Winter Edition | December 2022
 

Welcome

Welcome to the inaugural MCW Innovations in Healthcare Education Research (IHER) Conference quarterly newsletter! This new publication was developed to keep our educational community up to date on our conference. Within this newsletter, you will find information regarding our 10^th annual IHER Conference in September 2023, as well as a reflection on the successes of our 2022 Conference.

Our plan has always been to adopt innovative approaches for healthcare education research, and we feel it is more helpful for our community if we open an ongoing communications pipeline to receive suggestions and feedback from you and inform you of our latest ideas. You might be interested to learn about our new Hybrid Poster Presentation, Joint Submissions category, or provide us with feedback regarding early presentation proposals such as a Fireside Chat or World Café discussed in our Moving Forward section of the newsletter.

MCW’s 2022 IHER Conference enjoyed national and international participation and we achieved record attendance, with 295 conference participants hailing from 31 states and seven countries. We learned from our MCW colleagues that they enjoyed interacting with innovators and researchers at other institutions and they hope that we continue to strengthen our outreach!

In addition to the IHER Newsletter, comprehensive communications efforts across multiple media channels will keep you informed about current IHER Conference information, including e-mail flyers, articles shared via MCW’s intranet platform (InfoScope) and regular updates to MCW’s IHER Conference webpage.

Please share your suggestions and feedback with us via email at IHERConference@mcw.edu.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 MCW IHER Conference!

Sincerely,

2023 MCW IHER Conference Steering Committee
 

Spotlight

Award Winners

Each year, the IHER Conference recognizes the top innovations and research presentations for the oral and speed poster platforms. For the first time the conference also recognized its Innovator of the Year for the presenter who had the greatest contributions to the meeting. Congratulations to the 2022 IHER award winners!
 

Social Media

In 2022, the IHER Conference employed a social media campaign to raise awareness and foster dialogue about our annual meeting. The campaign distributed 69 messages on Twitter from the Office of Educational Improvement’s account from April through October. Accumulating 220 retweets and 305 likes from our messages, the campaign was considered a success.

The IHER Social Media Sub-committee (Chair: Kerrie Quirk, Members: Kursten Bauer, Amy Beierle, Lisa Bozic, Lynn Lewandowski, Johnathan Neist, Robert Treat), in consult with the Office of Communications, developed the campaign to strategically map Twitter message content and timeline. This approach allowed us to highlight key deadlines and features of the meeting in a systematic procedure and ensure appropriate coverage of important information.

In 2023, the Social Media Sub-Committee will expand its use of social media into LinkedIn to reach more health professions educators who can benefit from our programming. Planned messages highlighting daily events will be integrated into the overall communication plan, giving followers the option of attending sessions of their choice. Messages will be sent throughout the year to foster continual engagement and create a community of followers. We will Twitter chat on a key topic of interest to the health professions education community. Stay tuned for details!
 

School of Pharmacy

Did you know?  The Medical College of Wisconsin has been home to School of Pharmacy students since 2017, with full accreditation granted to the program in 2021. The accelerated, three-year Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum uses a competency-based grading system that focuses on providing an education to future pharmacists that is cutting edge and innovative, pushing graduates to practice at the top of their license. Many innovative ideas and teaching strategies used with the School of Pharmacy have been showcased at the IHER Conference over the last three years including:

• Use of a Virtual Environment for Medication Therapy Management Skills with English and Non-English Patients
• Utilizing Tweet-Style Reflections to Foster Character Development Among Health Professions Students
• Cultivating Cultural Intelligence to Improve Cancer Disparities with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities
• Invisible Identities: Educating Healthcare Providers on Hmong LGBTQ+ Experiences

While this is a sample of the great things the School of Pharmacy has accomplished, we look forward to them sharing more of their unique teaching strategies at future conferences.

Attention Faculty, Staff, and Students! What have you been working on that pushes the boundaries of healthcare education? Showcase your successes (and your setbacks) at the 2023 IHER Conference, where we can all learn how to become better educators, so our students are ready to serve as comprehensive care providers upon graduation.
 

Behind-the-Scenes

Tech Corner

Healthcare and healthcare education has experienced a rapid increase in use and interest in artificial intelligence (robotics, simulation software), machine learning (analytics), deep learning (medical imaging and artificial neural networks), virtual and augmented reality hardware and blockchain technologies (patient records, billing, supply chains). Even the anticipation of quantum computers has impacted security of big data as researchers develop tools to protect that data from future compromise using homomorphic encryption and federated learning.

