Society of Teachers of Family Medicine News

The Predoctoral Program was awarded an STFM grant of $500 to participate in a special poster session for DHHS/HRSA Title VII predoctoral training grant recipients. Their poster was "Broadening and Improving Our Medical Students' Learning Opportunities in Family Medicine", Barcey T. Levy, PhD, MD, Lois Albrecht, MS, Mary L. Merchant, PhD, Pamela Hoogerwerf, Richard Pretorius, MD Lois Albrecht and Mary Merchant provided the staffing for the special poster sessions.

Jami Maxson, MD, was awarded a predoctoral scholarship to attend this conference. Dr. Maxson practices in Cedar Rapids, where she is a preceptor. She is among the preceptors who have taught the most University of Iowa medical students for their Family Medicine Preceptorship in the last two years. Dr. Maxson is a 1996 graduate of the University of Iowa Family Medicine Residency program.

Richard Pretorius, MD and Mary Merchant, PhD led a Common Interest Breakfast Discussion entitled "Using Inductive Versus Deductive Reasoning in Clinical Problem Solving".

Paul James, MD and Clarence Kreiter, PhD presented "Using a Standardized Validated Instrument to Measure Instructional Quality".

Abstract: The measurement of instructional quality is an important prerequisite to assessing and improving the educational experience in ambulatory medical education. The relevant components defining the quality of training have been studied and incorporated into one student assessment (the MedEd IQ). This standardized instrument has been the subject of research focused on establishing its reliability and validity. Research on the instrument along with the collection of normative data from nine schools will help address questions related to the improvement of ambulatory educational experiences. An exploration of how this research can enhance quality improvement objectives will be discussed.

Paul James, MD, Clarence Kreiter, PhD, Marcy Rosenbaum, PhD, and Robin Hansen hosted a special interest breakfast for the contacts from the nine medical schools using the MedEd IQ survey instrument to discuss the research data collected over the last academic year and future uses of the instrument.

Paul James, MD participated in a Symposia entitled "Collaborative Research in Predoctoral Education" with Kimberly Crooks, PhD (University of California, Los Angeles), Elizabeth Morrison, MD (University of California, Irvine) and Michael Callaway, MS (University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston).

Abstract: Collaborative research is vital to improving medical education for family medicine. It allows research to be generalizable to different settings and situations. It offers the ability to standardize processes and allows larger sample sizes to validate instruments and processes. Yet, collaborative research can be difficult to initiate and maintain. Using the experiences of one multi-site collaborative research project, participants will explore the determinants to success, with emphasis on how these experiences can be generalizable to others considering collaborative projects.

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