For this reflection I compared two lectures I provided to the undergraduate medical school class. The first lecture was in 2015 about determinants of health in remote indigenous communities in northern Ontario. It was based on my experiences flying into Big Trout Lake as resident. The second lecture was given in the fall of 2018 to the first-year undergraduate medical class about shadowing physicians in the workplace and how to achieve one’s personal learning objectives.

Watching the first lecture I can already see integration of techniques I had learned in BASICS. I did my best to include as few words as possible on every page to ensure there is not excessive reading required by the audience. As well, I did my best to include as many images as possible to ensure the audience was engaged. The presentation contained a variety of pictures from the community including an image of a burnt down home to demonstrate the importance of determinants of health to peoples lives. I used a couple multiple choice questions to engage the audience, otherwise there a very few interactive elements and most of the learning is done through didactic mechanisms.

The structure of the more recent lecture is very different. By the time I gave this talk I was nearing the end of my masters. This talk used several of the elements found within the first lecture but took them much further. This talk followed UME guidelines and used a plain white background for power point slides. This helps ensure students are less distracted by extraneous images. As well the amount of text on each slide is much reduced. The content of this lecture demonstrates is much organized and shows learning from the teaching of Dr. Abner and Dr. Glover Takahashi. I teach the students Schwab’s common places and how to learn in the workplace one needs to appreciate who one’s teachers are, and what kind of care they provide. As well, I pushed the students to self reflect on their own knowledge base and experiences in order appreciate how their lack of exposure can lead to the development of quick biases and assumptions.

Where I think the new talk excels is its ample use of interactive elements. About 40% of the hour is spent asking students to perform a variety of activities. This forced students to reflect and engage with the material. Rather than me telling them the aspects of what makes a good student or a good teacher, I required them to come to come these conclusions on their own. This ensures students use higher level skills, rather than just listening, and facilitates long term retention of knowledge. Students evaluated this session highly giving it an above average TES score.

Examining the early and late lectures demonstrates strong personal growth over the course of the Masters. Not only did I learn about a variety of teaching methodologies, but I now use these advanced techniques regularly in my educational practice. The methods I use now are more advanced and ensure students get the most out of my teaching sessions.

2015 Lecture

Peer Feedback Vincent
Self Assessment Laurence – 2015

2018 Lecture

Peer Feedback Lucky
Self Assessment Laurence – 2018