Presentation 1 - EFFECTIVENESS OF EDUCATING HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS IN MANAGING CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS THROUGH A "SUPERVISED STUDENT INTER-PROFESSIONAL PAIN CLINIC", AN UPDATE
Ling Cao

University of New England

 

PURPOSE To address the need for medical education on chronic pain and pain management, we implemented an inter-professional training program, "supervised student inter-professional pain clinic" three years ago. Previously, we have demonstrated this training program's feasibility and overall effectiveness in improving health care professional students' skills in 1) chronic pain management and 2) working in an inter-professional team. Here, we reported the updated analysis examining students' performance based on individual professions. METHODS From January 2016 to December 2018, we have assembled 12 inter-professional student teams (5-8 students/team) that included students from the following 6 professions at the University of New England (UNE): nursing, osteopathic medicine (OMS), occupational therapy (OT), pharmacy, physical therapy (PT), and social work (SW). During this 12-week-long training program, each team conducted the initial evaluation, generated treatment plans, and conducted follow-up examinations for its assigned patient under the supervision of a pain specialist at the Mercy Pain Clinic. Team members participated in a total of 4 group meetings and three patient appointments and presented their experience to the UNE community at the end of their training. To evaluate this training program surveys were conducted with all participating students (pre- and post-program) and data were analyzed based on health professions. RESULTS Prior to the program, nursing students showed the greatest overall knowledge regarding pain physiology (Revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire) and chronic pain management (KnowPain50), and the highest scores in perceived team skills (Team Skill Scale), while OT students showed the highest scores in attitudes and perception regarding inter-professional practice (Interprofessional Education Perception Scale). Upon the completion of the training program, improvement in various measures were observed in all professions. OMS, pharmacy and PT students revealed statistically significant improvement in most areas. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of this inter-professional training program for all participating professions.

 

Presentation 2 - Thinking Beyond the Norm: IPE in a Biomedical Graduate School Setting
Heather Billings

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
 

PURPOSE: The goal of interprofessional education (IPE) is to prepare learners for interprofessional practice. For biomedical science graduate students, this includes collaborative and multidisciplinary discovery, research, and dissemination. While there are many studies of IPE in the traditional healthcare setting, literature lacks documenting IPE in a biomedical science graduate school setting. METHODS: We aimed to assess the current state of interprofessionalism/IPE in the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (MCGSBS) as perceived by MCGSBS PhD students. We created an 11-item questionnaire adapted from multiple validated IPE surveys. Ten questions were stratified into the pillars of IPE (values, roles and responsibilities, teamwork, and communication); participants recorded their level of agreement using a six-point Likert scale (1=strongly disagree, 6=strongly agree). An 11th question asked participants to describe the team make-up they considered while completing the questionnaire. RESULTS: 72 PhD students completed the survey (39% response rate). Overall, students valued a multidisciplinary team approach (avg = 5. 51). Mean scores for roles and responsibilities, teamwork, and communication were 4. 92, 5. 38, and 4. 59, respectively. The lowest scored item was, "I feel comfortable expressing my own opinions in a team, even when I know that other people don't agree with them. " Males (n=32) scored higher on communication items, while females (n=49) scored higher on items describing roles and responsibilities. Racially diverse students (n=15) scored higher on all items with one exception, "I feel that I am heard when expressing my opinions." CONCLUSIONS: This data suggests that students value interprofessionalism and teamwork but don't feel comfortable describing their role or the roles of others on their team. Similarly, the majority of students do not feel confident in communicating. Integrating formal IPE programming into curriculum may improve these scores.

 

Presentation 3 - METACOGNITION AND MICROLEARNING : TRAINING STAFFS THROUGH A FACULTY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP
Sarmishtha Ghosh

International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

 

PURPOSE In the light of IR 4.0, information delivery in small chunks, carefully aligned with desired learning outcomes, have been found to be effective in learning, alongwith planning, goal-setting and monitoring progress. This can be done by introducing metacognitively enriched learning sessions. A strong need is  felt to develop faculty skilled in metacognition and microlearning. METHODS An introductory workshop was designed educators on education strategies and practical tools for use in their own classroom. After an initial ice breaking session, participants were given a pre-test paper to check existing concepts. This was followed by two short interactive talks on "metacognition" and "micro-learning". Participants were invited to share their personal experiences regarding what they teach and how they teach. Group tasks were given on the topics whereby participants were required to prepare a short lecture, incorporating principles of metacognition. The second task was to prepare a micro-learning session. The session concluded with group presentations, inter group discussions, debriefing by facilitators and post-test questionnaires to check improvement of knowledge, concepts and satisfaction level of the participants. RESULTS: 90% staffs were aware of the terms but 60% were not clear about the meanings and methodology involved in the two processes. There was significant improvement in the scores of post test questions. In the free comment section, participants expressed their satisfaction with the conduct and the quality of materials delivered in the workshop, and wanted a follow up workshop. CONCLUSION : A day long faculty development workshop can achieve the objective of creating awareness in staffs about metacognition and micro-learning. Group tasks and flip chart writing followed by presentation appeared to be a satisfactory method of introducing importance of  topics like metacognition and micro-learning. This may in the long run improve teaching training of students to become self directed and self regulated learners.

 

Presentation 4 - TEACHING SQUARES: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH FOR DEVELOPING PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES OF MEDICAL FACULTY
Best Oral Presentation Award Nominee

Samantha M. Lemus-Martinez

Florida International University, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine

 

PURPOSE:  FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine is a newer medical school with limited faculty development personnel and no formal/informal process for peer observation of teaching.  We piloted "teaching squares" to initiate opportunities for faculty to observe their peers with a focus on pedagogical practices. METHODS:  Teaching squares are groups of 4 cross-disciplinary faculty who observe each other using multiple pedagogical approaches over 2-3 weeks. They are informal, flexible and require limited personnel for oversight. The process begins with a pre-meeting, followed by peer observation, and concludes with feedback and debriefing. The purpose is not to criticize but rather to identify effective pedagogical approaches that might be incorporated in one's own classes. Feedback meetings are roundtable discussions of strategies individually observed by square members, leading to self-reflection regarding personal problems of practice for which strategies are provided. Debriefing with the faculty developer consists of creating individualized action plans with self-identified areas for growth and provides for personalized support to ensure successful implementation. RESULTS: Peer observations resulted in the identification of effective pedagogical strategies employed by the faculty, and fostered their implementation in other classroom settings. Significant camaraderie developed among participants resulting in a community of practice where faculty feel comfortable re-engaging with the square to present new pedagogical challenges. Because of its informal, non-threatening nature, members felt free to offer comments and encouragement to others. Those receiving feedback reported that the teaching square format promoted self-reflection on teaching practices and resulted in improvements to their own pedagogy. CONCLUSION: Participants enjoyed seeing the content and pedagogical expertise of their colleagues and were motivated to make changes to their own teaching practice. The teaching square built faculty development capacity, spreading effective and innovative teaching strategies throughout the medical school.