Medical education research in the Department of Family Medicine

Shelley RossFaculty DevelopmentDate: February 14, 2013

Today I will describe…Why we do medical education research

Areas of interest

Some interesting findings

Future directions

Why do medical education research?Quality of education

Evidence-based approach

Quality assurance (evaluation)

Theory development

3

• Evaluate current practices

• Refine

• Evaluate

• Innovate

Look at the literature

Develop a philosophy

Align with best practices

Quality assuranceImplement innovations

Evaluate

Refine

Report

CBASParticipatory action research

Multiple components

Publication (program description):Ross S, Poth C, Donoff M, Humphries P, Steiner I, Schipper S, Janke F, Nichols D. The Competency-Based Achievement System (CBAS): Using formative feedback to teach and assess competencies with Family Medicine residents. Canadian Family Physician. 2011;57:e323-e330.

FeedbackWhat kind of feedback do residents get?

Is there a gender difference among preceptors?

Is there a difference based on years of experience?

What are the categories of feedback given?

Implementation fidelityDoes CBAS work in all contexts?

How do we fix it if it is not working the way we expect?

Publication: Ross S, Poth C, Donoff M, Papile C, Humphries P, Stasiuk S, Georgis R. Involving Users in the Refinement of the Competency-Based Achievement System (CBAS), an Innovative Approach to Competency-Based Assessment. Medical Teacher. 2012; 34:e413-e417.

Teaching the teachersUsing existing written feedback, coaching is

targeted to each preceptor’s strengths and weaknesses

Publication: Nichols D, Kulaga A, Ross S. Coaching the coaches: Targeted faculty development for teaching. Medical Education (in press)

Applications beyond Family MedicinePractice ready assessments (to grant

provisional licenses to foreign-trained physicians)

South Sudan

Social MediaFacebook

TwitterPublication: Forgie S, Duff J, Ross S. Twelve Tips

for using Twitter as a Learning Tool in Medical Education. Medical Teacher. 2013; 35; 8-14.

Online professionalism

Professionalism in digital agePublication: Ross S, Forgie S. Distracted

doctoring: electronic multi-tasking impairs learning and patient care. CMAJ. 2012; 184: 1440. DOI:10.1503/cmaj.120462

Cultural competencySensitivity to other cultures

Enhancing Cultural Diversity Awareness of Medical/Dentistry Students (Szafran O, Waugh E, Parent R, Khera S, Triscot J).

Cultural competency training manual for health professionals (Waugh, Szafran, Crutcher)

Narrative reflective practiceReflect on personal feelings about doctor

patient relationship (Cave & Tan)

Community-based ExperienceDo student experiences in community family

medicine clinics change attitudes and beliefs about Family Medicine? (Tan & Ross)

Palliative CareCan palliative care and end of life care be

effectively taught using virtual cases? (Tan & Ross)

What are resident experiences in palliative care? (Tan)

AddictionsNew addictions curriculum:

Is there a change in attitudes and beliefs after taking the new course? (Salvalaggio, Steblecki, Duerksen, Ross)

MotivationMultiple studies (Ross)

Can we incorporate motivation theory into teaching and assessment?

What are the motivational patterns of residents entering the program? Do those patterns change?

Problem-based learningHow effective is problem-based learning?

Does it improve comprehension? (Ross, Peterson, Amin)

Does PBL translate to other cultures? (Steiner & Ross)

RuralMultiple projects (Konkin, Janke, Ross, others)

What are effective methods to deliver educational programming for distributed sites?

What is the impact of rural rotations?

What influences choice to practice in rural settings?

Benchmark examinationMultiple studies (Campbell-Scherer, Schipper,

Duerksen, Ross)

Are benchmark examinations useful to plan curriculum?

Do residents find benchmark exams useful for planning their own learning?

Are residents accurate self-assessors on benchmark examinations?

Faculty DevelopmentNeeds assessment (Koppula, Janke, Ross)

Innovate ways to deliver Faculty Development

Triple C EvaluationMember of pilot team – longitudinal program

evaluation(Ross, Schipper)

Physician lifestylesHow are physician lifestyles related to the

counseling they give patients about healthy lifestyles? (Klein)

Graduate survey5 year cohort surveys of our graduates

(Crutcher R, Szafran O, Woloschuk W, Schipper S, Wycliffe-Jones K, Ross S, Palacios M, Dickinson J, Myhre D).

The main purpose of the study is to examine Alberta family medicine graduates’ educational experiences and practice patterns after completion of the family medicine residency program and to compare these findings to those of graduates from previous years.

Critical thinking skillsTo what degree do our residents think

critically? (Ross, Schipper, Loeffler, Allen, Ross)

Does critical thinking change over time in the residency program?

Global Health Education InitiativesProjects to assist other countries with primary

care education in:

UgandaTanzaniaChinaNepal

Women in medicineBook project (Waugh & Ross)

Do women practice medicine differently? Are there different expectations of women than men ? Are there differences in the stresses faced by women when they choose a career in medicine?

CBASMultiple studies using database of FieldNotes

and progress reports

Remediation project: Does CBAS help identify struggling learners earlier than previous methods?

Long-term evaluationComparison between our graduates and

traditional program graduates

TeachingWhat is the most effective faculty

development to improve teaching?

How do we teach residents to be good teachers?

MotivationUse motivational theory to increase

engagement in learning across all elements of residency program

Rural

Rural curriculum evaluation

Questions?