CENTER FOR LEARNING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Welcome
Welcome to the Center for Learning and Professional Development (CLPD) 2023-2023 fiscal/academic year report. We are a cross-functional continuing professional development division enabled through a comprehensive strategy with shared resourcing and expertise for the development, support and execution of CPD and interprofessional education and practice. We strive for innovation in the application of evidence-based and learner-centric strategies for continuing, interprofessional education, and professional development. The CLPD is comprised of six core teams and is led by a multi-disciplinary group of administrative and clinical leaders, our teams collectively have 75 administrative team members and create, drive and support programs that impact health professionals locally and regionally, residents and fellows, and medical, nursing and allied health learners, encompassing thousands of individuals within and learning about healthcare teams. We are in the midst of a third round of strategic planning since our 2015 inception, and our partnerships with Colby-Sawyer College, the Geisel School of Medicine as well as our internal DH learning partners (Organizational and Employee Development, The Value Institute and Work Force Development) have allowed us to create, design and learn together in order to better lead the world of CPD as individuals, teams and a division. We hope you find inspiration in the successes put forth by our teams and an interest in learning more about what we do every day to support our healthcare professionals in their daily practice.
Our teams
CLPD is comprised of 6 teams: Accredited Continuing Education (ACE), Advanced Practice Providers (APP), Colby-Sawyer College Enhanced Partnership (CSCEP), Graduate Medical Education (GME), Learning Design and Systems (LDaS), and Simulation-Based Education and Research & Interprofessional Continuing Education (SBERI).
Our mission/vision
We use our expertise to co-create inspiring learning experiences for healthcare professionals.
Accomplishments
Accomplishments
Design and Delivery
- To more efficiently manage the annual mandatory learning modules’ life cycles, a “one-stop-shop” dashboard was created for each module. Multiple project partners can access the module content, provide feedback and review learner evaluation data from a single dashboard.
- Learning Experience Designers developed and implemented a learning toolkit – including a digital decision support app – to support the clinical rollout of high-sensitivity troponin in the Emergency Department (ED) and elsewhere. Learning impact was demonstrated in fewer tests being ordered by clinicians.
- A diabetes management toolkit for physicians, APPs and Nurses was designed and contains workflow performance tools such as a calculator and decision support aids.
- Microlearning enrollments are at an all time high with 994 unique learners in FY23.
- A significant number of members of SBERI participated in various research and other scholarly activities resulting in 6 peer reviewed publications, 1 book chapter, and 10 poster or podium presentations.
- Designed and deployed the “I*CARE: Improving Care – Accelerating Recovery & Education” project with psychiatry to support pediatric patients with behavioral health issues boarding in the ED. The project just had their R56 application funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.
- Awarded a gold medal in Learning and Development Best Advance in Competencies and Skill Development from the Brand Hall Group HCM Excellence Awards for the microlearning project to reduce extreme glucose events among the inpatient population at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
- Cheryl Elinsky PA, Director of Continuing Professional Development for APPs spoke at the Vizient APP Clinical Workforcenational conference in March 2023.
- The Dartmouth Visiting Student Program launched and welcomed its first 2 medical students. The collaboration between the Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth Health included members of our Clinical Education, DICE, DEIB and GME groups, providing an avenue to welcome medical students with diverse backgrounds to Geisel and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Number of continuing education activities in FY23
0
Live Activities
0
RSS/NRSS
0
Enduring materials
0
IPCE Activities
Accomplishments
Quality and Continuous Improvement
- Dartmouth Health has received Jointly Accredited Provider (JA) status by the Accreditation Council for Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). This is designed to provide continuing education for the healthcare team and meets the requirements for planning Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) learning activities.
- Under the joint accreditation umbrella, we have the opportunity to offer several additional accreditation types for healthcare professionals. We plan to offer pharmacy credits in late fall of 2023 and pursue credit for social workers in early 2024.
- Members of SBERI and CLPD collaborated to complete a voice of the customer evaluation of current IPCE activities and needs at Dartmouth Health, and reported back to the team working on further supporting IPE and IPCE within the institution.
- SBERI staff collaborated with quality and pavilion project partners to perform simulation-based clinical systems testing prior to opening new heart and vascular units within the new patient spaces.
- Colby-Sawyer broke ground on a new Center for Nursing and Health Sciences, which will be a 20K square foot facility dedicated to health professions education.
