One resource we would like to highlight, especially considering its potential, is the AOSpine Faculty Center on the AOSpine website, which currently offers 4 different faculty resource packages; 2 modules for facilitating clinical educational activity delivery and 2 for faculty development activities.

 

Tatjana Topalovic, AOSpine Senior Education Project Manager says: "The advantage of these packages is that they are accessible at your own convenience. Whether you are a faculty member, chairperson or Educational Advisor, there are tools and documents targeted to meet your specific needs."

 

Standardized Principles Course support package

Launched this spring, this repository of resources supports a 1.5-2-day multipathology Principles Course, aligned to the AOSpine Curriculum, encourages a more standardized approach to Principles Courses across all AOSpine regions. It was determined that the regions required a flexible approach in terms of course delivery and educational methods and the shift to covering a specified set of learning outcomes permits this approach. Course templates for both case-based and lecture-based delivery are supplemented by presentations and cases that can be optionally incorporated.

 

Timing guidelines are included for each module suggesting the time spent on each section, ensuring a good balance of activities throughout the course. Syllabus, learning objectives and supporting PowerPoint presentations allow faculty to pick and choose what they want to include in order to achieve the learning outcomes.

 

Case Library

Have you ever been stuck trying to locate a good teaching case to share with course participants? Your search is over. Available since 2012, the Case Library boasts over 70 carefully selected cases for worldwide use by AOSpine faculty on Principles and Advanced level courses.

 

Useful for those teaching a topic they are not entirely familiar with, or if you do not have your own case example, these well-organized case presentations have gone through thorough evaluation to ensure they meet the specified learning outcomes for each spinal pathology covered in the AOSpine Curriculum. Every case is ready to be used and can be adapted and integrated in group discussions and other case-based activities at your educational activity.

 

Teaching packages

Targeting faculty, chairpersons and Educational Advisors, this assembly of support documents is comprised of the articles, checklists, competencies and job descriptions addressed in the respective AOSpine faculty training programs.

 

Being able to review accurate information about roles and responsibilities allows faculty of all levels to be more responsive to learners’ needs and reaffirms their understanding of educational concepts, which results in increased confidence, knowledge, skills and attitude when delivering educational offerings based on the AOSpine Curriculum.

 

This resource can be particularly useful if you have a gap between your last course and your next training and you want to refresh your knowledge.

 

Online faculty training

It can be difficult to find time to step away from your practice for education purposes. That is why AOSpine has included interactive online training modules in the Faculty Center. Accessible via the online portal, and complimentary to the teaching packages, these tools instruct faculty on how to effectively apply the AOSpine Curriculum to their activities, thereby strengthening their teaching, lecturing, and facilitating skills.

 

The latest addition to the online training package, an online module for faculty on the implementation of the Curriculum, was launched in December 2013—an easy to navigate and very useful module, it focuses on how to apply the AOSpine Curriculum in your lectures, cases and other selected teaching methods.

 

The online module for chairpersons has been developed and introduced over the past year and helps chairpersons to design their course program and educational plan based on the AOSpine Curriculum.