AMEE Conference 2019 - PDF Version

An international association for medical education

Austria Centre - Vienna, 24-28 August

I am delighted to have received the ESTRO mobility grant to participate in the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) conference held in Vienna from 24 to 28 August 2019. AMEE is a worldwide organisation that promotes excellence in all levels of education in the healthcare professions. The AMEE conference, which this year attracted 3900 participants from 100 countries, covered a wide range of topical issues in health-care, with the possibility to gain suggestions and insights from acknowledged experts and take part in discussions and interactive sessions. This was a unique opportunity for me to meet professionals from all over the world, in order to compare experiences from different cultures.

The format I most preferred to attend was the workshop with a limited number of participants, as it was more interactive and allowed discussion among participants and organisers. There was a wide selection of workshop subjects, and I took the opportunity to investigate issues both closely related to and outside my field of interest, which is medical physics. Among the workshops I attended, the ones most close to my background concerned the integration of digital technologies into health-care and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical education.

The first was focused on providing insights and offering guidance to, and sharing best practices with, students and educators on ways to integrate digital health (training with technologies, ethical and legal aspects, communication skills, research opportunities) into the curriculum. The second provided an overview of the current state of AI in medical education, and was aimed at increasing the overall understanding of AI in education with group interactive activities.

Another thought-provoking workshop was about speed mentoring. It aimed to provide insights into career challenges and factors. With the help of internationally renowned experts in the field, the workshop helped young educators to identify strengths as well as gaps in their skill sets that were important for career advancement and to generate solutions for professional growth.

The last workshop I would like to mention was about the integration of arts and humanities subjects into medical education. Although I am a physicist, I have always been passionate about art, literature and music, and I believe that these represent a powerful communication tool. This workshop offered intriguing food for thought, and I particularly appreciated the engaging contribution of Professor Pablo González Blasco from Rio de Janeiro, who with practical examples and movie clips showed us how cinema could actively increase the critical spirit of the audience.

Finally, among all the plenary sessions, one has left its mark not only professionally but also personally. One of the key topics of this year's conference was ”the patient as an educator”, a subject close to my heart as my research concerns the analysis of urinary side-effects after radiotherapy for cervical cancer. I am fortunate to have attended the inspiring lecture "A Call to Action: Patients as Partners in Healthcare Professions’ Education and Practice" held by Susan Sheridan, the director of patient engagement at the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (US). Inspired by the severe experiences of her family in the health-care system, she spearheaded efforts to ensure the integration of patient and family perspectives to improve diagnostic accuracy and timeliness while reducing harm caused by diagnostic errors. I advise everyone to read her story, to reinforce the idea that all professionals involved in health-care should have the patient as the sole focus.

I would like to warmly thank ESTRO for this opportunity that enabled me to join the ESTRO School pedagogues. I would be pleased to contribute to the important purpose of improving the education programme and offer of the School.

Sofia Spampinato
Ph.D. student and medical physicist
Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital
Aarhus, Denmark
sofspa@rm.dk