A meaningful MESS (Medical Education Scholarship Support)

Figures & data

Table 1 MESS objectives and associated outcomes

Objectives	Outcomes
1. Establish a unique community of medical educators	• Community established in the summer of 2013 • 100% participant retention
2. Acquire new learning (knowledge, skills, attitudes) related to medical education scholarship	Developed increased knowledge on the following topics: • Medical education journals • Categories for journal submissions • Reliability • Validity • Quality improvement • Endnote • Author order • Effective literature reviews • Survey design
3. Increase MESS members’ scholarly output	• Submissions to peer-reviewed journals • Collaborative grant applications • Local, regional, and national presentations • Multi-institutional projects
4. Increase scholarly collaboration within MESS	• Submissions to peer-reviewed journals • Collaborative grant applications • Local, regional, and national presentations • Multi-institutional projects
5. Incorporate group feedback to enhance scholarly output	• Active collaboration and discussion has contributed to a considerable increase in scholarly activities for group members
6. Share internal and external resources on an ongoing basis	• Information on master-level medical education programs • Advice on and resources for determining the best journals for publication on specific topics • Key LIME podcasts • Numerous articles from the literature • Evaluation tools

Key LIME, Key Literature in Medical Education; MESS, Medical Education Scholarship Support.

Table 2 Template for creating a local MESS group

Consider	Local plan
WHY	• Would it be meaningful and important to foster medical education scholarship at your institution? • Is this something that is needed – for individuals and the institution? • Would a MESS work for you?
WHO	• Who might benefit personally and professionally? • Who would be committed to participation? • Who is likely to collaborate? • Who has some experiences and complementary skills in medical education to be able to contribute? • How would changes to the group be determined?
WHERE	• Where is a central location? • Is it easy to reserve ahead of time? • Does it allow for confidential communication? • Would it be conducive to sharing work on a computer and hardcopies? • Would it allow people to see and hear each other easily?
WHEN	• When is a minimally stressful time? • Should it connect with a meal? • Should it be a way to start or end the week? • How often should it occur? • At what time of the day and for how long?
HOW	• What format might work for you? • Do you need formal objectives for your group? • Do you need an agenda for sessions? If so, how will it be formulated? • Do you need a leader? • How will sessions be planned and run? • Would there be any follow up?

MESS, Medical Education Scholarship Support.