Dr. Murray Altose
mentioned two memos recently sent by Dr. Kent Smith, Vice Dean for
Students: 1) an invitation for development of two-week
electives, and 2) a request for application for the position of
Society Dean for each of the four “societies” in the new
advising/mentoring program. The objective of the societies is to provide
a mechanism for ongoing advising and mentoring of students for
individual program planning, selection of electives and academic
enrichment opportunities, and career planning.
Society Deans are
expected to be involved in writing the Dean’s Letter. This raised the
issue of potential bias and conflict of interest if these Deans are also
entrusted by the students with personal and confidential matters. As of
July 1998, the student affairs responsibilities and the Dean’s Letter
responsibilities were separated and given to two different people. Dr.
Altose mentioned that he would discuss this matter with Dr. Henson.
Dr. Thomas M.
Nosek, Associate Dean for
Biomedical Information Technologies, highlighted recent
projects/accomplishments. He is preparing a strategic plan for
Information Technology for the
School of Medicine
for the Dean that will be submitted to the Office of the Provost next
week.
CWRU hosted the
13-School Consortium last weekend. CWRU attended the Graylyn Conference
on Technology Innovation in Medical Education at Wake Forest University.
Dr. Nosek expressed his belief that CWRU is ahead of all other medical
schools in Information Technology.
One of the current
projects at CWRU is a tracking system for student performance that
contains all student data in one database. This system would make it
possible to generate reports specific to the needs of the Dean,
Registrar, society deans, preceptors, and clerkship directors. Dr. Nosek
hopes to expand this project to the core clerkships. The details of the
actual data that would be provided will be worked out with the Registrar,
Mr. Joseph Corrao, who is the “owner” of the database. E-mail prompts
would appear on the evaluator’s e-mail before an online evaluation
deadline and would continue to appear until submission of the
evaluation. Passing pertinent information on the student from one
clerkship to the next is under consideration. This project should be
completed by June and implemented for the new academic year starting in
July. Dr. David Preston, the Neurology clerkship director, is piloting
this initiative.
Discussion focused on
concern about biasing new clerkship directors by relaying student
deficiencies from the past clerkship. In order to be a positive
experience, the new clerkship director would need to work with the student
to remedy the deficiency.
Dr. Nosek mentioned
that video streaming of lectures is now the default system, waived
only by the express wishes of the specific lecturer, the presence of a
patient, or the imminent violation of a patient’s confidentiality. The
system measuring “hits” to the video streaming files indicates frequent
student use. Dr. Nosek anticipates utilization of a new software in the
fall that would enable the faculty’s PowerPoint slides to advance in synch
with the lecture presentation. This would necessitate use of PowerPoint
by all faculty in preparation of their materials and, in
addition, instruction, where necessary, in use of the electronic pointer.
A survey of Year I and Year II students indicated that video streaming has
not changed lecture attendance. Video streaming can also lead to more
efficient and creative use of time. While some discussants expressed
concern that misuse of this system could add more hours, Dr. Nosek replied
that some faculty intend to reduce the number of in-class
hours by incorporating videos. Faculty recognize the diversity in student
learning styles. Video streaming is not intended to be the
preferred manner of learning by all. The incorporation of video streaming
into the curriculum offers the faculty one more way to interact with
students.
This is the second
consecutive year for use of electronic exams for the Year I and
Year II classes. The system has been perfected so that disruptions during
exams are rare. Faculty can incorporate the following into their exams:
sound files, videos, simulations, and animations. Dr. Nosek is trying to
meet with faculty earlier this year to give them adequate time to change
their exam questions using these innovative features. Headphones are here
and ready for use to eliminate the distraction of the various sound files
echoing throughout the exam.
On April 30, Dr.
Altose chaired the Kaiser Permanente Excellence in Teaching Award effort,
organized by Ms. Minoo Golestaneh, and attended by 23 students. Dean
Horwitz increased the number of awards to 2 pre-clinical teachers
and 2 clinical teachers. The students selected recipients, and the
awards will be made at commencement on May 18.
