Program Description
Effective teaching is crucial in conveying the depth, complexity, fascination, creativity and generativity of the field of child and adolescent psychiatry to students, trainees, and the public at large. There is a science and art to teaching, learning, and education that enhances effective communication in all spheres: from one-on-one supervision to parent education to media bites and telecommunications. Our hope is that the AACAP membership benefits from this intensive “Teach the Teachers” enterprise through an ongoing sharing of expertise and collaborative educational initiatives.

This year’s presentation builds on the success of the programs presented at the 55th and 56th Annual Meetings. It is an interactive three-hour experience presenting the scientific background and best practices for learner-centered teaching in our field. The program begins with a one-hour plenary address followed by breakouts to more intensively focus on specific skills in each of these areas. The design is consistent with the literature that learning occurs best when information and knowledge is accompanied by practice and active involvement of the learners in the educational activity.

The plenary address is by an internationally known leader in the field of medical education, Geoff Norman, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. Dr. Norman is the author of 10 books in education, measurement and statistics, and over 200 journal articles. He has won numerous awards, including the Outstanding Achievement Award of the Medical Council of Canada, the Distinguished Scholar Award of the American Educational Research Association, and the Karolinska Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Medical Education. His plenary explores the nature of diagnosis from a perspective that clinicians have two parallel reasoning strategies (dual processing theory): a rapid process based on an unconscious “similarity match” with previous examples, and a slow, logical, and conscious strategy based on application of DSM-like rules. The implications for clinical teaching are emphasized.

Following the plenary, there are two breakouts to allow members to discuss in more depth and gain skills in the two areas of effective communication, and teaching and supervision.

Breakout #1
Teaching for Success: Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching Professionalism in the Internet Era
This breakout is an interactive, participatory, skills-building session. Teaching professionalism becomes much more complex in the Internet age. Personal lives and public lives are more intricately merged, as what a physician posts online may be accessible for many years to come. Managing boundaries, teaching appropriate use of the Internet, and finding engaging, practical, and useful means of teaching the adult learner about professionalism is an ongoing challenge. This breakout addresses two primary topics:
1. Methods to teach clinical, legal, ethical, and professional issues that can arise with Internet technology in child and adolescent psychiatry clinical practice.
2. Methods to engage the adult learner in understanding the daily challenges of professionalism in practice, and how to remain cognizant of potential dilemmas that may arise.

Breakout #2
Problem Based Learning (PBL) In Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Training: Why Has It Taken So Long to Catch On?
Problem Based Learning (PBL) represents a major development and change in educational practice that continues to have a large impact across subjects and disciplines worldwide. However, it is infrequently used as a teaching modality in post graduate medical education. It would seem that child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP), because of its inherently integrative, bio-psycho-social nature and emphasis on teamwork and collaboration, would be a specialty learned optimally through PBL. This breakout addresses the following:
1. Explain the principles of PBL and provide participants with hands-on experience with PBL in CAP.
2. Discuss unique strengths and challenges of using PBL in CAP.
3. Discuss strategies and share international experiences with implementing PBL in CAP internationally USA (University of Texas and Brown University), Canada (University of Toronto) and Europe (Trinity College Dublin).