Innovations in Healthcare Education Research Conference

The Department of Academic Affairs hosted the 12th annual Innovations in Healthcare Education Research (IHER) Conference Sept. 16-18. The conference, which took place in a hybrid format, brought together participants from 31 states and six countries, and featured faculty, staff and students who are passionate about discovering new approaches to assessing learning, faculty development, curricular design and teaching delivery methods that enhance the student learning experience and prepare students for a career in healthcare.

The IHER Conference has grown over time, with 456 registrants in 2025. This was the fourth year with an international presence, as the conference welcomed colleagues from the Bahamas, Grenada, Norway, Puerto Rico, Sweden and United Kingdom.

The topics explored in this year’s plenary sessions varied, and included presentations focused on Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, and how to effectively lead medical education teams through crisis.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Veronica Catanese, MD, MBA
LCME Accreditation: One Eye on the Horizon and the Other Close to Home

Amrit Kirpalani, MD
Teaching in the AI Era: Trust, Threat, and Transformation

Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA
Leading Medical Education Teams Through Crisis

AWARD WINNERS

Rhett Reichard, PhD
Bridging the Gap: Advancing Medical Student Research and Scholarship with MERAS (Medical Education Research and Scholarship Program)

Haelynn Gim, BA
Generating Interactive Case Reports from Published Literature with a Large Language Model

Laura Whitney, BS
A Novel Abbe-Vermilion Switch Flap for Near-Total Upper Lip Reconstruction

Robert V. Hill, PhD
Bookending the Learner’s Experience with the Donor Body: Pre- and Post-encounter Reflections

Rushabh Shah, BS
Assessing Online PRP Injection Information: Can ChatGPT Serve as a Reliable Evaluator?

View the 2025 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Anai Kothari, MD, MS
From OSCEs to ASCIs: Using AI to Simulate Clinical Interactions

Marc M. Triola, MD
Bytes to Bedside: Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Medicine

Hedy S. Wald, PhD
Professional Identity (Trans)formation; Reflection, Relationships, Resilience, Flourishing in Health Professions Education and Practice

AWARD WINNERS

Galina Gheihman, MD
Mastering the Art of Simulation Education: An Interactive Workshop on Simulation Design, Debriefing, and Scholarship for Health Professions Educators
Navigating Uncertainty in Clinical Practice: A Structured Approach using the RAPS (Recognize, Acknowledge, Partner, and Seek Support) Framework
Using Neurology Trainees as Standardized Patients in a Neurological Emergencies Simulation Curriculum for Medical Students: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Candice Stegink, MA
Surgical Innovation Discovery Course: Utilizing Surgical Trainee Agile Innovation and Empowerment (STAIR) Framework to Promote Innovation Amongst Surgical Residents

Feifei Han, PhD
Benefits and Challenges of Online and Blended Learning Perceived by Students in a Healthcare Degree

Colby Jackson Hunt, BS
Skin Savvy: Student-Led Community-Service Learning and Public Education on Skin Cancer in Freeport, Bahamas

Simran Shamith, BS
ChatGPT Validation of an Anti-Racism in Medical Education Questionnaire

View the 2024 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Calvin Chou, MD, PhD
Using Good Judgment While Remaining Nonjudgmental: Threading the Needle in Remediation in Medical Education

Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, FAMIA, FASA
AI, Innovation and What Really Matters in the New Era of Digital Health

Christine Everett, PhD, MPH, PA-C
Physician Associate Education: Old-Fashioned Innovation

AWARD WINNERS

Lana Minshew, PhD, MEd
IHER Innovator of the Year Award

Akua Asare, MBBS
TikTok, Does it Have a Reliable Role in High Quality Nano-Learning Within Medical Education?

Owen Bowie, BS
Evaluation of a Health Equity Curriculum to Improve Cultural Competence with Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders (AANHPI)

Emily Lambert, BS
Development and Trial of a Low-Cost, Simulation-Based Abortion Skills Training

Manvita Mareboina, BS
Promoting Health Literacy and Preventive Care: A Monthly Curriculum and Mobile Clinic Initiative

Riya Shah, BS
Closing the Loop: Implementing an Annual Survey to Gauge Student Feedback

View the 2023 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Martin Pusic, MD, PhD
Fostering Adaptive Expertise All Along the Education Continuum: The Master Adaptive Learner

Cathleen Pettepher, PhD
Integrating Foundational Sciences Throughout the Curriculum

Gurpreet Dhaliwal, MD
Thinking as a Basic Science in Health Professions Education

View the 2022 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Sondra Zabar, MD
Supporting a Learning Healthcare System – Using Simulation to Continuously Improve Telemedicine and Healthcare Quality

Louis N. Pangaro, MD, MACP
Planning for the Future – What’s Essential and What’s Desirable?

