their fields. We also added a focus on the science of learning and instruction, new materials on asynchronous teaching and educational scholarship and career development, and a focus on diversity and inclusion across many of the chapters.
Anything else that you would like to add?
I would just like to add a big thank you to all of the wonderful IAMSE mentors who have guided me through my own journey as a medical educator. Apart from the other people I have already mentioned here, a big shout out to Bonny Dickinson, Neil Osheroff, Peter de Jong, Adi Haramati, Alice Fornari, and so many others who are a constant source of support and encouragement. And, of course, a big THANK YOU to the many faces of JulNet who make IAMSE work in all of the practical ways that we need it to work. IAMSE is a wonderful family, and I am honored to be a member.