As infectious diseases training programs confront evolving educational needs, educators are looking for new ways to ensure trainees develop the skills needed for modern clinical practice. “Level Up: Innovating ID Education for the Next Generation,” Friday, Oct. 23, 1:45-3 p.m. ET, will showcase approaches to curriculum development, learner engagement and educational innovation across the ID spectrum.
Paul Pottinger, MD, FIDSA, FACP, professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, and Shweta Anjan, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Infectious Disease at the University of Miami in Florida, will moderate the session.
Speaker Saira Butt, MD, associate professor of clinical medicine at Indiana University, will discuss integrating social media and digital resources in ID education, while James Cutrell, MD, professor and fellowship program director at the University of Texas Southwestern, will address “Taking Your Journal Clubs to the Next Level.”
Brian G. Blackburn, MD, clinical professor at Stanford University, will focus on a recently developed national ID fellowship curriculum designed to support programs across a wide range of practice settings during his presentation at the session.
“One of the nice things is you can have a document or resource that helps harmonize training across programs,” he said. “There are often very disparate types of programs, rural versus urban, academic versus community.”
According to Dr. Blackburn, the curriculum was developed through a collaborative process that brought together fellowship program directors and associate program directors with diverse backgrounds and experience levels. The group reviewed curricular models from other specialties and surveyed ID training programs to identify educational needs and priorities.
The result is a resource intended to promote more consistent training while remaining flexible enough to accommodate differences among programs. Dr. Blackburn said the curriculum may be particularly valuable for newer program directors who are building or refining fellowship programs.
“It might be especially helpful to a newer program director who is picking up how to run a program for the first time,” he said. “Having a document like this can be very helpful in that situation.”
Although the curriculum has been available for only about six months, early feedback has been encouraging. Surveys have focused on ease of use and perceived value, and additional feedback will be gathered from program directors during IDWeek to inform future revisions.
The session reflects a larger effort within the specialty to continually improve how future ID physicians are trained.
“It’s an effort to continue to refine how we’re training our trainees,” Dr. Blackburn said. “We’re always looking to improve and innovate how we’re educating and training our trainees, and this is a way to do that.”