Geisel Academy Teaching Bootcamp: Brain-Friendly Teaching

Monday, September 8, 2025, 12:00 PM - Saturday, September 9, 2028, 1:00 AM

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (1.00 hours), CME-Designated Participation Credit (1.00 hours)

This session examines the impact of cognitive load on learning and how brain-friendly teaching strategies can enhance effectiveness. Dr. Petra Lewis highlights the importance of simplifying presentation design to avoid overwhelming learners. Participants learn how to focus on key information, integrate visual and verbal content, and signal critical points for better retention. The session emphasizes the use of clear, concise slides with one learning objective per slide, while acknowledging that novices require foundational knowledge before tackling complex topics. By reducing extraneous content and aligning teaching with how the brain processes information, educators can significantly improve comprehension and learner success.

Presenter

Petra Lewis, MD – Section Chief, Diagnostic Radiology, Dartmouth Health

Petra Lewis gained her medical degree at Guy’s Hospital, London, England. Initial UK training was followed by a Nuclear Medicine Fellowship at Johns Hopkins, two years running a clinical PET center in London, then Radiology residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She has been on faculty at Geisel Medical School at Dartmouth since 1998, where she is currently a Full Professor in Radiology and OBGYN, and Vice Chair of Education for Radiology.

Her national profile has focused on education in Radiology. She is a prior President of the Alliance of Clinician-Educators in Radiology, the Alliance of Medical Student Educators in Radiology, and the Association of Academic Radiology, and was the Education Track Chair for the Radiological Society of North America. She has won multiple Educator Awards from local and national organizations, as well as the AUR Gold Medal in 2021 and the RSNA Outstanding Educator award in 2024. She has been dedicated to developing multiple shared resources for radiology educators, including the AMSER curriculum, STARS, Aquifer, DartRad, ALAAR Scholarly Database, and Standardized CV and RadExam. She is most proud of her Senior Editor role for RadExam, which is used by over 80% of radiology residencies. She is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Radiology, a textbook for medical students, and has published and lectured extensively nationally and internationally on Radiology education, including innumerable faculty development sessions.

1. Define the concept of cognitive load.
2. Describe the factors that affect cognitive load.
3. Identify how PowerPoint can inadvertently increase cognitive load.

In support of improving patient care, Dartmouth Health is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

American Medical Association (AMA)
Dartmouth Health designates this Enduring Material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

All other learners may claim CME-designated participation credit. Consult your professional licensing board regarding the applicability and acceptance of CME-designated participation credit for programs certified for credit by organizations accredited by Joint Accreditation for Interprofessional Education.

Registration/Requirements for Successful Completion
You may claim credit for successful completion of this online course. In order to claim credit, you must follow these steps:

1. Click the Register tab above. If you are not logged into your account, you will need to log in. Use the Forgot Your Password? button if you need to reset your password.

2. Register for the activity.

3. Click the Content/Tests tab and then View Content to view the recording. View the entire presentation.

4. Complete the Post-Test (attestation - return to the Content/Tests tab to find it).

5. Click the Complete Evaluation button, or click My Account in the menu bar; then click Evaluations.

6. Complete and Submit the Evaluation.

Bibliographic Sources

• Lewis, P.  Brain Friendly Teaching - Reducing Learner's Cognitive Load Acad Radiol 2016; 23:675–68

Provider Contact Information
Provider contact information for questions regarding accreditation of the activity:

Center for Learning and Professional Development
ACE Office
Dartmouth Health
[email protected]

Mitigation of Relevant Financial Relationships

Dartmouth Health adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education.  Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity, including planners, faculty, authors, or others are required to disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies^.  All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated prior to the commencement of the activity.

^Ineligible Company is any entity whose primary business purpose is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.