AWARD WINNERS

Erin Gruber
Self-reported Levels of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress During the First 6 Months of Medical School – A Case Study at the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Regional Campuses

Meghan Peterson, BS
Seeking Peer Outreach: An Integrated, Tiered Approach to Address Stigma and Isolation in Medical Education

Marissa Cepress, BS
Human Trafficking in Wisconsin: The Physician’s Role in Ending Modern Day Slavery

Katherine Lumetta, MEd, BS
Identifying Barriers to Practicing a Growth Mindset in Medical Education

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Verna E. Monson, PhD
Understanding Medical Professional Identity Formation and Professionalism Remediation

IGNITE SESSION VIDEOS

• Himanshu Agrawal, MD, DF-APA: A Day in Bed – A Novel Idea in Medical Education
• Sonal Chandratre, MD: Surviving The Attacks On My Professional Identity – An Inspirational Autobiography
• Rachel Kavanaugh, PharmD: Taking a Hands-On Approach: Developing a Longitudinal Physical Assessment Curriculum for Pharmacy Students
• Jutta Novalija, MD, PhD, CHSE: Escaping the Operating Room – A Team Building Exercise
• Wendy L. Peltier, MD: Can We Define Caring for Medical Education?
• Robert Trevino, MD, PhD: I was, I am, I will be: Evolving Professional Identity Formation through Training

View the 2020 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

The 6th Annual MCW Innovations Conference was attended by more than 150 educators and students. The conference included opportunities for attendees to view more than 30 poster presentations, 15 podium presentations, workshops and faculty development sessions.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Elizabeth Baker, MD, MHPE
Reimagining the Curriculum: Educational philosophy, 'flipping the classroom' and innovative transformation

AWARD WINNERS

The #MCW Common Read: Finding Common Language and Shared Experience
Olivia M.T. Davies, BS; Sehr Khan, BS; Gerilyn M. Olsen, BA; Sarah Bennett, BA, MS; David Cipriano, PhD, MS; Arthur R. Derse, JD, MD; Kathlyn Fletcher, MA, MD; Joe Hodapp, BA; Scott Lamm, BS; Sophia Lindekugel, BA; Ashley Ng, BS; Zoe Retzlaff, BS; Elizabeth Suelzer, MLIS, AHIP; Kimberly Tyler, BS, MS; Catherine Ferguson, MD; Wendy Peltier, MD; and Martin Muntz, MD

Faculty Expectations of Entering Medical Students Skills and Values
Jane Machi, MD; Joseph Budovec, MD; Greg Kaupla, MCE; and William J. Hueston, MD

Clinical Exposure and Cultural Competency Training in the Preclinical Years: a Pilot Program involving Veteran Patients
John Wagner, BA, MA; Mara Peterson, BS; Maggie Murphy, MT-BC; Ramadevi Parachuri, MD

Improving Residents as Educators in Clinical Settings
Jacqueline M. Powell, BS; Bipin Thapa, MD; Megan M. Haak, MA; Greg Kaupla; Kristina Kaljo, PhD; Heather Toth, MD; Paul Lemen, MD; Kenneth Simons, MD; Robert Treat, PhD; Robert Trevino, MD, PhD; Laura Walker; Caitlin Pilon; and Marie Padilla

View the 2019 IHER Conference Program (PDF)

The 5th Annual MCW Innovations Conference was attended by more than 150 educators and students. The conference included opportunities for attendees to view more than 30 poster presentations, 15 podium presentations, workshops and faculty development sessions.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

John S. Andrews, MD
Competency-based Education: Lessons Learned from EPAC

AWARD WINNERS

Rising M-1 Medical Student Anxiety: Six Years Later with a New Curriculum and Generation of Students
Robert Treat, PhD; Diane Brown, MS; Koenraad De Roo; William J. Hueston, MD; Amy Prunuske, PhD; Kristina Kaljo, PhD; Jennifer Janowitz, MS; Dawn Bragg, PhD

Capacity Coaching for Patients who are not Difficult, but have Difficult Lives
Kathryn Havens, MD; Dr. Laura Miller; Kristyn Ertl; Kasey Boehmer, PhD; Hilary Ryan, MSW

Medical Student's "Final Answer": Game Show Teaching Sessions Well Rated Even After NBME Examination
Sara Lauck, MD, MCW Department of Pediatrics; Erica Chou, MD, MCW

Increasing Pharmacy Students' Knowledge of Medical Interpretation: Early Collaboration with Medical Interpreter Students
Sue Korek, MAED, MCW School of Pharmacy; Karen MacKinnon, BPharm, RPh, MCW School of Pharmacy; Rodney Ramos, Sr., BS, Milwaukee Area Technical College

The 4th Annual MCW Innovations Conference was attended by more than 130 educators and students from MCW and schools and universities from Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. The conference included opportunities for attendees to view more than 30 poster presentations, 17 podium presentations, workshops and faculty development sessions.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd
Mental Health Across the Educational Continuum: Challenges and Opportunities

AWARD WINNERS

Evaluation of an Interdisciplinary Program Designed to Promote the Self Efficacy of Medical Students Underrepresented in Medicine
Amy Prunuske, PhD; Anna Wirta Kosobuski; Abigail Whitney, BS; Andrew Skildum, PhD

Using Likelihood Rations to Improve the Quality of Resident Medical Education
Justin Adams, MD

No Difference Between Third-Year Medical Student and Intern Presenter Empowerment Action Scores During Pediatric Patient and Family Family-Centered Rounds
Sara Lauck, MD; Sarah Vepraskas, MD; Jennifer Hadjiev, MD; Anjali Sharman, MD; Heather Toth, MD, Dawn Bragg, PhD; Michael Weisgerber, MD, MS

SURFBoards Program: An Innovative Mixed Methods Comprehensive Pediatric Resident Boards Review Curriculum
Amanda Rogers, MD; Michael Weisgerber, MD; Jennifer Di Rocco, DO; Sara Lauck, MD

Using LibGuides to Promote Self-Directed Learning
Elizabeth Suelzer, MLIS; Barabara Ruggeri, MLIS; Rita Sieracki, MLS

View the 2017 IHER Conference Program (PDF)