Telemedicine and Distance Learning for Obstetrician/Gynecologist Provider Education.

Tele-education is the use of communications technologies to distribute knowledge from one health care provider to another when distance separates providers. At the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, tele-education has been used for more than two decades to educate and support rural obstetrician/gynecologists throughout the state. Tele-education at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences incorporates numerous interactive videoconferences and other digital portals and platforms. Continued provider education through tele-education increases access to quality care and evidenced-based practices for rural populations and is an effective strategy in the battle against health care disparities.

Exploration of an Integrated Active Learning Strategy to Balance Student Workload in a Mixed Level Research Methods Course.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Team Base Learning (TBL) and Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) are two very distinct active learning and teaching pedagogies, both of which focus on team interactions to facilitate learning. TBL and POGIL literature have both been remiss in addressing their applicability in solving workload imbalance within the team paradigms respective of their individual pedagogy. In this study, we merged integral components of both TBL and POGIL teaching strategies to address perceived imbalance in student workload that were revealed through analysis of initial course evaluations from a mixed level (masters and doctoral level students) Research Methods course. As a result of findings from analyses of initial course evaluations, teams were established based on the integration of TBL and POGIL components in the subsequent course offering.

Faculty Peer Review as a Strategy to Assure Quality in a New Team-Based Learning Curriculum-a Single Institution Experience.

Team-Based Learning (TBL) has focused largely on teaching faculty to develop lessons and help learners apply content. TBL literature has overlooked providing guidance or training in quality assurance. In this study, we describe a single institution's experience with successfully shifting to the TBL model from a traditionally didactic curriculum. A faculty peer review program (FPRP) was instituted to assure that faculty developed quality TBLs and facilitated them according to their training. The transition from didactics to TBL was facilitated by (1) TBL faculty training, (2) development of a peer review committee, and (3) implementation of the FPRP. Following the implementation of the FPRP, students combined mean scores on major shelf exams in Biochemistry increased from 76.9 to 84.1%; Cell Biology, from 77.5 to 82.5%. Their National Board of Medical Examiners Biochemistry shelf exam mean scores increased from 52.4 to 60.8%; overall percentile ranking increased from the 59th to the 85th percentile. The FPRP proved to be integral to TBL faculty development and curricular change efforts. In a survey issued only to faculty who used the TBL model, they expressed appreciation for the FPRP and identified it as a contributing factor in the successful transition to the new TBL curriculum.