2019 FEED Conference – cultivating professional and personal development within the Department of Medicine

Joined by more than 30 faculty members, the 2019 Faculty Education, Enrichment and Development (FEED) conference, sponsored by the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics, took place on March 22. As one of the signature events offered by the Department of Medicine’s faculty development office, the annual conference aims to provide career advancement support for clinician educators, clinical researchers, and basic scientists.

Through didactic presentations, panel discussions, and small group exercises, the half-day CME-accredited program provided learning opportunities for faculty on all levels. Jonathan Crane, PhD and Jessica Fairley, MD, MPH, both associate professors of medicine, presented the first general session “Strategies to Focus in a Distracting World,” addressing best practices on how to stay focused despite workplace and personal demands. Aside from emphasizing the importance of prioritizing professional and personal plates, both speakers offered tips on how to improve work life balance, patient care quality, and time management.

“Excellent talk. The exercises were extremely helpful,” one faculty member said after the session.

Following the first presentation, participants broke into two groups for targeted sessions. The clinician educator session, “There’s an App for That – Intro to Patient and Clinician Apps,” took a closer look at mobile apps that help physicians stay efficient, up-to-date, and provide better care. The researcher session, “Surviving the Reproducibility Crisis,” addressed the factors undermining experimental rigor in preclinical biomedical sciences.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the last general session, Kathy Griendling, PhD, vice chair of research and faculty development in the Department of Medicine, moderated a panel discussion entitled “How to Handle the Troublesome Trainee.” Four panelists, including Hughes Evans, MD, PhD, Paula Gomes, PsyD, Karen Law, MD, and Jason Schneider, MD, FACP, answered questions from participants about best practices in one of the most important leadership responsibilities – people management. This discussion provided advice on forming better relationships with colleagues and trainees while improving patient care.Participants then split into small groups and were assigned mock cases for discussion. Aaron Lee, MSHRM, MBA, PHR, human resources administrator in the Department of Medicine, led the final role-play exercise and provided examples on best practices.

“The panel discussion on how to handle difficult trainees provided many useful tools and really opened my eyes,” a conference attendee said.

Other participating faculty members described the conference as enjoyable, interactive, and beneficial with “high yield topics and great faculty speakers.”

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