September 21, 2009: Notes from the Editor: Divergent Reviews [Top of Page]

Many authors that are new to scholarly publishing are surprised when they receive a critical decision letter from the editor that contains positive comments from one of the reviewers. The reality of the peer review process is that the reviews for any given resource are often divergent. One review may be very positive while the other review may be neutral or negative in tone. After all, each reviewer comes to the resource with different expertise, perspective, biases, and experience; hence, it is not surprising that reviews may vary in tone and recommendation. In addition, because we ask that all reviewers comment on both the strengths and weaknesses of a submission, most reviews will have at least one or two favorable comments. The Editor and Associate Editors must carefully scrutinize both the submission and the reviewer's publication rationale before a decision letter is created. Because MedEdPORTAL has no page length constraints we are free to base our publication decisions solely on the scholarly merit of the submission. If authors have questions they are encouraged to contact the Editor.

To read past notes, pleace click here: Notes from the Editor.

Septemberb 21, 2009: Annual Meeting 2009: Final Agenda [Top of Page]

It's that time again and The Association of American Medical Colleges is preparing to host its annual meeting this upcoming, November 6-11 in Boston, MA at the Hynes Convention Center, Marriott Copley Place, and Sheraton Boston. MedEdPORTAL will conduct sessions throughout the annual meeting, which will include speakers such as, MedEdPORTAl's very own Editor, Dr. Christopher Candler. Dr. Candler will conduct a session with other notable speakers on Peer Review and Scholarly Refinement, which will be held on November 7, 2009 from 8:00 am - 9:30 am in the Hynes Convention Center - Room 310.

For more information regarding these sessions, please visit: MedEdPORTAL Final Agenda.

For annual meeting and registration information, please visit: AAMC Annual Meeting.

September 21, 2009: MedEdPORTAL Opens Repository to Search Engines  [Top of Page]

On September 18, 2009, MedEdPORTAL opened access to its new and innovative repository and content management system to World Wide Web search engines. This admission dramatically increases the visibility of the Web site and corresponding content to a global audience on an infinite scale. As users search specific topics or keywords on powerful engines, such as Google and Yahoo, special software robots are deployed known as spiders. Web-crawling is the process in which these spiders explore millions of Web pages in order to construct lists of words. Popular sites get crawled first as spiders index all the words appearing on the pages and then following every hyperlink within that content. Within these parameters, spiders travel the most widely used portions of the World Wide Web; thus producing a ranking of results closely matched with the entered specific topic or keyword. To further aid optimization of the Web site, Google Analytics has also been implemented in the MedEdPORTAL technical infrastructure. With the establishment of this dynamic link between the user, content, and power of the World Wide Web, MedEdPORTAL continues on a direct trajectory of emerging as the world's leading, peer-reviewed repository and open education resource in healthcare.

August 17, 2009: Notes from the Editor - Call for Reviewer Nominations [Top of Page]

MedEdPORTAL strives to maintain a comprehensive pool of expert reviewers. At this time MedEdPORTAL is asking the community to nominate reviewers for the following specialty areas: Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Neurology, General Surgery, Dermatology, and Psychiatry. The MedEdPORTAL editorial team asks that nominations be restricted to individuals that have an interest and expertise in medical education. Nominated individuals will then receive an email from MedEdPORTAL describing the project and outlining reviewer responsibilities.

Please send all nominations to peerreview@aamc.org.

To read past notes, pleace click here: Notes from the Editor.

August 17, 2009: MedEdPORTAL Recognizes Published Authors and Peer Reviewers [Top of Page]

In the summer of 2008, MedEdPORTAL mailed formal thank you letters to each reviewer who had completed a review within the prior academic year. Based on the positive feedback that was received from this effort, MedEdPORTAL decided to repeat this annually to recognize these individuals and their invaluable contributions to the program. This year, letters went out in late July to every MedEdPORTAL reviewer who had completed an assignment from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. MedEdPORTAL would like to extend our thanks to our reviewers once again for volunteering their time and expertise in order to ensure the quality of each and every MedEdPORTAL publication.

To view a listing of published authors within the last year, please click here: Published Authors.

To view a listing of peer reviewers, please click here: Peer Reviewers.

