The spotlight shined on medical education for one April week, highlighting the University of Florida Health Science Center Jacksonville's depth of simulation education, showcasing the importance of academic health centers and grooming the next generation of medical students by partnering with a local high school.
Those activities and many more over the week of April 8-12, 2013, injected several doses of enthusiasm into students, residents, fellows, faculty and staff during the annual Medical Education Week on the Jacksonville campus.
The week has grown steadily each year since Jacksonville expanded to its own weeklong celebration to give more people the opportunity to participate in the lectures and activities. The theme of the week was "interprofessional education."
Faculty, residents, fellows and nursing staff submitted abstracts about various leaps forward in medical education and four presenters were chosen for separate noon lectures throughout the week. All of the posters were available for viewing at Thursday’s Advances in Medical Education event. Posters included 18 from local students, most of who were from Darnell Cookman Middle/High School, School of the Medical Arts. Keynote speaker for the event was Richard Davidson, M.D., M.P.H., a UF professor of medicine and associate vice president of health affairs - interprofessional education from the Gainesville campus, who presented "Interprofessional Education: Why and How?"
Awards were given to the top faculty and resident presentations. Joseph Sabato Jr., M.D., a UF assistant professor of emergency medicine, won for his presentation "Two minute hands-only CPR."
The top resident presentation award went to Shands Jacksonville pharmacy resident Jocelyn Congdon, Pharm.D., for "The impact of pharmacist driven E-FORCSE education on physician controlled substance prescribing practices." Congdon is the first pharmacy resident to win the Most Outstanding Poster by Residents award.
Middle and high school student projects included the effect of aloe vera on hair strength, the effect of cooling rates on salt crystal growth, and the effect of classical and hip-hop music on hand-eye coordination. Included was the winner of the 2013 UFCOM-J Award for Best Project in Health and Medicine at the Northeast Florida regional Science Fair, Episcopal School of Jacksonville senior Alexander Forsyth, for his project "Identifying novel DNA Methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) small molecule Inhibitors for cancer treatment year two: hybrid structure and ligand-based virtual screening."
The Jacksonville campus' prowess in simulation education again showed during Sim Wars, where interdisciplinary teams were put through a simulated emergency and were scored on their performance.
The competition continued to focus on interdisciplinary teams—a growing trend in the practice of medicine. It's a paradigm shift the college is trying to emphasize and instill in the educational process. Those in the audience learn from the various scenarios, as do the residents taking part in front of their peers and mentors.
The winning team was Karissa Miller, M.D., emergency medicine; Kristen McMaster, M.D., obstetrics and gynecology; and Shane Hester, D.O., general surgery.