Editor: Myrl Ray Stephen Manley, M.D.
The 24th Annual ADMSEP Meeting will take place from Thursday, June 18 - Saturday,
June 20 at the Westin La Paloma Resort in Tucson, Arizona.
The Program will begin with a Leadership Institute for Educators in Psychiatry.
The institute will be jointly sponsored by ADMSEP and by the American College of
Psychiatrists. There will be no additional charge required to register for the Leadership
Institute but registration for the ADMSEP Meeting is required in order to attend
the Leadership Institute and registration for the Leadership Institute will be limited
to the first fifty registrants.
The program for the Leadership Institute is described in the next column. In essence
the goals are to improve the effectiveness of educators through a series of presentations
and small group workshops addressed to organizational dynamics, adaptations to a
changing health care environment and career development. This last area of career
development will be the subject of a workshop available to all registrants at the
ADMSEP meeting.
The ADMSEP Meeting proper continues with the traditional Welcome Dinner on Thursday
night. The program will include plenaries and workshops addressing areas of general
and pressing concern such as hospital mergers, the impact of managed care, the interface
with primary care, curricular innovations and novel teaching approaches. One panel
discussion will take on the controversial use of simulations and actors in clinical
teaching; a second panel will consider the optimum stance of psychiatric faculty
and house staff when they are called upon to evaluate or to provide mental health
services for medical students at their own school.
There are two changes this year that present some possibility for confusion. The
first, described above, is the addition of the Leadership Institute. This program
has not been tried before and is an outgrowth of an initiative by the American College
of Psychiatrists to offer leadership training to the various associations of educators
in psychiatry. ADMSEP is the first group to take them up on their offer. The curriculum
was planned by a working group of ADMSEP and ACP members. The registration has been
limited to fifty in order to focus on small group instruction and to assess the level
of membership interest in including such training this year and in the future.
The second change involves hotel rooms. As of this year, major hotels and resorts
are holding clients - in this case, ADMSEP - responsible for the cost of unfilled
rooms. As a result we have only held the exact number of rooms that ADMSEP registrants
filled at last year's meeting. If we receive a larger number of registrants this
year, the Westin assures us that they will help find rooms for anyone that they cannot
accommodate at the resort but the important change is to be sure to register and
reserve your hotel room as soon as possible.
Tucson beckons. Already the cyberspace contingent has posted longings for another
white water adventure (available). Opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, tennis,
golf, and laying back at poolside with friends promise to make this 24th Annual Meeting
another experience of the shared interests and collegiality that represent ADMSEP.
Think green fields, clay roofs and a mountain surround, saguaro cacti, desert breeze
and sunshine. See you in Tucson.
In the past year we have made two forays into the land of the internet. The first
was our listserv that allows any AMDSEP member who has the use of email to have immediate
access to the rest of the membership that is subscribed. Presently about 60 percent
of the ADMSEP membership is subscribed to the listserv, this is up from less than
40 percent prior to last year's meeting. The listserv has been used for: asking questions
of the membership, sharing educational initiatives, debating ideas, personal communications,
and informing the membership of upcoming meetings and submission deadlines. As the
percentage of ADMSEP members subscribed to the listserv gets closer to 100 percent
then it would become an attractive (and free) vehicle for research and survey purposes.
Tom Mackenzie recently came up with an idea for an ADMSEP Electronic Journal that
would be put together by ADMSEP members and published twice a year. The journal could
either have its own website or it could be distributed to members via the listserv
and posted on our webpage.
Shortly after our meeting in Whistler last year, and with the support and suggestions
of many ADMSEP members our webpage became our second step into cyberspace. It includes:
a brief history and purpose of ADMSEP, a directory, information regarding National
meetings, our Newsletter, and links to other sites having to do with medical education.
The links are divided into four categories which consist of: Educational Organizations,
Informational Resources, Members' Homepages, and Journals. The webpage is intended
to make ADMSEP's resources more accessible to members, medical students, and those
interested in undergraduate psychiatric education.
What we put on our webpage and its uses are probably limitless and will be guided
by what provides the best service to those the webpage is intended for. One of the
main differences between our listserv and our webpage is that our listserv is private
and restricted to ADMSEP members whereas any information on the webpage is completely
public and readily available to anyone with a computer and access to the internet.