August 17, 2009: AAMC 2009 Annual Meeting -The MedEdPORTAL Agenda [Top of Page]

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) will host its 2009 annual meeting in Boston, MA from November 6-11, 2009. These sponsored sessions will be held at the Hynes Convention Center, Marriott Copley Place, and Sheraton Boston. MedEdPORTAL ® will conduct sessions which will take place on Saturday, November 7, 2009, in the Hynes Convention Center.

For more information regarding these sessions, please visit: MedEdPORTAL Agenda & Itinerary.

For annual meeting and registration information, please visit: AAMC Annual Meeting.

July 15, 2009: New Integrating Quality Collection [Top of Page]

The Integrating Quality (IQ) initiative assists AAMC members in achieving the dual missions of providing outstanding clinical care, and educating clinicians in practice and in training. The initiative has developed several key resources such as the IQ Network which comprises individuals and organizations committed to integrating these approaches in their medical centers. The IQ collection in MedEdPORTAL identifies and disseminates key peer reviewed quality improvement (QI) resources and strategies to be used in clinical care, quality initiatives and in teaching across the continuum of undergraduate, graduate and continuing medical education.

To view the IQ collection in MedEdPORTAL, click here:

For more information about the AAMC IQ initiative visit their website at www.aamc.org/opi/quality.

July 15, 2009: New MedEdPORTAL Managing Editor [Top of Page]

The MedEdPORTAL team is pleased to announce the addition of Virginia Bourgeois, MS MBA, who will assume the role of Managing Editor of MedEdPORTAL on July 20, 2009. Ms. Bourgeois brings extensive Managing Editor experience managing and overseeing the peer review and publication of scientific journals such as Journal of Lipid Research with the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and other scientific journals at the American Physiological Society.

Ms. Bourgeois most recently served as the Vice President of eJournalPress. She brings an extensive knowledge of peer review management systems and will be responsible for overhauling and streamlining the current MedEdPORTAL peer review process. Ms. Bourgeois will also lead the initiative to index MedEdPORTAL publications in PubMed and MEDLINE.

June 15, 2009: Notes from the Editor - About the MedEdPORTAL Peer Review Form [Top of Page]

Authors occasionally ask about the nature and origin of the MedEdPORTAL peer review form. This form is used by MedEdPORTAL reviewers to rate the submission across a variety of characteristics, to indicate a publication recommendation, and to provide feedback to the author and editor(s). The original MedEdPORTAL peer review form was developed by an AAMC Task Force in 2004. It consisted of twenty-nine questions organized around the principles of scholarship as defined by Charles Glassick in his 1997 book, Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate. This form was subsequently revised in early 2008 in an effort to simplify and streamline the review process. The new form consists of ten questions designed to capture essential aspects regarding the submission. Notably, MedEdPORTAL asks each of its reviewers to read through a reviewer training tutorial designed to help them understand the purpose of each question on the form. Few publishing venues offer this kind of training to its reviewers.

MedEdPORTAL openly shares its peer review form. Prospective MedEdPORTAL authors are encouraged to review the form prior to submission: MedEdPORTAL Peer Review Form

View all Notes From the Editor

June 15, 2009: Association for Surgical Education and MedEdPORTAL [Top of Page]

MedEdPORTAL has formed a new collaboration with The Association for Surgical Education (ASE) to provide a distinguished collection of surgical teaching resources. ASE is a non-profit organization, originally established in 1980 by a small group of individuals with a principle interest in medical student education in surgery. The ASE broadened its focus in the early 1990s by adding a significant emphasis on original research in surgical education. Its mission is to promote, recognize, and reward excellence, innovation and scholarship in surgical education. The activities of the ASE have been designed to promulgate educationally sound solutions to the many complex questions, issues and concerns that are integral to the advancement of surgical education. The majority of the approximately 850 members are from the United States and Canada but there are a growing number of international members as well.

For more information visit the ASE website at www.surgicaleducation.com.

