Winter 2023 (Volume 33, Number 4)
CRA Education Committee Update
By Beth Hazel, OLY, MDCM, FRCPC, MM
Download PDF
Photo (left): The CRA Education Committee at their meeting at the 2023 ASM in Québec City.
Photo (right): Dr. Elizabeth Hazel (current Chair of the Education Committee) and
Dr. Raheem Kherani (Past-Chair).
In taking over as the Chair of the CRA Education Committee,
I reviewed the impressive record of my predecessor,
Dr. Raheem Kherani. It is not an overstatement
to say that he, along with the steadfast dedication of many
committee members, transformed this committee.
At the start of his tenure, the Education Committee
was a group of passionate educators who were involved
in various projects across Canada. Raheem built on the
excellent work of Chris Penney and, with the dedication
of many committee members, was able to further organize
this group and structure subcommittees to take on
specific tasks. Under his leadership, the committee went
from meeting annually to quarterly, and the results speak
for themselves. The Undergraduate Subcommittee took
on the project of developing a national rheumatology
curriculum. The Postgraduate Subcommittee developed
an impressive slate of resources and events to support
rheumatology residents and program directors across
the country; the Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) Subcommittee addressed accreditation and maintenance
of certification (MOC) projects; and Raheem refined
the role of the CanREAL group of medical educators
to serve as scholarly resources.
Over the past year, this well-oiled machine has continued
to turn out exciting new projects. The Postgraduate
Subcommittee, under the leadership of Drs. Dharini
Mahendira and Marie Clements-Baker, is advancing a national
rheumatology immunology curriculum. Dr. Greg
Choy is working with the CPD Subcommittee to facilitate
MOC requirements for our CRA membership. The Undergraduate
Subcommittee is exploring developing a resource
hub to support undergraduate, internal medicine,
pediatrics and early postgraduate learners.
One of the Education Committee’s long-term projects
is to restructure the committee to oversee all educational
priorities of our members and optimize educational
content delivery across different committees. To this end,
we will be changing the timing of the annual needs assessment
to early each calendar year, so that we can help
facilitate the development of pertinent educational activities
throughout the year. We have begun our restructuring
efforts by increasing collaboration between all groups
involved in resident educational activities, including the
Residents’ Pre-Course, the National Written Rheumatology
In Training Exam (NWRITE), the National Rheumatology
virtual OSCE, and the spring and fall resident
education events offered by the National Rheumatology
Residents' Curriculum (NRRC) Program Committee.
I am excited to work with Claire McGowan, Deborah
Kim, and our tireless group of rheumatology educators
to continue to build on the work that this committee has
achieved.
Elizabeth M. Hazel, OLY, MDCM, FRCPC, MM
Division Director, Rheumatology,
McGill University Health Centre
Assistant Dean, PGME, CBME
Associate Professor of Medicine,
Division of Rheumatology, McGill University
Montreal, Quebec
|
