Professor Ronald Harden (standing), Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME) course director, guiding participants’ thoughts through discussion.
By Lim Yih Lin
Senior Executive, Centre for Medical Education
Following the success of the past 16 runs of the Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC), the 17th APMEC returned on 8 to 12 January 2020, gathering close to 1,300 medical and healthcare professionals from over 39 countries.
Organised by the Centre for Medical Education (CenMED), Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, the conference serves as an excellent platform for healthcare educators to share their experiences while learning about the latest ideas and best practices from international experts in medical and healthcare professional education.
The ones who made it possible: the current and incoming organising committee of APMEC, with the CenMED team and volunteers.
(From left to right) Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive, National University Health System, Singapore; Professor Yvonne Steinert, Director, Institute of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada; Associate Professor Tan Chay Hoon, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore and Dr Dujeepa D Samarasekera, Director, Centre for Medical Education, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore at the MILES Award presentation ceremony.
With this year’s theme, “Nurturing Values for Effective Practice – Trends, Issues, Priorities, Strategies (TIPS)”, the conference focused on how best to face challenges in healthcare and ways to improve how we educate and nurture the next generation of medical and healthcare professionals.
Pre-conference workshops were offered over 8 and 9 January. These included courses on Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME), which, as anticipated, were very warmly received. This special programme was designed for teachers who are engaging with medical education for the first time, as well as experienced teachers who have been given new responsibilities relating to teaching or assessment.
Due to overwhelming demand, post-conference workshops were also organised on 12 January. Delegates who attended the pre- and post- conference workshops walked away with more knowledge from the well-designed faculty development programmes, led by distinguished medical and healthcare professional education experts.
The main conference which was held on 10 and 11 January at the Resorts World Convention Centre featured a strong line-up of more than 160 international, regional and local speakers who touched on a wide range of healthcare education topics.
Professor Yeoh Khay Guan, Chief Executive, National University Health System, graced the opening ceremony as Guest-of-Honour. Professor Yvonne Steinert, Director, Institute of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada, and Dr John Norcini President Emeritus of the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®), USA gave the opening and closing keynotes on ‘From Teaching Professionalism to Supporting Professional Identity: Nurturing Values for Effective Practice’ and ‘Professionalism, Professional Identity Formation and Assessment’ respectively at the conference.
Professor Yvonne Steinert and Associate Professor Tan Chay Hoon, Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore received the Mentoring Innovation and Leadership in Educational Scholarship (MILES) Award during the opening ceremony. This award was initiated in APMEC 2006 to recognise international and local scholars of distinction who have a hand in developing medical and health professions education in Singapore and beyond.
The symposium on “Seeking and Receiving Mentorship: How to Foster Successful Mentorship?” saw an enthusiastic turnout of 150 people. Five topics were presented by final year students from NUS Medicine, as well as practising doctors.
In all, delegates enjoyed a fruitful time learning, sharing, exchanging ideas and networking with other healthcare educators, all with the goal to transform the way they teach or enhance patient care.
Next year, APMEC will take place outside of Singapore for the first time. The 18th conference will take place in Kuala Lumpur, jointly organised by CenMED and University of Malaya (UM) and co-organised with the International Medical University, Malaysia (IMU). CenMED would like to take this opportunity to express their warmest gratitude to all international and local presenters, speakers and delegates who have made the 17th APMEC 2020 a roaring success.
A total of 256 abstracts were presented during APMEC 2020. This year, the conference included a new ‘Young Scholar’ category, which was introduced for presenters who are below 35 years of age.
Congratulations to the presenters and the winners below!
Young Scholar Award
Winner
Andrew Kroger
Australia
The Creation of a Self-Sustaining and Expanding Medical Student Question Bank
Runner-up
Nicholas Ng Beng Hui
Singapore
A Multidisciplinary Workshop on Neonatal End of Life Care – A Challenging But Rewarding Experience
Free Communication Presentation
Winner
Pauline Luk
Hong Kong
Exploring the Online Learning Interactions Among Medical Students During a Self-Initiated Enrichment Year
Winner
Christopher O’Callaghan
United Kingdom
A Novel Approach to the Delivery of Video-Based Education, Continuing Education and Assessment of Health Workers in the Remotest Locations
Runner-up
Sarah Koh Mun Yee
Singapore
Visual Fixation and Diagnostic Performance of Undergraduate Dental Students Reading and Interpreting Intra-Oral X-Rays With and Without Formative Feedback