Meeting attendees looking for a one-hour update on a year’s worth of educational scholarship in rheumatology should stop in on Monday to the Clinical and Translational Research Session, Medical Education Year in Review.
“A large part of rheumatology remains an academic field, with practitioners working in the context of an academic institution,” said Tracey Wright, MD, of UT Southwestern, and one of the moderators of the session. “A large number of rheumatologists work with trainees in one way or another, and this session really targets those who are engaged in medical education and teaching.”
The session will focus on the state-of-the-art in rheumatology education, with Kenneth O’Rourke, MD, of Rheumatology Associates, Portland, ME, reviewing some of the most up-to-date, important literature in educational scholarship in rheumatology to be published in the last year. The session will take place from 7:30 – 8:30 am in Room B218, Building B of the Georgia World Congress Center.
Addressing a whole year’s worth of medical education literature during a one-hour session will be quite a challenge, according to Dr. O’Rourke. The available content is relatively broad and fairly deep, and includes articles that range from basic educational theory all the way to randomized educational trials, new teaching techniques, or evidence-based reviews and commentaries.
Dr. O’Rourke will try to adapt his updates to the broad audience in attendance.
“The diverse group that I will be speaking to reflects not only full-time and part-time educators but also those who might teach in academic or community health centers, those who teach PAs, NPs, or nursing students, resident or fellows, or even those who concentrate solely on post-graduate CME-related education,” Dr. O’Rourke said.
During his talk, Dr. O’Rourke will try to touch on a broad number of topics, focusing on content that will have a more immediately practical or translational application to the classroom or the clinic.
“I am hoping people can take away useful pointers that they might actually be able to use relatively quickly in the scope of their practice,” Dr. O’Rourke said.
These techniques might include those applicable in both individual or small group teaching settings, and perhaps application of older teaching techniques to new settings.
“I would encourage people to attend because this is a very difficult set of literature to maintain current knowledge,” Dr. O’Rourke said. “It is good to reflect on this content, particularly when one is simultaneously trying to maintain current knowledge on the clinical aspects of our work, as opposed to remaining just up to date in educational-related topics that have an impact on day-to-day teaching.”