Funded Projects
| Project Title | Overview of the Project |
|---|---|
| Empowering Educators: The MENTOR Series Daniel Cronin Medical School Michelle Daniel Medical School Seetha Monrad Medical School Gurjit Sandhu Medical School Vineet Chopra Medical School Robert Dickson Medical School Medical School Amit Gupta Medical School Nathan Houchens Medical School Sanjay Saint Medical School Jakob McSparron Medical School Janet Biermann Medical School Medical School Medical School Patricia Mullan Medical School Michael Englesbe Medical School $6500.00 |
Historically, medical students at the U-M Medical School have had limited educator preparedness training. This is unfortunate as once medical students graduate they have significant responsibilities teaching co-residents and the next generation of medical students. Although a teaching elective does exist within the medical school, it is not scalable and not suited to practice clinical teaching. This grant team seeks to create a new “Clinical Teaching Elective” which will be scalable and flexible, allowing senior medical students to learn core teaching principles and skills while simultaneously being immersed in clinical practice. To accomplish this, our grant team is developing a central repository of best teaching practices that can be used as a curricular tool and on-demand teacher’s guide, the Medical Educators Novel Teaching On-demand Resource (MENTOR) Series, which is comprised of primarily concise educational videos supplemented by summary infographics. Importantly, select videos will also be used futuristically to fill gaps in other areas of the medical school curriculum. The creation team is composed of a diverse group of education experts from various departments and divisions, who are involved in content creation, design, evaluation and implementation. To ensure that our resource is optimally created for a variety of learning styles and preferences, we will be obtaining iterative feedback from medical student group interviews. The grant money will be used to fund food for medical student group interviews, as well as costs of video and infographic production including editing videos, script styles, animations and graphics based off medical student feedback. |
| Undergraduate Medical Education Introduction to Antimicrobial Decision-Making Emily Abdoler Medical School $2649.00 |
Research indicates that physicians have difficulty selecting appropriate antimicrobials for treating infections, which can harm patients and lead to increasing antimicrobial resistance. Difficulty with antimicrobial prescribing likely begins early in medical education, and nationally many medical students consider their knowledge of infectious diseases (ID) and microbiology inadequate at the time of graduation. At the University of Michigan Medical School, the first year ID/Microbiology course is the last dedicated opportunity for medical students to gain knowledge regarding optimal antimicrobial selection; during clinical rotations, they learn directly from practicing physicians who may be among those making antimicrobial prescribing errors. This project aims to provide medical students with a framework for antimicrobial selection and schema for organizing their ID knowledge during the first-year ID/Microbiology course, while also introducing the concept of therapeutic reasoning. The framework will be provided on a laminated card and introduced through an interactive, case-based session. The framework will be reiterated through each of the course’s clinical syndrome lectures, thereby providing an organizing structure for students’ burgeoning knowledge. It also will be reinforced and applied through two new interactive sessions – healthcare acquired infections and antimicrobial stewardship – that touch upon themes of empiric antimicrobial selection and de-escalation. continued in Project Objectives |
| The Recording Studio is the World's Best Practice Room; creating an environment for student violinists to grow into professional musicians by learning to really listen and transform their concert sound. Danielle Belen Music, Theatre & Dance $4725.00 |
The ability to easily and regularly record oneself is an absolute necessity for a violinist, and especially for a college student at the brink of what is hopefully a lifelong career in music. An even more important skill is learning how to honestly and proactively listen to oneself. I propose to enhance my violin teaching studio with two professional quality microphones, installed semi-permanently to transform the space into an ad-hoc but quality recording studio, on-demand when needed. I dream of creating a culture of self-empowerment among our violin students at the University of Michigan, where they will learn and understand not only how to record themselves, but how to listen back in an engaged way, using this tool to push and lift their level and standard of playing. Initially, this process would take place under my guidance, already working one-on-one with them weekly as their private instructor. No words of mine would ever be more powerful than listening back together to a just-recorded phrase, positively but critically analyzing it and trying again, and again. This resource of instant-recording would be embraced and maximized in an educational way that isn’t possible under the current infrastructure of our school. Hiring a professional audio engineer is expensive, reserving a hall is limited, and both simply can’t be done often enough to realize the student’s professional potential. Recording on one’s phone is convenient but never has the same quality or gravitas as the real thing. Finally, for each student, this educational exercise could gain the momentum needed to end up with a tangible high-level recording for professional use as well. Self-promotion through one’s online presence is vital for the modern musician. I believe the impact and execution of this project is unique and I appreciate your consideration. |
| Designing and Implementing a Structured Process and Task Trainer for Teaching Digital Vaginal Examination in Labor Ruth Zielinski Nursing Megan Deibel Nursing Lee Roosevelt Nursing James Ashton-Miller Engineering John DeLancey Medical School Helen Morgan Medical School $10000.00 |
