SACME Webinar February 2026

From Learning to Practice: Applying Science of Learning Strategies to Educational Meetings

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Free registration for SACME Members / $30 for Non-Members
Registration coming in February!

Event Overview

How can conference design better support learning that translates into practice? In this webinar, a multidisciplinary expert panel —including a neuroscientist, a cognitive psychologist, and a health professions educator—will examine a real‑world case of a health care professional seeking to apply evidence‑based, science of learning strategies to conference planning. Drawing on their published series in JCEHP, the panel will share practical strategies to enhance learning transfer and facilitate interactive discussion around their application for continuing professional development planners and educators.

Panelists

Thomas J. Van Hoof, MD, EdD, FACMQ

Dr. Van Hoof is a tenured Professor in the University of Connecticut’s Schools of Nursing and Medicine, serving on faculty at UConn since 1996. He is also the Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Nursing and Director of UConn’s graduate online Certificate in Health Professions Education. Dr. Van Hoof is certified in Medical Quality through the American Board of Medical Quality and is a Fellow of the American College of Medical Quality. He received his medical and psychiatric training at the UConn School of Medicine, and he completed a fellowship in medical ethics at Harvard Medical School. Additionally, Dr. Van Hoof earned a master's degree in education from UConn and a doctoral degree in educational administration from Teachers College Columbia University. His research and teaching efforts relate to the use of educational interventions to change clinician behavior. More recently, Dr. Van Hoof has also become involved in the science of learning, incorporating its evidence into his scholarship, teaching, and leadership responsibilities.

Megan A. Sumeracki, PhD

Dr. Sumeracki is a tenured Professor of Psychology at Rhode Island College, after earning her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at Purdue University. Her research focuses on the application of cognition to education, focusing primarily on retrieval-based learning strategies and transfer of learning strategies to practice. She is one of the original co-founders of The Learning Scientists, and a co-author of the award-winning book Understanding How We Learn: A Visual Guide, and lead author of Ace That Test: A Student’s Guide to Learning Better. Megan has delivered talks and workshops both in the U.S. and abroad at scientific conferences and with educators in primary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, medical schools and teaching hospitals, museums, corporate settings, and the U.S. State Department.

Christopher R. Madan, PhD

Dr. Madan is a tenured Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham (UK), having earned his PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Alberta (Canada). He studies why some experiences are remembered more than others—how emotion, motivation, and prior knowledge shape memory—and how these biases guide decision-making. His work spans behavioural experiments, neuroimaging (fMRI and EEG), structural MRI, and computational modelling, and he also draws on qualitative methods—including interviews and focus groups—when appropriate. He has authored several books on psychology and research practice, including the senior-level memory text Memories That Matter: How We Remember Important Things, and he regularly presents his work at international psychology and neuroscience conferences.

Case Study Description

You are the chairperson of the planning committee for your specialty society’s annual, multi-day, in-person meeting. The meeting has a strong reputation for providing opportunities to network with colleagues, to learn about recent research, and to earn continuing education credits; however, your experience is that the meeting does little to change clinical practice. Motivated to improve the meeting’s impact on patient care, you decide to explore whether and how the “science of learning” (learning science) can increase the likelihood that participants will transfer what they learn at the conference to their practice. You decide to introduce evidence-based, learning-science strategies to committee members as part of a brainstorming activity to improve the meeting.