2015 RTL Conference

The Teaching Squares program is designed to improve teaching skills and build community through a nonthreatening process of classroom observation and shared reflection. The process involves the best aspect of peer evaluation — observation and discussion — while excluding judgment and evaluation. Participants in a square learn about the best practices of other faculty in order to improve their own teaching.This study was undertaken to investigate whether a peer-based educational development program (Teaching Squares) involving classroom observation, analysis, reflection and discussion can shift instructors towards more student-focused approaches to teaching.  Teaching Squares participants (instructors from the University of Waterloo) were asked to complete online surveys containing both quantitative and qualitative measures. The first survey was completed shortly after the final debrief meeting and the second survey will be administered after the participant’s next teaching term(this may be anywhere from 4 to 12 months later). This session will present the findings to date.

This paper serves as the academic reasoning behind a research initiative aimed at translating curricular content from the Professional Competencies program at the Michael DeGroote School of Medicine into applicable and useful course material for Indian medical students at King George Medical University, Lucknow, U.P.  The globalization of medical education is resulting in an increasing value being placed on curricular content in domains such as ethics, professionalism and communication skills.  Also, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is coming into widespread use worldwide, and is particularly useful for teaching this type of curricular material. This paper will provide the research and rationale behind the process of adapting curricular content developed at McMaster to the context of an Indian medical school, through both a literature review and an experiential case discussion.  A culturally competent approach is central to the success of an initiative like this, in order to ensure that the curricular material is relevant to the different clinical realities faced by Indian medical students.  A strong partnership between faculty at McMaster and King George Medical University is being developed, which will help to ensure that curricular elements of the ProComp program fit the context of Indian medical education system.