The 2021 IHER Conference used the Virbela virtual reality software for two speed poster sessions as part of its long-term innovative strategy to implement advanced technology in the conference, particularly as it migrates to a hybrid platform in 2023. Virtual reality can be experienced with and without headsets such as the Meta Quest 2 and HTC Vive Pro 2, but augmented reality will require specialized glasses with a form factor akin to ordinary reading or prescription glasses.

Apple will have a virtual reality headset available in 2023 and augmented reality glasses later in 2024, which will provide early adoption and momentum in healthcare. It will take a couple of years for these technologies to become mainstream and enter the healthcare education curriculum, but the IHER Conference is planning to showcase the augmented reality glasses with a hybrid poster session as soon as they are available. The 2023 IHER Conference will showcase and make a call-for-proposals for the hybrid poster presentations, which will be used with the augmented reality glasses in 2024.

During the 2022 IHER Conference, no less than eight presentations specifically focused on these advanced technologies. The Acadicus virtual reality software roundtable, the AI in Healthcare Education panel session and the ten-minute oral presentations and three-minute speed posters listed below.

• Extended Reality: Is it feasible? Is This the Next Chapter of Medical Education among UME?
• Advancing Holistic Review During Residency Application: Using Natural Language Processing of Applicant Experiences to Predict an Interview Invitation
• Neural Network Analysis of Medical Student Personality, Gender, and Perspective Taking
• Use of a Virtual Environment for Medication Therapy Management Skills with English and Non-English Patients
• Integrating Virtual Reality in an Institutional Healthcare Education Research Online Conference
• 3D Printed Anatomical Models Allowing for Customization: A New Approach with Potential Advantages over Computed Tomography-based Models and Cadavers
   

Agent’s Corner

Every year the IHER Conference has a group of supporters known as Triage Agents who manage the logistical and technical support for many of our presentation sessions. They work with session moderators, presenters and participants so that the presentations proceed effectively, while also troubleshooting technical problems efficiently should they arise. How many of us have ever had issues with getting our presentations to load perfectly? Exactly...which is why we asked some of our IHER Conference Triage Agents to share their experiences:

“In a world where technology can be unpredictable at times, the Triage Agent role is extremely helpful. I haven’t had to use any backup documents during a presentation, but I like to think it eases presenter’s minds that if anything does happen, we are here to help.”

- Kursten Bauer | Administrative Coordinator – Office of Academic Affairs

“My first year of presenting at IHER involved going through PowerPoint slides packed with dozens of onlookers into a small room. It was an intimidating platform for a novice presenter, but the conference has evolved so much. By adopting technologies such as Zoom Events/Virbela and inviting more workshops, I feel that IHER is more inviting of innovative educators because of its content matter and variety of speaker platforms. I don’t know what 2023 IHER will bring, but it that’s what is so promising about it.”

- Johnny Neist | Instructional Designer – Office of Educational Improvement

“This year was my second time participating in the IHER conference and it is so different the second time around! I’ve learned so much and appreciate the time, effort, and collaboration it takes to put together and run a successful, and engaging healthcare education research conference. Throughout the conference we heard from amazing plenary speakers and panelists, but what always stands out to me is the innovation and contribution from the medical students - it’s impressive, inspiring, and hopeful.”

- Amy Beierle | Instructional Designer – Office of Educational Improvement
 

Moving Forward

Save-the-Date

The 10^th annual IHER Conference will be a hybrid event and is scheduled for Sept. 19-21, 2023. The IHER Steering Committee will be discussing the hybridization of our various presentation platforms starting in January, but expect to see most of them to have in-person sessions.

New Presentation Platforms and Showcases

• Hybrid Posters - A paper poster with strategically embedded quick response (QR) codes used for downloading electronic copies of the poster, visual abstract, 30-second audio introduction files, expanded results files and open-access articles. Visit the IHER website for an example.
   
• Joint Submission Showcases – A single author or pair of authors submit two linked proposals which includes two different presentation platforms (see table below). If both proposals are accepted, author(s) is/are showcased on the IHER Conference website.

• Fireside Chat - A plenary session or individual speaker who is interviewed by a session moderator in an informal presentation platform. What exactly is a fireside chat? Click here for more information. Additional information about fireside chats can be found by clicking here.
   
• World Café - A 75-minute session consisting of three rounds of interactive, small groups in a roundtable configuration with each table facilitated by a table host. Participants rotate through the three tables and questions build upon each other to focus the conversation. Click here for more information.

Submit an Idea

If you have an idea for the IHER Conference, no matter how large or small, no matter how wild or calm, please e-mail the committee at IHERConference@mcw.edu, using the subject heading: 2023 IHER Idea. If we accept your idea, you will receive credit on the website, an InfoScope article and in the Conference program.
 

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