Because of ADMSEP's interest in protecting the privacy of its members the nature
of the Directory section of the webpage is being reconsidered so that it would include
only contact people for ADMSEP who could then direct inquiries to other members when
appropriate. Other changes that are in the works are following up on Amy Brodkey's
idea of putting the recent article in Academic Psychiatry on Curricular Guidelines
on our webpage. Carrie Sylvester was helpful in finding a few "humor" sites
on the internet that we plan to link to so that people could download the cartoons
for use in their presentations.
Other ideas might include: following up on Jon Polan's membership drive and making
it possible to apply for membership from the website via a direct link to our treasurer,
links to Department of Psychiatry websites, and advertising the ADMSEP Test Question
Bank and providing a link to Ted Feldman who could provide them to the appropriate
people. In thinking of what would make me want to visit our website I would be looking
for information or material that would make my work easier. We could have ADMSEO
members contribute to sections of our website devoted to: curricular design, evaluation
and grading, problem based learning cases, faculty development and academic portfolio
management, lectures on specific topics, a job bank for available positions in medical
student education in psychiatry, etc. We would have a library of information that
interested people could browse when thinking about a particular topic. As long as
the information is on a disc, getting it on our website would be straightforward
and not very time consuming.
Perhaps the most exciting prospect for our webpage is the developing technology
of using video on the internet. Two years ago in Santa Fe, Pamela Martin presented
her work on developing video cases on the internet which integrated both basic sciences
and clinical medicine into the management of complicated cases. A database of video
cases could be developed. We could also take advantage of "excellent teachers"
and videotape them in the lecture hall, at the bedside, or with a small group and
share them via the website. Opportunities could be developed where students would
be expected to log on to the website to work through certain cases to insure that
they have thought through and are familiar with the management of certain illnesses
(the cases we choose might be modeled after the work Michael Weissberg and Emily
McCort have done in requiring students to demonstrate clinical competencies in specific
areas and with specific tasks.) Though ideally suited for small group discussion,
having Ken Duckworth's short film on "The Stigma of Mental Illness" on
the internet or website would make it accessible to a wider audience. Downloading
these videos from the website would be convenient, as inexpensive cd's are available
that can hold up to 30 hours of video.
Many of these ideas would be years in the making but I expect that our use of the
internet will be constantly evolving. Perhaps a group of us who are interested can
brainstorm further ideas and go about the process of choosing what we want on our
website and getting it on disc.
If you are interested in visiting our website you will need a server that gives
you access to the internet (ie. America Online, Compuserve, Netscape, Internet Explorer).
The address of our webpage is:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~admsep/
(updated, its now= http://www.admsep.org/)
If you are new to email or haven't been added to the listserv and wish to be, email
me at:
Mark.H.Reed@Dartmouth.EDU
In these days of "value added" management, one can hardly fail to notice
a sense that educators and researchers and administrators need to remind those for
whom they work of their value. This can seem daunting for medical student educators
since there is very little "sponsored education". Education revenue comes
in the form of operation and maintenance funds at public universities and tuition
at all schools. Often, however, these funds are invisible to those who earn them.
Educational costs, difficult to precisely quantitate, are often offset by clinical
revenues. Of course, the latter are shrinking (the rate depending on where a particular
locale is on the managed care curve).
Now, more than ever, it is critical that undergraduate educators demonstrate that
educational programs do not fly on autopilot, but are shaped by the changing ecology
at a school. Maintaining a healthy teaching program requires anticipating trends
and changes as they unfold across the country. The ADMSEP LISTSERV provides our membership
the opportunity to quickly respond to the question "what's going on in other
departments." This information identifies the ADMSEP member as someone in touch
with developments around the country, someone who is participating in an ongoing
dialogue of educators about how to master problems of content, process, recruitment
and competition.
I would urge every ADMSEP member to make the leap and connect themselves by email
to our LISTSERV. There are perhaps twenty active participants on the LISTSERV now.
This should be at least 50 by 1999.
I would also like to propose that we consider creating an on-line ADMSEP journal
titled, Innovations in Psychiatric Education. Why another journal?
The journal format would include full length articles, brief reports, letters, editorials,
invited opinion pieces, debates, etc. All submissions would have to meet style requirements
to make the journal reader friendly. In its first cycle, we might aim to publish
two volumes a year. The corresponding editor could be the President-elect, who otherwise
has no responsibilities. The editorial board could either be the council or a separate
group of ADMSEP members. Peer-review would be principally aimed at making sure the
author(s) made the report relevant to readers or did not make absurd claims. The
originality of an idea would be only part of the story (how many of us are truly
original?). Other important elements would be how colleagues accepted the idea, how
much real effort was involved in development, whether it was worth it, etc. etc.
etc.
