CEPD would like to congratulate Dr. Arnold Noyek on being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours established to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation. Dr. Noyek was cited for his dedication to helping those with hearing loss and for his contributions to peace through health care partnerships in the Middle East. He was among 74 new appointments announced by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, in a press release on June 28, 2013.

Dr. Noyek has been a member of CEPD’s CE Directors and Leaders committee since its inception in 2005, active as both a Peer Reviewer and Course Director within the specialty of Otolaryngology and International Health. The majority of his courses have been longitudinal Continuing Education Certificate of Completion programs being offered in the Middle East on hearing loss and other otolaryngology related curriculum. CEPD Accreditation Coordinator, Karma Farah, attests that Dr. Noyek “has always been an enthusiastic and dynamic course director”.

Dr. Noyek’s appointments at the University of Toronto are numerous. He is currently the Director for International Continuing Education for the Faculty of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, a Professor in the Departments of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Medical Imaging, and a Professor of Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Dr. Noyek is the founder of the internationally renowned Canada International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO) and the Founding Director of The Peter A. Silverman Centre for International Health at Mount Sinai Hospital, which aims to address global health issues through collaborative research and educational initiatives. He was active Director until June 2012. Read more about Dr. Noyek’s admirable work and accomplishments on the Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation website: Dr. Arnold Noyek: A Passion for Improving Lives

Congratulations Arnold on this outstanding achievement. “Always moving forward” with your drive and determination to better health care on a global scale and within your community. Truly inspirational!

 

CEPD would like to congratulate Dr. Ian Witterick on receiving The Canadian Society of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery’s Award for Educational Excellence at the society’s 67th Annual Meeting held June 2-4, 2013, in Banff, Alberta.

The Educational Excellence award honours an individual who has made a significant impact in the area of medical education at a national and/or international level. The Award Chair of the Society, Dr. John Yoo, noted the innumerable contributions Dr. Witterick has made to education in his presentation remarks.

CEPD has witnessed first-hand Dr. Witterick’s commitment to education excellence and innovative initiatives in his capacity as Professor, Course Director, Peer Reviewer, Continuing Education Director for the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery for up to ten years and now Department Chair since July 2012. Dr. Witterick’s task force leadership was instrumental in the development and implementation of CEPD’s Policy on Sponsorship from Commercial Sources of University of Toronto Accredited Continuing Education Activities. He has organized more than forty continuing education courses or conferences nationally and internationally and serves on numerous committees at the University of Toronto including Chair of the Education Committee for the Faculty of Medicine.

Congratulations to Ian on this well-deserved recognition and achievement.

As completion of the 2012-2013 academic year draws near, CEPD would like to thank all of our CE Directors and peer reviewers for their ongoing support and commitment to ensuring the quality and credibility of University of Toronto accredited continuing education programs. It is their invaluable advice and insightful contributions that assist our broad range of CE programing in meeting the standards and accreditation criteria established by The College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and by reciprocal relationships, the American Medical Association, the European Council for Continuing Medical Education, and other governing organizations and bodies as required or appropriate.

In particular, we would like to acknowledge Drs. Suzan Schneeweiss and Sagar Parikh who will be stepping down from their role as Continuing Education Director for the Departments of Paediatrics and Psychiatry, after nine and over ten years of service respectively. Thank you for your long-term contributions and unwavering support to continuing education and the accreditation process.

U of T accredited programs are subjected to a strict peer review process to ensure that curriculum is rigorous, scientifically sound and qualifies for continuing education credits for participating healthcare professionals. Each program is reviewed for its attention to educational principles such as needs assessment, clear objectives, appropriate format, evaluation strategies and conflicts of interest.

2012-2013 Peer Reviewers:

Mostafa Atri, Medical Imaging

John Axler, Family & Community Medicine

Yvonne Chan, Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery

Ronald Feld, Medical Oncology

Debbie Hebert, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy

Nadia Ismiil, Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology

Wai-Ching Lam, Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences

Karen Leslie, Centre for Faculty Development

Doug Moseley, Radiation Oncology

Sagar Parikh, Psychiatry

Anita Rachlis, Member-at-Large

Suzan Schneeweiss, Paediatrics

Peter Slinger, Anesthesia

Martina Trinkaus, Medical Alumni

Fay Weisberg, Obstetrics & Gynaecology

Brian M. Wong; Christian Base, Medicine

Assistant Peer Reviewers:

Matthew Cesari, Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology

Diana Kljenak, Psychiatry

Martin van der Vyver, Anesthesia

 

 

On Tuesday, April 30, 2013 the University of Toronto’s Division of Orthopaedic Surgery presented “A Practical Approach to Competency-Based Education in Your Residency Training Program: From Concept to Implementation” – the first workshop of its kind to be offered in Canada, introducing a new model for teaching and assessing resident trainees for competency.

Led by Dr. Markku Nousiainen, Program Director of Competency Based Curriculum for the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, with support of a stellar planning committee including Drs. Benjamin Alman, Peter Ferguson, William Kraemer and Richard Reznick, participants for this novel workshop convened at the MaRS Collaboration Centre in Toronto. Chairs, Program Directors and educators in postgraduate training programs in North America engaged with their colleagues for a full day of learning. Among the invited participants in attendance, 37 from the United States, 23 were from Canada, and 1 from Pakistan.

