 |
 |
| Amy Murray, MD | Mike Wiisanen, MD |
Greetings to our loyal SEA members! As we reflect on the SEA Fall Meeting 2016 held in Chicago on Friday Oct 21st, we are reminded of this meeting’s traditional (and convenient) attachment to the ASA Annual Meeting. However, our one-day SEA meeting really stood out and held its own against any conference. Why might that be? A few suggestions:
- Perhaps it was the beautiful and historic Hilton Chicago Hotel overlooking Grant Park, Lake Michigan, and the Museum Campus…a destination in its own right?
- Maybe it was the diverse topics and the varied presentation styles of the talented speakers who expertly delivered thought-provoking content?
- Or is it possible that connecting with our SEA colleagues, those familiar friends who consistently show dedication to anesthesiology education and provide ongoing support for one another, is actually worth the plane, train or automobile trip in and of itself?
We choose the third option as the best response!
As we focused on the Clinical Learning Environment (CLE), Dr. Kevin Weiss, our McLeskey lecture award recipient, started off the meeting summarizing some of the details from the National Report of Findings and fielded some very pointed questions from our engaged audience. Dr. Weiss is the ACGME’s Senior Vice President, Institutional Accreditation and co-Chair of the CLER Evaluation Committee. One takeaway: experiential learning and interprofessional collaboration are necessary for quality and safety projects, as are qualified mentors. Future directions: well-being for residents, fellows and faculty. We will stay tuned for the growing body of resources available for each CLE to achieve “excellence”.
Dr. Glenn Woodworth walked us through “E-learning in GME: A Role for Collaborative Learning” and highlighted the millennial learner in the digital age. Although the Anesthesia Toolbox was reviewed, Dr. Woodworth took us beyond the toolbox and highlighted collaborative learning communities. Buy-in from learners and outcome analyses are two challenges of collaborative learning. Other challenges are training on the technology and teaching faculty to facilitate computer supported collaborative learning. These were nicely addressed at one of the well-attended workshops, “Gamify Your Clinical and Classroom Based Learning”. Other thoughtful workshops included simulation, setting our learners up for success and minimizing failure, and focus on FAER.
The lunchtime business meeting allowed our committee chairs to showcase some of the hard work from their respective committees. This provided energy for some of the ongoing efforts that would continue long after the last SEA member exited that beautiful Hilton lobby (pictured above).
Duke Award recipient, Dr. Rita Patel, gave a gracious acceptance presentation and inspired us with her poignant story about her flight to America as a child, and the flight attendant who patiently helped her “learn” how much she liked pancakes.
Bryan Lansing from Bridgeworks delivered a fresh, polished, and entertaining session on the “Generational Differences in Educators, Learners and Workforce”. Various members of our diverse audience related to each generational influence (NASA means different things to different generations), and we laughed a bit at our own individual generational traits (Gen X-ers can be independent, skeptical and self-reliant!). For our Millennial residents, we may need to tell them the “WHY behind the WHAT” and create ways to “connect the dots” in our much-desired feedback to them. How encouraging that bridging the gaps might be easier than we think…for we all knew how to take a selfie!
The final session showcased the “trifecta” of anesthesiology educator-turned DIOs: Drs. Jeff Berger, Cathy Kuhn and Mary Njoku. They presented their own favorite Clinical Learning Environment initiatives at their respective institutions. From QI websites on a shoestring budget and incentivized safety event reporting all the way up to senior leadership engagement, this panel’s expertise was rich.
The SEA Fall Meeting is a wonderful way to connect with other educators in anesthesiology and “recharge our batteries” in so many ways. It was an honor and pleasure to chair this event and we look forward to seeing you all in Jacksonville!
