Dr. Warren Wiechmann on Directing UCI’s MDEdTech Fellowship

By Kathryn Uchida, UCI School of Medicine

The Multimedia Design Education Technology (MDEdTech) Fellowship is a one-year fellowship designed to educate physicians on current technologies and innovative approaches in education. Dr. Warren Wiechmann, director of the MDEdTech Fellowship, along with co-director Dr. Megan Osborn, created the novel program in 2014 with the goal of preparing fellows for leadership positions in medical education, simulation, residency, or elsewhere. In the past, the field of emergency medicine has focused primarily on traditional aspects such as research and assessment, resulting in curricula that are more theoretical than practical. Dr. Wiechmann’s development of a curriculum that incorporates novel and innovative developments in technology better prepares physicians to succeed and teach in a world more reliant upon new tools such as handheld ultrasounds, social media, and artificial intelligence.

One perk of the MDEdTech Fellowship is the use of new and exciting gadgets while learning how and whether to incorporate their use into educational settings. UCISOM was one of the first medical schools to use Google Glass, and while its curricular integration wasn’t totally successful, its failure was a learning opportunity that served as a reminder that not every new technology is meant to be used in teaching. On the other hand, one very successful implementation that all UCISOM medical students now use is the handheld Butterfly ultrasound, whose cloud service, individuality, and ability for telemedicine have made it a good long-term tool for use during and post-pandemic. The addition of new technologies on the horizon such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence and their incorporation into coursework may be the future of the MDEdTech Fellowship and the field of medical education.

While the MDEdTech Fellowship initially focused primarily on new technology at the time (i.e. podcasts and green screens), an additional focus was more recently implemented on educational tools such as gamification, escape hunts, and other innovative approaches. Additionally, the fellowship aims to focus on the development of asynchronous content for future curricula incorporation. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced a global shutdown, many areas of medical education were forced to turn to asynchronous and online learning, a change that was rapidly and well-managed by medical education faculty. However, Dr. Wiechmann believes these systems can be improved upon and expanded through the incorporation of sustainable and longer-term changes. Online tools such as gamification provide students with opportunities for engaged learning while still allowing for virtual asynchronicity.

Social media and its potential use as a powerful tool for medical education is another topic addressed in the fellowship. Social media has the power to “make or break” the field of medicine, providing routes for easily accessible advocacy and easily transferable teaching tools that can be rapidly disseminated. However, this also means that false information can quickly spread without the guidance and control of established sources. The MDEdTech fellowship aims to equip physicians with tools to ensure they aren’t left out of healthcare educational conversations that are already occurring.

The best part of the MDEdTech Fellowship, according to Dr. Wiechmann, is the fellows. MDEdTech fellows use their learned understanding of different technology media to better identify how learners, whether they be medical students, residents, or patients, consume information. Many graduates of the MDEdTech Fellowship have brought new skills and techniques to develop curricula at different schools, while several of them are exceptional faculty members at UCI. The incredible accomplishments of MDEdTech Fellowship graduates serve as a testament to the success of the program and faculty.