Hi #MedTwitter! I know there& #39;s a lot of craziness going on in the world but I& #39;m still going to take a moment to talk about #MedEd on this lovely Fall Sunday. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍁" title="Ahornblatt" aria-label="Emoji: Ahornblatt">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☺️" title="Lächelndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Lächelndes Gesicht"> I posted re #CognitiveLoad this week, and I wanted to touch on one component of that today: extraneous load. 1/

Extraneous load is basically the extra work / stress you carry when the appropriate tools are not provided to you to best succeed in completing a task. It comes from the way information is presented to learners / the design of the instructional materials (or lack thereof). 2/

#MedStudentTwitter feels this when they get a lecture without clear learning objectives. #InternTwitter when they& #39;re asked to report data w/out being shown how to collect it. & all of us when we are given any task without a scaffolding provided on which we can lay the bricks. 3/

So how can we help our trainees build the house we are asking for? We have to provide them with tools (& scaffolding!) to offload this extraneous load! 4/

This means that NOT everything you teach HAS to be medicine (gasp!). Teaching how to study, how to search PubMed, how to review results (& time mark! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⏰" title="Wecker" aria-label="Emoji: Wecker">), how to make a ddx, how to present, how to manage time, etc, are some of the best lessons we can give our trainees! 5/

So this week, before you get upset that your students aren& #39;t up to par or your new team isn& #39;t meeting your expectations, think about the extraneous load they are carrying, and offer to offload some of that for them! 6/

& as always, remember this basic premise: everyone means well and is trying their best! (Thx to @Capt_Ammonia for teaching me that one. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☺️" title="Lächelndes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Lächelndes Gesicht">) Alright, now off to the wards with y& #39;all! Happy Sunday! & congrats & #39;terns for making it 1/4 of the way through! You got this! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤓" title="Nerd-Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Nerd-Gesicht">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤗" title="Umarmendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Umarmendes Gesicht">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙌" title="Raising hands" aria-label="Emoji: Raising hands"> 7/7