- The Graduate Medical Education Committee was re-envisioned and launched with a new structure for AY24 and an aim to streamline decision making, increase participation in subcommittees, and create new sessions which bring the larger GME community together. A GME executive committee consisting of 6 program directors, a resident representative, a quality and safety representative, a program coordinator, and the Designated Institutional Official (DIO) will be the decision-making body of GME at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Broader “all-hands” meetings will help with dissemination of GME information and efforts to a wider range of stake-holders.
- Learning systems analysts built the technical infrastructure to support fellows and program directors in 5 accredited APP fellowship programs. Programs now reside in the MedHub residency management platform.
Accomplishments
Recruitment, retention and workforce development
- The Office of APP hosted the Second Annual APP Conference which was focused on interprofessional Pediatric topics.
- The Office of APP hosted the first APP Awards and Recognitions luncheon. 150 APPs were recognized for their work in education, leadership, research/QI and/or clinical excellence.
- One member of SBERI attained an additional certification in simulation and an additional team member achieved Fellowship with The Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), bringing the department to 5 Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialists, 2 Certified Healthcare Simulation Educators, and 1 Fellow of the Academy of SSH.
- Deb Hastings, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, CNOR(E), former Director of Nursing Professional Development and Joint Accreditation, received an Excellence in Nursing Award – Clinical Nursing Education at the annual Awards Reception Program presented by New Hampshire Magazine in partnership with the New Hampshire Nurses Association.
- The James Varnum scholarship, through a successful grant request submitted by Deb Hastings, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, netted $52,591 which was distributed among 17 recipients who were enrolled in either a practical nursing, associate or baccalaureate degree program.
- Allergy and Immunology Residency Program successfully received initial accreditation following their virtual site visit in February 2023. The program will begin recruiting this fall in preparation for welcoming their first class in July 2024.
Highlighted Promotions, New Team Members, and Retirements
Click and drag or swipe to view our highlighted team members
Tobi Cooney was promoted to Sr. Program Coordinator. She is responsible for coordinating the Neurological Surgery residency as well as the Clinical Neurophysiology and Epilepsy fellowships.
Jesse Brayton was promoted to Senior Simulation Technician. In this role Jesse operates and maintains the medical simulation equipment used throughout the Patient Safety Training Center.
Deb Hastings, PhD, RN, NPD-BC, CNOR(E), former Director of Nursing Professional Development and Joint Accreditation retired after 22 years of service at Dartmouth Health.
Jody Bradford was promoted to Learning Systems Analyst – Senior. In this role Jody helps support CLPD’s systems needs as well as maintaining CLPD websites. Jody has been a part of the Learning Design and System’s team for 11 years.
0
Students enrolled in the CSCEP Nursing and Health Sciences Graduate and Professional Studies Programs
0
%
Resident/Fellow Graduates who entered practice starting their career caring for our Dartmouth Health community
0
%
Resident/Fellow Graduates that reported that they felt prepared and were ready for unsupervised practice
Initiatives
Initiatives
Design and Delivery
- Members of SBERI collaborated with other members of CLPD to develop an outline and begun approaching potential faculty to develop a longitudinal lecture series to provide professional development around curriculum design and development specifically related to interprofessional education.
- In collaboration with LDaS, SBERI is examining the intake process of educational development requests to refine the process for CLPD and simplify the user experience for those requesting activities.
- Design and delivery of staff learning for phases 1 and 2 of the Advancing Health Equity and Data (AHEAD) project focusing on training staff in supporting our patients to self-report race, language, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
- GME undertook a faculty development project to help train GME Program Director and faculty on best practices in providing feedback to clinical learners.
Featured Conferences
Hover over an image to learn more about our featured conferences.
Dartmouth Health Nursing Innovation Hackathon
The Dartmouth Health Nursing Innovation HACK-A-THON held in January of 2023 provided an opportunity for nurses to develop improvements to current challenges they encounter in practice.
Serious Illness Conversation Training
This three-hour interactive, skills-based activity gives interprofessional clinicians the opportunity to improve their communication skills with patients at the end of life.
CREST's 16th Annual Emergency Services & Trauma Symposium
The Center for Rural Emergency Services and Trauma (CREST) provides an annual interprofessional conference that focuses on the healthcare needs of patients who have experienced trauma and are in need of emergent care.
