A New Conference Model Based on Effective Learning Strategies

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A New Conference Model Based on Effective
Learning Strategies

• Karen E. Schifferdecker, Dartmouth Medical School
• Virginia A. Reed, Dartmouth Medical School
• Mary Turco, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

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Office of Community-based Education and
Research(OCER)

• Mission The OCER works collaboratively to
  produce excellence in community-based education
  and research through multidisciplinary
  partnerships at the local, regional, and national
  level
• Philosophy In light of our mission, we
• - believe community-based education is crucial to
  training physicians for future practice
• - foster and prioritize collaboration and
  communication both within and outside our team
• - design, test, utilize, and disseminate best
  practices in medical education

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Conference background

• Annual conference for primary care providers,
  community-based preceptors
• Content and methods historically focused on what
  should be learned
• New conference model focused participants
  attention not only on what they learn but on how
  they learn

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Conference methodologies

• Built on practices identified from the literature
• Most currently in use in Dartmouth UME
• large groups
• facilitated small groups
• case-based
• simulated patient experiences
• goal setting

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Conference structure

• Mix of large and small group work
• large groups lifelong learning, case-based
  approaches, motivational interviewing
• facilitated small groups conscious learning,
  identification of learning needs, development of
  learning plans
• Content-based interest tracks
• - pediatric implementing new asthma guidelines
  (case-based, motivational interviewing)
• - geriatric addressing at-risk alcohol use and
  prescription medicine misuse in older adults
  (motivational interviewing)
• - adult realizing ideal self-management for
  diabetes (case-based)

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Conference structure

• Time allocation
• 30 lecture (opening 60 min all others 20 min)
• 30 small group discussion
• 35 case-based, simulated patient exercises
• 5 individual reflection, goal setting

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Learning plans

• Two hours allocated for development revision
• Components
• learning goal
• steps to achieve
• timeline for completion
• resources
• Questions for realistic goal setting
• How important is it for you to achieve your
  learning goal?
• How confident are you that you can achieve your
  learning goal?

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Conference evaluation

• Two didactic sessions received lowest and highest
  ratings, respectively
• 97 learned something
• 97 will make changes in my practice
• 80 submitted learning plan

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Four month post-conference follow-up

• Learning plan and post-conference questionnaire
  e-mailed or faxed
• 53 response rate
• Questionnaire coverage
• - assessment of goal and step achievement
• - facilitators and challenges
• - usefulness and future use of learning plan

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Four month post-conference results

• 48 achieved moderate or higher progress in
  reaching goal
• Facilitators knowledge, skills, learning plan
• Challenges time, support from others
• 64 felt learning plan was at least moderately
  useful
• 60 indicated they were likely to use a learning
  plan for future goals

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Open-ended responses

• Identified as helpful
• - Identification of a goal and writing it down
  helps me immenselyotherwise theyre these
  nebulous ideas floating around, waiting (perhaps)
  to be plucked out of space to integrate into the
  practice.
• When I used the techniques, they worked well.
• Identified as challenges
• - The ideas did not fit as well as expected in
  my work environment.
• - Lack of accessible mentors.

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Lessons learned

• Traditional didactic sessions still valued
• Post-conference non-respondents may not have
  responded because of lack of goal progress
• Conference format requires more work by planners
  and attendees
• Learning plans valuable for ongoing assessment
• Time allocated for plan development could be
  shortened
• Increase relevance and use of scaled questions
  for setting learning goals if either
  importance and/or confidence is below 8,
  recommend changing or scaling down goal

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Next steps

• Planning for fall 2009 conference
• Cost constraints a reality
• Will follow similar structure
• Content tracks will utilize
• - SDM simulated patient experience
• - CLIPP case (Computer-assisted Learning in
  Pediatrics Program)
• advanced motivational interviewing
• Will follow similar structure
• Considering ways to provide post-conference
  support for attendees

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Questions, thoughts, suggestions