Creating Change, One Elective at a Time

1. Creating Change,One Elective at a Time Rebecca Yael Bak Alexis Light Friday, March 11, 2011 AMSA’s 2011 Annual Convention Washington, DC

2. Who are we? Rebecca Bak Lexi Light

3. By the end of this session, Learners will be able to: • Explain how a student-run elective can assist with curriculum reform • Describe 8 steps for developing an elective • Identify potential obstacles and strategies for overcoming them www.lakeshorelearning.com

4. Why create an elective? • To teach students about a topic not already taught in medical school • To get students (and faculty and staff) to start talking • To demonstrate student interest (document everything!) • For eventual incorporation into formal curriculum

5. Our own elective (a brief overview) • Name: Sex & Health Elective • Objectives: • To identify and analyze students' own beliefs regarding diverse sexualities (Beliefs) • To explain basic sexual health principles for a variety of patients with diverse backgrounds and experiences (Knowledge) • To develop the skills to both assess and address sexuality and sexual health concerns (Skills)

6. Our Eight-Step plan(with a 9th for good luck) Steps: • Identify a Need • Seek Help • Approach the Administration • Logistics • Create the Curriculum • Evaluation • Sustainability • Sharing the Information/Documentation • Research Opportunities (optional)

7. 1. Identify a need • Identify an area of interest • Understand what is already being taught at your school • Conduct a brief needs assessment Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

8. 1. Identify a need • Example of a short needs assessment

9. 1. Identify a need • Potential obstacles • Area of interest is too broad/vague • The material you want to teach is already being taught later during medical school • Needs assessment is too long • Needs assessment does not give you the responses you want Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

10. 2. Seek help • “No man is an island” –John Donne • **Don’t do it alone!** • Find other students to help you • Find a sympathetic faculty advisor • What resources are available? • Published literature • National guidelines (LCME) • Other schools • AMSA: email national leaders, Inspiration Exchange, Projects in a Box • Other national organizations http://www.belarto.co.uk Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

11. 2. Seek Help • Potential obstacles • Lack of interest • Lack of interested faculty advisor • Scarcity of resources available • Vague guidelines about what to teach Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

12. 3. Approach the administration • Seek their support • Meet with key faculty/administrators regularly • Always have an “ask” and follow up • Offering credit? • Possibilities for funding? • Brainstorm sustainability • Use their knowledge and resources Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

13. 3. Approach the administration • Potential obstacles • Apathy • Won’t take students seriously • Fear of controversy • “Too much already in the curriculum” Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

14. 4. Logistics • Consider: • When will elective / each session be held? • How long will each session be? • What time will sessions be held? • Reserve the location • Find speakers (early!) • Publicity publicity publicity • Emails, flyers, announcements, talk it up, collaborate with other groups, do a “teaser” • Budget? • And all other pesky tasks that come up… Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

15. 4. Logistics • Potential obstacles • Timing of class (when during week, day vs. evening) • Conflicts with exam schedule • Finding speakers • Ensuring your speakers talk about what you asked them to discuss • Ideally, meet and discuss in person • Give them a lot of information (objectives, specific points to cover, etc.) • Tasks slipping through the cracks… • Ask other classmates about obstacles they’ve encountered Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

16. 5. Create the curriculum • What curricula are already available? • Utilize existing resources • Create overlying goals (shared vision) • What types of educational formats will be used? (Be creative! Alternate possibilities!) • Create objectives for each session • Homework? • A few take home points per session • If discussion intended, create facilitator guides • Read about curriculum design http://www.ps3vault.com/the-future-of-play-create-and-share-8131 Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

17. 5. Create the curriculum • Potential obstacles • Being overwhelmed • How to keep students interested? • Being overly ambitious • Too many objectives • Too broad topic • Lengthy facilitator guide • Not having measurable objectives Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

18. 6. Evaluation • Why evaluate? • Improvement of elective • Documentation of the process (for future leaders) • Research • Start early • What are you evaluating? • The course, specific sessions • Student satisfaction • Changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills? • How will you successfully evaluate? • Look at different models of evaluation Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

19. 6. Evaluation • Potential obstacles • Are you actually evaluating what you need to evaluate? • Lack of specificity in questions • Questions not targeting objectives • Is the evaluation too long / too short? • Lengthy process of IRB approval/exemption Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

20. 7. Sustainability • Keep records! • Advisors serve as institutional memory • Incorporate first year students early • Collaborate with other graduate departments  Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

21. 7. Sustainability • Potential obstacles • No students interested in future leadership • Not preparing early enough for handover Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

22. 8. Sharing the information/Documentation • Google docs (free) • All files (publicity materials, .pdfs, forms, etc) • Excel sheets • Surveymonkey.com (free) • Useful for evaluations • Pbworks.com (“wikipages”) (free) • The course page (syllabus, homework, discussion) Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

23. 8. Sharing the information/Documentation • Pbworks.com

24. 8. Sharing the information/documentation • Potential obstacles • Documents not being updated in timely fashion • Too many copies of documents Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

25. 9. Research Opportunities (optional) • IRB approval/exemption needed prior to research • Note: you can (and should) evaluate the elective • IRB not required if only using evaluations to improve your course • Consider publishing • Educational journals • Topic-oriented journals • MedEdPORTAL • Share your curriculum with other schools • Contact AMSA! (Inspiration Exchange) Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

26. 9. Research opportunities (optional) • Potential obstacles • Waiting for IRB response • Authorship • Lack of time Identify a Need Seek Help Approach the Administration Logistics Create the Curriculum Evaluation Sustainability Sharing the Information Research Opportunities

27. Finally…. • Talk up your elective! • Tell your faculty about it, show them your evaluations and other data • Encourage them to incorporate aspects of your elective – or the whole thing – into your medical school curriculum www.dannybrown.me

28. Questions?Specific challenges at your own school?Let’s Discuss Please also feel free to email us! Rebecca Bak: rebecca.bak@mssm.edu Lexi Light: alight@tulane.edu