Learning activities consisted of plenary sessions, breakout sessions with module leaders to develop curriculum maps, and a visit to the Mount Sinai Hospital Surgical Skills Centre to learn how to organize and implement a surgical skills boot camp. Plenary sessions addressed the rationale for competency–based training, the anticipated future training requirements from both a Canadian and American perspective to meet the future requirements of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and how to develop an Orthopaedic Boot Camp surgical skills module and evaluation tools in a training program. During the final debrief session, participants also had the unique opportunity to hear from several University of Toronto surgical resident trainees who had been through the curriculum. They shared their experiences of the program and answered questions, providing valuable feedback. Lots of lively discussion ensued among faculty and participants, wrapping up a thoroughly successful day.

The Competency-Based Education Training workshop arose from U of T’s Orthopaedics Competency-Based Curriculum Pilot Project with funding support from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The University of Toronto has the largest orthopaedic residency program in North America, and trains more clinical fellows each year than any other single University. The program’s surgical skills Orthopaedic Boot Camp was recently awarded the Association for Surgical Education’s (ASE) Excellence in Innovation in Surgical Education Award that recognizes exemplary performance by surgical educators with novel ideas and/or methods for improving teaching and learning. Congratulations to Drs. Ranil Sonnadara, Oleg Safir, Markku Nousiainen, Benjamin Alman, Peter Ferguson, William Kraemer, Richard Reznick and Ms. Lisa Satterthwaite!

The CEPD Research team will be hosting Dr. David Price, the National CPD Director for Kaiser Permanente, Colorado, USA from May 6-8, 2013 in Toronto for a series of interactive activities and engagement with colleagues in the CE community.

Kaiser Permanente is a working partnership of two organizations: the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (serving more than 9 million members) and Hospitals, and the Permanente Medical Groups, which continuously develop and refine medical practices to help ensure delivery of efficient and effective health care to members.

On Monday, May 6 from 4:30 – 6:00 pm, Dr. Price will be presenting to the Continuing Education Directors and Leaders about new developments in continuing medical education throughout the United States. This interactive discussion-based session will overview the structure of Kaiser Permanente, the organization of CME within KP, and share some of their successes and ongoing innovations in the field.

Dr. Price will also be conducting a webinar for those interested in collaborative opportunities in CE focused on quality improvement, patient safety, and knowledge translation. Details on how to access the webinar online will soon be available on the CEPD website: http://www.cepd.utoronto.ca

David Price, MD, FAAFP, FACEHP has been a board certified Family Physician with the Colorado Permanente Medical Group (CPMG) since 1988 and the CPMG Director of Medical Education since 1998. He is also a physician investigator with the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute of Health Research (where he is co-director of the Center for Health Education, Dissemination and Implementation research) and a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center. Dr. Price is also active in the Colorado and American Academies of Family Physicians and has served on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Board of Directors from 2003-2008, where he chaired the R&D and Examination (Maintenance of Certification) committees, and was ABFM Board Chair from 2007-2008. He currently serves on the board of Directors of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications.

Do you know someone who is conducting an innovative needs assessment or using new methods of evaluation to measure the impact of continuing education activities on health professionals’ competence or behaviour? They may be eligible for a Continuing Education and Research Development (CERD) Award!

CEPD is now seeking nominations for the Spring 2013 CERD Awards. The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 19, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Grants awarded are worth up to $5,000, and are intended to support projects relating to the planning, implementation, delivery, and evaluation of continuing education for health professionals.

Visit CEPD’s website to view submission guidelines and access an application form. A list of past recipients is also posted online and can be accessed by clicking here.

If you can’t meet the April 19^th deadline and require an extension, please contact Vashty Hawkins at vashty.hawkins@utoronto.ca.

Kate Hodgson, one of CEPD’s Education Consultants, has been awarded the Department of Family and Community Medicine’s 2012-2013 Excellence in Continuing Education Award along with fellow Quality Improvement Program Faculty Development group members Margaret Bucknam, Yee-Ling Chang, Phil Ellison, Alan Monavvari, Trish O’Brien, Jamie Read, Mary Kay Whittaker and Brian Wong.

The Excellence in Continuing Education Award is intended to recognize contribution and achievement in the areas of faculty development and continuing education through sustained leadership in the creation, implementation and/or dissemination of innovative faculty development programs and through integration and application of theory into practice.

CEPD is very proud of Kate’s achievement and congratulates the whole QI Program Faculty Development team on recognition of their contributions to the Department of Family and Community Medicine’s Professional Development Program. An awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 27th, as part of DFCM’s annual Academic Retreat & Walter Rosser Research Day.

This April, for the first time ever, CEPD will be hosting a live simulcast of the TEDMED Talks direct from the John F. Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC and opening the event to the general public. CEPD invites anyone with an interest in health and medicine and a passion for learning to come by and experience TED free of charge.

Join us in person from April 16-19, 2013, at 500 University Avenue, Suite 650, Toronto, for the live video stream. Attendees can come for the full program or drop by for any of the speaker sessions they are interested in viewing. No registration is required!

TEDMED is an annual meeting of the minds where multi-disciplinary innovators discuss hot topics and new developments in health and medicine. This year’s speaker line-up includes 50+ global leaders from science, research, technology, academia, business, government, and the arts. Don’t miss out!

Visit www.cepd.utoronto.ca/tedmed for complete event details and listing of speakers.

Looking for ways to refine your presentation and public speaking skills? CEPD Education Consultant, Jane Tipping, recommends the following video produced by Virtual Studio TV to ensure delivery of a winning presentation.

“Presenting & Public Speaking Tips – How to Improve Skills & Confidence” outlines how to engage your audience, appear confident and get your key messaging across without being too complicated or redundant. Presenters are encouraged to “Get Passionate, Get Excited, Get Enthusiastic”. Click on the video link below to review all 10 tips.

Virtual Studio TV is a video production services and solutions company based out of Cambridge, United Kingdom that specializes in broadcast technology. Microsoft and Cambridge University Press are among their clients.