Virtual Conference of Health Education and Research 2021
The 3rd European Conference of Health Workforce Education & Research took place virtually, online with the support of our hosts at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Coláiste Ríoga na Máinleá in Éirinn) on Thursday 7th and Friday 8th January 2021. The event ran across multiple time zones (and was streamed live on YouTube) which has enabled many of our members to attend. Hosted in collaboration with the RCSI Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, the International Network for Health Workforce Education held the conference to promote interdisciplinary co-operation and critical understanding of the latest research in the field of health workforce education, research, training and development. The event brought together researchers, educators, trainers and policy makers from around the world.
Virtual Conference Theme: Team Based Learning and Leadership
Leadership and team-based learning, the theme of the INHWE Virtual Conference of Health Education and Research, are two of the most important topics for our members. Health professionals are dealing with constant changes to both the health systems they work in and the patients they serve. Equipping the health workforce with the skills to deal with this change is of the upmost importance for healthcare educators, researchers and policy makers. Leadership and collaborative practice are distinct but interrelated topics that are assisting health professionals adapt to their changing environment.
Leadership training for health professionals has been on the rise since the early 1990’s when ‘new public management’ changed the opinion of policy makers and catapulted leadership skills to the top of the public-sector agenda. Rising financial and operational pressures to health systems in recent years have placed an ever increasing responsibility on all health professionals to conduct their activities with the wider health system in mind. Healthcare education has thus looked to increased leadership training as a way of equipping health professionals to deal with such pressures.
Team-based learning (TBL) is a highly structured “flipped classroom” teaching method that solves common challenges encountered in healthcare education. TBL creates enquiring students, who are able to study information independently outside of the classroom and can then use that information to solve scientific or clinical problems with their colleagues, creatively. TBL helps students to take responsibility and be accountable for their own learning, to be able to explain key concepts, make a reasoned argument, and work well with others, including in an inter-professional setting. TBL as a method really can deliver all this and promotes collaborative practice when students enter the workforce.
The INHWE Virtual Conference of Health Education and Research allows participants to discuss the diverse possibilities and challenges of "Team Based Learning and Leadership" with international colleagues. The online event would welcome presentations adopting local, national and/or international perspectives on:
Teaching/Training: pedagogy, assessment methods, curricula, innovation, technology
Research: results from large-scale surveys, research projects, studies using innovative methods
Policy: new policy initiatives, future policy directions being pursued by governments and private/non-governmental organisations.
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Video Recordings (YouTube)