During February and March, FAIMER Fellows conducted a number of health professions education workshops covering topics that ranged from microteaching to organizing a medical education unit. Fellows, some collaborating cross-institutionally, networked and supported one another to conduct workshops for medical education faculty in the clinical, basic, and community health sciences departments at several schools.
The Medical Education & Technology (MET) Unit of the N. K. P. Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Nagpur, India, recently conducted an interactive, two-day workshop on problem-based learning for 20 faculty members. Fellows Rashmi Vyas (PHIL 2003) from Christian Medical College, Vellore, and Anshu (CMCL 2007, PHIL 2009) from Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram, each led sessions, and Shubhada Anant Gade (CMCL 2010) participated in the workshop. Suresh Chari (GSMC 2009), Director of Research and the MET Unit, reported that participants gave positive feedback and expressed excitement about implementing what they had learned.
Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal, recently conducted a three-day core faculty development workshop. Session topics included preparing oral presentations and course materials, student feedback and assessment, standards setting, microteaching, and problem-based learning. This was PAHS’s first faculty development workshop conducted entirely by in-house faculty, with Fellows Shital Bhandary (PSG 2008) serving as course director, and Shambhu Upadhyay (GSMC 2009) and Babu Raja Maharjan (CMCL 2010) serving as resource persons. Twenty faculty members from clinical specialties and basic and community health sciences participated. PAHS plans to conduct the workshop biannually and make attendance mandatory for all new faculty members.
The Medical Education Unit (MEU) at Sri Ramachandra University and Medical Centre is a designated Regional Center for approximately 30 medical colleges in the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) nationwide faculty development program. The MEU recently conducted a four-day workshop for 23 medical education unit coordinators from across the region. The highly interactive course used adult learning principles and practical workshop sessions with case scenarios. Phagalvarthi Vasudevan Vijayaraghavan (CMCL 2010), Dean of Education at Sri Ramachandra University, led a session on change management. Other session topics included learning styles and group dynamics, organizing a medical education unit, taxonomy, goals and educational objectives, teaching-learning methods and media, microteaching, small and large group teaching, student assessment, objective structured clinical and practical examinations (OSCE and OSPE), and professionalism. Rashmi Vyas also attended this workshop, serving as a resource person and observer.
The Medical Education Teaching & Technology (METT) Unit at Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, India, conducted a three-day, faculty development workshop for 26 faculty members from both clinical and para-clinical departments at the college. Sessions focused on educational objectives, microteaching, OSCE and OSPE, audiovisual aids, and multiple choice question (MCQ) formulation, among other topics. Participants reportedly praised the interactivity and diversity of methods used to structure the sessions, and said they developed useful skills for the teaching-learning process. Ten of the 21-member METT Unit committee are FAIMER Fellows: Sunita D. Deshpande (GSMC 2005), Sarita D. Fernandes (GSMC 2005), Bachi T. Hathiram (GSMC 2007), Anuradha M. Kanhere (GSMC 2005), Sunita Koutarapu (GSMC 2005), Vrinda K. Kulkarni (GSMC 2007), Jayashri Pandya (GSMC 2009), and Henal Shah (GSMC 2006, PHIL 2008) from Topiwala National Medical College; Ashwini Karve (GSMC 2006) from Seth G.S. Medical College; and Vinaya Shah (GSMC 2007) from B.Y.L. Nair Charitable Hospital.