Chair's Report: Western Region Group on Educational Affairs
Submitted by: Michael D. Prislin M.D.

The fall meeting of the WGEA was held on Tuesday November 6,2001 in conjunction with the AAMC Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.

Outgoing regional chair, Edward Keenan presented the recommendations of the nominating committee that Michael D. Prislin be elected regional chair and that Carol Hodgson be selected as the chair elect. The group approved these nominations by acclamation.

Luann Wilkerson reported that the groups financial status is sound. The 2001 spring conference held at UCLA made a slight profit and the expenses relating to the upcoming 2002 spring conference will be shared with the WGSA. The only ongoing expense for the region is the webmaster for the regional website. The dues are currently set at $200.00 per member institution but they have not been levied for several years. After some discussion it was agreed that dues should be levied during 2002.

Mia Savoia reported that the 2002 spring conference planning committee is proposing that " Assessment Across the Educational Spectrum" be the conference theme. The 2002 meeting will as per custom be held jointly with the WGSA and the planning committee feels that this theme will appeal to both groups and also provide a forum in which the various GEA sections can contribute. Comments and suggestions from the group were highly supportive. (A meeting matrix is included in Attachment 1).

Discussion turned next to the status of the various GEA sections within Western Region activities. The consensus of the group was that activities of the UME and RIME section are strongly supported at the spring meeting and through the activities of the various interest groups. It was noted that GME activities have traditionally been supported through various discipline-based organizations. Hope was expressed that the current competency-based direction of the ACGME and AAMC initiatives such as the Residency Teaching Skills Taskforce might give this section greater vitality. Monitoring participation in the 2002 meeting may provide better insight in this regard. CME related interest is not high within the regional organization and there were no suggestions as to how this might be improved. Joel Merenstein noted that his term as chair of the UME section has been completed. Burton A. Dudding, M.D. from the University of Nevada, was nominated to replace Dr. Merenstein. His nomination was accepted by acclamation.

Mike Prislin brought several issues raised at the national steering committee to the group's attention. These included:

1. Regional Websites
The group discussed the format and content of the WGEA website. At the present time the WGEA website is hosted at UCLA and has a dedicated webmaster whose activities are being supported by WGEA funds. The website content includes information pertinent to the regional organization, including by-laws and representatives; special interest groups; and announcements. The site has links to the AAMC/GEA homepage, and the CGEA homepage. In addition the region has an electronic mailing list and listserve hosted by Stanford University, and an on-line conference submission process hosted by OHSU. UCLA also hosted an online conference registration process during 2001 and UCSD will be doing so for the 2002 conference. It was the strong consensus of the group to maintain the unique identity of the WGEA website. It was agreed that a dedicated webmaster supported by regional funds should be maintained and that the listserve should be linked to the website (This has been done).

2. Research in Medical Education
The group did not feel that there was any particular need or potential benefit to changing the name of the RIME section.

3. The Scholarship Project
Luann Wilkerson presented a brief description of the scholarship project and both Luann and Mike Prislin encouraged group members to submit examples of how their schools collect information to meet promotion criteria for teaching to Deborah Simpson or Rhee Fincher.

4. Potential Topics for Future GEA Projects
The group discussed several potential areas of interest. A consensus emerged that the future of clinical training across the spectrum of medical education represents a critical area of interest. Concerns were expressed that the increasingly complex healthcare environment (from both technologic and social organization perspectives) and the concomitant intensification of patient care related documentation and regulatory requirements are serving to marginalize the depth of medical student involvement in the care of "live" patients. Some of the group wondered whether this will result in the need for more basic training during graduate medical education and the need to extend advanced training into the post-graduate phase. Some of the group felt that this was already occurring. At the same time it was pointed out that emerging educational technologies, particularly those involving simulations offer exciting opportunities to assure greater experience (and hopefully competence) prior to student or residents commencing various types of training with live patients. Many in the group expressed the opinion that the nature of clinical training will change profoundly during the coming decade, more so than what appears is being addressed in the ongoing AAMC Project on the Clinical Education of Medical Students. The group thought that GEA could demonstrate both vision and leadership in addressing this issue.