Newsletter – September 2015

Table of Contents
Upcoming Events
Happy Hour Notes
What We Do: Instructional Design

 

Upcoming Events

Book Club

The Book Club will be meeting in St. Paul Monday, September 28, at 6 p.m. to discuss Health Care Research Done Right: A Journal Editor Shares Practical Tips and Techniques for High Quality and Efficiency by Kathleen A. Fairman. See the Book Club page for details. You are welcome to join the group even if you haven’t read the book. Please RSVP to Mary Knatterud by Monday afternoon if you plan to attend.

Save the Date

Nissa Mollema, PhD, will present “Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks” on November 14th. Location to be determined. Look for details to come!

North Central Chapter at the Annual Conference

Chapter Dine Around
Will you be at the annual conference in San Antonio? If so, please join us for our North Central Chapter Dine Around on Thursday evening (9/30).  We will meet in the Grand Hyatt hotel lobby at 6 pm on Thursday, October 1.  From there we will walk to the Rio Plaza restaurant, 0.4 miles from the hotel.  Please RSVP to Karen Bannick by Friday, September 25, via email at president-elect@amwanorthcentral.org or  320-630-5171. You can also contact Karen if you have questions.

Support your Chapter members at the conference

Several of our members will be presenting this year.  Some of them include:

  • Karen Bannick and Felicia Cochran will present on Saturday afternoon from 2:00-3:30. Their presentation, A Primer on the Medical Device Industry for Current and Aspiring Medical Device Writers, is Session OS-35.
  • Felicia Cochran will present Friday afternoon from 2:00-5:00.  Her workshop, Writing Clinical Evaluation Reports for Medical Devices (RR) #4022, is Session WS-39.
  • June Oshiro will present Thursday from 4:00-5:00.  Her presentation, The Art of the Editor’s Query: Effective Strategies for Seeking Clarity [Editing], is OS-13.
  • Mary Sebas will lead a roundtable and present a poster.  Look for T-01 Rational Prescribing of Antibiotics during Influenza Season at the Thursday morning roundtables, and a poster during Thursday’s lunch, Rational Prescribing of Antibiotics during Influenza Season.
  • Anne Marie Weber-Main will present Friday afternoon from 2:00-5:00.  Her workshop is WS-28 Basic Grammar II and Usage (ES/G) #2001.

 

Happy Hour NotesAug 2015 happy hour cropped

The August chapter happy hour was held at Grumpy’s in Roseville. Stay tuned for future happy hours–we aim to hold them every quarter at various places around the Twin Cities. Have a venue to recommend? Let us know! Email membership@amwanorthcentral.org.

 

What We Do: Instructional Design

by Jean Cook, ELS

Modern instructional design emerged in the 1940s, when the military sought new ways of training to bring more realism to the learning experience. From military use, instructional design expanded into business, higher education, health care, and other areas. Along the way, training delivery moved from photographic slideshows, training films, and simulator equipment to include onscreen, online, and mobile device delivery.

Instructional design differs from classic textbook and lecture approach in its goal-oriented nature. Not for gaining general, broad knowledge, this method teaches adult workers new tasks quickly, in conditions similar to the work site, and with feedback or testing to ensure mastery of the new skills. Many models exist to accomplish this. The ADDIE model—Assess (or Analyze), Design, Develop, Implement, Evaluate—is among the most common, although Successive Approximation Model (SAM) and rapid prototyping are gaining popularity.

Following the Model

Instructional designers are employed in many health care companies’ medical education or field education departments, as well as in specialty agencies, and as freelancers. Jenny Michlitsch of Michlitsch Communications (current chair of the North Central Chapter membership committee) and Karen Steinhilber, MLS, CPLP (former president of the North Central Chapter) are among AMWA Central chapter members who do instructional design as part of their medical writing work.

The performance objective—What does the learner need to learn to do?—drives a project, Michlitsch says. With the objective in hand, the instructional designer works with subject matter experts to define exactly what skills and knowledge to convey. The designer creates a curriculum to meet that goal, and when the client approves the curriculum, then content and an evaluation method are developed. SAM and rapid prototyping vary from that by quickly presenting training to trainees, using their feedback to progressively fine-tune its design.

Content is developed in modules, so learners master one step before moving to another. It’s presented in chunks, sequences, or layers, to build from one skill to the next. In this way, busy professionals can study one module at a time when their schedule permits. Most often, though, Steinhilber says training combines in print, in person, and online aspects.

Knowing a “Day in the Life”

Michlitsch says working knowledge of the medical specialty for which you are designing training is important, especially understanding a typical “day in the life” of your learners. Knowing that, she explains, “ensures you design learning activities and interactions that are relevant and realistic for the audience.”

Specific examples include training for

  • health care professionals on how to use a medical device—including appropriately and accurately identifying patients who may benefit from the therapy according to FDA or industry guidelines.
  • doctors and technicians on how to use, program, implant, or explant a device, read reports from the device, or use device software.
  • sales reps on understanding a disease state, anatomy and physiology, device technology, implant or surgical procedures, roles and responsibilities of a care team, or how to evaluate a clinical research paper.
  • patients on how to complete follow-up self-care or other skills.
  • nurses, emergency medical personnel, and others in continuing medical education courses.
  • new hires so they quickly become independently functional.

Engaging Learners—Quickly!

“A lot of myths exist about what good education looks like,” Steinhilber says. “People will ask for specific types of solutions before they consider what outcomes they really desire,” which can prove a challenge.

Another challenge, Michlitsch says, is “designing curriculum that is actually engaging and interesting for the audience. By their nature, sales reps and physicians have fast-paced jobs and also tend to be very fast learners, so they need relevance and engagement even more so than the average adult learner.”

Michlitsch has a bachelor’s degree in scientific/technical communications, studied anatomy and physiology and medical terminology, and took graduate-level courses in adult learning and instructional design. Steinhilber holds a master’s degree focusing on healthcare education and is a certified professional in learning and performance (CPLP) by the American Society for Training and Development.

Both Steinhilber and Michlitsch enjoy that instructional design writing means they are always learning something new.

AMWA Resources

The AMWA Composition and Publication (CP) specialty certificate includes these workshops: Medical Writing for Instructionally Sound Engaging e-Learning, and Writing and Designing Materials for Patient Education.

Other Resources

A search online for “instructional design,” “ADDIE approach,” Successive Approximation Model (SAM),” “rapid prototyping,” “online learning,” or e-learning” reveals the many available slideshows, courses, books, workshops, and other information.