Conference theme: Enhancing Engagement

The BeSST (Behavioural and Social Sciences Teaching in Medicine) hybrid conference will be an opportunity to come together as a community of practice in person and virtually to: share experiences; learn from examples of good practice and innovation; discuss challenges and rewards; and explore engagement in the social and behavioural sciences in health professions’ education.

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Engagement is a buzz word in higher education, including health professions education as the importance of engaged learning and teaching is recognised: students learn best when they are engaged and engaged learning is associated with transformative learning; there are benefits from collaborating with students, patients and other relevant groups in curriculum planning, in teaching and in assessment; we can question our own engagement with and responsibilities towards global challenges and different ways of knowing.​​​​

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Submit an Abstract 

Theme

Within the term 'Engagement' there are a broad range of ideas that are relevant and useful for those involved in social and behavioural sciences (SBS) teaching in health professions’ education.

Below we offer some suggestions of possible topics, but do not feel constrained by these. We welcome any submissions related to the theme of ‘enhancing engagement’ in relation SBS.

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Possible topics are:

• Meanings of engagement – conceptual work theorising engagement and implications for practice.

• Engaging students in SBS: as learners; as co-creators; as partners.

• Assessment: what does engagement mean for the assessment of SBS; how can engagement be applied in assessment of SBS?

• Patients and publics involvement and engagement in teaching SBS and in pedagogical research related to SBS?

• Engaging with other stakeholders including clinical and biomedical science colleagues; regulators.

• Global challenges – how do we, as SBS educators, engage with key challenges and what do we see as our responsibility and how do we transfer this sense of responsibility to students?

• Engaging with forms of knowledge/ways of knowing – how do we engage with different cultures of research and teaching; different epistemologies and promote this in our teaching?

 

Formats

We will accept a variety of presentation styles including creative, as well as more traditional, formats. Abstracts are welcome from presenters at all stages of their career. We encourage all presenters to include students as part of the team.

We invite presentations in the following formats. Indicative timings are given:

• Research/evaluation: presentations of an original research or evaluation study that is theoretically relevant and methodologically sound (10-15 minutes)

• Practice: presentation of changes to practice (what was done, why, did it work? (10-15 minutes)

• Point of view: is there something you feel passionately about, a topic that you feel needs to be discussed, or something that particularly frustrates you? No evidence is needed, just your opinions! (10 minutes)

• Storytelling: a reflective format in which you tell the story of your experiences. Feel free to be creative! (15 mins)

• Poster: You may present in any of the above categories, in poster form. There will an opportunity to view posters during the conference; if you are not able to be there in person, you may still submit a poster.

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Abstract Submission

To submit your abstract please email: besstnetwork@gmail.com

The deadline for submission of abstracts is Friday 31st January 2025 (23:59 BST).

Please include the following (max 400 words):

• Abstract title

• Abstract authors (up to 6 authors may be listed)

• Abstract presenter and contact email

 

Present the abstract in the following format:

• Research/Evaluation: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion & Conclusion

• Practice: Background, Summary of Work, Discussion & Conclusion

• Point of View: Summary of the issue to be discussed and point of view presented.

• Storytelling: Summary of the focus and the methods for presenting the ‘story’

• Poster: provide the information relating to one of the above (depending on which category the poster falls into).

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Register for the Conference ​

Join us in person or online. 

To register for a place please go to - BeSST Conference 2025 Tickets, Mon, Jun 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM | Eventbrite

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Conference fee (all fees go towards supporting the work of BeSST including the website costs and paying our patient and public involvement advocate for their time on the committee).

£50 (In person)

£25 (Online)

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Please get in touch with besstnetwork@gmail.com if you have any questions.