More than 300 viewers from around the world tuned in to watch the Wayne State University School of Medicine’s second annual Medical Education Research and Innovation Conference, which showcased completed and in-progress medical education research and innovation projects by students, residents, staff and faculty.

The Dec. 8 event featured the work of 89 entries selected from more than 100 applications, as well as presentations by keynote speakers Holly Gooding, M.D., associate professor of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine and co-director of the Harvard Macy Program for Educators in the Health Professions; and Anna Cianciolo, Ph.D., associate professor of Medical Education at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine.

“While our faculty have always been innovative leaders, our students continue to explore and push to improve how we educate tomorrow’s physicians and medical researchers,” Dean Mark E. Schweitzer, M.D., said in his welcoming remarks. “From creating programs that lead to lectures and hands-on seminars on patient safety and quality improvement to educating fellow students on the opioid epidemic and the effectiveness of providing naloxone kits and proper training, our students steer education toward addressing relevant issues often not found in textbooks or classrooms.”

Jason Booza, Ph.D., assistant dean of Continuous Quality Improvement and Compliance for the School of Medicine, and one of the conference organizers, noted that medical education changes as rapidly as advancements in medicine itself.

“These advancements are not coming from some far-off ivory towers in some distant lands. Rather, they are being developed in our own backyards. Nor are these advancements limited to those with advanced degrees and expertise. Rather, advancements in medical education research and innovation are occurring by those all around us,” Dr. Booza said. “They occur by the inspired student who is not willing to sit on the sidelines as social injustices continue to hamper our best effort to create a just society. They occur by the resident or fellow seeking a better way of training and improving patient outcomes. They occur by the staff member continuously seeking better ways for us to learn. They occur by the faculty member seeking to adapt our curriculum to the ever-changing needs of our community. Most importantly though, these advancements are not occurring within these groups but rather across these groups. Many of our greatest innovations come from the co-development between learners, educators, practitioners and even the community.”

Winning entries include:

Poster – Innovation – Completed Work
First place: “Mental Health First Aid Training for All First-Year Medical Students: Baseline Knowledge, Attitudes and Immediate Impact,” Anita Ukani, Tiffani Strickland, Margit Chadwell and Eva Waineo
Second place tie: “Patient Safety Day: A Virtual Initiative to Improve Medical Student Knowledge of Quality Theory,” Caleb Sokolowski, Megan Walsh and Diane Levine
Second place tie: “Virtual Room of Horrors: Transforming a Quality Improvement Education Program to a Virtual Setting with the Goal of Early Introduction of Quality Improvement and Awareness of Patient Safety and Medical Errors to Medical Students,” Megan Walsh, Jie Chi, Lea Monday, Omid Yazdanpanah, Mowyad Khalid, Caleb Sokolowski and Diane Levine

Poster – Innovation – Work in Progress
First place: “Impact of Incorporating Medications for Addiction Treatment (MAT) Waiver Training During Undergraduate Medical Clerkship Curriculum,” Kaycee Ching, Katherine Loveluck, Tabitha Moses, Michael Garmo, Rafael Ramos, Eva Waineo and Diane Levine
Second place: “Professional Coaching in Residency: The Analysis of a Novel Approach Decreasing Resident Burnout,” Matthew Silbergleit, Shibandri Das, Mark Juzych and Pradeepa Yoganathan
Third place: “Development and Implementation of Scholarly Concentrations for Individualized Medical Student Experience,” Jenna Carter, Michael Franklin, Cooper Laurain, Richard Baker, Jason Booza, Steven Daveluy, Sonia Hassan, Diane Levine, Jennifer Mendez, Ijeoma Nnodim Opara, Senthil Rajasekaran, Latonya Riddle-Jones and Joseph Dunbar

Poster – Research – Completed Work
First place: “Food Insecurity Education in Medical School: Experiential Learning with an Urban Farming Initiative,” Samantha Rea, Jay Jarodiya, Madeline Berschback and Diane Levine
Second place: “Comparing the Prevalence of Medical Student Mistreatment by Patients at School-Affiliated Sites,” Emma Drenth, Dariah Lauer, Nichole Tuite, Besma Aly, Akanksha Vaishnav, Ria Minawala, Eva Waineo and Jason Booza
Third place: “Medical Student Perspectives on the Reporting of Mistreatment by Patients,” Dariah Lauer, Emma Drenth, Nichole Tuite, Ria Minawala, Akanksha Vaishnav, Besma Aly, Eva Waineo and Jason Booza

Poster – Research Work in Progress
First place tie: “How Does Organizational Communication Affect Medical Student Wellness at WSUSOM?,” Aneesh Hehr, Lacey Brim, Simone Brennan and Julie Novak
First place tie: “Preliminary Results of a Scoping Review of Preclinical Faculty Wellness Poster,” Elizabeth Jakubowski and Katherine Akers
Third place: "Up-to-date Use as a Predictor of Medical Student Success: A Work in Progress,” Connor Buechler, Kurt Wendland, Jason Booza and Diane Levine

Oral Presentation
First place tie: “Evaluating the Unique Impact of Opioid Overdose Prevention and Response Training on Medical Student Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Opioid Overdose,” Tabitha Moses, Jessica Moreno, Rafael Ramos, Eva Waineo and Mark Greenwald
First place tie: “Virtual Case Studies Series: Development of Clinical Skills and Patient Population Understanding,” Marla Rojas Thaureaux, Paige Baal, Janki Vaghasia andRobert Sherwin 
Third place: “Instructional Scaffolding of Clinical Reasoning Development in an M1 Clinical Skills Course,” Sonal Patel and Erin Miller