Kathleen Ludewig, MSI, MPP, co-lead of educational technology & innovation, and Gary Leydon, associate director of medical education technology, represented Yale School of Medicine (YSM) at the 2026 Information Technology in Academic Medicine Conference, sponsored by the AAMC Group on Information Resources. The duo led a 60-minute workshop titled “Cultivating a Culture of Technology Innovation for Medical Education.”
The session, held on June 4 in Austin, Texas, brought together more than 35 participants from medical schools across the U.S. and Canada for an interactive exchange of ideas.
The workshop included a brief overview of Yale’s innovation journey and hands-on activities to help participants assess their own institutional readiness, identify actions to reduce barriers, and leave with practical tools for immediate application.
A central feature of the session was a set of structured worksheets that guided small-group work, including a readiness assessment to identify untapped talent and resources, strategies to lower barriers to innovation, and a 90-day accelerator plan to jumpstart near-term progress.
These exercises reinforced key learning objectives: reducing friction for experimentation, aligning cross-functional partners, and building a sustainable culture where faculty and staff can rapidly test and refine ideas.
Building on the strong engagement at the conference, Ludewig and Leydon will convene a follow-up session for the Yale community in July as part of the Technology Innovation in Medical Education (TIME) Series, extending these conversations and tools to a broader campus audience.