One year ago, the Office of Professional Development and Educational Scholarship began to shift in-person programs to alternate methods of delivery. Director of Continuing Professional Development, Dr. Eleftherios Soleas explains that "not being able to do in-person programming due to the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us the importance of embracing technology. Since the pandemic is dragging on and we won’t be moving back to in-person CPD soon, we need to find something that our educators and our learners will really enjoy using.”
When researching options for providing programs to healthcare providers in the community across a variety of technologies, Dr. Soleas consulted with Associate Dean of Professional Development, Dr. Richard van Wylick. "There are a lot of options already out there, so we don’t need to re-invent the wheel," states Dr. van Wylick, who pushed for using technology already available to the office.
Following extensive investigations and consultations, Continuing Professional Development felt that recording sessions on audio cassette and delivering them to learners, preferably by puppies wearing small backpacks or fanny packs, was the most practical option. Dr. van Wylick describes how the idea came to him: "I found a dictaphone in a corridor of the hospital and thought to myself, 'here's our solution!’" Learners who would like to register for fall programming should send a message via carrier pigeon to Dr. Soleas at Innovation Park.
Happy April Fool's Day! Follow the Office of Continuing Professional Development on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CPD_FHS_QueensU for real updates on continuing professional development delivered via Zoom and as On-Demand Modules.