Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, January 29, 2021
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Director's Corner
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Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Educationally Sensitive Patient Outcomes (ESPOs): The Holy Grail for Transformation of Medical Education Research
Perspectives/Opinions
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Stephen Humphrey, MD, Valerie Carlberg, MD, Alexandria Bear, MD, and Arthur Derse, MD, JD: Can the Observation of Art Make Us Better Clinicians?
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Jayshil Patel, MD and Paul Bergl, MD: Beyond Competency: Setting a Path to [Diagnostic] Expertise
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Jeffrey Amundson, PhD, and Amy Prunuske, PhD: Parallels of Addressing COVID-19 Pandemic and Curriculum Redesign
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Mary Ann Gilligan, MD, MPH: Assessment of Communication Skills in Medical Education
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Megan Schultz, MD, MS: Teaching is Love
Poetry Corner
Your Turn
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See how readers answered last week's prompt: What book are you reading right now, and would you recommend it?
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Respond to this week's prompt: What is your favorite "snow day" memory?
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Respond to this week's character question: What made you laugh today?
Announcements & Resources
- Apply to the Kern Institute's Transformational Ideas Initiative (TI2) Seed Grant Program
- Register for Kern's Upcoming Virtual Events
- Sign-up for Movement & Meditation
- Listen to a Podcast Interview with Adina Kalet, MD
- Kern National Network News & Events
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Director's Corner
Educationally Sensitive Patient Outcomes (ESPOs): The Holy Grail for Transformation of Medical Education Research
by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH
This week, Dr. Kalet introduces ESPOs and reports on the Kern Institute’s first Invitational International Conference on Medical Education and Patient Outcomes...
Medical Education Research is a young science. When I started out, this work was mostly done by front line (and very busy) medical educators working with a few learning-scientist colleagues. We studied how the structure and process of learning – and individual characteristics of learners and instructional designs – affected individual student learning outcomes. Most studies were small, single institution, and predominately cross-sectional projects that had no comparisons or controls; not surprisingly, our literature was roundly criticized for a lack of rigor and for focusing on questions that had “marginal significance for actual practice” (Ouch!). In retrospect, these criticisms were correct, and by the way, who wants to do “marginally significant” work? We knew we could do better.
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Perspective/Opinion
Can the Observation of Art Make Us Better Clinicians?
by Stephen Humphrey, MD, Valerie Carlberg, MD, Alexandria Bear, MD, and Arthur Derse, MD, JD
Drs. Humphrey, Carlberg, Bear, and Derse describe how teaching Visual Thinking Strategies can improve perspective, communication, and empathy - a project they developed through the Kern Institute's Transformational Ideas Initiative program...
When people think of medical education, they envision the sciences – biology, pharmacology, physiology, and anatomy – among others. Artistry, or the consideration of art, is typically not deemed relevant to the skills a physician must acquire. Despite this, many trainees have heard the adage “medicine is an art.” This phrase typically arises after a nuanced physical exam finding, an innocuous but relevant comment in a patient history, or the success of a forgotten treatment modality for a recalcitrant condition. The term “art” in that context means the application of knowledge, skills, and judgment. The Oxford Dictionary also defines, “art,” however, as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture.” If we agree that medicine is both a science and an art, can observation of art make us better physicians?
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Perspective/Opinion
Beyond Competency: Setting a Path to [Diagnostic] Expertise
by Jayshil Patel, MD, and Paul Bergl, MD
Drs. Patel and Bergl, who have a keen interest in “how doctors think,” discuss their curriculum to improve clinical reasoning skills...
Think about the last time you or someone you know went to a doctor with a symptom. What did you or they seek? Did you want an explanation for the symptom? Did you want an efficient, yet thoughtful evaluation in arriving at a diagnosis?
Accurate and timely diagnosis is the foundation of medicine. With it, management strategies have the best potential to positively modify disease and outcome. Without accurate diagnoses, however, management is unguided and both potentially wasteful and ineffective. Thus, we advocate for undergraduate and graduate medical education to invest in setting learners on a path towards diagnostic expertise.
