Facilitator and Discussant Orientation Learn Serve Lead 2017 Facilitator and Discussant Orientation October 19, 2017

Why do we need Facilitators & Discussants

Needs Statement: To promote and disseminate educational scholarship in an easily digestible manner To respect audience time To put the research presented into perspective within the medical education framework

Facilitator Definition: A medical educator who guides the group members in a meeting to share ideas, opinions and expertise in order to achieve a common goal.

Facilitator’s Goal Statement Gain a new understanding of the research being presented. Session management skills Timekeeping Audience Management Session flow Get Involved with AAMC Promote career advancement New Projects/Networking

Discussant Definition: A medical educator who is a content expert helps discuss the papers presented in the context of current literature and will often cite other related research.

Discussant’s Goal Statement Discuss all of the papers presented within the context of current medical education research. Help to foment a discussion among the presenters and members of the audience. Increase/improve audience understanding of the content. May suggest future avenues of research or an improvement of existing research.

Arc of Scholarship Attendee Attendee Facilitator Discussant Panelist

Cycle of Relationships Discussant Audience Presenter Facilitator Host, direct & manage Engage, instruct & respond Compare, contrast & summarize Listen, learn & question

Comparing the Two Roles: Facilitator Discussant Time Keeper Keeps Session Moving Arbitrates Disputes Always has two to three questions ready Not all sessions have a Discussant Success or ‘Failure’ of session depends mainly on Facilitator Demonstrates a thread between presenters Helps presenter reflect regarding their own research Helps to bring audience ‘up to speed’ on current state of literature

Why Facilitate? Allows audience to focus on content Values everyone’s time Can make a session successful (or not) Allows for introduction to a larger audience-networking/recognition

Why Be a Discussant? Allows one to engage with other faculty interested in same area of interest Allows one to teach Allows for introduction to a larger audience-networking/recognition

Facilitator & Discussant Discover the wisdom of the audience!

“How-to’s” for the Facilitator

Facilitator: Before the Conference Read Abstracts! Read Literature! Contact Speakers

Facilitator: Before the Conference Ask speakers for 2 sentence bio that you can read during session for introduction Prepare at least 2 questions to ask speaker

Facilitator: Day of Session (1) Before Starting the Session: Meet Speakers Practice pronunciation of names Disclosure Reminder Go over timing – how much time speaker has for presentation and questions Remind speaker of the speaker order Signal to give when 5 and 2 min left

Facilitator: Day of Session (2) Before Starting the Session: Check the room… Seating Microphone Wall clocks Slide remote Speakers should have already uploaded their slides. If not, they will need to do so in the Speaker Ready Room

Facilitator: Day of Session (3) During the Session: Introduce yourself – 2 sentence bio about yourself Review timing with audience—i.e. set ground rules Introduce speaker Keep to strict time! Read the brief bio Speak into microphone!

Facilitator: Day of Session (4) During the Session: Remain 100% focused on presentation! After speaker is done go straight to stage to take over Why? To control flow of questions and to keep on time! At end of time, thank speaker and move to next presenter

Facilitator: Day of the Session (5) Deal with the unexpected: Always keep everyone on track! Cut off arguments between speaker and audience (however this rarely happens) Agree to disagree Invite them to continue their discussion after the session Always be prepared to ask a question if there are none from the audience

Facilitator: Day of Session (6) NEVER embarrass the speaker! You want the speaker to succeed The session is not about how funny or smart you are! Make everyone feel comfortable and valued Be prepared to restate question if acoustics are poor in the room May need to reinforce ground rules in between speaker presentations

Facilitator: Day of Session (7) End of session: Thank all speakers and thank audience for coming and participation Make a comment that reflects the theme of the talks and encourage audience to keep conversation going Remind audience of any special conference sessions for that day including plenary sessions or town hall No more than 2 minutes max for the closing …people want to leave!!

Facilitator: After the Session Reflect on your performance: Did you engage the audience? Did you end on time? Did you adequately present the speaker? If you asked questions, were they sophisticated enough? How did you feel? Was it valuable learning session? How can you improve your skills?

“How-to’s” for the Discussant

Discussant: Before the Conference Read the abstracts! Review related literature! You may want to contact speakers regarding their research to gain further insight Prepare at least 2 questions to ask each speaker

Discussant: Day of Session (1) Before the Session: Meet Speakers Practice pronunciation of names Clarify their research if not done already

Discussant: Day of Session (2) During the Session: Stay on Time! Describe how the papers fit into context of recent literature Evaluate (in a nice way) if the paper meets its stated objectives

Discussant: Day of Session (3) During the Session: Describe any unique aspects to paper Make suggestions about improving paper Focus on big picture Connect the dots for audience! Be constructive

Discussant: Day of Session (4) During the Session: Stay 100% focused on the presenters Be prepared to adjust any or all of your remarks based on what the speaker actually presents Thank the speakers

Discussant: Day of Session(5) During the Session: NEVER embarrass any of the speakers! You want the speaker to succeed The session is not about how funny or smart you are!

Discussant: After the Session (6) Reflect on how you did: Did you engage the audience? Did you end on time? Was your discussion comprehensive? Did you tie everything together for the audience? How did you feel? Was it valuable learning session?

Thank you! Any questions?