How does 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps prepare for an Olympic race, an event so rare it happens only once every 4 years? According to his long-time coach, “He mentally rehearses for two hours a day... He smells the air, tastes the water, hears the sounds, sees the clock.” Can medical trainees do the same? 

With the overall drop in patients, procedures, and hands-on experience in the COVID-19 era, the foundational experiences that comprise the bulk of medical training are becoming rarer. To help remedy this, we need a simple, effective, high-fidelity training tool that can be accessed from the comfort of one’s own socially-isolated home. I suggest we use the highest-fidelity trainer available - the human brain - to train our learners using structured mental practice.

 With significant advancements in asynchronous and synchronous distance education technologies, such as videoconferencing, online discussion forums, and digital whiteboards, there is an opportunity to facilitate and enhance collaborative learning among interdisciplinary health professionals. If utilized appropriately, these technologies can provide a platform for open, equitable and accessible knowledge-sharing among health professionals. Learner motivation to participate in, and continue with, online learning programs is strongly affected by instructional design, and there are several instructional design strategies related to the 6 C’s of Motivation learning theory which should be considered when developing online education for interdisciplinary health professionals: 

 Fifteen ‘mentors’ participated in this world café workshop: Nearly 35 participants attended and rated the format highly. During the process of debriefing and reflecting on what worked well and how the workshop could be improved, the group members decided to continue the working relationship and transform into a community of mentors and collaborators. We have worked together since September 2019, publishing papers on speed mentoring and career development for educational leaders and scholars and working on 2 more. We learn from each other and mentor each other.

 One may ask what the “Heron 8” is and why the relevance especially in this time. In simple mathematic terms, the “Heron 8” encompasses what we all need in our life’s journey – 3 things and 5 communities to thrive. The summation of these constructs is 8. The suffering is acutely seen in the patients I care for  in my professional life as an Emergency Physician in a busy inner-city Emergency Department. An Emergency Department that cares for patient’s primarily of lower socioeconomic status who are predominantly people of color. People who look like me.

In HyFlex courses, students can decide for each and every class meeting, group activity, assignment and assessment whether to sit in the classroom, join via videoconference in real-time, or complete online activities later. The HyFlex model offers institutions and programs the flexibility to deliver educational experiences as safely as possible and enhances their ability to pivot to remote teaching and learning quickly, if needed.