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Perspective/Opinion
Parallels of Addressing the COVID-19 Pandemic and Curriculum Redesign
by Jeffrey Amundson, PhD, and Amy Prunuske, PhD
Drs. Amundson and Prunuske, building on lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and articulated in a recent article in The Atlantic, show how medical schools can employ the lessons learned from dealing with the coronavirus to transforming medical education…
As we approach the new year, there is a fresh hope that 2021 will bring with it the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and an enhanced appreciation for face-to-face interactions. Ironically even while we have been socially isolated, various social cognitive determinates still have had a strong impact on our behaviors, as was clearly articulated in Ed Yong’s September 2020 Atlantic article.
In an analogous manner, we are seeing a fresh hope to change curricula at the Medical College of Wisconsin to enhance competency, character, and caring in emerging physicians. By becoming more aware of intuition errors that can prevent us from achieving desired outcomes, we can help adjust our mindsets and implement novel curricular solutions in a complex educational system. In this article we utilize Yong’s outline to draw parallels between how we can deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and with curriculum change.
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Perspective/Opinion
Assessment of Communication Skills in Medical Education
by Mary Ann Gilligan, MD, MPH
Dr. Gilligan, who has an interest in communication in medical settings, shares how she and colleagues are developing teaching methodologies and measurements of effective communication skills for medical students…
Expertise in communication skills is one of the essential components of clinical competence for doctors. Medical schools are required to include training in communication skills in their curricula. Historically, training has primarily occurred in the early years of medical school and the skills have not been consistently reinforced later in the clinical environment. Fortunately, we now have decades of research to help guide development of a successful program in communication skills training.
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Perspective/Opinion
Teaching is Love
by Megan Schultz, MD, MS
Dr. Schultz, who taught Spanish in an urban Baltimore high school before going into medicine, shares a story of the student who inspired her to become a doctor...
Before I was a doctor, I was a teacher. I taught Spanish at Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore for two years before I decided to go to medical school. It was one of my students, Torreantoe Smalls, who inspired me to become a doctor. Torry was mischievous, with a quick grin. He played the trumpet like nobody’s business and tried, sweetly and patiently, to teach my clueless, clumsy feet how to step dance. He once got a B+ on a Spanish exam, and even though he was just beside himself with pride, he made me swear up and down I wouldn’t tell anyone he had had actually studied for it.
During his senior year, Torry was shot multiple times in the abdomen during an attempted robbery. He would ultimately spend two years and three months of his life in the hospital, enduring dozens of surgeries and losing nearly two feet of bowel. It was in his hospital room, staring at his small frame in the bed, surrounded by the clicks and beeps of machines, that I resolved to be a doctor.
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Sometimes (often) poetry is expressed in song.
This week, in light of the recent presidential inauguration,
we share Leonard Cohen’s Democracy lyrics.
Democracy
by Leonard Cohen
Sing along, sing along, sing along
All my dear Ship of State
Sing along, sing along, sing along
It's coming through a hole in the air
From those nights in Tiananmen Square
It's coming from the feel
That this ain't exactly real
Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there
From the wars against disorder
From the sirens night and day
From the fires of the homeless
From the ashes of the gay
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A
It's coming through a crack in the wall
On a visionary flood of alcohol
From the staggering account
Of the Sermon on the Mount
Which I don't pretend to understand at all
It's coming from the silence
On the dock of the bay
From the brave, the bold, the battered
Heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A
It's coming from the sorrow in the street
The holy places where the races meet
From the homicidal bitchin'
That goes down in every kitchen
To determine who will serve and who will eat
From the wells of disappointment
Where the women kneel to pray
For the grace of God in the desert here
And the desert far away
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A
Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
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I'm currently reading The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali. It is a love story based in a stationery and book store, but is set against the backdrop of Tehran in 1953, when the Iranian coup d'etat ousted the democratic prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. At the time, there were split loyalties between the Shah (traditional government), the prime minister, and the Communist party. While fictional, it became a springboard for me to learn more about another country's history. I would recommend this book!
