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Group learning in the Human Simulation Center. |
The Office of Medical Education arose from the confluence of several events and forces. The medical school curriculum was redesigned in the late 1990s along the same lines of most schools to include more active learning, computer-assisted learning, clinical skills, simulation, and small groups.
All of these activities cut across traditional departmental lines and raised the need for a new entity to manage them. National forces driving accreditation urged more central involvement in curriculum. When the Alumni Association came forth with the offer to fund a new site for teaching the new curriculum — the Student Learning Center. the concept of putting all of this in one home — the Office of Medical Education (OME) — was born. Since then other activities overseen by the faculty and staff in OME including Graduate Medical Education (GME) and the Area Health Education Program (AHEC) have been placed in OME.
With the advent of the Learning Center as a resource for all, we recognized the importance of creating educational templates and services available to all. First came the Human Simulation Lab, followed by our Minimally Invasive Surgery Training Program (MISTP). Because teaching in these centers is cutting-edge, it represented an opportunity for faculty using these facilities to capture much of their activities as educational research.
As such, OME has begun to assume another function available to any and all who wish to participate — faculty development in the form of educational research. However, a major component necessary for success was missing until recently. With the addition of Dr. Shelia Chauvin and the creation of the Office of Medical Education Research and Development (OMERAD), we are now able to help faculty develop and execute educational research programs using the data generated from the teaching activities in the Learning Center.
Future plans will be centered on continued acquisition of simulation equipment, development of ties with private industry to develop, test, and educate with their latest technology and continued work in development of evaluation systems for competency/skills-based education particularly that involving simulation.
Charles W. Hilton, MD
Associate Dean, Academic Affairs
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine
2020 Gravier Street, Suite 716
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
504-568-4006 (Phone)
504-599-1453 (Fax)
