Institute for Improving Medical Education (IIME) Expert Panels

To support the Institute's efforts to effect fundamental changes in the ways US doctors are educated, several standing expert panels have been convened to address specific educational topics of ongoing interest and stimulate guidance from content experts.

Educational Technology 

Educational Technology In April 2005, the Institute convened educators and theorists for a Colloquium on Educational Technology Theory to examine the known theory behind educational technology driving the use of virtual patients, simulation, computer-aided instruction and related instructional methods. Resulting from their work, a guiding principles document, Effective Use of Educational Technology in Medical Education describing the effective use of educational technology, and further considering its appropriate use in medical education was released March 2007.

Clinical Skills Education

In 2005, the Task Force on Clinical Skills Education released a consensus document on recommendations for developing an explicit clinical skills curriculum for medical students.  Recommendations include guiding principles, specific clinical skills objectives and skills for further consideration, a set of categories for organizing clinical skill learning opportunities, an explicit developmental approach to clinical skills curricular design, and a set of curricular program elements.  The Task Force next intends to address issues related to preclerkship clinical skills education, faculty development, clinical skills assessment, and clinical skills center recommendations and resources.

Chronic Illness Care

Convened to develop a consensus on the need to redesign how residents are educated to care for patients with chronic illness conditions, the Chronic Illness Education Roundtable was instrumental in the development of the Macy funded curriculum grant initiative on chronic illness care education, and will be periodically engaged as that project evolves.  The Roundtable is composed of department chairs and other senior leaders in the disciplines of family practice and internal medicine, as are senior staff responsible for education at the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Practice. Pediatrics representatives have agreed to participate in subsequent Roundtable activities.