Abstracts from the Proceedings of the 2011 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education

Abstract

The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM; http://www.stfm.org) is a community of professionals devoted to teaching family medicine through undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education. This multidisciplinary group of physicians, educators, behavioral scientists, and researchers works to further STFM's mission of improving the health of all people through education, research, patient care, and advocacy. The STFM held its 37th Conference on Medical Student Education in Houston, Texas, from January 20 to 23, 2011. The unifying theme of the conference was sustaining and cultivating innovations in family medicine education. Kevin Eva, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia opened the conference with a plenary presentation discussing diagnostic error from an educational perspective. Catherine Florio Pipas, M.D., from Dartmouth Medical School continued with a plenary presentation on the Patient-centered Medical Home Model and its role in an academic medical center. Finally, Jerry Kruse, M.D., M.S.P.H., from Southern Illinois University concluded the conference with a plenary session analyzing the legislative and educational opportunities and challenges presented by the Patient-centered Medical Home concept. Participants shared ideas and learned new skills in more than 70 workshops, seminars, and discussions as well as 90 educational research and curriculum evaluation papers. The STFM Education Committee selected 10 papers from the educational research and curriculum evaluation papers, felt to be of interest to readers of Teaching and Learning in Medicine. Two of the papers deal with preclerkship education, 5 with 3rd- and 4th-year education, 2 with longitudinal experiences across all years of medical school, and 1 with faculty development.