Faculty Interest Group Meetings
Dates of Activities: 8/27/2020, 10/23/2020, 11/19/2020, 1/26/2021, 2/19/2021
Description of Experience: The University of Arkansas for Medical Science College of Pharmacy has a Faculty Interest Group (FIG) that allows for residents who are potentially interested in a faculty appointment later in their career to attend and find out more information as well as ask questions. During these meetings, I was able to listen to advice from three current faculty members and ask them questions about different faculty appointment topics. I was able to attend five of the six possible FIG sessions. These were hour-long lunch sessions that occurred throughout the 2020-2021 residency year.
What I learned: During my time in the FIG meetings, I was able to learn about important topics involved with seeking faculty appointments following residency graduation. Early on we discussed what it meant to be faculty. This included the three pillars of higher education which include teaching, scholarship, and service. I knew these pillars existed but did not understand exactly how important they were prior to the meeting. In another meeting, we discussed where to look for academic positions online. I knew of a few resources that could be utilized when searching for these positions, but I was introduced to many more potential options during the FIG meeting. One of the meetings I enjoyed the most was really looking into the job postings and really deciphering what exactly they mean. Being someone who is thoroughly interested in academia, I have always wanted to make sure that I was fully grasping the positions that were available, and this session truly did that for me. I was even able to help a coworker look at an out-of-state job with an academic component following this session and explain it better to them.
Preceptor Development Conference
Date of Activity: 4/29/2021
Description of Experience: Over the past few years, the Office of Experiential Education at UAMS College of Pharmacy has hosted a preceptor development conference to allow preceptors to meet together and discuss some of the topics revolving around preceptorship. This is done by listening to an invited lecturer discuss an important topic and by discussing shared experiences. This all-morning experience occurred on April 29th, 2021.
What I learned: I participated in this conference really early in my residency. It was prior to a student even being scheduled with me on rotation. My ultimate goal was to soak up as much information from as many seasoned preceptors as I could. I knew that I would be able to gather useful information from fellow preceptors at my site, but I wanted to be able to learn from those at other locations as well. It was during this meeting that I first learned about entrustable professional activities. I really tried to utilize this concept with my student on rotation. I wanted to start pushing towards entrusting them so that they would believe in themselves as well. We also discussed common issues that students will encounter while on rotation and how to mitigate these problems. This was especially helpful for me because it introduce problem-solving ideas I could utilize should an issue arise during one of my rotations.
APPE Syllabus Preparation
Date of Activity: December 2020
Description of Experience: Prior to the start of the rotation, I developed a syllabus for the student I would be precepting by myself. I sent this syllabus to multiple experienced teachers to make sure that it had all the needed information and would make sense to the student. This syllabus was utilized as a guide for my student's rotation in January of 2021. I spent 4 days, including peer review, preparing this syllabus in December prior to my January rotation.
What I learned: I learned how to develop objectives for an entire month's rotation. It was intriguing to think about clinical topics that were important for the site and implement them into the syllabus. I remember mentioning to one of my mentors that it felt very scary to make because I was essentially laying out the directions for a rotation that I had never taught before. The benefit of this experience is that it lets me truly think about what I wanted the student to gather from this learning experience. Furthermore, I attempted to personalize my syllabus to this exact student. I asked them questions prior to completion of the syllabus so that I could make the rotation more meaningful to their needs while not sacrificing the core elements of the rotation
Materials: Rotation Syllabus CVICU