Curriculum Highlight: Clinical and Diagnostic Reasoning (Building Better Curriculum) - September 8, 2021

During this special 75 minute Building Better Curriculum Webinar, we will be learning from four different teams of educators about the teaching tools and strategies they have developed around teaching clinical and diagnostic reasoning:

Presentation 1 - Bridging the Gap Between the Classroom and the Clerkship: A Clinical Reasoning Curriculum for Third-Year Medical Students. This session will highlight key components of a clinical reasoning curriculum, which was published in MedEdPortal in January, 2019.  By the end of the session, participants will be able to (1) Utilize a framework for teaching clinical reasoning in the in-person or virtual environment, (2) Adapt patient cases tailored to the level of the learner, and (3) Apply teaching techniques to develop clinical reasoning skills. The components of the curriculum that will be highlighted include: a framework for learners to practice clinical reasoning, key clinical reasoning skills that can be practiced in the classroom setting, and techniques for delivering the curriculum in small, large group, virtual, or in-person settings.

Presentation 2 - Teaching and Assessing Diagnostic Reasoning. In this presentation, presenters will review a framework and toolkit which allows a clinical teacher to give feedback to a learner on their clinical reasoning skills by observing their presentation of a patient. Presenters will also discuss briefly the data for its effectiveness.

Presentation 3 - Diagnosing and Remediating Clinical Reasoning Difficulties: A Faculty Development Workshop. In this presentation, presenters will introduce a model for identifying and differentiating between a group of common clinical reasoning difficulties in learners including data gathering, problem representation formation and “seeing the overall picture,” differential diagnosis prioritization, forming a management plan, and challenges with bias.  Presenters will also share a handful of tools that educators may use as applicable for and aligned with the clinical reasoning challenges described. 

Presentation 4 - Choose Your Own Adventure: Leading Effective Case-Based Learning Sessions Using Evidence-Based Strategies.  Learning how to lead engaging teaching sessions is critical for faculty development and for optimizing teaching opportunities. During our presentation, presenters will provide an evidence-based framework for designing and facilitating case-based discussions, such as morning reports. Presenters will describe our materials which include helpful guidelines and tips to help participants facilitate effective sessions for their learners.

Please visit the AAMC Building Better Curriculum Webinars webpage for a complete list of future events and special programming.

Nick Duca, MD

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Director- Medicine Clerkship

Penn State College of Medicine

Nicholas Duca, MD is a general internist, primary care physician and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He completed his residency and chief residency at the University of Pittsburgh-UPMC Presbyterian. He began his career in medical education as an associate clerkship director at Penn State in 2017 and accepted the role of clerkship director in 2019. He has an interest in teaching clinical reasoning, curriculum development, survey development, and qualitative research.

Adam Cohen, MD, MEd

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and of Education, Innovation, and Technology

Baylor College of Medicine

Adam Cohen, MD, MEd is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and of Education, Innovation and Technology. He is an experienced qualitative researcher with expertise in assessment, feedback and diagnostic reasoning. He has prominent roles on the design and development of multiple curricula at Baylor College of Medicine, including in the creation of a critical thinking and metacognition curricular thread as part of a committee creating Baylor College of Medicine’s new MD curriculum. He is also faculty with the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Research, Innovation, and Scholarship in Medical Education.

Adam Weinstein, MD

Associate Professor of Medical Sciences and Pediatrics

Netter School of Medicine of Quinnipiac University

Adam Weinstein, MD is an Associate Professor of Medical Sciences and Pediatrics at the Netter School of Medicine of Quinnipiac University. He assists to direct the 1st and 2nd year Clinical Arts and Sciences courses and also serves with the Student Affairs team as a Career Advisor for 3rd and 4th year students. He moved to Netter from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in 2021, where over a 12 year period, he served as section chief of pediatric nephrology, director of pediatric medical student education, co-director of the 1st and 2nd year On Doctoring course, and director of the Year 1 and 2 Problem-Based Learning Curriculum and Medical Science Integrations course. He served as the chair of Geisel’s Medical Education Committee from 2016 to 2021. During his tenure at Geisel, he received numerous teaching awards for both resident and medical student education, including Geisel’s Clinical Science Teaching Award, and was elected to Geisel’s Academy of Master Educators.

Jimmy Beck

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. Beck is a pediatric hospitalist at Seattle Children's. His professional focus has been on promoting the autonomy of his learners and promoting high value care.   

Corrie McDaniel, DO

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. McDaniel is a pediatric hospitalist at Seattle Children's.  Her research focus is on understanding and improving care for children hospitalized in community hospitals.

Elena Griego, MD

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

University of Washington School of Medicine

Dr. Griego is a pediatric hospitalist at Seattle Children's. She also serves as the associate program director of the pediatric residency program.

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