To view the MedEdPORTAL / ASE collection click on the following logo:

June 15, 2009: New MedEdPORTAL Submission Policy for Web-based Resources [Top of Page]

MedEdPORTAL launched Version 2.0 Repository on April 7, 2009. This dramatic release allows users to download resources directly from the MedEdPORTAL Web site and therefore, serves as a true open-source repository. Within these parameters, MedEdPORTAL has realigned its policies and procedures for the packaging of Web-based submitted content (Web-based Resources). The rationale for this realignment is based upon a necessity to maintain the integrity of each peer-reviewed publication. In addition, MedEdPORTAL ensures that all content within its repository will always be available through MedEdPORTAL for free even if the author or institution removes or shuts down the submitted Web-based Resource or decides to charge a fee for access to the Web-based Resource at a later date or time. From this point forward, Web-based Resource will only be accepted under one of the following four conditions:

Condition #1: If Web-based Resources are postings of content (Word/PDF/PowerPoint documents), then it is required that the authors package and upload all the various resource files during the submission process as opposed to only submitting the link to the website where the content is hosted. This allows MedEdPORTAL to host the complete resource on its servers in perpetuity after publication. This does not preclude authors from maintaining the Web site on their own servers after publication and even updating the content on their own servers. If this cannot be accomplished, please refer to the next condition.

Condition #2: Web-based Resources which are not posted within the aforementioned framework must then have the ability to be stripped and/or broken down and packaged on a compact disc (CD) with the goal of eventually publishing and hosting the final approved version on MedEdPORTAL servers. This does not preclude authors from maintaining the Web-based Resource on their own servers after publication. If the submitted Web-based Resource cannot be packaged onto CD, authors are then encouraged to extract all the content from the Resource and incorporate into files (formats listed in Condition 1) for dissemination. If this also cannot be accomplished, please refer to the third condition.

Condition #3: If the Web-based Resource cannot be packaged or extracted into documents then the author will need to provide computer-screen snapshots of each individual page that compiles the entire Web-based Resource. If the Web-based Resource has multiple pages and further branching, the author must also provide a mapping of how the Web-based Resource is to be reassembled at a later date by MedEdPORTAL staff. This does not preclude authors from maintaining the Web-based Resource on their own servers after publication. If this also cannot be accomplished, please refer to the last condition.

Condition #4: If the Web-based Resource is an executable program or requires a proprietary hosting environment that cannot be supported on MedEdPORTAL servers then the last option is to pursue a contractual agreement between the hosting institution and the AAMC/MedEdPORTAL that legally obligates the hosting institution to ensure the published Web-based Resource will be open and available for free in perpetuity to all MedEdPORTAL subscribers. The contractual agreement will also stipulate that the hosting institution must provide MedEdPORTAL with a packaged version of the Web-based Resource (regardless of the cost to the institution) in the event the institution no longer plans to host the published Web-based Resource.

If none of the above mentioned conditions can be met, then the Web-based Resource is not in an acceptable format for publication through MedEdPORTAL's open-source repository.

June 15, 2009: MedEdPORTAL Featured Item: E-Learning and Social Networking Video Podcasts [Top of Page]

MedBiquitous is pleased to offer a collection of lectures from its 2009 annual conference. Select presentations were captured by DLC Solutions and will be available online for free for one year. These presentations include the slides synchronized with video.

A sampling of the Podcasts that are relevant to MedEdPORTAL users include:

The Efficacy of E-learning in the Health Professions
David Cook, MD, MHPE, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Facebook and Social Networking - Can this Really Help me Learn?
Moderated by James B. Mcgee, MD, University of Pittsburgh, and Benjamin Azan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and MedBiquitous

Ubiquitous Computing Using Second Life For Online Health Informatics Students
Juliana J. Brixey PhD, MPH, RN; Judith J. Warren PhD, RN, BC, FAAN, FACM University of Kansas School of Nursing

For more information about MedBiquitous and to view all the available Podcasts visit: www.medbiq.org/events/conferences/2009/videos.html

May 19, 2009: Notes from the Editor [Top of Page]

It is not always clear how one should use certain MedEdPORTAL submissions. While the author of a resource may have a detailed understanding of the material and how it might be used, it is often difficult to hand this off to another user without providing additional information. This type of information is typically found in an instructors guide. Based on past submissions we now ask that all submissions to MedEdPORTAL include a succinct instructor's guide. These instructors guides help other faculty better understand the background of the resource and how it could be improved. An instructor's guide is typically 1-3 pages in length and includes: the purpose and objectives of the submission (including the educational objectives), the conceptual background (why and how it was developed), the name and purpose of all files contained within the submission, practical implementation advice (materials needed, length of session, faculty/facilitator needs, preparation needs, etc.), implementation suggestions (including common pitfalls, tips for success, etc.), limitations of the resource, and potential ideas for improving or expanding the submission. Finally, consider adding any other information that might help other faculty understand and use the resource.

