SAMARASEKERA, D. D.1*, HOOI, S. C.2, TAN, C. H.3, BAN, K.4, KOH, D. R.2, LIAN, D.5, YAP, C.2, CHEN Z. X.2, Raja Indran, I.3, ANG, E. T.6, LIU, H. Y.7, and Lee, S. S.1
1Centre for Medical Education (CENMED), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM)
2Department of Physiology, YLLSOM
3Department of Pharmacology, YLLSOM
4Department of Biochemistry, YLLSOM
5Department of Pathology, YLLSOM
6Department of Anatomy, YLLSOM
7Department of Microbiology and Immunology, YLLSOM
Samarasekera, D. D., Hooi, S. C., Tan, C. H., Ban, K., Koh, D. R., Lian, D., Yap, C., Chen Z. X., Raja Indran, I., Ang, E. T., Liu, H. Y., and Lee, S. S. (2023). Young Biomedical Science Programme: The design and impact of a longitudinal training on medical education for postdoctoral fellows [Paper Presentation]. In Higher Education Campus Conference (HECC) 2023, 7 December, National University of Singapore. (Insert URL)
SUB-THEME
Communities and Education
KEYWORDS
Biomedical science, educators, teaching career, course design, programme impact
CATEGORY
Paper Presentations
INTRODUCTION
an academic role (Golde & Dore, 2001; Austin, 2002). Graduate students and early career scientists, including postdoctoral fellows, often face limited options for structured opportunities to enhance their understanding of who want to learn more about teaching and, more importantly, learning, have few role models to turn to. This can be more pronounced in medical and basic science departments where the emphasis is on generating and publishing research data to advance their scientific research. Even when scientists themselves are interested in teaching or participating in science outreach programmes, they may be discouraged because their contribution in teaching and learning may not be aligned to their research goals. Despite the obvious need for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to develop skills in education, few universities offer graduate students and postdoctoral fellows the opportunity to enrol in an education programme, and if they do, the course is usually short and may not equip the participants with the necessary essential skills with structured guidance. There is also the challenge of non-clinical faculty teaching in health professional programmes such as medicine, dentistry and nursing contextualising the content relevance to future practice. Therefore, the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (YLLSOM) designed the Young Biomedical Science Programme (YBMS) (Figure 1) for postdoctoral fellows to provide foundational skills in Medical and Health Professions Education to be effective future educators. This programme aims to provide opportunities to foster collaboration amongst novice educators across departments, link up with expert and experienced local and international biomedical science educators and clinician educators, and provide the YBMS participants with mentoring, in the early stages of their career.
METHOD
The components in the one-year programme includes a compulsory module (attend seven workshops and complete an online module within the year), select one educational-related track out of three, practicum component (large group and small group micro-teaching) and complete a learning portfolio. Throughout the programme, the participants are supported by mentoring from experienced educators. The entire programme will be concluded with a capstone during the Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC). Using an action research design with Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation, we evaluated the programme up to the third level which is Behaviour for three cycles. For first level on Reaction, we sent a survey related to the programme and gain feedback to improvise (13 questions on a 5-point likert scale, with five open-ended questions). For second level on Learning, YBMS educators are required to do a practicum which involves small and large group teaching applying what they have learnt from the workshops. Lastly, for the third Level, we gathered data on subsequent products or outcomes achieved once they returned to their workplace after they have completed the course.
RESULTS
For the past three years, we have 18 participants graduated from the programme (10 for Cohort 2021, five for Cohort 2022, and three for Cohort 2023). From the survey, the participants found that the workshops attended helped them to understand the relevance of educational principles and apply in a real-world setting. They found that mentoring is particularly helpful in shaping their career journey. Two graduated from the programme and they developed a postgraduate course in health professions education with other academic staff and CenMED for doctoral students at NUS Medicine. This will be launched in 2023 as part of an elective module. In addition, two participants of the programme presented their research in HECC 2022 and APMEC 2023.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the graduates are better prepared to understand student learning and applied what they have learned. It is hoped that the early development of knowledge and skills about teaching and learning will encourage graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to continue their growth as educators throughout their careers.
REFERENCES
Austin A. E. (2002). Preparing the next generation of faculty: graduate school as socialization to the academic career. Journal of Higher Education. 73, 94–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2002.11777132
Golde, C. M., & Dore, T. (2001). At cross-purposes: What the experiences of today’s graduate students reveal about doctoral education. Philadelphia: Pew Charitable Trusts
Markowitz, D. G., DuPré, M. J. (2007). Graduate experience in science education: The development of a science education course for biomedical science graduate students. CBE Life Science Education. 6(3), 233-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1187/cbe.07-01-0004