-Zoe Bartynski, MCW Medical Student
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I highly recommend Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving. The author gives recaps on lives of famous people (and even trees and countries) in this witty and informative book.
-Wendy Demos, MCW Staff
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I'm reading You’re the Only One I’ve Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Dr. Meera Shah. HECK yes, I would recommend it! It’s so inspiring and empowering.
– Laura Grogan, MCW Medical Student
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I'm reading The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown and I would recommend it to a friend.
– Ayse Kula, MD; MCW Anesthesiologist
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I'm reading An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison. Yes, I would recommend it.”
– Paige McKenzie, MCW Medical Student
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I'm readying Contact by Carl Sagan and I would absolutely recommend it to a friend.
– Lidija Barbaric, Medical Student, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
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Respond to next week's reflection prompt:
What is your favorite "snow day" memory?
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Call for Transformational Ideas!
How would you innovate medical education?
The Kern Institute's Transformational Ideas Initiative is a seed grant program to develop and test ideas, creating opportunities for students, staff, residents, fellows, and faculty to innovate the educational experience at the Medical College of Wisconsin.
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This year, we are looking for proposals that address one of the many changes we are currently experiencing - whether with curriculum revision, inclusion and diversity initiatives, or adapting to a more virtual environment - while focusing on ensuring that the voices of those most affected (students, staff, faculty, residents, fellows) are part of the creative process.
Teams will be guided through the development of their idea through a series of summer workshops led by trained professionals from the Kern Institute's Human-Centered Design Lab. Funding and deployment of each project will span the 2021-22 academic year, and budgets for each project will be individually granted based on the needs of each project.
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Kern Grand Grand Rounds
Healing in the Aftermath of Hate
Please Please plan to join us for a unique Grand Rounds discussion with Pardeep Singh Kaleka, Executive Director of Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, Founder of Serve2Unite, and published author of "The Gift of Our Wounds" and Arno Michaelis, author of "My Life After Hate" and co-author of "The Gift of Our Wounds."
When white supremacist Wade Michael Page murdered seven people and wounded four in a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in 2012, Pardeep Kaleka was devastated. This tragedy followed by suicide would be one of the deadliest mass-murder hate crimes committed in US History. One of the victims that day was Pardeep’s father, Satwant Singh Kaleka. Meanwhile, Arno Michaelis, a former skinhead and founder of one of the largest racist skinhead organizations in the world, had spent years of his life committing terrible acts in the name of white power. When he heard about the attack, waves of guilt washed over him and he knew he had to take action to fight against the very crimes he used to commit.
In the aftermath of the Oak Creek shooting, Pardeep reached out to Arno for answers. What would follow this meeting was a journey of two men who breached a great divide to find brotherhood and love. In a world that seems to be tearing itself apart at the the seams, divided by identity, becoming more intolerant, xenophobic, and spiritually ill, it is essential that we remain committed to compassion. This talk will explore the role of both communal and individual trauma and healing.
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February 18, 2021
Live Virtual Presentation
9:00 - 10:00 am CT
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Well-Being Summit
Improving Institutional Culture to Optimize Well-Being in Academic Medicine
Everyone is welcome to attend. Please register by February 21, 2021
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February 25, 2021
Live Virtual Presentation
8:00 am - 12:00 noon CT
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Podcast Interview with Adina Kalet, MD
Remediation in Medical Education: A Midcourse Correction
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH, author of the book Remediation in Medical Education: A Midcourse Correction, discusses a programmatic approach to remediation, the difficult remediation cases that fascinate her and why, remediation tools, the stereotype threat and other topics with Preston Reynolds, MD, PhD, MACP.
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MCW COVID-19 Resource Center |
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The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community. |
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Editorial Board: Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, Adina Kalet, MD, Wendy Peltier, MD, Julia Schmitt, Olivia Davies, Scott Lamm, Eileen Peterson, Sarah Torres, & Anna Visser
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