Implementation of an Annual Education Day to Foster Medical Education Scholarship in a Regional Campus System

Abstract

Purpose/Background The Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) employs a large geographically distributed system of medical education comprised of 8 regional medical campuses statewide and the main medical campus in Indianapolis. An inherent challenge of operating such a large multi-campus educational system is being able to provide professional development opportunities for all our medical educators across the state. Design/Methods To address the professional development challenge in a large multi-campus system, our steering committee planned an inaugural “Education Day” in 2020, which attracted proposals of educational innovations and scholarship from across the statewide system. After a peer-review process, the accepted proposals were scheduled for oral and poster presentations, workshops and small groups sessions, and themed sessions. A keynote address was given by a nationally recognized medical educator. The day ended with an awards ceremony for “best” faculty, staff, and student presentations. The Education Days were held in-person on the Indianapolis campus in 2020 and 2022; and it was held virtually in 2021. Outcomes/Results Across the 3 Education Days:  ~250 registrants participated each year  ~130 proposals were received each year; in 2022, we included an additional 40 proposals from medical students statewide regarding their Scholarly Concentration projects1  80% of the post-event respondents rated Education Day as excellent/very good  87% strongly agreed/agreed (SA/A) they were better able to collaborate with other IUSM medical educators  79% SA/A they were better able to identify best practices in medical education  72% SA/A they were better able to publish educational outcomes data To facilitate statewide dissemination, the presentations were archived in the University’s ScholarWorks Digital Repository.2 Strengths/Limitations IUSM’s Annual Education Day has established itself as a successful venue to share educational best practices and to forge new collaborations. Feasibility/Transferability Although the time and resources required for a successful Education Day are substantial, this event can be replicated elsewhere.