By Dr Pamela J. Ferrada, Director of Partnerships, Harvard Alumni for Education
The Harvard Alumni community has always been a wonderful source of camaraderie and collaboration for me. Since joining my local Harvard Clubs in Australia and the Harvard Alumni for Education (HAEd) Special Interest Group (SIG), I've been incredibly fortunate to meet outstanding professionals from different disciplines and locations around the world.
Recently, I had the opportunity to represent the Medical Indemnity Protection Society (MIPS) and the Harvard Alumni for Education at the 28th Australia and New Zealand Prevocational Medical Forum in Darwin, Australia, where I shared innovative approaches in medical training. To polish my presentations, I reached out to fellow alumni from the Harvard Medical School for their peer-review. Embracing the spirit of our global community, four colleagues kindly offered their support.
Dr David Ampong DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC from Anchorage, Alaska, USA generously provided valuable feedback to strengthen the narrative of my delivery.
Dr Ashish Chaudhry MRCGP, MRCP(UK), PG Dip, FHEA, Cert’22 (Harvard) from Manchester, UK helpfully shared surveys and connected me with fellow medical educators involved in death certification to better understand the educational needs of British family physicians.
At the same time, Dr Camila Marques, PhD from Curitiba, Brazil, went above and beyond by creating this fantastic video to share her experience with case-based collaborative learning (CBCL) approaches in physiology teaching.
The collaborative spirit extended even further. Dr Manasi Murthy Mittinty MD, PhD (Twitter, Facebook) from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, shared her experience with the Flipped Classroom model and offered candid advice to colleagues about incorporating it into their teaching.
My presentations were well received. Dr Patrick Fergal McSharry FRACGP, from Sligo Ireland – Family Doctor and graduate of the U.T.C. Executive MBA Program - commented on “Learning how to Learn in Medicine – Teaching and Learning in Prevocational Training”. He felt that this presentation really brought home to him the need for the international sharing of best practices in medical education, not only at the pre vocational level but at vocational (Post Graduate) and indeed higher levels of training in Family Medicine/General Practice.
Dr McSharry also shared his thoughts on the presentation titled “An innovative death certification program for prevocational trainees grounded on adult learning principles “ He reiterated his feeling that “while it was important for pre vocational trainees to learn how to complete a death certificate, it would be even more important in these days of coronial inquests in primary care that family physicians in the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) or the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) training programs, have access to courses such as this”.
I’m truly grateful for the support of the Harvard Alumni community and my team at MIPS. My colleagues’ willingness to go the extra mile is a testament of the Harvard Alumni community’s strength. It's more than just a collection of names and profiles; it's a vibrant community of individuals willing to support, share and celebrate each other.
David, Camila, Ashish and Manasi; Thank You. You exemplify the values of service and leadership within the Harvard Alumni Network. This experience shows that by working together we can significantly increase the positive impact of our network on communities worldwide.
