Digital Scholars Fellowship

Call for Applications for the 2018-19 CanadiEM Digital Scholars Fellowship!

In Featured by Daniel TingLeave a Comment

Are you an RCPSC resident about to embark on your PGY4 special interest time?  Are you a graduating CCFP-EM interested in medical education scholarship with an digital media focus? Then this is the fellowship for you! This year, Daniel Ting (@tingdan) has been the CanadiEM Digital Scholars Fellow. He writes about his experience below.

When I started my residency, I would have never thought I would have been mentored by so many leaders in medical education from across North America. As part of the first cohort of residents in a new training site in the BC Interior, my academic career has been largely fostered by digital mentorship. This year, I have been fortunate enough to be the third CanadiEM Digital Scholars Fellow, and have worked closely with Fareen Zaver, Teresa Chan, and many other mentors to further enrich my academic interest in knowledge translation and medical education.

Some of the highlights of my year so far have included the following:

Who should be interested in applying?

  • PGY4 FRCPC Emergency Medicine residents (2018-19 academic year) or CCFP-EM resident graduating in 2018, based in Canadian programs.
  • Interest in medical education and digital scholarship.
  • Interest in a flexible subspecialty time that can be completed remotely.
  • Self-motivated learner with strong organizational skills.

Previous Digital Scholars

Shahbaz Syed (2015-16): completed all aspects of the designed curriculum, created blog content, initiated research on digital scholarship, managed the editorial section of CanadiEM.

Adam Thomas (2016-17): Co-founder of CRACKCast, over 150 episodes published so far with >430,000 podcast downloads.

Deadline for Applications: March 15, 2018

[bg_faq_start]

Fellowship goals:

  1. To develop innovative educators with extensive hands on training across digital education formats.
  2. To learn how to apply medical education theory to online learning formats.
  3. To build a strong digital identity.
  4. To collaborate with and receive mentorship from experienced digital educators from across North America.
Core FacultyGuest Faculty
Fareen Zaver MD FRCPC, ABEM Co-Fellowship Director
Teresa Chan MD, FRCPC, MHPE Co-Fellowship Director
Brent Thoma MD, FRCPC, MA, MSc
Anton Helman MD CCFP(EM), FCFP
Andrew Petrosoniak MD FRCPC, MSc (MedEd)
Edmund Kwok MD FRCPC, MHA, MSc		Dr. Heather Lindsay (University of British Columbia)
Dr. Hans Rosenberg (University of Ottawa)
Dr. Sarah Addleman (University of Ottawa)
Dr. Ken Milne (Western University, The Skeptics Guide to Emergency Medicine podcast)
Dr. Tamara McColl (University of Manitoba, Lead Associate Editor of the ALiEM MEdIC Series)

Information about the Curriculum:

Our curriculum is modularized and competency-based, so that you will work through each block at your own pace.  We suggest that at your home site you complete a minimum of 8 shifts per month clinically, so as to engage in bedside teaching and maintain your skill set.  Then with the help of your local and distance mentors, you would complete each of these modules over a 1-2 month span.

You don’t necessarily have to do all 5 of them, but once you’re enrolled in our program you would set an objective of completing at least 3 modules within 6 months, with adjunctive experiences that will be customized to your interests (e.g., research, curriculum design, blogging, podcast editing).

The following are the 4 modules that you will be able to complete:

  • Blogging Module
    • During this block, the learner will aim to gain an overall understanding of designing online using written/visual website media. They will also explore the fundamentals of curriculum design, gaining an understanding of the challenges of adapting a traditional curriculum design framework to the online teaching and learning environment. (Take a look at the module here.)
  • Podcasting Module
    • The learner will gain an understanding of effective design for digital teaching tools, the basic technical skills required for interviewing guests, recording and editing podcasts, the application of teaching principals to podcasting to maximize audience engagement and knowledge retention, knowledge dissemination through social media and other digital channels, and the fundamentals of curriculum design. (Module available upon enrollment.)
  • Patient Communication Module
    • Successfully implement knowledge translation to patients and healthcare providers. Various strategies exist for dissemination of information to the general public, and the learner will explore and implement this information into their FOAMed work, as well as learning strategies to incorporate social media into their medical practice. (Module available upon enrollment.)
  • Digital Identity Module
    • During this block, the learner will gain an understanding of the concept of a digital footprint, both outside and within medicine. They will learn how to maintain a professional digital identity of their own, as well as how to navigate the new legal and ethical challenges of the use of social media both personally and professionally. They will also gain insight into a variety of social platforms and the opportunities and challenges that they provide for physicians. (Module available upon enrollment.)
  • Translational Teachers Module
    • This block aims to instruct the learner on strategies to promote research within the social media community. These strategies will include creating  blog posts and infographics specifically for knowledge translation purposes. Learners will reflect on how individuals and institutions can collaborate to promote research. (Module available upon enrollment.)

For more information, including a preview of the other modules, email Fareen Zaver at [email protected]

[bg_faq_end] [bg_faq_start]

The Application

The application itself is simple.  We will require a letter of interest (max 2 pages) which details your desire and interest to work with the CanadiEM team as one of our Digital Scholars for 2018-2019 and a letter of endorsement from your Residency Program Director (PD).

In the Letter of Interest, please provide us with the following information:

  1. Your proposal module selection and schedule (include here your anticipated duration of the Digital Scholars program).  Remember the program should be at least 6 months but may be as long as 12, with concurrent clinical experiences at your home site;
  2. Your area of expanded interest (e.g., blogging, podcasting, digital curriculum creation, research about online education) and what deliverable you would like to create with mentorship;
  3. The name of a mentor who will be your support person. This person needn’t have expertise in digital scholarship, just a strong interest.  Please provide us with an email address, so we can reach out to them and discuss your educational plan;
  4. Your program director’s name and email address so we can match it to a letter of endorsement from your PD.

For the letter of endorsement, we would ask that your PD outline the following:

  1. That s/he is aware and in support of your digital scholar program involvement;
  2. That s/he agrees with your selection of your local mentor;
  3. The number of shifts and other program-related responsibilities you will have over the course of your Digital Scholars program (e.g. shift requirement, teaching responsibilities, administrative responsibilities).

All applications should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line “2018-2019 Digital Scholar Application for <INSERT YOUR NAME>”

[bg_faq_end]

Daniel Ting

Daniel Ting is an Emergency Physician and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, based in Vancouver. He is the Editor-in-Chief of CanadiEM and a Decision Editor at the Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine. He completed the CanadiEM Digital Scholarship Fellowship in 2017-18. No conflicts of interest (COI).

Fareen Zaver MD

Fareen Zaver is an Emergency Physician based in Calgary. She is the Co-Director for the CanadiEM Digital Scholars Fellowship and is the Lead Editor/Co-Founder of ALiEM Approved Instructional Resources - Professional (AIR-Pro) series

Teresa Chan

Senior Editor at CanadiEM
Emergency Physician. Medical Educator. #FOAMed Supporter, Producer and Researcher. Chief Strategy Officer of CanadiEM. Associate Professor, Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Medicine, McMaster University.