Nathan W. Goodyear, M.D.
"A Retrospective Comparison of Vaginal Vault Suspension Techniques in a Resident Clinic" and "A Unilateral Twin Ectopic Pregnancy Occurring in a Solitary Fallopian Tube."

Tara R. Horn, M.D.
"Survey of Adolescent Sexual Behavior" and
"Cholangiocarcinoma in Pregnancy: A Case Report"

Ricky L. Owers, M.D.
"Stromal Tumor Indeterminate Type During Pregnancy: Case Report"

On behalf of all the faculty and staff at the UTGSM, I would like to congratulate all residents in the 2004 graduating class. Your efforts in upholding the three-fold mission of patient care, education, and research has been outstanding. As you move into your career, you will be excellent representatives of the Graduate School of Medicine. Once again, congratulations to all of you and I wish you continued success.

Michael R. Caudle, M.D.
Dean
UT Graduate School of Medicine


Hall Presents at AMI Conference
Nathan C. Hall, M.D. Ph.D., UTGSM Associate Professor of Nuclear Medicine, Cancer Imaging and Tracer Development Program, recently presented a poster at the Academy of Molecular Imaging Conference in Orlando, Florida.  The title of his presentation was "Comparison of 3D PET/CT and 2D PET for Imaging Obese Patients."  Co-authors of the poster presentation included D. E. Kuhlman, M.D., J. T. Yap, Ph.D., J.P. Carney, Ph.D., & D. W. Townsend, Ph.D.

Kabalka Invited Speaker at Boron in the Americas IXth Conference
George Kabalka, Ph.D., Professor of Radiology, &
Director, Basic Research, Biomedical Imaging Center, at UTGSM was an invited speaker at the Boron in the Americas IXth Conference, May 19-22, in San Marcos, Texas.  His talk was entitled, "New Iodination Techniques." 

Adjunct Professor, Dr. Joe Thie, Delivers
Commencement Address
Joseph A. Thie, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor in the Department of Radiology, was recently invited to be the commencement speaker at the University of Indianapolis.  Dr. Thie, an internationally known expert on nuclear technology for power generation and medical applications, also received an honorary doctor of science degree during the ceremony.   Gary Smith, M.D., Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, praised Dr. Thie for his many contributions to UTGSM. 
 

Independent Learning with Feedback Loop
by Dr. James J. Neutens

As a teacher how many times have you given a resident or student an assignment for self-directed learning (“go check this out and see what you find”; or “what does the literature say about this procedure?”) only to find it doesn’t work all that well (even with threats and pimping – no names here please). Perhaps the problem lies in the implementation rather than with the learner.

In a clinical setting two essential steps are involved in self-directed learning. First is to identify what needs to be learned, skills to be acquired, and so forth. Second is the learner’s ability to use and organize resources. The general theme is to apply knowledge to the real world – real patients, real time, and real space.

Based on adult learning theory, the more relevant the material or assignment the better off we will be. Therefore, self-directed learning should be linked to a patient problem experienced by the resident or student. This helps with motivation, too.  Don’t forget to go the extra step to point out where resources can be found – unless you are into scavenger hunts.

The following four steps detail the implementation of self-directed learning with a critical feedback loop.

1.  Identify the need
At the end of the day/the case/the patient presentation ask the resident to identify what he or she would like to learn more about. What might they improve upon? What did you learn today?

2.  Make an assignment

• The resident should formulate their answer into a question (just as you would for Evidence Based Medicine)
• Ask the resident to research the answer to the question. (keep it reasonable)
• Let the resident know when to report back to you with the results (be specific here such as, tomorrow at rounds or Wednesday before didactics)

3.  Identify potential resources
This can be a wide range or very narrowed depending on the patient problem and nature of the question. Example resources are PubMed, textbooks, CDs, other faculty, journals, Cochrane or the Medical Library.

4.  Close the loop

• The resident must report back to you on what was found and usually does so with a brief verbal presentation
• You may want to incorporate this into a patient write-up or assessment
• Always acknowledge what they have done keeping in mind they did this work at your request

In conclusion, independent learning can work as long as it is implemented correctly and feedback is part of the process.

Alguire P., DeWitt D., Pinsky L., Ferenchick G. Teaching in Your Office. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians, 2000.

Bordage G. Elaborated knowledge: a key to successful diagnostic thinking. Academic Medicine, 1994; 69:883-5.

DaRosa D. A., Dunningham G .L., Stearns J. Ambulatory teaching “lite”: less clinic time, more educationally fulfilling. Academic Medicine, 1997; 72:358-61.

If you have news or an event to announce via this newsletter and/or the GSM Web site, please submit your story.

Editor
Connie Littleton
Editorial Staff
Alison Lockett, Sherry Brewer, and James Neutens, PhD
©2004 The University of Tennessee
Graduate School of Medicine
Newsletter Feedback