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Nancy S Searle

Publications and source records attributed to Nancy S Searle.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Making it work: the evolution of a medical educational fellowship program.

Longitudinal programs to enhance the educational skills of medical school faculty are present in many medical schools and academic health centers. Multiinstitutional programs are less common. Three health professions schools, Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, and The University of Texas Dental Branch have jointly sponsored the Educational Scholars Fellowship Program (ESFP) since 2003. The evolution of this program, from one that addressed the faculty educator development needs of one medical school in the mid-1990s to a more flexible model that includes faculty and fellows from three institutions, reflects the changing needs of faculty as well as those of other health professions schools. The ESFP's strengths lie in the effective use of resources across three schools; the opportunity for an interinstitutional and interdisciplinary collaborative network; the flexibility of the curriculum offerings; and the positive impact on fellows' knowledge, skills and leadership in medical and dental education. The evolution of this program represents a cost-effective and educationally sound response to the changing needs of faculty educators.

Adult↗

Why invest in an educational fellowship program?

Expanding and refining the repertoire of medical school teaching faculty is required by the many current and changing demands of medical education. To meet this challenge academic medical institutions have begun to establish programs--including educational fellowship programs--to improve the teaching toolboxes of faculty and to empower them to assume leadership roles within both institutional and educational arenas. In this article, the authors (1) provide historical background on educational fellowship programs; (2) describe the prevalence and focus of these programs in North American medical schools, based on data from a recent (2005) survey; and (3) give a brief overview of the nine fellowship programs that are discussed fully in other articles in this issue of Academic Medicine. These articles describe very different types of educational fellowships that, nevertheless, share common features: a cohort of faculty members who are selected to participate in a longitudinal set of faculty development activities to improve participants' teaching skills and to build a cadre of educational leaders for the institution. Evaluation of educational fellowships remains a challenging issue, but the authors contend that one way to evaluate the programs' effectiveness is to look at the educational improvements that have been instigated by program graduates. The authors hope that the various program descriptions will help readers to improve their existing programs and/or to initiate new programs.

Adult↗

Educational fellowship programs: common themes and overarching issues.

The trend toward intensive faculty development programs has been driven by a variety of factors, including institutional needs for educational expertise and leadership, as well as individual faculty members' motivation to augment their educational expertise, teaching skills, and leadership skills. The nine programs described in this issue possess several common features that can be ascribed to shared perceptions of pervasive needs coupled with feasible educational resources and strategies to meet these needs. All programs identify a clear set of goals and objectives for their respective curricula. Curriculum domains include not only teaching skills but also educational research, curriculum development, and educational leadership. In spite of many similarities, each program reflects the unique character of its home institution, the faculty, educational resources, and the specific goals of the program. Each program has documented gains in such key outcomes as participant promotions, new leadership positions both locally and nationally, and scholarly productivity in the form of peer-reviewed papers and presentations. Evidence of institutional benefits includes the production of innovative curricula and a pool of educational leaders. The programs have also developed a community of knowledgeable scholars who interact with each other and serve as a catalyst for continuing change and educational improvement. Although each program was developed largely independently of the others, the common elements in their design provide opportunities to evaluate collaboratively the successful aspects of such programs and to share ideas and resources for program curricula between existing programs and with institutions considering implementing new programs.

Adult↗

The key elements of elder neglect:a survey of adult protective service workers.

Description of the key elements of elder neglect is critical to the development of a case definition. In this brief report, experienced protective service workers were surveyed to capture their field experiences with neglected elders. The workers cited environmental filth, poor personal hygiene and health related factors as the three most common observations. Workers also describe their definitions of the differences between self and caregiver neglect.

Journal Article↗

Homebound schooling is the least favorable option for continued education of adolescent cancer patients: a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: With an overall objective to improve the educational programs of pediatric cancer patients, the purpose of this study was to compare the quality of educational experiences of adolescent cancer patients undergoing treatment while enrolled in hospital, homebound, or community schools. PROCEDURE: Ten students, 12-17 years of age at diagnosis, their parent and their teachers were interviewed with a structured list of open-ended questions designed to assess their perceptions of their homebound, hospital, and community school experiences. The interviews were taped, transcribed, and analyzed using qualitative methods for recurring themes. RESULTS: High achieving students engaged in extracurricular activities prior to diagnosis performed well academically in all three schooling situations. Those less engaged in school prior to diagnosis did poorly in homebound schools, better in their community schools, and best in the hospital school. CONCLUSIONS: Homebound learning during cancer therapy does not appear to be as meaningful as either hospital or community learning environments. Prior academic performance, as well as social, emotional, and health factors should be considered in selecting the most appropriate formal school environment for adolescent cancer patients.

Activities of Daily Living↗

Team learning in medical education: initial experiences at ten institutions.

PURPOSE: In the midst of curricular reforms that frequently call for reducing lectures and increasing small-group teaching, there is a crisis in faculty time for teaching. This paper describes the initial experiences of ten institutions with team learning (TL), a teaching method which fosters small-group learning in a large-class setting. METHOD: After initial pilot studies at one institution, nine additional institutions implemented TL in one or more courses. RESULTS: Within 18 months, TL has been used in 40 courses (from.5% to 100% of the time) and all ten institutions will increase its use next year. CONCLUSIONS: We surmise that this relatively rapid spread of TL into the medical curriculum is due to the sound pedagogy and efficiency of TL as well as the modest financial resources and support we have provided to partner institutions.

Curriculum↗