Opening Remarks: Charles Friedman, PhD, LHS Department Chair
 As we swing into 2018 with great optimism for another remarkable year, this issue of The Loop marks a series of milestones. First is the opening of the Clinical Simulation Center's new space in Med Sci II, a much needed expansion of a facility that had literally "hit the wall" in its ability to meet explosive demands for its services. The new space is a triumph of design, and I encourage everyone who hasn't seen it to stop by for a look at the present and a glimpse of the future. This issue also reports on the second annual Symposium on Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications in the Learning Health System. By placing ourselves at the forefront of addressing the all-important less technical side of the LHS, we are illustrating how to be the Leaders and Best. In addition, this issue highlights the 20th year (that's 20 years, folks!) of the Medical Education Scholars Program, as well as the first graduates of our new graduate program in Health Infrastructures and Learning Systems. In our profiles section, get acquainted with a key member of our financial services team, Jennifer Hoy. And we welcome a new faculty member to the department. Alexandra Vinson enriches DLHS through her training and experience in sociology and ethnographic methods applied to health and medical education.
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CSC Executive Director James Cooke, MD uses the center's laparoscopic instruments to cut the opening ribbon on January 3rd.
More photos in the CSC Photo Gallery.
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The CSC Med Sci II Is Open for Business
Upon entering 2727 Medical Science Building II visitors may do a double take – is it C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital or the new state-of-the-art Clinical Simulation Center (CSC)? From the hall signage that states “Shhh patients are healing,” to the calming color scheme and the high-fidelity manikins that mimic bodily functions, the recently opened CSC Med Sci II was thoughtfully designed as a real-world learning environment.
Purpose-built in response to the overwhelming demand for training time in the current CSC Towsley, this new 7,500 square foot expansion features the latest in simulation technology. It will serve the growing needs of thousands of instructors, learners and practitioners that routinely use simulation to master or sharpen individual skills, innovate new best practices, or execute team training in wide array of medical scenarios.
To offer flexibility, three Pediatric Rooms can be configured to function as either ICU, ER-Resuscitation, or a Delivery Room. The remaining two are exact replicas of University Hospital Rooms. Attached to each is a mini control center, manned by the CSC’s Sim techs who closely monitor training sessions, answer back if someone asks the “patient” a question or add in medical complications as dictated by the training sequence.
Large classrooms accommodate boot camps or other group activities, while debriefing rooms allow training teams to meaningfully analyze their actions in recorded video of the exercises they just completed. And, like its sister site in Towsley, the CSC Med Sci II also has an iSim space available 24/7 for students to independently complete a variety of computer-based training modules, practice retinal scans, laparoscopic and other procedural skills.
Carol Bradford, MD, Executive Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, highlights that simulation is a vital component of 21st century medical training. “Michigan Medicine is fully committed to providing our faculty, staff and learners with the facilities and tools they need to navigate an ever-changing health care landscape,” said Dr. Bradford. “By expanding our Clinical Simulation Center (CSC), we offer more opportunities for them to learn medicine and acquire the skills necessary to excel in the clinical arena. As they face real scenarios and challenges, they can proceed with high confidence and clear judgment in providing high-quality and safe patient care.”
Excitement around the CSC’s expanding services extended to last fall’s UM versus OSU football game. Before kick-off, attendees at The Regents’ and President’s Tailgate tried out several hands-on simulation stations put together by the CSC team. Current and potential donors were treated to a glimpse into the life-saving value of their gift to the CSC.
As 2018 arrives the CSC Med Sci II is off and running to serve the Michigan Medicine community. James Cooke MD, CSC Executive Director and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Learning Health Sciences and Family Medicine, notes that well before its January 3rd opening, the new location was already fully booked by M4 Boot Camps for February and March.
Going to either CSC location? Its easy with our new Wayfinder tool or Map.
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ELSI-LHS Symposium Explores Systems, Equity and Choice
On November 15, 2017 the second annual Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Learning Health Systems (ELSI-LHS) symposium welcomed experts from academia, government and the non-profit world to focus on the ELSI of data and knowledge sharing.
 The day was split into three sessions with discussion panels and a diverse group of participants coming together around the topics of: Systems, Equity and Choice. “It was truly interdisciplinary in terms of practice settings and content area expertise,” Said organizer and Department of Learning Health Sciences Assistant Professor Jodyn Platt MPH, PhD. “We had folks from clinical care, public health, ethics, data science, law, informatics, sociology, and more!”
A poster session was added this year, taking the interdisciplinary mission of ELSI-LHS beyond panels in order to delve more deeply into a variety of related subjects from user-centered design, to patients navigating multiple health care systems, to the ethical considerations in automated performance feedback for healthcare professionals.
Panelist Elizabeth Pike, JD, LLM, Director of Privacy Policy, Office of the Chief Information Officer in the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services said it was a pleasure to take part. “The Symposium was organized brilliantly from start to finish by Kayte Spector-Bagdady and Jodyn Platt. I benefited tremendously from hearing different perspectives on some of the most important bioethical and data-related problems of our times. It was a treat to learn from so many!”
