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OSR-GEA Steering Committee Update
February 2008
The Group on Educational Affairs is one of the largest constituent groups
and its work represents one of the largest components of the AAMC. It
is divided into four regions (Central, Northeast, Southern, and Western).
Within each region and nationally, there are four sections, three that
focus on different parts of the educational continuum, the Undergraduate
Medical Education section, the Graduate Medical Education section, and
the Continuing Medical Education section, and one focused on Research
in Medical Education. The GEA Steering Committee is composed of the GEA
Chair, GEA Chair-elect or Immediate Past Chair, the chair of each region,
and the chair of each section as well as liaisons from the Organization
of Student Representatives and Organization of Resident Representatives.
Annual Meeting
The GEA had a busy and successful Annual Meeting. It chose to focus on
transitions as its theme and hosted a large plenary session and several
smaller breakout sessions that examined the broad challenge of transitions
between different phases of a medical education and career and the specific
concerns associated with different transitions. Of particular interest
to students was a session in which a first year medical student, a third
year medical student, and an intern each spoke about their recent transitions
into medical school, between the pre-clinical and clinical curricula,
and into residency, respectively. Themes that emerged included the importance
of orientation and other support activities, the necessity of providing
as much logistical information as possible, from how to find the bathroom
to how to call a code, and the central role that ongoing dialogue with
trainees needs to play in these transitions.
Planning is underway for the 2008 Annual Meeting in San Antonio. OSR
representatives and other students are always invited and encouraged to
attend GEA sessions. This year, attendees can look forward to sessions
on the educational challenges associated with medical school expansion,
multi-generational professional development across the continuum of education
and practice, as well as many workshops and research presentations.
Highlighting Innovative Curriculum at U.S. and Canadian Medical Schools
There is substantial overlap of interest between the OSR and GEA in developing
an information resource describing innovative programs and curricula at
AAMC-member medical schools. The GEA is in the early stages of creating
such a resource and welcomes the opportunity to work with OSR on this
project. The OSR Medical Education Committee will remain in contact with
the GEA regarding this project via the OSR liaison to the GEA.
GEA Regional Meetings
The GEA holds regional meetings in the spring, similar to those held by
the GSA, MAS, and OSR. This year, meeting dates and locations are as follows:
- Central Region: Columbus, Ohio, April 10-12, 2008
- Northeast Region: University of Vermonth College of Medicine, Burlington,
Vermont, April 12-13, 2008
- Southern Region: Nashville, Tennessee, April 3-5, 2008
- Western Region: Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California,
April 27-30, 2008
Students are always invited to attend these meetings. Students who are
involved in medical education research are particularly encouraged to
submit posters and abstracts or to simply attend the meetings and have
the opportunity to learn more about the medical education field. This
is an excellent opportunity for formal and informal mentoring.
To this end, please e-mail Diane Reis
with input on how student attendance at GEA regional meetings could be
facilitated so that those students with an interest in a career in medical
education or in engaging in educational research can take advantage of
this opportunity. Please include any perceived barriers to attendance
and suggestions on what specifically could be done that would allow you
to attend.
Other projects
The GEA is also involved in several other endeavors of potential interest
to students. One is its ongoing promotion of medical education scholarship.
Students interest in this domain are encouraged to examine the GEA
website, and MedEdPORTAL, a relatively new tool with peer reviewed
medical education resources that can be accessed and downloaded. Students
may also submit resources to MedEdPORTAL. Another ongoing project is faculty
development for interdisciplinary teaching across the continuum. As medical
practice becomes ever more team-based and interdisciplinary, students
increasingly recognize the importance of this sort of curriculum. Finally,
the GEA shares the interest expressed by many OSR reps surrounding students
as educators and teaching students to be effective teachers as they progress
through medical school, residency, and beyond.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns or would like more information,
please contact Diane Reis.
Diane C. Reis
OSR Chair, Liaison to GEA
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
dcreis@wisc.edu
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