Invited workshop presentation. I was invited to present this session for visiting medical students from the United Arab Emirates and asked my colleagues Chris Minter, Ph.D., Kristina Nelson, M.Ed., and Nancy Van Erp, Ph.D. to deliver the workshop with me.

"Generative AI in Medical Education: Foundations and Applications"

Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop, students will be able to:

• Explain the potential applications of generative AI in health professions education​
• Apply generative AI tools into your learning experiences​
• Explore ethical considerations and best practices when using generative AI

Healthcare provider well-being is a growing area of professional concern due to its impact on both the clinician’s health and patient outcomes. Research suggests that well-being concerns, like burnout, begin in health professions education programs, during which students undergo rigorous academic and clinical training for future careers as clinicians. Drawing from a recent multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary study of health professions students, this presentation will discuss issues of well-being in health professions education, including its prevalence, common interventions, and the students’ perceptions and experiences with well-being and stress. The presentation will emphasize how program culture, academic coursework, and clinical experiences impact student stress and well-being, and discuss how faculty and administrators can authentically support their students during the program.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

• Identify common constructs of well-being in health professions education
• Explain the impacts of stress on student well-being and student academic/clinical performance
• Discuss strategies to support students’ well-being in education programs
• Reflect on their attitudes and perceptions of their own well-being as faculty and administrators

Invited presentation.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

• Identify common constructs of well-being in health professions education
• Explain the impacts of stress on student well-being and on their clinical performance
• Discuss strategies to support students’ well-being in clinical education
• Reflect on their attitudes and perceptions of their own well-being, because

Abstract: Research suggests clinician well-being concerns begin in graduate health professions education programs, during which students undergo rigorous academic and clinical training. The aim of this study was to explore programmatic interventions intended to promote well-being in graduate health professions education and the students’ experiences of well-being while enrolled in graduate health professions programs. The questions that guided this study were: How do students experience their own well-being, how do they perceive their program's support of their well-being, and what types of programmatic well-being support do students want and need?

Methods: This study used a mixed methods design. Quantitative analysis included descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and ANOVA. This study used thematic analysis to analyze open-ended responses. 162 students completed the consent form and at least the first section of the survey: 34 audiology, 91 occupational therapy, 9 physical therapy, and 28 speech-language pathology students participated. Participants completed the Perceived Stress Scale and Self-Compassion Scale Short Form. Additionally, participants completed qualitative and quantitative survey questions developed by the researcher.

Results: Participants had higher levels of perceived stress than the general population and other health professions graduate students reported in previous studies. They had moderate levels of self-compassion. Participants reported that they were unable to prioritize their own well-being despite believing that it is important for their overall health and success. They overwhelmingly indicated that their programs are actively causing them stress, their programs’ structures provide barriers to managing their well-being, and they do not feel supported by their programs. While many students participated in program-sponsored well-being activities and found those activities worthwhile, they felt that their programs could do much more; students often felt the programs were performatively rather than authentically supporting well-being.

Limitations: Survey respondents were primarily female (92%) and white (75%); while these demographics are reflective of the included professional disciplines, there is a lack of diversity represented. The survey was distributed via an email to program directors, and thus it is not known how many program directors distributed the survey invitation to their students; therefore, a response rate cannot be calculated. The findings suggest the need for a multi-pronged approach to promote student well-being by providing developmental support to improve a student’s ability to manage and cope with stress through interventions and programming, while also making changes within the structure of the program (e.g., evaluate curricular scheduling and content, grading practices) to reduce unnecessary program-induced stress.

Invited CEU presentation.

This virtual course will emphasize how clinical experiences impact student stress and well-being, and discuss how clinical educators/supervisors can support their PT and PTA students during clinical externships.

At the end of this session, learners will be able to:

• Identify common constructs of well-being in health professions education
• Explain the impacts of stress on student well-being and clinical performance
• Discuss strategies to support students’ well-being in clinical education
• Reflect on their attitudes and perceptions of their own well-being

Abstract: This case study explored the experiences of the faculty members serving as mentors to medical students at the Feinberg School of Medicine (FSM). While there is not much previous research on the benefits of being a mentor, the available studies suggest that mentors commonly report increased job satisfaction, improved skills, and feelings of personal reward. There is also a noticeable gap in the literature pertaining to the creation of objectives and assessment tools in medical education mentoring programs. Through artifact analysis and surveys and interviews with mentors at FSM, this study sought to learn what the mentors gained from their experiences and to determine what impact serving as mentor had on the mentor’s future involvement in medical education. The data suggest that generally faculty mentors do continue working in medical education, and many attribute this persistence to their mentoring experience. Furthermore, faculty mentors seem to greatly value the relationships they formed with their students. The data also suggest that FSM could improve the training and support it provides to mentors to help them better meet the challenges the role presents. This study can contribute to the limited body of literature on benefits of serving as a mentor and of assessing mentoring programs in medical education.

(The image is from the winter poster session partway through the research process, which highlighted the literature review and plan for data collection).