View all Notes From the Editor

May 19, 2009: New CME Survey Released [Top of Page]

The AAMC and the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education released a survey last week of medical school continuing medical education (CME) programs and activities. The 2008 survey had an 80 percent response rate and was distributed to 137 medical schools in the United States and Canada. While many schools continue to generate hundreds of courses, and regularly scheduled conferences or rounds, there are clear trends toward innovation and increased attention to the principles of effective continuing education and adult learning. Other findings included a rise in the percentage of physician-leaders in CME, a continuing reliance on commercial support (especially by U.S. schools), and increased linkages to internal programs and departments such as performance improvement, residency or allied health education, faculty development, and other entities.

For further information: go to www.aamc.org/cmesurvey2008.

April 7, 2009: New MedEdPORTAL 2.0 Repository and Website [Top of Page]

On April 7, 2009 the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) launched the MedEdPORTAL 2.0 repository and Web site (www.aamc.org/mededportal). MedEdPORTAL is a free medical and dental publication service that promotes access to high-quality, peer-reviewed educational teaching and assessment resources online.

While the new MedEdPORTAL Web site may look familiar, the back-end of the system has undergone dramatic improvements. The Web site is now fully integrated with a powerful content and digital asset management system to host resources online. Through major enhancements, the new MedEdPORTAL site provides you with the ease of downloading resources directly from the Web site; allowing 90 percent of MedEdPORTAL's 1,300 publications to be available for download or by directly linking to external Web sites. The remaining 10 percent of publications will continue to be disseminated by MedEdPORTAL staff due to size limitations or because those publications are assessment tools in which authors have requested protection through a human firewall.

The new MedEdPORTAL Web site also features a robust search engine that will allow you to search for published resources through a greater number of metrics (e.g., the "Find" function searches the published abstract in addition to any text included in the published resource files, such as PowerPoints, Word documents, PDFs, etc.). In addition, the new Web site collects a variety of end-user data that can be used by authors to demonstrate the particular impact and utilization of their published materials. We encourage you to share this information with your colleagues and to disseminate it to your respective listserves. Please visit the new MedEdPORTAL 2.0 repository Web site at www.aamc.org/mededportal.

Questions? Contact MedEdPORTAL at mededportal@aamc.org.

April 7, 2009: Association of Academic Physiatrists and MedEdPORTAL [Top of Page]

MedEdPORTAL has formed a collaboration with the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) to provide a distinguished collection of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation teaching resources. The AAP was founded in 1967 and serves as the national organization for physiatrists actively involved in research, medical education and the training of housestaff and fellows. The AAP is a member organization of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Physiatry is the Medical Specialty of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) that helps patients improve independence, decrease pain and increase function, including activities of daily living. PM&R is a holistic specialty incorporating the biopsychosocial model in all aspects of care. For more information about the AAP please visit their website at www.physiatry.org.

April 7, 2009: Academic Medicine and MedEdPORTAL [Top of Page]

MedEdPORTAL staff are working closely with the AAMC's Academic Medicine journal to cross reference articles published in Academic Medicine that are related to resources published in MedEdPORTAL. In addition, Academic Medicine has implemented a new service called Academic Medicine Express that allows subscribers to skim an entire issue of Academic Medicine in less than five minutes. MedEdPORTAL staff encourage you to sign up to receive Academic Medicine Express, a free monthly e-mail that includes a 25-word summary of each article and direct links to specific content. To begin receiving this enhanced electronic table of contents, please send an e-mail to tgallo@aamc.org with "Subscribe" in the subject line.

November 17, 2008: Distinguished MedEdPORTAL Peer Reviewers [Top of Page]

During the 2008 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Annual Meeting the MedEdPORTAL team announced the recipients of the first annual Outstanding Reviewer Award. MedEdPORTAL reviewers and the peer review process serve as important quality gatekeepers for MedEdPORTAL publications. While often unrecognized, the critical appraisal of submissions by reviewers is vital to the success of peer-reviewed publications such as MedEdPORTAL.

The ten individuals listed below are recognized for their commitment to the peer review process and their exemplary efforts as MedEdPORTAL reviewers.

