Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, May 21, 2021
In This Issue Focused on Learning Communities:

Director's Corner

Perspectives/Opinions

Poetry Corner
  • Morgan Harper Nichols: For Prolonged Stillness

Your Turn


Announcements & Resources
  • Register for Upcoming Virtual Events
  • Kern National Network News & Events

Director's Corner
The Hogwarts Model: Putting it all Together in Learning Communities is Foundational to the New Medical School Curriculum


by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH

Dr. Kalet discusses how MCW’s Learning Community (LC) model has the potential to benefit students and faculty members, addressing our desire to build character and caring, while strengthening both academic and social opportunities for our learners …


Last spring, in anticipation of a rough, rapidly evolving, and socially isolating year, the MCW School of Medicine built a learning community (LC) structure for the entering M1 class to ensure social cohesion and engagement. We wanted students to weather the pandemic with regularly scheduled and academically meaningful structured connections with their peers and between students and faculty members. We accomplished this by weaving together the required REACH (Recognize, Empathize, Allow, Care, Hold Each Other Up) Curriculum and the voluntary 4C Academic Coaching Program. We wanted the students to experience a sense of continuity and have sufficient time to establish true collegiality and strong bonds through “cyberspace.”

Perspective/Opinion
Learning Communities at MCW — Building on the REACH Curriculum and the 4C Program


by Kurt Pfeifer, MD: Marty Muntz, MD; and Cassie Ferguson, MD

The team reviews MCW’s experiences with the REACH Curriculum and the 4C Program, each of which has elements of the proposed Learning Community model …


The challenges of training in medicine have never been greater. Medical students are expected to develop a larger fund of knowledge in hectic clinical environments burdened by great financial, social, and public health pressures. This creates can have numerous consequences, including burnout and increasing rates of psychiatric disease. To better support students and reduce these potential problems, many medical schools have implemented learning communities (LCs). 

Perspective/Opinion
Learning Communities at MCW A Vision for the Future

by Kurt Pfeifer, MD; Marty Muntz, MD; and Cassie Ferguson, MD

As the Kern Institute continues its work on implementation of well-being into the medical school curriculum and exploration of the use of learning communities (LCs) in medical education, members of the Kern Institute and key stakeholders have met to discuss the larger vision for what LCs might look like at MCW …


Within the next decade, we envision Learning Communities (LCs) being an integral part of the continuum of medical education, spanning from undergraduate (pre-medical) schooling through graduate medical education (residency & fellowship), and encompassing all healthcare professions (including, for example, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physical therapists, and social workers). LCs will target multiple critical objectives, both social and academic, and will greatly improve students’ preparedness for their careers in medicine by providing accessible, essential, and longitudinal relationships in the form of mentorship, coaching, support, and advice with faculty, senior colleagues, and/or peers.  Moreover, LCs will provide an essential forum for development of character and caring by serving as a “safer space” for individuals to come together and provide multiple different perspectives as each student forms their professional identity.
Questions for the 4C Coaches

by Edmund Duthie, MD; Amy Farkas, MD, MS; and David Marks, MD, MBA

Drs. Edmund Duthie, Amy Farkas, and David Marks, who serve as coaches in the 4C Program, discuss their experiences and encourage other faculty members to volunteer in the future …

The 4C Coaches Answer the following questions:

  • What made you sign up for the 4C program?
  • What has been the best part of the program?
  • How has being a coach impacted you?
  • Why would you recommend other faculty join the program as a coach?

Questions for the 4C Students



By Trevor de Sibour, rising M2; Radek Buss, rising M3; Julia Bosco, rising M2; and Ryan Power, rising M3

Medical students Trevor de Sibour, Radek Buss, Julia Bosco and Ryan Power discuss their experiences as students in the Coaching for Character, Caring and Competence (4C) Program …

The 4C Students Answer the following questions:

  • What made you sign up for the 4C program?
  • What has been the most beneficial part of the program?
  • How has your Coach impacted you?
  • Why would you recommend the program to incoming students?




Thank You to 4C Coaches and REACH Facilitators


We would like to extend a special thank you to the 4C Coaches and REACH facilitators who volunteer their time to be a part of our students' professional and personal development.
Happy Graduation Class of 2021!! Here we share a poem from Morgan Harper Nichols’ blog: https://morganharpernichols.com/blog/right-where-you-are-feat-ngozi-musa 


For Prolonged Stillness
Morgan Harper Nichols

there is more life to be lived.
you feel the pulse in the morning wind.
you long to grasp the wind’s long tail
and leave this place, with full exhale.

but in the middle of the season
as leaves fall to the ground
toward longer, indefinite stillness,
something within you
starts to let go,
and you return from forethought back into
what the soul deeply knows:

you are free
you are free.
let your exhales be
what they need to be.
let them leave your body
at whatever pace...

grace
as you wait.

it's okay.

for
oh, how beautifully and wonderfully
you are well on your way,
even as you wait.

the stillness is teaching you
more than you ever expected.
slow down and notice:
you are still being directed.
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To read people's thoughts so I can enter a space with their needs in mind.
- Charlie Ann Rykwalder, Staff



If I could have a superpower, I would like the ability to control earth elements (like one of my favorite shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender).
- Sarah Torres, Medical Student

Respond to next week's reflection prompt:


Helen Keller was reported to have said, "Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much."

This week, please tell us what you see as the greatest strength of a community.
  
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Residents and Fellows:

What are you looking forward to in the next academic year?  
How might classrooms/educational systems serve as more regenerative spaces that support human flourishing and planetary well-being? 

KNN leaders Dr. Cheryl Maurana and Dr. Bonnie Miller will speak on advancing human flourishing through caring and character in medicine.
May 25, 2021
Live Virtual Event
10:00 am - 11:30 am EST
You are cordially invited to a celebration
for the

2020-21 KINETIC3 Graduates of the Excellence in Teaching Track



This celebration will include a welcome address, as well as an individual celebration of each of the graduates. We hope you will join us to congratulate them on their accomplishments!
June 2, 2021
Live Virtual Event
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm CT
Shape the Movement Toward Human Flourishing

KNN Conversations


The KNN is holding small-group conversations to obtain feedback on its integrated framework and inform future activities. 

Help shape the direction of the KNN by sharing how you think the work of caring and character within the medical profession is supporting—and can better support—human flourishing.
KNN Student Session
June 15, 2021
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm CT
KNN Faculty/Staff Session
June 17, 2021
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm CT
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