Initiatives
Quality and Continuous Improvement
- SBERI is evaluating how simulation operational staff are allocated to events. This project was initiated in an effort to create a plan for cross training additional staff in simulation operations and to better understand how to most efficiently use our resources.
- In AY23, the USMLE/COMLEX Step 3 licensing examination expense became a fully reimbursable benefit for GME residents/fellows.
- Colin Treem, is in the final stages of a green belt project that will look to enhance ACLS and PALS training for Community Group Practice staff members. Recently completed pilot events proved successful by reducing overall lost time at work to complete their certifications. Additionally, the Ambulatory Surgery Center team located in Manchester, were able to train with their team and in their work environment, which proved to be a positive and engaging experience. Final steps to close out the project will look at operationalizing these improvement measures.
- LDaS launched a project to transition the Continuing Education platform (CloudCME) to administer the newly obtained Joint Accreditation. This includes a new application and a digital financial disclosure process.
- SBERI met with key staff and leadership to develop ongoing plans for the use of simulation-based clinical systems testing as new spaces are renovated and constructed.
- The Grimshaw-Gudewicz Charitable Foundation continues to generously support the CLPD in our efforts to provide continuing education, engage in interprofessional team development, and fund public health initiatives. This funding ensures that we are able to maintain our commitment to positive healthcare outcomes in our rural community setting.
- A new Time Away from Training Policy was developed in partnership with Benefits in response to the new ACGME Institutional Requirements, providing enhanced medical, parental and caregiver leave options
- The SBERI Research Advisory Committee has started outlining a charter for a subcommittee to develop a process to offer research mentoring and advice related to simulation.
- SBERI has formed a task force to examine our internal development and review process in an effort to find a better way to utilize Smartsheets in communicating about, tracking, documenting, and developing simulation trainings.
- Collaborating with Pharmacy, Risk Management and Compliance, GME developed a policy and process related to the provision of institution specific DEA numbers for residents and fellows.
Initiatives
Recruitment, retention, workforce development
- CLPD hosted the first annual “All Hands” meeting for our 75 team members. This activity involved an executive leadership presentation on the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center imperatives as well as an overview of the roles and responsibilities of each individual team and their many accomplishments. Small group brainstorming sessions focused on sharing of thoughts and ideas related to the current and future state of the department. Participants were encouraged to raise questions, share concerns and identify their vision for departmental growth, development and overall strategies for improvement.
- In AY23 GME and the Behavioral Health Clinic for GME Residents and fellows began. In just a year over a year’s time GME Well-Being Psychologist’s clinic is at 90% capacity with availability to see trainees within 24 hours.
- CSCEP is working with the DH WRI (Workforce Readiness Institute) to design the associate in health science degree program that is more attractive to the employees/learners to finish their degree through curriculum revisions.
- A system wide APP onboarding pilot program was initiated in July 2023 will be analyzed and planned for go live in July 2024.
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging Virtual Open Houses
In partnership with the DEIB subcommittee of the GMEC, the GME Office began hosting DEIB Virtual Open Houses to give residency/fellowship applicants an opportunity to see Dartmouth Health and GME’s approach to a diverse, inclusive and supportive learning environment.
Conclusion
CLPD is proud of the work completed this year to expand and improve educational opportunities across our health system. We look forward to 2023 – 2024 and another year supporting the work of our colleagues and learners throughout Dartmouth Health.
For more information please email clpd.support@hitchcock.org or click on an image below to visit our websites:
- Graduate Medical Education (View GME Annual Report)
- Simulation-Based Education and Research & Interprofessional Continuing Education
- Accredited Continuing Education
- Learning Design and Systems
- The Office of Advanced Practice Providers (View APP Annual Report)
- Colby-Sawyer College Enhanced Partnership
Meet our leadership team
Vice President, CLPD
Associate - Designated Institutional Official Title IX Coordinator Dartmouth Health GME Programs
Director of Simulation-Based Education and Research
Director, Learning Design and Systems
Director of Continuing Professional Development and Education for Advanced Practice Providers
Continuing Medical Education Manager
Dean and Professor of Health Sciences, School of Nursing and Health Sciences, CSCEP; Director of Clinical Partnerships
Medical Director, Patient Safety Training Center
Director, Graduate Medical Education Operations
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and DIO Professor of Emergency Medicine, with a CAQ in Sports Medicine
Medical Director for Interprofessional Continuing Education and Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education