In February, our Dean and curriculum team gathered in Melbourne to fine tune NewMed’s learning and teaching strategies, and discuss approaches to the development of our students as professional clinicians. It was timed to coincide with the biennial Ottawa Conference, an event which attracts leading medical educators from around the globe. Fortunately, two expert medical educators were able to join our team for a workshop session, and share their ideas.
On Wednesday, Associate Professor Subha Ramani presented on the important role of mentorship in preparing MD graduates for professional roles. Her work acknowledges that the role of expert academic staff who guide students through an MD goes beyond knowledge sharing, and that medical programs should develop, reward and support mentors. The NewMed team then had the opportunity to consider how mentoring and coaching initiatives can be a part of our approach to teaching and learning across the NewMed program.
On Thursday, the team was joined by Professor Peter McCrorie, an expert in medical program design with over 40 years experience. The session focused on small group learning and case based learning (CBL) in medical programs.
At NewMed, we are always searching for ways to enhance the student experience. Way to go curriculum team!