“The most rewarding thing for me,” says Eva Aagaard, co-director of UCSF’s new Medical Education Area of Concentration (AoC) program, “is when I talk to somebody— student or faculty—and they come away with something that helps them take better care of people in the future. I get a lot back from that.”

It is this love of opening minds, whether through teaching, writing or mentorship, that led Aagaard to the field of medical education. But as with most who find themselves assisting with curriculum development or studying the effectiveness of a medical training tool, Aagaard never intended to pursue medical education. It just happened.

“Medical education tends to be something people fall into, not something they set out to do,” says Dana Tuttle, a first year resident who is now herself something of a medical education specialist. In fact, Tuttle’s experience at UCSF models what the Medical Education AoC is trying to achieve for other students.

Like the five other UCSF Areas of Concentration, the Medical Education AoC is in the process of developing elective courses and experiential learning opportunities that culminate in a “legacy” project during the fourth year. For the Medical Education AoC, legacies may include an educator’s portfolio, a curriculum, an educational research project, a book chapter or an interactive online teaching tool.

Tuttle’s own introduction to medical education came during her first year, when the developers of UCSF’s “new curriculum” invited first and second year students to participate in the Curriculum Ambassador program. As her own classes were still taught in the “old” way, where “everything was lecture, and very little was interdisciplinary,” she was intrigued—and signed up.

As a curriculum ambassador, Tuttle worked with faculty on a seven-week course for first year students, called the Cancer Block, which aimed to help students learn about cancer through multiple disciplines simultaneously. Having found the experience very inspiring, she explained, “I got to work as a colleague with some of the faculty I admired most. To see how people who I felt were master educators thought, how they organized things, was pretty amazing.”

Broadening the students' view of medical education is another important component, according to Co-director Carrie Chen.

"Students are thinking of medical education as being about teaching and curriculum development," says Chen," but there are other parts to it as well, for example, leadership, mentoring and advising, and scholarship." Linking students up with faculty members who share the same interests is a critical advantage.

Mentorship is, in fact, one of the highlights of the entire UCSF AoC Program, says Curriculum Coordinator Ramu Nagappan. “It’s a relationship a student can maintain over four years.” Yet the benefits of the Medical Education program reach far beyond the individuals involved; the whole school benefits from student input in curriculum development. “No matter what we think students think,” Nagappan says, “it’s always best for them to tell us first-hand.”

Following her summer stint as a curriculum ambassador, Tuttle pursued medical education opportunities throughout the rest of her medical school career and even as a post-graduate Medical Education Fellow. Projects have included designing an online radiology self-teaching curriculum, serving as a Project-Based Learning (PBL) tutor for first year students, writing PBL cases, assisting in a lab, and developing self-assessment and exam preparation questions. To top it off, she’s served on numerous student-faculty curriculum committees.

Drawing from Tuttle’s experiences, and the endeavors of several other medical students, faculty are now structuring the AoC program to support a wide array of student interests, including teaching, scholarship, experiential learning, curriculum development and leadership development. One exciting offering is the opportunity to help build the online curriculum iRocket, where students can go for basic information, converse with other students and faculty, and use self-assessment tools and modules to brush up on a subject. With no technological background or content expertise, students end up designing sophisticated study tools as well as learn a subject area exceptionally well.

While Medical Education is obviously a powerful trainer of educators, it is not only for those wanting to pursue academics, Aagaard suggests. “Med Ed is responsible for creating the next generation of doctors. It’s about learning the strategies of the effective communicator and good teacher—skills not just for academia, but for those working on a team, supporting staff or helping patients learn how to get things done for themselves.”

Tuttle agrees, feeling that UCSF’s Medical Education program is a wonderful learning opportunity for all students, regardless of their career trajectory. It provides an opportunity for students to develop their own personal and professional goals and create time for personal growth, she explains. Plus, “Because medicine is a bit prescribed, there’s not always a lot of room for creativity. This is a great way to do that.”


Source: Lisa Zimmerman