In maternity care, it is essential that nurses, midwives and physicians have the skills needed to evaluate progress during labor. Digital vaginal examination (VE) during labor is an essential skill for students to master, but one that is challenging to teach and practice in the simulated clinical setting. Affordable, realistic simulators are not currently available and standardized patients cannot be utilized to simulate labor and birth. Because VE during labor can be uncomfortable and intrusive, it is imperative that students are prepared prior to clinical so they can perform VE in a way that causes the least discomfort while at the same time correctly assessing for labor progress. In a collaborative effort between midwifery faculty, obstetrics/gynecology, and engineering, we propose to: (a) develop and evaluate a structured step-wise process for teaching VE (b) design, build, and evaluate a realistic vaginal examination task trainer that can be utilized for nursing, midwifery and medical education and (c) evaluate the effectiveness of both the educational approach and the task trainer using a three armed, pretest-posttest design with midwifery and medical students as participants. |
| Using 3-D printed anatomical models of specimens from the Museum of Zoology Research Collections to transform experiential learning in six vertebrate biodiversity laboratory courses Hernan Lopez-Fernandez LSA - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Alison Davis Rabosky LSA - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Benjamin Winger LSA - Ecology and Evolutionary Biology $10000.00 |
A grant from CRLT will enhance lecture materials and laboratory exercises in six vertebrate biodiversity classes through the use of 3-D printed anatomical models made from images generated with X-ray computed tomography (CT). Recent access to CT is made possible through the acquisition and installation of a Nikon X-ray CT scanner in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The scanner is located at the Research Museums Center in close proximity to > 4 million specimens of fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals including an extraordinary collection of fluid-preserved specimens, all housed in the Museum of Zoology (UMMZ). The ability to generate CT images and produce models of both hard and soft anatomy from valuable fluid preserved research specimens, using noninvasive techniques, will provide opportunities for students to engage with the great diversity of vertebrate form and function. For example, students will be exposed to the differences in internal anatomy such as the windpipes of cranes that are coiled to amplify sound. Printing models at magnification will provide opportunities to compare small anatomical structures such as the pharyngeal jaws or gill arches of fishes or the bones of a snake skull. Students will use models to articulate entire skeletons or assemble and disassemble bones of the skull and other structures. These self-guided activities of discovery and research will provide a better, more intuitive understanding of species diversity and variation with less memorization. |
| Vocal Health Lab, Somatic Bodywork & Curriculum Development for the Contemporary Musical Theatre Performer Catherine A. Walker Music, Theatre & Dance $10000.00 |
This 3-tiered initiative will enhance the curriculum and training of the musical theatre majors as well as provide professional development for faculty members in the Musical Theatre, Theatre & Voice Departments. The Musical Theatre department remains committed to providing a comprehensive, cutting-edge, holistic, approach to training today’s performers. Part One: New Vocal Health Lab - Musical Theatre students will have regular access to Voice Specialist, Marci Rosenberg (CCC-SLP). Musical theatre performers are at greater risk for developing voice disorders. Even a minor voice disorder can have a significant impact on the performer. The Vocal Health Lab will offer specialized care and training for the students who regularly sing using a high vocal load and become proactive at detecting emerging problems. Part Two: Alexander Technique Somatic Training - By training both faculty and students to optimize posture and alignment, the functionality of the voice will improve. Additionally, Alexander Technique has been shown to reduce stress and improve overall well-being; essential for Musical Theatre performers. Continued in Project Objectives |
| Compassionate Conversations Curriculum for Michigan Medicine: Building a core communication curriculum for medical students, postgraduates, and faculty Michael Mendez Medical School Nathan Houchens Medical School John Osterholzer Medical School $10000.00 |
Ineffective physician communication leads to increased stress for families related to treatment decisions and the condition of patients. Many families do not understand basic information about their loved ones’ illnesses and treatments, and physicians frequently miss opportunities to address family concerns and attend to family emotions. While communication guides and conversation roadmaps have been published, Michigan Medicine lacks a program common to medical students, post-graduate trainees and faculty that provides our trainees the necessary communication skills and practical tools to navigate these conversations. CRLT funding will provide key support to assist the program in its initial phase of growth. This proposal describes the development of a dynamic family meeting simulation model that engages learners with improvisational actors and highly trained faculty-facilitators in a manner that optimizes achievement of the following goals: 1) To develop a sustainable communication training program that enhances the ability of trainees to compassionately and effectively conduct conversations which identify the values, goals, and life-sustaining treatment decisions of patients with serious illness. 2) To recruit and train communication education champions to create a network of Compassionate Conversation Facilitators at Michigan Medicine |
