Congratulations to the Internal Medicine recipients of the Education Innovation and Scholarship Grants awarded by the Carver College of Medicine’s Office of Consultation and Research in Medical Education (OCRME)! Below are the recipients named in the second and third round of awards.

Milena Gebska, MD, MME, was one of the first three awarded an EIS grant in the first round. See the full list of recipients here.

Fall 2022 Recipients

Jason Barker, MD
Recorded/web-based pharmacology “primers” that connect foundational pharmacology to how those drugs are used in practice ($12,902)

This project will study the efficacy of asynchronous, just-in-time therapeutics instruction to address deficiencies and opportunities in pharmacology teaching at the Carver College of Medicine. Web-based pharmacology “primers” will connect foundational pharmacology education to how those drugs are used in practice (pharmacotherapeutics). The effect of these primers will also be assessed to ensure gaps in pharmacology instruction have been addressed.

Colleen Campbell, PhD, MS, LGC
Development of a Genetic Counseling Specific Mentorship Program for Prospective Graduate Students ($19,984)

This project will develop an online continuing education course to increase the knowledge and comfort of genetic counselors to mentor prospective genetic counseling students, particularly those from backgrounds underrepresented in the genetic counseling profession, to ultimately diversify the genetic counseling workforce. First a national needs assessment of targeted genetic counselor learners will be conducted, then goals and learning objectives identified, followed by creating and evaluating the educational activities and resources.

Philip Polgreen, MD, MPH
A data-driven, machine-learning approach to inform the generation of illness scripts for learners in UME and GME ($40,000)

To address limitations associated with illness scripts generated for pedagogical purposes, this project will develop a data-driven, machine-learning approach to automatically generate a list of signs and symptoms that commonly precede a large collection of different illnesses. The project will first generate a relative ranking of different signs and symptoms preceding each target illness. A second list will show the signs and symptoms for patients with a delayed diagnosis, and a third list will provide the same information specific to vulnerable populations (e.g., racial minorities, the elderly, rural and low-income populations).

John Wilde, DO
How Touching ($11,180)

Expressive touch (ET) is defined as warm, friendly physical contact with patients that is not solely for performing a task. This two-part study will evaluate patient and medical trainee preferences and comfort related to ET, especially in light of the pandemic, and then develop and validate a curriculum based on those findings. Investigators will create a curriculum to guide medical trainees on the proper use of ET using the TedEd media platform. Then, using standard vs intervention-based protocols with medical students, blinded simulated patients will evaluate both groups to determine if there is a difference in the ability of students to perform ET. Qualitative data through pre-post testing will also be gathered from students who complete a TedEd course about their improved confidence and knowledge of appropriate touch and the likelihood of its use in the future.

Summer 2022 Recipients

Carrie Bernat, MA, MSW (OSAC) and Amy Dowden, MD
Taking Action: An Action Research Study to Evaluate and Address Gaps in our Current Social Determinants of Health Curriculum ($19,000)

The importance of Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) issues cannot be overstated in terms of their effects on patients’ health, yet these topics are underrepresented in medical school curricula. This project will review our medical student curriculum through a rigorous action research study utilizing a mixed methods approach. Data collection will include student and educator perspectives using course evaluation data, interviews, focus groups, and participant observation to identify themes, areas of success, and gaps in both our preclinical and clinical curricula. Using the information learned, we will develop and implement a robust longitudinal and active learning DEI/SDOH curricular framework that better prepares our medical students to effectively care for patients experiencing health disparities in their practice.

Shortcomings in current evaluation methods used for workplace assessment of clinical skills led to identifying a need to develop a mobile-based application (qUIkcoach) for workplace-based formative feedback. Key elements of this application will include task specific assessments along with voice-enabled function for ease of completion and minimal data entry. In addition to providing feedback for residents, this application will allow residents to assess the quality of feedback they are receiving from faculty. Our hypothesis is that this application will improve the timeliness and quality of feedback provided to learners from faculty supervisors.

Spring 2022 Recipients

Even though the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommends proficiency in conducting informed consent conversations at the beginning of residency, most medical students do not receive any formal training in informed consent. This proof-of-concept, needs-based project will implement and evaluate an experiential educational module on informed consent communication skills to better prepare advanced learners for postgraduate training.