Call for Breakout Session Proposals - 2026 Duke AHEAD Health Professions Education Day

Duke AHEAD invites faculty, staff, trainees, and interprofessional colleagues across Duke Health and Duke University to submit proposals for breakout presentations at our upcoming Health Professions Education Day. This annual event celebrates innovation, collaboration, and excellence in teaching and learning across the health professions.

Theme: Leveraging Community and Transformation for Resiliency in Health Professions Education

This year’s theme highlights how resilient educational systems emerge when our health professions education community intentionally cultivates connection, innovation, and shared purpose. We invite proposals that demonstrate how collaborative practice, creative redesign, and partnerships across both institutional and local communities strengthen our collective capacity to adapt, grow, and thrive.

 

Breakout Session Focus Areas

We welcome proposals that showcase educational innovations, scholarship, research, or best practices related to:

  • Teaching and Learning Innovations
    • Active learning strategies, assessment methods, digital tools, simulation, or curriculum redesign.
  • Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice
    • Programs or practices that enhance team-based learning and patient-centered care.
  • Inclusive Learning Environments
    • Creating spaces to promote dialogue, belonging and learning for learners of all backgrounds
  • Educational Leadership & Faculty Development
    • Coaching, feedback, mentorship models, and clinician-educator career development.
  • Clinical Learning Environment
    • ​​​​​​​Optimizing rotations, competency-based education, learner well-being, or GME/UME integration.
  • Educational Scholarship & Research
    • ​​​​​​​Outcomes from education research, QI in teaching, dissemination of scholarly approaches.

Presentation Format

Breakout presentations are 45 minutes and should be designed to actively engage participants.

Formats may include:

  • Interactive workshops
  • Case-based discussions
  • Panel conversations
  • Demonstrations of tools, curricula, or methods
  • Short presentations with facilitated dialogue

Proposal Requirements

Each submission should include:

  1. Title of Presentation
  2. Lead Presenter and Co-presenters (names, roles, affiliations)
  3. Abstract (200–300 words) describing:
    • Purpose and significance
    • Relevance to theme and focus area
    • Target audience
    • Session format and major activities
    • Learning objectives (2–3)
  4. Technology or room needs
  5. Preferred session format (workshop, panel, discussion, etc.)

Submission Timeline and Review Criteria

  • Proposals Due: January 30th, 2026
  • Notification of Acceptance: February 20th, 2026
  • Event Date: March 24th, 2026​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Proposals will be evaluated based on:

  • Relevance to health professions education
  • Alignment with themes of community building and transformation for resilience
  • Alignment with focus areas
  • Clarity of learning objectives
  • Interprofessional representation
  • Degree of innovation or impact
  • Plans for participant engagement

 

How to Submit

Please submit your proposal using our online submission form by Friday, January 30th, 2026.
 

For questions, contact dukeahead@duke.edu. 

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