Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OD1-2-4
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Other
Presenter Other
Program Evaluation Specialist
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
What is the Meaning of Distributed Medical Education?
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
The meaning of the phrase Distributed Medical Education (DME) is unclear. Medical educators and administrators from a variety of medical schools have drawn upon existing terminology and personal experiences to develop definitions of what they believe DME is. This has made it difficult to develop a common definition so that DME can be studied and evaluated nationally. In response, a national study was conducted in order to develop a unifying definition of DME in Canada.
Methods
A 2-year national study used a Delphi consensus building iterative process to ascertain what DME is in Canada. The study included three rounds of surveys and interviews with over 94 respondents representing all 17 Faculties of Medicine in Canada. Findings were used to develop a DME definition model that consisted of 5 key areas. While the model provided a starting point for defining DME, it did not capture the contextual meaning associated with each area identified within the model. Using narrative data from the Delphi study, a qualitative study was conducted to explore the meaning and context associated with DME.
Results
Terminology used to define DME ranged from being prescriptive to theoretical. In some cases, DME was described in terms of how it was operationalized and/or evaluated, while in other cases it was described as a philosophical innovation.
Conclusion
Defining DME is challenging. While only a few of the study participants were able to find words to capture the essence of DME, most of the study participants were able to describe DME in terms of how, where and why it exists.
Keyword 1
Distributed Medical Education
Keyword 2
Purpose/definition
Keyword 3
Theory
Level of Training
General
Abstract Themes
Distributed Medical Education
Additional Theme (First choice)
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Peggy Alexiadis Brown
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
