The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Office of Medical Education is seeking facilitators for the Cased Based Inquiry Learning (CBIL) program that will be part of the revised medical curriculum beginning in July of 2024. CBIL is a program of twice weekly small-group educational sessions that are student-led and faculty-facilitated to contextualize medical knowledge within real-life clinical scenarios. We are looking for 25 facilitators to fill this role. CBIL utilizes patient scenarios (cases) to structure student learning. In this approach, cases are used to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of health and patient care through the integration of foundational sciences, clinical sciences, humanism/humanities, scientific literacy and inquiry, and health systems science. This program is modeled after the Case Western School of Medicine Case Inquiry program and is student-centered, promotes self-directed learning, and involves interaction of students with a facilitator. The facilitator provides guidance to the group while students collaborate to address real life patient scenarios.
In the first 18-months of the curriculum (Phase 1), students will participate in two sessions of CBIL a week in groups of 8 students with a faculty facilitator. The facilitators are not expected to be content experts and may bring knowledge and experiences from various fields (scientific, health professions, etc.). During the first case session of the week, students will start by “dissecting” a case vignette, identify gaps in knowledge and determine learning goals as a group for further self-directed study. Resources provided by the Course Director will be utilized and students will return to the group later in the week to discuss learning related to the case goals. Throughout their experience, students develop skills of teamwork, professionalism, critical thinking and effective utilization of resources including primary literature.
All students within the group are responsible for researching all learning goals. This assures that every group member takes primary responsibility for their own learning and is prepared to discuss all objectives. The faculty facilitator supports the group process and ensures that students address all of the important learning goals. Each session ends with “checkout” that allows for the continuous quality improvement of the team function and provides regular opportunity for self-reflection and peer feedback. At the end of the week, a final wrap-up session will review important content from that week’s case.
The CBIL sessions will take place on Monday and Thursday mornings throughout Phase 1 for 1.5 hours on Mondays and 2 hours on Thursdays. At the end of each Thursday session, facilitators will participate in a short debriefing session with the CBIL Directors to share concerns and best practices and receive instruction. They will also be asked to attend the weekly wrap-up session with an introduction to the upcoming case. Ideally, CBIL facilitators will commit to involvement over all 3 semesters in Phase 1 (July 2024-December 2025). Partial commitments will be considered if unable to participate in all 3 semesters.
Selected candidates who are external or do not currently have a paid appointment with the university will be appointed in an Adjunct Instructor or similar title. Appointment type and method for internal candidates will be determined on an individual basis. Compensation for facilitators will be determined on an individual basis based on level of participation and after discussion with the Department Chair when appropriate.As part of the commitment, facilitators will participate in faculty development sessions to learn the goals and format of the program and strategies for being an effective small group facilitator.
Time commitment:University at Buffalo is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and, in keeping with our commitment, welcomes all to apply including veterans and individuals with disabilities.
