Big Topics: Fresh Perspectives
A guest post from Dr. Kelly Caverzagie
When people ask why I attend ICRE every year, the answer is simple. ICRE tackles the “big” topics in medical education. The problems that confront us as a global community. At ICRE, I am able to learn from friends and colleagues worldwide who are working on these issues and I learn new ways to address these problems at my own institution.
By comparison, most conferences that I attend dedicate significant energy to update attendees about the latest regulatory changes or clinical updates about a disease or condition. While they certainly have their place in education, these conferences don’t help me to advance my thinking or explore new solutions. ICRE helps me to do the things that I want to do, as opposed to the things that I need to do.
At ICRE, the conference themes are fresh, timely and important. The conference pushes the envelope and helps the worldwide community actively advance a collective agenda as opposed to listen passively so that we can “check all of the boxes.” In short, ICRE, with its diverse perspectives and viewpoints demands that attendees engage.
Recent conference themes have included the implementation of competency-based medical education, improving the clinical learning environment and our current meeting which focuses on promoting diversity and inclusivity in residency education and beyond. Each is a frequent topic of discussion at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and I suspect the same can be said at your program or institution as well.
What makes ICRE so unique is its international flavor where attendees come from across the globe to contribute to the conversation. In fact, the last five years have seen an average of 33 countries represented, a number that is certainly expected to continue to grow. I’ve spoken with many of these attendees and they are very happy that they have chosen to attend. They commend how ICRE provides an opportunity to think, engage, network with kindred spirits and most importantly, take steps to solving the “big” problems of medical education.
I strongly encourage you to attend ICRE 2019. See you in Ottawa!