I would appreciate your feedback on this idea. Please reach me at macke001@maroon.tc.umn.edu.
One of the most difficult and challenging tasks we face as psychiatric educators
is the development of examinations for our core courses. In recent years there have
been only two options available: use the USMLE shelf exam, which is expensive and
may omit areas of special focus in our curricula, or write exam questions ourselves.
This latter activity, however, is time consuming and requires frequent revisions.
In response to many requests from members that we share examination material, ADMSEP
has developed a question bank of test items. The project was announced in 1994 at
our annual meeting in Tucson. Members were requested to submit copies of their clerkship
examinations, with correct answers indicated, either in paper form or on diskette.
By mid-1995, sixteen schools had contributed to the question bank (see Table 1).
The next phase in development of the question bank consisted of editing items for
content and duplication, standardizing format and terminology, and categorizing items
according to subject. A total of 1,300 questions in multiple choice, matching, and
clinical management format were developed. Each question was organized by category
(e.g., "Diagnostic Issues") and topic (e.g., "Schizophrenia").
Correct answers were indicated for each question, and an index of all questions was
included. This information was then copied to a diskette formatted for Word Perfect
5.1. The test items were developed for psychiatric clerkships, but many questions
could be adapted for use in behavioral science and psychopathology courses.
The completed project was presented to the ADMSEP membership at the 1996 meeting
in Santa Fe. The cost of the question bank was $200 for ADMSEP members and $400 for
nonmembers; complimentary copies of the first edition were provided to schools who
contributed questions. As of January 1, 1998, 37 institutions had purchased the question
bank, generating $7,400 for the organization. This project has been exciting for
me both personally and professionally. It has been particularly interesting to observe
the different approaches to testing used by the contributing schools, and to note
the diversity of curriculum at those institutions. As a result of the success of
the question bank, the Council has decided to go forward with a revision of the project;
plans for the 2nd Edition of the ADMSEP Examination Question Bank will be presented
at the upcoming meeting in Tucson.
Thanks to everyone who participated in this project! If you have any questions or
comments about the question bank prior to the Tucson meeting, please call me at (502)
852-5431.
TABLE 1. Schools Submitting Questions to the ADMSEP Examination Bank
| Albany Medical College | SUNY at Buffalo |
| Baylor College of Medicine | University of Arizona |
| Boston University | University of Louisville |
| Chicago Medical School | University of Kentucky |
| East Tennessee State University | University of Pennsylvania |
| Emory University Medical School | University of Rochester |
| Hahnemann University | University of Texas at Galveston |
| Medical College of Pennsylvania | Wright State University |
President
Thomas B. Mackenzie, M.D.
Box 329 UMHC
420 Delaware Street, S.E.
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455-0392
(612) 626-3613
(612) 626-5591 (FAX)
President-Elect
Carl Greiner, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry, UNMC
600 South 42nd Street, Box 985575
Omaha, Nebraska 68198-5575
(402) 559-5076
(402) 559-6791 (FAX)
Secretary and Newsletter Editor
Myrl Ray Stephen Manley, M.D.
New York University Medical Center
Department of Psychiatry
550 First Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 263-6237
(212) 263-6497 (FAX)
Treasurer
H. Johathon Polan, M.D.
Cornell University Medical College
Psychiatry - Box 171, Baker 2311
525 East 68th Street
New York, NY 10021
(212) 746-3682
(212) 746-8892 (FAX)
Past Presidents
Linda F. Pessar, M.D.
S.U.N.Y., Buffalo
(716) 898-4858
(716) 898-4538 (FAX)
Frederick S. Sierles, M.D.
FUHS/The Chicago Medical School
(847) 578-3330
(847) 578-3328 (FAX)
Councilors
Audrie M. Bienenstock, MBBS
McMaster University
(905) 521-2100 Ext. 6177
(905) 521-2628 (FAX)
Amy C. Brodkey, M.D.
University of Pennsylvania
(215) 843-4448
(215) 831-4571 (FAX)
Theodore B. Feldmann, M.D.
University of Louisville
(502) 852-5431
(502) 852-1115
Gregory Franchini, M.D.
University of New Mexico
(505) 272-5468
(505) 272-4639 (FAX)
Philip S. Freeman, M.D.
Boston University School of Medicine
(617) 928-0287
(617) 638-7549 (FAX)