Mini-GEMS: Guidelines for Authors

We aim to give Mini-GEMs a very specific styling and layout such that people using them can anticipate the manner in which the teaching will be delivered.

Slides will be written by authors, but formatted by AEME to keep the styling consistent. We also need to be aware of copyright issues relating to pictures/video if we are electronically publishing them, as well as ensuring valid consent and confidentiality if any patient material is included. We recommend including images that have a Creative Commons license. These can be found via Google Images (under ‘Settings’, then ‘Advanced Search’), or websites such as Pixabay or Photopin.

Below is a list of formatting guidelines:

  • Author/Speaker:
    We want to show that geriatrics is a specialty full of dynamic, enthusiastic, passionate clinicians. Authors must fit this remit.
  • Duration:
    No longer than 7 minutes. This is the duration of a typical OSCE station, and fits with the ethos of short, sharp, concise teaching.
  • Title:
    Must be catchy and give the user a sense that what they will learn will be directly transferable to their workplace e.g. not “Parkinson Disease Medications”, but something like “My patient with PD can’t swallow their medications – gulp…” Such a title will also hopefully serve to reactivate prior knowledge relating to the topic.
  • Topic:
    These must also be clinically relevant. The pressure of time demands that they are highly focused. Here are examples of possible topics with suggested titles: “Dizziness: getting your head round Hallpikes” “Acopia, and other swear words in geriatric medicine” “A pessimist’s guide to early warning scores” Others : Delirium Mx at night, Stroke thrombolysis, Does my patient have PD etc.
  • Style:
    Powerpoint (or equivalent) slides following the 6 x 4 rule where possible (either 6 bullets with 4 words, or 4 bullets with 6 words). Slides should be interspersed with clinically relevant (Creative Commons) pictures and videos, and perhaps footage of the speaker themselves, to ensure they are visually stimulating to watch.

All talks must contain realistic, achievable learning outcomes stated clearly at the outset. Similarly, these should be reviewed before the talk is concluded.

All talks should include at least one reputable source of information relating to the topic that learners can access (preferably via the internet) if they wish to do further reading (e.g. website, book, journal article, author contact email address…)

Presentations can be created in Powerpoint or Keynote, and then sent to us along with audio files containing the narration –  these can be recorded directly using a smartphone. We recommend recording the narration for each slide separately. The files will then be turned into a Mini-GEM video at AEME HQ. Please include the source URL of any images or videos used in the presentation.

If you want to create your own Mini-GEM, please get in touch and we’ll help you get started.