Inaugural Medical Education Grand Rounds

“Medical education research has expanded dramatically in the last decade. It’s difficult enough to keep up with the literature related to clinical practice, let alone, becoming a better educator. With this in mind, our goal with the Medical Education Grand Rounds is to learn from national and international experts, helping us keep our skills sharp and always incorporating new best practices for teaching and learning.” said Robert Cooney, MD, MSMedEd, FACEP, director of faculty development. “This morning we had an amazing discussion about direct observation and the pitfalls in capturing authentic performance.”

Attendees heard guest presenter, Christopher J. Watling, MD, MMEd, PhD, FRCP(C) discuss the perils of direct observation. Dr. Watling’s research, widely published in the medical education literature, explores how and why feedback influences learning, and how medicine’s professional culture shapes its educational practices.

Dr. Watling is professor in the Departments of Oncology, Clinical Neurological Sciences, and Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University in London, Canada. He is the director of Schulich’s Centre for Education Research and Innovation, and a faculty scholar at Western University. From 2010-2019, he was the associate dean for postgraduate medical education at Schulich. He has a master’s in medical education from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom and a PhD in health professions education from Maastricht University, Netherlands. He is an avid teacher of academic writing and is the co-author of an upcoming book on the subject.