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Medical Education Scholars Program Seeks Next Cohort
 For faculty seeking a rigorous program to boost their medical education leadership skills, March is the month they can begin applying to the 10-month Medical Education Scholars Program (MESP).
Past graduates describe MESP as a rare opportunity to leverage the learning value of a personal project in one’s own specialty combined with the weekly support of an experienced cohort of medical professionals engaged in a thoughtfully designed curriculum.
Approximately 15 fellows are selected from the medical school faculty to go deep into educational leadership, broaden their teaching toolbox and further their scholarship.
Led by director Patricia Mullan, PhD, scholars are guided by experts through a curriculum that includes: Teaching and Learning, Cognition, Educational Assessment & Evaluation, Academic Leadership, Research Methods.
Approaching its 20th year, applications for the 2018-2019 session of this acclaimed program are due in May with acceptance notifications following soon after in June.
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DLHS Profile: Alexandra Vinson, PhD Joins Division of Professional Education
 Our newest faculty member Alexandra Vinson, PhD, has a question: “What happens when health professionals who are trained within innovative systems take their training to more traditional systems--do they retain their innovative practice patterns in the absence of the innovative structure or do they adapt to their more traditional surroundings?”
Understanding this pressing 21st century healthcare delivery dilemma will be her focus as she settles into the position of Assistant Professor in the Division of Professional Education in the Department of Learning Health Sciences.
Vinson comes to U-M after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern’s School of Education and Social Policy as well as a recent stint teaching sociology at Emory University, the same university where the Atlanta native got her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Linguistics. As an undergrad she wrote a thesis on doctor-patient communication around managing chronic disease then furthered this interest in medical communication by pursing a doctorate in Sociology and Science Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Immersing herself in the work there, she embedded with medical students over the course of their four years of training to examine how the medical profession adapts to broader social change.
Travel, cooking and time with a good book top her leisure list. Joined by her partner, Sarah, and their two cats, Vinson is excited about Ann Arbor life. Armed with an affinity for cold weather, Vinson looks forward to exploring our parks, lakes and local arts scene.
Alexandra H. Vinson, PhD is Assistant Professor of Learning Health Sciences in the Division of Professional Education.
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DLHS Profile: Jennifer Hoy, JD is Right at Home
 Over her 20 years at DLHS, Administrative Specialist Jennifer Hoy has seen a lot of changes but is pleased to report, “the mutual respect, good humor, innovation, and collegial atmosphere here has remained consistent.” And that’s just the kind of working situation the Michigan native and Wayne State University Law School grad was looking for after five years in a demanding law practice.
It was time for some life changes. She married husband Lane, and they decided to grow their family in Ann Arbor, where Hoy had gotten her BA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Back in college the fluent Spanish speaker had spent an adventurous year in Spain at the Universidad de Sevilla. Now she was settling down. First came son Jeremy, then four years later a daughter named Shannon, and along the way cats, Espresso and TomTom, joined the family.
Over the years Hoy and family have developed a strong community here, whether helping out with civic theater at the Thurston Play or being part of the Huron High School Rat Pack Robotics Team. And at First Presbyterian Church Hoy is the one who originated, and still organizes, the community breakfasts for neighborhood groups.
In the office you'll find her working on a range of financial tasks including procurement or grants, but at vacation time look for the Hoy family on the U.S. East Coast, maybe whale watching off Cape Cod or Candlepin bowling.
Jennifer Driscoll Hoy, JD is an Administrative Specialist in the Department of Learning Health Sciences.
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DLHS Mentions
ON THE HORIZON…
Health Professions Education Day, or HPE Day, will be held on April 3rd, 2018. Register for this favorite annual event which celebrates and encourages interprofessional collaboration across U- M health professions schools. This year’s keynote will be delivered by Molly Cooke, M.D. FACP, Director of Education for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco. Abstracts are due by February 9th. See you there! #UMHPEDay
FOR THE RECORD…
October 18 & 19, 2017: Invited guests gathered at the first Mobilizing Computable Biomedical Knowledge meeting hosted by DLHS at the University of Michigan. Scholars and leaders from academia, government and biomedical libraries came together to explore how to create a community focused on making biomedical knowledge FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable. The meeting also included a demonstration of the Knowledge Grid, an emerging computable biomedical knowledge platform in development by DLHS. Contact MCBK-Info@umich.edu to join the MCBK community and receive updates about a conference in the works for the summer of 2018.
 November 14, 2017: Jennifer N. Stojan, MD, MHPE was awarded the Kaiser Permanente Award for Excellence in Pre-Clinical Teaching at the annual Medical School Dean’s Awards. Stojan is a 2015 graduate of the competency based Master of Health Professions Education (MHPE) program.
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December 17, 2017: Michael Roth, MSA, MS and Jeffery Vlasic, MD, MS became the first graduates of the Health Infrastructures & Learning Systems (HILS) program by receiving their Master of Science degrees during Rackham Graduate School’s winter commencement ceremony. The two are already putting their degrees to work, having recently formed a health system consulting firm Vlasic & Roth LLC. Congratulations Jeff and Mike!
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