FROM THE PRESIDENT

Education As An Experience

In the last issue of Primary Contact, I mentioned that our 2022-25 CMCC Strategic Plan contains elements that address our desire to expand “experiential learning” in our curriculum. But what does that term mean and how are we changing? Simply put, experiential learning is the process of learning through experience; i.e., learning by doing. Those of us who were trained in the past learned in a passive setting in which knowledge was delivered primarily through lectures, supplemented by some laboratories. Eventually, we got into the fourth year and were immersed in the clinic setting and struggled to make a shift from passive to active learning. Over the years, CMCC’s curriculum has added greater opportunities for clinical observations and more hours of laboratory instruction, but even today, our pre-clinic (Years I-III) curriculum is about 45% lecturebased. Adult learning is best when it involves learning in a setting or format most relevant to eventual professional application. We are striving to shift from passive learning to active learning in which there is less dependence on traditional lectures and more on clinical application, problem solving, small group interactions and handson experiences.

One of the effective ways to facilitate experiential learning is by using standardized patients (SPs), also known as simulated or trained patients. These are persons meticulously trained to accurately portray clinical disorders. For example, an SP can be trained to provide the detailed history and emulate the complex physical, orthopaedic and neurologic signs of an acute lumbar disc disorder, a concussion, a malignancy, and so forth. By using SPs, pre-clinic learners can become comfortable and proficient in dealing with serious clinical problems in a realistic setting long before they start their clinical internship. SPs not only provide a safe way for students to practice history taking, perform a clinical examination and formulate a differential diagnosis and management plan, but also can assist students in learning vital communication skills, building confidence and engaging with a wide variety of patient types.

As we envision enlarging the pool of SPs to be used in the curriculum, we hope that gradually, material delivered only via lecture today can shift to SP interactions. Imagine the educational difference between watching PowerPoint® presentations on the clinical presentation of multiple sclerosis (MS) or transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), and interacting with MS or TIA standardized patients, followed by debriefings of those sessions with a faculty member.

These SP sessions inevitably lead to students pursuing further knowledge about these conditions or the clinical evaluation of the presenting symptoms and building enduring learning, not just memorization of facts to pass an examination.

To be most effective, a standardized patient program needs a facility to support this type of learning. That’s why our strategic plan addresses space optimization and the anticipated development of a dedicated Learning and Assessment Centre. This type of Centre would have multiple exam rooms with sophisticated digital recording devices and supportive task training equipment. Recently, through the generosity of the CMCC Governors’ Club, we implemented the use of auscultation training devices that fit over a standard stethoscope and can deliver murmurs, abnormal lung sounds, etc., when a student is examining the SP.

It's my hope that in the next edition of Primary Contact I will be able to provide further information on how our plans for a Learning and Assessment Centre are progressing.

Chiropractic education should provide vast opportunities for experiential learning, beginning in the first year and culminating with a broad clinical experience. Our 2022-25 Strategic Plan addresses these opportunities and will further advance CMCC’s ability to meet its mission to deliver world class chiropractic education, research and patient care.