Inside UCR: School of Medicine Hosts Annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Research

School of Medicine Hosts Annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Research

More than 300 people attended event where medical students showcased research from the Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE)

By Angela Walline on September 1, 2017

Diane F. Halpern, Ph.D., the dean emerita of social sciences at Minerva Schools at the Keck Graduate Institute and professor of psychology, emerita at Claremont McKenna College, gives the keynote address at the conference. Photo by Carrie Rosema

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) – The School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside held its second annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Research on Aug. 26 at the UCR Palm Desert Center. The event drew more than 300 attendees where medical students showcased research from the Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE), an innovative curricular feature of the medical program that pairs students with primary care physician mentors.

As part of LACE, medical students complete practice improvement projects where they identify and research potential practice enhancements that may improve patient outcomes at their LACE facility. During the conference, students gave presentations or participated in poster sessions on their projects.

“The second annual Conference on Teaching, Learning, and Research was a great success. I was so proud to see our medical students’ hard work on display. Our students did a great job presenting their work at every level and the conference planning team gave them a wonderful venue,” said Dr. Maegen Dupper, co-director of LACE and assistant professor of family medicine. “Looking forward to next year, I am hopeful for continued growth including a chance to expand partnerships with our residency programs, faculty participation, and our community partners.”

An innovative feature of this year’s conference included several faculty development sessions on issues related to teaching and learning, organized by Rosemary Tyrrell, Ph.D., director of faculty development. Additionally, the conference expanded this year to host student presentations from the California Baptist University Physician Assistant Studies program as well as undergraduate students from the UCR School of Medicine Future Physician Leaders program who gave presentations on their community health education service projects.