Trends in medical education

 

In a recent interactive webinar, learning strategist Joseph Green discussed current trends in medical education. The participating faculty members from AOSpine and AOTrauma were asked to critically evaluate what AO education does well and where there is room for improvement.

This April, at the AOSpine Education Commission (AOSEC) meeting, learning strategist Joseph Green held a presentation on the topic of "trends in medical education". As it was very well received by the AOSEC members, the AO Education Institute decided to make its content also available to the faculty members of AOSpine and AOTrauma in the form of a webinar. The webinar, presenting nine critical trends in medical education, took place on May 24 and was attended by participants from over 20 countries. It was the first webinar conducted by the AO Education Institute and also the first webinar to be accessible for members of different clinical divisions.

 

Joseph Green, known for his progressive approach to medical education, facilitated the premiere. Together with his colleague Miriam Uhlmann from the AO Education Institute they ensured the interactivity of the learning experience by continuously addressing the participant's questions and comments, asking questions to stimulate new thoughts, while gathering their input.

 

Nine trends

The nine trends discussed were:

 

1. Productive use of social media

2. Importance of online learning (e-Learning)

3. Increased use of new educational technologies

4. Critical importance of evaluation and assessment of education outcomes

5. Creation of a competency-based curriculum

6. Linking research, quality improvement, and medical education

7. Changes in the funding and support of medical education

8. Teaching, learning, and change strategies to facilitate a change in physician's performance

9. Teaching healthcare teams

 

As part of the webinar, participants were asked which trends they thought AO had embraced and which ones had yet to be addressed.

 

Ensuring the future of AO

There is big potential to employ these trends in strategic planning and assessment, Green concluded. “We need to make huge strides in how we assess the success of courses. How do we know that educational efforts translate into improved competence and patient care? We need data to support our claims. Receiving funding to continue the work of AO might be dependent on proving that we do, what we say we do.”

 

Where AO excels…

In Green’s opinion AO excels in the integration of educational methods and techniques that encourage interaction, considering, for example, the small group activities and hands-on learning aspects integrated in most courses.

 

Also by using trained faculty, who master the usage of different educational technologies from quality PowerPoint presentations to surgical simulation, AO positions itself well ahead of other organizations in the field.

 

…and where there is unexplored potential

An area where AO could advance and improve its presence is in the use of social media. According to Green social media has so far not been meaningfully engaged.

“It is a great learning AND marketing tool,” he said. "With social media you have the power to communicate with all the participants of a course at once. If you need more people in a lecture you can just send out a tweet and watch the room fill up.”

 

Green has used this strategy successfully at the American College of Cardiology conference, when he needed people in the right place at the right time.

 

Social media is also a tool to better connect with the young generation of physicians. “Young physicians are all over this", said Green. "They understand it and often listen and watch multiple feeds at once.”