• Douglas S. Ander, MD
  Emory University School of Medicine

• Peregrina L. Arciaga, MD
  Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

• Alexander W. Chessman, MD
  Medical University of South Carolina

• Melissa Davidson, MD
  University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

• Edward P. Finnerty, PhD
  Des Moines University

• Penprapa Klinkhachorn, DVM, PhD
  Health Sciences Center of West Virginia University

• Ruth E. Levine, MD
  University of Texas Medical Branch

• Dan Mayer, MD
  Albany Medical College

• Kathryn K. McMahon, PhD
  Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

• Dona J. Upson, MD, MA
  University of New Mexico

August 27, 2008: Letters to Deans and Associate Deans Recognizing Published Authors [Top of Page]

Over the past two weeks letters of commendation were sent to both the Deans and Curriculum Deans at AAMC member medical schools recognizing educators at their institutions who successfully published resources in MedEdPORTAL between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008. These letters are sent out each year in an effort to showcase the hard work and accomplishments of health educators.

July 16, 2008: MedEdPORTAL Forms Collaboration with the Alliance for Clinician-Educators in Radiology (ACER) [Top of Page]

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is pleased to announce a new collaboration between MedEdPORTAL and the Alliance for Clinician-Educators in Radiology (ACER). Through this collaboration, MedEdPORTAL will peer-review, publish, and disseminate for free ACER/Radiology related educational resources.

ACER is part of the Association of University Radiologists (AUR) family of organizations, which is working to advance the interests and efforts of this large and growing segment of academic radiology faculty. Clinician-educators include all radiologists who are involved at any level in student, resident or post-graduate education. ACER's mission is (1) to provide a formal organization and forum for clinician-educators to meet, exchange ideas, and learn new skills that promote and advance the careers of clinician-educators, (2) to develop programs at the annual AUR meeting targeted toward the needs of clinician-educators, (3) to promote and develop educational research activities relevant to clinician-educators. For more information about ACER please visit: www.aur.org/acer.htm.

MedEdPORTAL is a free publishing venue and dissemination portal designed to support educators and learners as they create and use on-line teaching materials, assessment tools and faculty development resources. As an internationally available service, MedEdPORTAL facilitates sharing of high quality peer-reviewed educational material and promotes collaboration and educational scholarship across institutions. Examples of MedEdPORTAL publications include tutorials, virtual patients, cases, lab manuals, assessment instruments, faculty development materials, etc. MedEdPORTAL publications cover the continuum of medical and dental education (i.e. undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical and dental education). For more information about MedEdPORTAL please visit: www.aamc.org/mededportal.

This new collaboration between ACER and MedEdPORTAL will provide the following professional opportunities for ACER members:

• To serve as peer reviewers for ACER/Radiology resources submitted to MedEdPORTAL.

• The opportunity to publish radiology materials in a peer-reviewed online publication that is associated with a highly respected and visible international association, the Association of American Medical Colleges.

We are also pleased to announce that Petra Lewis, MD from Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center has been appointed as the MedEdPORTAL Associate Editor for ACER/Radiology submissions.

There are several high quality peer-reviewed radiology educational resources already published and available through MedEdPORTAL. A listing of the radiology resources published in MedEdPORTAL are available from the Browse page.

July 16, 2008: MedEdPORTAL Recognizes 2007-2008 Peer Reviewers [Top of Page]

The AAMC and MedEdPORTAL would like to formally thank and recognize the numerous volunteer peer reviewers who have served an important role as quality gatekeepers for MedEdPORTAL. A list of all the peer reviewers who completed one or more reviews between July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008 are available from the MedEdPORTAL website.

A list of Peer Reviewers is available on the MedEdPORTAL Peer Reviewers page.

March 19, 2008: AAMC MedEdPORTAL Partners with the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) [Top of Page]

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) have formed a partnership that will allow the AAMC to expand its unique MedEdPORTAL teaching tools repository to include dental education resources. The collaboration represents the first time academic medicine and dentistry have come together to share teaching resources across universities and throughout the world. MedEdPORTAL--a collection of high-quality, peer-reviewed educational resources submitted by medical educators--will begin accepting submissions from dental professionals on April 15.

"The potential impact that the collaboration can have on medicine and dentistry is substantial," said ADEA President James Q. Swift, D.D.S. "It benefits not only our students and their learning environment, but also faculty who deserve recognition for their scholarship-and overall health care can only be advanced."

