Reflections on my first national medical education conference

Dr Andy Brereton, Clinical Teaching Fellow



Last month I attended the ASME Annual Scientific Meeting in Exeter at which I presented a poster on my research into ward round teaching. It was my first experience of a national medical education conference and here are my reflections:

If this was a trip advisor review, it may have read something like this:

“The setting for ASME 2017 was Exeter university’s beautifully manicured campus. This offered great facilities, a friendly academic audience and a reasonable B+B, a stones throw from the conference. There were some notable highs and lows…

Highs:

Andy with his poster at the ASME conference (click for larger version)
  1. Presenting my research (poster presentation) to a wider audience (BSMS had the most presentations – posters & orals EVER!)
  2. Listening to the innovation in medical education talks in the parallel sessions. Of note:
    • Newcastle University’s medical school online feedback portal for post-graduates studying for a MSc Medical Education
    • Our very own Clare Smith – presenting take away anatomy parts
    • Gloucester Academy’s escape room concept for teaching human factors
  3. Drinks and dinner with BSMS Med Ed colleagues (Claire Smith, Jim Price, John Anderson, Tim Vincent), accompanied by the delightful Tim Dornan (having cited his work repeatedly in my MSc thesis) #academicstarstruck

Lows:

  1. ASME 2017 avoided medical education discourse/research in the postgraduate medical teaching altogether – this is a field of interest close to my heart – but was sorely under represented
  2. There was a real lack of clinical teachers at SpR level or Consultants presenting work or in attendance – perhaps ASME needs to widen participation to clinicians so that the innovations are taken to the shop floor.

Overall: 7/10″

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