Med students show their commitment to medical education at the Canadian Conference on Medical Education
U of T medical students made their way to Montreal, Quebec to participate in the Canadian Conference on Medical Education (CCME), which took place from April 16-19. The enthusiasm and commitment of our students was evident by the vast number of students who presented posters and oral presentations and attended to enrich their learning.
A few of our students who participated shared their experiences:
Justin Lam attended CCME to benefit from the ideas and discourse at the diverse plenary sessions, poster and oral presentations and workshops at the conference. He also presented his research on the experiences of medical students from social sciences and humanities backgrounds and helped run a workshop on admissions and the hidden curriculum for medical students from social sciences and humanities backgrounds.
CCME is always a conference with so many interesting things going on, and as someone who is passionate about medical education, it’s a really fantastic space to hear about what other people across the country are working on and to connect and exchange ideas with other individuals who are also passionate about medical education. I really enjoyed the thought-provoking talks and discussions that I had with my peers, colleagues and other people in the field, as well as learning about what medical educators all over Canada are thinking about and working on. I also took advantage of the opportunity to get invaluable feedback on the work that I’m doing. The sessions at CCME are a constant source of inspiration that motivates my own research back at the University of Toronto with my supervisor, Tina Martimianakis. - Justin Lam 1T7 student.
Read the abstract: The Missing Patient in the Hidden Curriculum as Discourse: A Preliminary Analysis
Safoora Fatima gave an oral presentation about the evaluation of U of T’s Teaching, Research and Innovation in Medical Education (TRI-ME) program, which aims to educate future physicians about medical education. With an interest in incorporating medical education in her future career, Fatima chose to attend the conference to share information about the work she’s been doing and also learn about work that is being done across the country.
Learning about interesting projects and their findings, along with meeting several passionate individuals in the field were some of my highlights from the conference. Some of the findings in various research studies were applicable to my current and future learning in medicine and I started thinking about how I can incorporate them into my educational experience. Learning about several interesting initiatives at other schools prompted me to think about how I can engage and benefit students through similar initiatives at my school. - Safoora Fatima, 1T8 student.
Sarah Silverberg attended the conference to present a poster on antimicrobial stewardship teaching in medical education. Together with a colleague, she sought to generate interest, gain perspectives from other medical educators and raise awareness on the topic.
I wanted to attend CCME to learn more about current perspectives on medical education and understand how the work that I've been doing, both on advocacy curricula and on antimicrobial stewardship, fits in to the current dialogue. Through the conference, I had the opportunity to network with other students from different universities who were also involved in education and interested in working on collaborative projects. I also received valuable feedback on my projects and ideas on how to move them forward. I even learned of a creator of a new app from Alberta who is also working on antimicrobial stewardship! - Sarah Silverberg, 1T8 student (pictured right).
Siqi Xue attended CCME to present findings from a Community Population and Public Health 2 course project that explores the minority medical students’ perceptions of the Faculty of Medicine’s online environment, and based on their concerns and recommendations, validates a website equity and diversity audit tool for medical education institutions along with supervisor Dr. Joyce Nyhof-Young.
I felt that it would be a privilege to present our findings at the CCME, obtain feedback from a broad audience and capture interest of moving the project forward on the national level. It was great having the opportunity to present orally and exchanging ideas with an incredibly engaged and knowledgeable network, and at the same time, learn about the most innovative practices in the fields of medical humanities, health and wellbeing, teaching technologies and many more. It was an eye-opening experience that definitely strengthened my interest in becoming more involved with medical education. - Siqi Xue, 1T7 student.
Our faculty also participated in various presentations on a wide variety of topics. A few moments were captured on camera.
Dr. Clare Hutchinson presents with Drs. Raed Hawa, Stacey Bernstein, Mahan Kulasegaram, Mark Hanson on Think, Act, and Feel: Why Students Apply to a New Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship.
Faculty members Karen Weyman (pictured left), James Owen, Sharonie Valin, Phillip Berger and Stacey Bernstein present a poster on Key Learning from an Advocacy Project within the U of T Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LInC).
