DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
2015 Disclosure Slide
Amalia Cochran
Nothing To Disclose
Related to Content of This
Talk

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Exploring the ROI Beyond RO1s:
The Science of Surgical Education
Amalia Cochran, MD
University of Utah
Vice Chair of Education and
Professionalism
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Objectives
• At the conclusion of this talk, learners will be
able to:
– Define the surgical education “triple threat”
– Describe current areas of inquiry in surgical
education
– Recognize the role of advanced degrees in surgical
education career development
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
The educational triple threat
Teacher
Administrator Researcher/
Disseminator
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Administrator
• Traditional:
– Clerkship director
– Residency Program director
• Modern:
– Simulation Director
– Education Institute Director
– Role in curriculum development
• Local or national
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Researcher/ Disseminator
• Traditional:
– Curriculum design
– Assessment- particularly of simulation
curricula
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Researcher/ Disseminator
• Modern:
– Communication
– Professionalism
– Skills acquisition
– Clerkship optimization
– Multicenter research
– Qualitative research
– AAMC MedEdPortal
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Researcher/ Disseminator

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Researcher/ Disseminator
• Role of social media
– Blogs
– Twitter
– Facebook
– ??? Next disruption
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
DOES AN EDUCATOR NEED
AN ADVANCED DEGREE?
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Maybe
• Strong interest in (but no
prior experience with)
pedagogy/ andragogy
• Structure of a degree-
granting program to
develop appropriate
foundation
• Expertise in a specific
area of education or
educational theory
Or maybe not
• Prior background in
education/ teaching,
either in medicine or
elsewhere
• Experience in educational
administration
• Access to mentoring and
training in education
research
@AmaliaCochranMD

DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY
Conclusions
• Surgical educators help to fulfill a key
mission of academic departments
• Modern surgical educator should plan to
be a triple threat
• Advanced degrees are not one-size-fits-all
– Only pursue or require them for the “right”
reasons
@AmaliaCochranMD