DOCS: Where We Have We Come From and Where are We Going
Setting the Standard for
Clinical Skills Education
DOCS 2026
Annual Meeting
Call for Workshop Submissions
DOCS 2026 Workshops & Poster Submissions for the 15th Annual DOCS Meeting in Anaheim, CA Nov 6, 2026 Now Open!
LEAD A WORKSHOP at DOCS 2026!
Submission deadline: Friday August 28 by 5pm Eastern Time
This is a great way to collaborate with DOCS members from other institutions who have a similar interest and get a national presentation on your CV!
In the survey linked below, you will be asked to rank your top 3 workshop choices from the Umbrella Topic list and write a brief paragraph explaining your specific interest/expertise pertaining to each of the three workshops. If you already have other collaborators from DOCS in mind, please include that information.
WORKSHOP UMBRELLA TOPICS:
1) Determining benchmarks (end of M1, M2, longitudinal): what should be taught pre-clerkship vs clerkship vs in residency related to clinical skills?
2) How to integrate clinical skills within the overall curriculum (horizontal and vertical integration, blueprint from day 1 to graduation)
3) Faculty Development for clinical skills course instruction/assessment
4) How do we keep what is central to “clinical skills” (communication, history, hands-on PE) while incorporating new tech (POCUS etc)?
5) Developing SP encounters (summative or formative)-case-writing, training SPs, etc
6) Assessing clinical reasoning in a summative SP encounter (notes vs MCQs vs oral presentations)
7) Helping learners adapt “ideal” pre-clerkship training of skills to the “real” clinical world
Please complete this survey to be considered for a workshop team.
Submission Link:
The Workshop planning team will play "matchmaker" based on the survey results. Then you and your assembled group will decide which specific direction you’d like to go with the general topic provided. The more interactive for your 90 min, the better! In designing your workshop, please keep the meeting theme “Where have we come from and where are we going?” in mind as well.
Submission decisions by: Friday, September 11
We look forward to your workshop submission! If you have any questions, please email Lisa Bernstein (lbernst@emory.edu).
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Poster Abstract Submissions for DOCS 2026:
The 2026 Annual DOCS Program Committee is now welcoming submissions for the annual Poster Session
This session highlights the research and innovation work of our members.
If you have research or an innovation related to a clinical skills course that you would like to share with the larger DOCS membership, please consider submitting an abstract.
For questions about the Poster Session or Abstract submission process, please contact Dr. Karen Szauter at kszauter@utmb.edu
Important dates:
Submissions open: July 7, 2026
Submission deadline: August 17, 2026
Submission decisions: on or before Sept 18th
Submit your poster abstracts here: https://forms.gle/4QefzTXaAT9Eex5o9
DOCS members are encouraged to submit abstracts in any area of general interest to the DOCS membership. Potential topics for submission could include, but are not limited to:
Communication Skills
Physical Exam Skills
Clinical Reasoning
Professional Development/PIF
Assessment or Remediation
Wellness and Flourishing of UME Students and/or Clinical Skills Faculty
Faculty Development for Teaching Clinical Skills
Other Innovations
Abstract Requirements:
Abstracts are limited to 350 words, not including title, authors, institutional affiliations, or references.
Abstracts are required to include the following:
Title
Authors
Background/Purpose
Approach/Methods
Results/Outcomes
Discussion
Conclusions/Significance
References
Review Criteria:
All proposals will be reviewed by multiple DOCS members. Reviewers will not have access to identifying information of the submitters.
Topic of Importance: topic is relevant and timely for a national/international audience.
Approach: the authors effectively explain an approach that solves the problem identified.
Interpretation: findings are presented in a clear manner; discussion is grounded in the literature.
Generalizability: the authors provide evidence that findings can be transferred to other settings.
Presentation:
Accepted posters will be displayed and presented at the DOCS Annual Program Poster Session November 6, 2026 in Anaheim, California.
Awards:
Posters will be reviewed by multiple DOCS members in a similar manner as above. Three awards will be presented*:
Outstanding Learner Poster
Outstanding Innovation Poster
Outstanding Research Poster
*Those submitting posters will be asked to select the award classification they feel most appropriate for evaluation of their poster.
Thank you! We look forward to your submissions!
The DOCS Annual Meeting Poster Committee