"We are very pleased to collaborate with ADEA to incorporate dental educational resources in MedEdPORTAL," said AAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D. "Given the competing demands on faculty time and tight budgets, ready access to high-quality, peer-reviewed teaching materials from a trusted source will be a tremendous benefit to both medicine and dentistry."

Since its launch in 2006, the AAMC's MedEdPORTAL has attracted both national and international recognition as a source of free, high-quality educational resources and a place for educators to receive recognition for their scholarly work. The partnership between ADEA and AAMC enables a higher degree of collaboration and integration between medicine and dentistry. Allowing medical and dental faculty to benefit from one another's knowledge, expertise, and excellence improves medical and dental education and ultimately patient care.
MedEdPORTAL is a central repository of peer-reviewed resources, graphics, tutorials, lab manuals assessment instruments, and faculty development materials, as well as an inventory of virtual patient cases. This storehouse of knowledge and tools, contributed to by faculty and students throughout the world, is available free to other educators and learners, thereby diminishing the need to duplicate valuable and expensive-to-produce resources. While it's widely recognized that educators have long invested time and intellectual capital creating tools with which to teach, they do not always receive recognition for doing so. By submitting materials to MedEdPORTAL, they receive rigorous peer review and feedback. If the materials are accepted for publication in MedEdPORTAL, educators receive recognition for their scholarship, which may be used to support promotion and tenure decisions.

# # #

About the American Dental Education Association

The American Dental Education Association (ADEA) is the voice of dental education. Its members include all U.S. and Canadian dental schools and many allied and postdoctoral dental education programs, corporations, faculty, and students. The mission of ADEA is to lead individuals and institutions of the dental education community to address contemporary issues influencing education, research, and the delivery of oral health care for the health of the public. ADEA's activities encompass a wide range of research, advocacy, faculty development, meetings, and communications like the esteemed Journal of Dental Education, as well as the dental school admissions services AADSAS and PASS.

About The Association of American Medical Colleges

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

February 19, 2008: MedEdPORTAL Partners with the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) [Top of Page]

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) is pleased to announce a new partnership between MedEdPORTAL and the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE). Through this partnership, MedEdPORTAL will peer-review, publish, and disseminate for free Standardized Patient (SP) related educational resources.

ASPE is the international organization for professionals in the field of SP methodology. For more information about ASPE visit their website at www.aspeducators.org.

This collaboration will not replace the existing ASPE Resource Bank available from the ASPE website. ASPE members may choose to submit SP resources to either or both the ASPE Resource Bank and MedEdPORTAL.

This new collaboration will provide the following professional opportunities for ASPE members:

• To serve as peer reviewers for SP resources submitted to MedEdPORTAL.

• The opportunity to publish SP materials in a peer-reviewed online publication that is associated with a highly respected and visible international association, the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Click here to view the SP resources already published in MedEdPORTAL.

November 15, 2007: Policy Change Regarding Dissemination of Published Resources [Top of Page]

Policy Change:

In an effort to enhance the services provided by MedEdPORTAL we are announcing an important policy change regarding the dissemination of published MedEdPORTAL resources. Starting on November 19, 2007 MedEdPORTAL staff will begin the process of disseminating published resources that are not currently available via the web. In the past users were required to contact authors to obtain MedEdPORTAL publications that were not web based. Under the new policy users may simply complete an online web form with their contact information. MedEdPORTAL staff will then send out the published resource via email or via the postal service within one business day (excluding US holidays and weekends).

Rationale for Policy Change:

The primary reason for this change is to ensure that MedEdPORTAL users are able to quickly request and receive published resources. The MedEdPORTAL team recently conducted a survey of all published authors and quickly discovered that many of our authors were no longer reachable using contact information they originally provided. Because MedEdPORTAL continues to grow at a rate of 1-2 submissions per day, the MedEdPORTAL Advisory Board along with the AAMC senior leadership felt strongly that MedEdPORTAL staff should start disseminating the published resources on behalf of the authors.

Impact on Published Authors:

MedEdPORTAL will continue to track user requests and will provide authors with the list of users that have requested their resource. In addition, the new resource request form requires users to describe how they intend to use the resource. For assessment resources, MedEdPORTAL staff will validate that the requesting users are medical educators and not medical students. If you are an author in MedEdPORTAL and have concerns or have a valid reason as to why you do not want MedEdPORTAL staff to disseminate your published resource on your behalf please contact Robby Reynolds at 202-828-0962 or by email at rreynolds@aamc.org.