Blog
06.24.26
Alice L. Walton School of Medicine Students and Faculty Attend the International Association of Medical Science Educators 2026 Annual Conference
Written by: AWSOM
Four AWSOM students became the first to present research at an international conference
From left: Safwan Sarker, Kelly Zhao, Benjamin Zheng, Ian Murray
First-year Alice L. Walton School of Medicine students Kelly Zhao, Safwan Sarker, Benjamin Zheng, and Vahdeta Suljic attended the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) 2026 Annual Conference in Augusta, Georgia. The students were accompanied by AWSOM Professor and IAMSE Board Member Ian Murray, PhD. These four students are the first from AWSOM to present research at an international conference and to become IAMSE members.
Suljic delivering an oral presentation on the pilot project
Suljic delivered an oral presentation on a quality improvement pilot evaluating whether artificial intelligence can provide useful feedback on Script Concordance Tests (SCTs), a validated tool for assessing clinical reasoning under uncertainty. The four students conducted this research in collaboration with AWSOM faculty (Trager Hintze, PharmD, BCCCP; Sarah Assem, MD; Patrick Brooks, MD, FASCRS) and Dr. Murray, who served as a mentor. The pilot found that AI could successfully name what student participants could not yet articulate, bridging a key gap in clinical reasoning developments.
Dr. Murray and Zheng demonstrating the Brick Breaker to ScholarRx
Dr. Murray delivered an oral presentation at the ScholarRx Consortium, with students Zheng and Sarker serving as co-authors. The students showcased their research on student–faculty collaboration using AI and ScholarRx Bricks. Their projects addressed key challenges in digital medical education. Zheng's Brick Breaker enhances learner engagement by making ScholarRx Bricks more interactive, while Sarker's Brick Checker enables large-scale review of Brick content, helping address a major bottleneck in the content quality assurance process.
Dr. Murray presenting at the ScholarRx consortium
Dr. Murray was a previous chair of the IAMSE Virtual Forum, an online forum which allows students and faculty to showcase their work, as well as a prior member of several IAMSE committees.
AWSOM Assistant Dean, Foundational Sciences Elisabeth Schlegel, PhD, MS, MBA, MS (HPPL), and Assistant Dean, Accreditation and Institutional Effectiveness Carrie Elzie, PhD, MA, also attended the conference.
Dr. Schlegel (right) and a research collaborator
Dr. Schlegel presented the poster “Advancing Student Scholarship through the MERAS (Medical Education Research and Academic Scholarship) Program” which explored the use of a longitudinal initiative designed to build medical students’ research and scholarly skills. She also presented the focus session “Leveraging Generative AI for Open Education Resources (OER): Accelerating Accessible Health Professions Education for All” with collaborators from the National University of Singapore and the University of Louisville. Dr. Schlegel was a previous IAMSE Ambassador and now serves on the Ambassador Committee.
Dr. Elzie presented a focus session “Adapting Leadership Frames for Personal Growth and Professional Flourishing” alongside collaborators from the University of Cincinnati and Old Dominion University.
Read the full list of AWSOM’s IAMSE 2026 Scientific Abstracts (student authors) below:
Benjamin Zheng, Safwan Sarker and Ian V.J. Murray (2026) Create, Check, Engage: A Student-Faculty Collaboration Using AI and ScholarRx Bricks. ScholarRx Consortium at IAMSE 2026 Annual Conference. June 6, 2026.
Vahdeta Suljic, Kelly Zhao, Safwan Sarker, Benjamin Zheng, Trager Hinze, Sarah Assem, Patrick Brooks and Ian V.J. Murray (2026) AI-generated feedback for script concordance test- a pilot evaluation of feedback quality. IAMSE 2026 Annual Conference. Presentation Block 7: Technology, Innovation, and Curriculum. June 7, 2026.