Previous Conferences
“(Re)Assessing Assessment: Considerations for Clinical Competence and Curriculum”
January 12-14, 2024
Sarasota, Florida
The conference focused on assessment, particularly within the context of a competency-based curriculum. Assessing clinical reasoning, communication and professionalism present challenges that differ from those focused on assessing technical skills. Together, we considered questions such as: What approaches are most successful for teaching “invisible” skills such as professionalism and clinical reasoning? When students’ performance does not meet expectations, what sorts of remediation are most effective? How much is enough, and are the results reliable? What biases underlie assessment of these more complex skills? Are some formats better than others? Are there (or what are) the tensions between global ratings, checklists, and formative or summative feedback? Keynote speakers will address these and related topics to stimulate our thinking and frame continued discussion.
Keynotes:
Yoon Soo Park, PhD - University of Illinois College of Medicine
“Measuring Competence through Systems of Assessments: Best Practices and Guidelines for Clinical Assessments”
Calvin Chou, MD, PhD and John C. Penner, MD - University of California, San Franscisco
“Remediation for Learners in Health Professions: A Mid-course Correction”
Workshops:
John C. Penner, MD -
“Assessing and Remediating Clinical Reasoning in the Wild: Strategies for Frontline Clinician Educators”
Calvin Chou, MD, PhD -
“Remediation of Professionalism in Health Professions”
“Promoting Student Reflection and Self-Regulated Learning in Classrooms and Clinics”
June 23-25, 2023
Ithaca, NY
The conference focused on teaching approaches that encourage and support veterinary students’ reflection on their learning experiences and the development of lifelong learning skills through self-regulated learning. These were examined in the context of both classroom settings and the clinical learning environment, and the implications for students’ academic achievement, the development of clinical skills, and wellbeing were considered. Keynote speakers addressed topics such as narrative medicine, principles of self-regulated learning, metacognition, feedback, and evaluation.
Keynotes
“Self-Regulated Learning – From Theory to Practice”
Amy Greenberg
Michigan State University
“Narrative Medicine: Bearing Witness to Ourselves and Each Other”
Carmelina Price
Columbia University
“Read, Write, Reflect: Workshopping Narrative Veterinary Practice”
Sheila Quinn
University of Pennsylvania
“Improving Teaching and Learning in the Clinical Environment”
January 13-15, 2023
Sarasota, FL
This conference focused on the educational experience of students in the clinical context: what they are learning, creative approaches to teaching that allow faculty to take advantage of the clinical environment to promote learning and skills development, and students’ transition from formal educational settings to practice. Presenters addressed topics such as student-run clinics, teaching innovations in case-based learning and simulation, the concept of “practice readiness,” and feedback and evaluation in the clinical domain.
Keynotes:
“Maximizing student learning in the clinical environment”
James Nixon,
University of Minnesota Medical School
“Principles of assessing student learning: Focus on clinical skills”
Sarah Baillie, emeritus professor
Bristol Veterinary School
“Professions, Professionals and Professional Identity Development”
August 10-12, 2022
Held remotely
This conference focused on the process of “becoming a veterinarian.” Presenters explored the barriers or enabling factors that support the process of professional identity formation among veterinary students, particularly those from minoritized populations, as they negotiate personal values, beliefs and identity with the tacit knowledge and socialization of the veterinary profession, through formal instruction, experiences, and informal sources.
Keynotes:
“The ‘Right Way’ to be a Veterinarian: Professional Identity Formation in Veterinary Medicine”
Rebecca Volpe
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
“Professional Identity Formation of Minoritized Students and Faculty”
Candace J. Chow
University of Utah School of Medicine
“Uncertainty Tolerance in Medical and Veterinary Professionals”
Jason Hancock
University of Exeter
“Helping Animals by Helping People”
Jonathan Wood
College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University
“Understanding the Relationship Between Feedback, Affect, and Clinical Reasoning Skills”
Alejandra Ruiz-Segura
McGill University