Health Sciences Education Rounds

MEREDITH VANSTONE, PhD

Associate Professor
Director, MD/PhD Program
Canada Research Chair in Ethical Complexity in Primary Care

Education Policy: What is it, Why is it relevant, How can I use it to build more effective health professions education research and innovations?

Education policy governs the environments we learn within and the environments we are anticipating when we train for future practice. Policies exert influence on the way we select medical students, design curricula, structure assessment and progression, resource training environments, and situate educators. Policies are also a way to drive or change education by conveying values and encouraging or constraining particular types of behaviour. Despite this important role, education policy is infrequently incorporated into medical education research or innovation. In this rounds presentation, I will argue that education policy is worth more scholarly attention, given the role it plays in shaping the context and influencing the outcomes of medical education. As a group, we will explore how attention to policy may attune the educational interventions we design, the way we assess the efficacy of those interventions, and the way we understand interactions within the learning environment.

VIA ZOOM
February 20, 2025 16H00 - 17H30
Please register to obtain the Zoom link

Meredith Vanstone is Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University, where she holds the Canada Research Chair in Ethical Complexity in Primary Care. Meredith's research portfolio blends health policy and health professions education perspectives to develop, optimize, and maintain a strong primary care workforce. She is a member of McMaster's Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis and the director of their MD/PhD program.