The conference will then highlight three critical approaches for success:

• Achieving Curricular Change and Educational Reform—Ask why curriculum change and educational reform is hard to achieve and one typically hears "there wasn't enough real buy-in;" "the incentives weren't right;" "leadership didn't really mean it;" "we were insufficiently prepared." Often, upon deeper examination, these answers do not explain fully what is going on. Affecting change requires recognizing the hidden dynamics that make change difficult and understanding how we can overcome them.

  Led by Robert Kegan, PhD, The William and Miriam Meehan Professor in Adult Learning and Professional Development Educational Chair, Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Kegan is also a distinguished faculty member of the Harvard Macy Institute, created to promote innovative change in medical education.

  Take-aways from this interactive session include:

  • Recognizing and deciphering the barriers to curriculum change
  • Recognizing the nature of psychological roadblocks in others and yourself
  • Bridging the gap between plan and action
  
  
• Addressing the ACGME Competencies: Opportunities to Conduct Scholarship in Medical Education—Everyone involved in implementing the ACGME general competencies is, by definition, a trailblazer in residency training. Publishing remains the most widely accepted means for communicating new knowledge with peers - and for earning recognition for the hard work involved in attaining that knowledge. To succeed, one needs to appreciate the opportunities that the ACGME competency requirements offer for conducting scholarship in medical education and understand the principles that will successfully guide that scholarship.

  Led by Michael E. Whitcomb, MD, Senior Vice President, Division of Medical Education, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Editor-in-Chief of Academic Medicine.

  Take-aways from this session include:

  • Principles to guide the conduct of scholarship in medical education
  • Factors that lead to success in publishing medical education scholarship
  • Opportunities that the ACGME project offers for the conduct of scholarship in medical education

• Honing Negotiation Skills—Identifying and resolving conflict are key elements of successful change management. Sometimes the sources of conflict are obvious, but frequently they are not. Conflict management and negotiation skills can be learned. Effective negotiation ability is one of the most important skills in the practitioner's toolkit.

  Led by Leonard Marcus, PhD, Lecturer on Public Health Practice, Department of Health Policy and Management, at Harvard School of Public Health, and founding Director of the Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Marcus is recognized nationally and internationally as a pioneer and leading voice in the evolving field of negotiation and conflict resolution as it pertains to a wide range of issues and practical applications in health care. He has worked throughout North America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

  Take-aways from this interactive session include:

  • A step-by-step process to identify sources of conflict and generate agreement on curricular priorities and action items
  • A method to create buy-in and support for curriculum change and implementation
  • A model of multi-dimensional problem solving to enhance organizational learning and performance