Interview with Kodi Kojima, new and former chairperson of the AOTEC

 

 

 

 

What would you consider the biggest changes during your first term as AOTEC Chairperson?

Under my chairmanship of the AOTEC we defined 4 priorities: faculty development, curriculum development, eLearning and study of the needs analysis. We then moved forward in those four areas. The Global Needs Analysis was a success with more than 4,000 surgeons involved globally, the results gave data to improve our education. Faculty development was structured in 5 levels (Faculty Education Program, Chairperson Training Program, Educational Leadership Program, Coach Training and Regional Education Team Training) achieving worldwide recognition for its quality. The Curriculum Development Education Task Forces using the competency-based curriculum design made progress in a number of areas - Basic Principles Course to Hand and Wrist curricula. In eLearning we have decided to implement distance learning using stand-alone modules, support modules, and blended to courses. Another big achievement was the review and implementation of an updated AOTrauma Fellowship program.

 

 

Faculty education has continuously evolved. In which areas do you foresee further expansion?

In the next two years, the Faculty and Chair Education Programs will be aligned among all clinical divisions. This means that the curricula, the development of new resources, evaluation and assessment processes, etc, will be harmonized. The next step will then be to talk to the educational leaders in the organization and to design programs based on their needs. These are surgeons who are active as educational officers, board members, or otherwise involved in education.

 

 

Would you please explain to us the key milestones for your second term?

a) In faculty development we want to  produce a “Faculty Compendium”. At the moment, we have a broad variety of information, which has been developed since 2006. It is now time to update and consolidate this material and make it available on portable devices.

 

b) In Curriculum Development, we want to finalize the program framework of the existing Education Task Forces, bring them into "maintenance mode" and evaluate outcomes. We also plan to create new Educational Task Forces (ETF), if needed.

 

c) To implement the new AO Fellowship program.

 

d) To finalize and implement the “Assessment and Evaluation Project”. Without evaluation, we cannot demonstrate the success of our educational activities. This will become even more important in the future with new regulatory guidelines.

 

e) To find out what motivates our faculty members. At the moment AOTrauma is conducting a study on "the motivation of surgeons to volunteer in medical education". The goal of this study is to find out what motivates a surgeon to volunteer as AO Faculty, and how one could increase this motivation. The corresponding survey is open for participation until May 25.

 

f) We also aim to expand our eLearning offerings. The more we move away from stand-alone events towards blended courses, the better integrated our online activities will be. With such an approach the online activities of AOTrauma's faculty development programs are a mandatory part of the program and are as such fully embedded in the curriculum.

 

 

 

Continuous Medical Education is undergoing rapid changes worldwide. Where do you see the biggest changes ahead?

Education in AO can be brought forward by using more distance learning. The Flipped Classroom is a relatively recent concept of blended learning. In our case, participants can use the time before the course to to collect information before the face-to-face event. During the course the time is then used to discuss the topics, not to give lectures. Another way to expand is to have comprehensive stand-alone modules for surgeons at CPD- level (Continuing Professional Development).

 

 

Do you think it possible that technological means will replace face-to-face instruction one day?

The Internet will never replace human interaction. The computer will be used to improve education and leverage the learning in the face-to-face event, but a computer will never be able to teach complex surgical skills.

 

 

The Faculty Development Program/process is quite a complex. Do you envision ways to streamline it?

The faculty development process is a representation of the faculty career, progressing from faculty to chairperson to Educational Leader. It is  neither complex nor difficult, but we need to explain and show how simple it really is. For this we are starting a communication project to explain the process to everyone.

 

 

What were the biggest complaints/wishes by faculty regarding courses/program? And how do you plan to tackle them?

We are trying to get close to the faculty to understand their needs and their complaints. The Regional Boards are closer to the reality in the countries and are better positioned to understand and solve those problems. We are giving them as much support as we can.

 

 

How does your own professional experience influence your thinking about CPD?

In my practice I have a very active life in education, with both residents and surgeons at CPD level. This contact with them gives me an understanding of their needs and also the application of educational theories. As knowledge and information change very fast nowadays, it’s mandatory for surgeons to continuously keep developing themselves.

 

 

What is you long-range–even futuristic–vision of CPD and AOTrauma Faculty Education?

Our Faculty Development Program is already of a very high quality. My wish would be to have the entire AO faculty around the world going through it. For CPD, my vision is to develop blended learning where the community surgeon can take some online modules and then have a face-to-face interaction with a faculty member on site at his/her hospital.