Development of an Annual Local SP Educators Conference

Objective:

The largest concentration of medical students in the United States is in the Chicagoland area with six allopathic and one osteopathic medical school. Five schools have standardized patient (SP) programs.  Faculty, SP trainers, and medical educators involved with these programs frequently travel to present their research and innovative endeavors at professional conferences. SP educator colleagues in the Chicagoland area would need to attend these conferences in order to learn about the work done by peers.

At the AAMC meetings in 2002, there was a discussion as to whether there was interest in creating a local meeting to share ideas and collaborate on issues related to SPs and clinical skills education and assessment in medical education.

Methods: SP educators in the Chicago area medical schools were contacted and asked about their interest for such a meeting and collaboration. There was an overwhelming positive response. The first conference entitled "Clincial Skills Assessment: Chicago Style" was held in June 2003 at Northwestern Univeristy Feinberg School of Medicine.

At least one speaker from each medical school presented a topic, followed by a discussion period. Topics included development of using SPs for admission interviews, ongoing clinical skills assessments, development of a fourth year assessment and digital technology updates. CME credit was available for physicians. No registration fee was required and food and beverage costs were supported by the host institution.

Results: At the conclusion of the first annual conference, an evaluation was completed by the majority of participants (N = 22). The results showed that participants found the conference useful, gained knowledge, were able to interact with colleagues, brainstorm and provide feedback on new ideas. All attendess would participate again in a future conference.

Conclusion: The next conference is scheduled for June 2004 entitled "Innovations in Clincial Skills Education: The Chicago Perspective."