- College of Medicine Faculty News
Heavy-hitters from the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine recently shared their expertise in medical education at the 2012 Southern Group on Educational Affairs (SGEA) conference.
Dr. Julia Pet-Armacost, associate dean for planning and knowledge management; Dr. Matthew Gerber, director of knowledge management; Andrea Berry, director of faculty development; and Nadine Dexter, director of the Harriet F. Ginsburg Health Sciences Library gathered with educators from about 45 Southern medical schools in Lexington, Ky., in April. The conference was sponsored by the University of Kentucky College of Medicine.
As a subgroup of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the SGEA fosters excellence in medical education. Through posters and presentations, the UCF delegates shared ideas about curriculum management, assessment, and library innovations.
In a presentation titled “Starting With The End In Mind: Competencies Across The Continuum,” Dr. Pet-Armacost and Dr. Gerber talked about how the collection and analysis of data about the curriculum shape content, course structure and student competency – how well students grasp a subject, based on certain metrics, or standards of measurement.
“Assessments are geared toward improving the curriculum,” said Dr. Gerber, adding students can also see areas where they are doing well and areas where they need help.
Beyond individual grades, Dr. Gerber explained a test question could be tagged, or coded in a specific way, that allows reviewers to determine not only whether the student has answered correctly but also if learning objectives are being met in disciplines such as anatomy, physiology or cardiology.
COM then gathers this information in its ASKME (Assess Student Knowledge in Medical Education) database, which currently holds 181 student records, more than 180,000 individual student responses and more than 3,000 questions with tags, Dr. Gerber said.
“This allows you to figure out where changes in the curriculum are needed,” said Dr. Pet-Armacost.
Other authors of the presentation included Dr. Robert Englander, AAMC; Leslee Martin, University of Louisville; Dr. W. Anderson Spickard III, Vanderbilt University Medical Center; Dr. Lisa Leggio and Dr. Leila Stallworth, Georgia Health Sciences University Medical College of Georgia; and Terri Cameron, AAMC.
Andrea Berry presented a poster on “A Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment Designed for Medical Students.” Dr. Mariana Dangiolo, assistant professor of family medicine and geriatrics; Dr. Maria Cannarozzi, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics; and Dr. Adam Golden, associate professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine also contributed.
M-3 students use the assessment during their internal medicine/family medicine clerkship to evaluate older patients. Faculty review the forms to determine if students are meeting learning objectives.
While other geriatric assessments exist, Berry said COM’s tool stands out because “it is student-oriented” and doesn’t assume the user is already trained to evaluate older patients.
Nadine Dexter delivered a poster and talk on “Using the Library as the Center of Deployment of Tablet Technology in a U.S. Medical School.” Other contributors were Dr. Bethany Ballinger, assistant professor of emergency medicine; Shalu Gillum, public services librarian; and Michael Garner, medical informatics librarian. The talk focused on how the Health Sciences Library is leading the way in medical education through technology and digital content.
View the entire poster submission in large JPG format here.