Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, September 3, 2021
In This Back to School Issue:
school_supplies_desk.jpg
Poetry Corner

Your Turn


Announcements & Resources
  • Submit a speaker proposal to the Kern Institute Event Advisory Committee
  • Cultures & Community Festival
  • Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Journal Club
  • Kern Institute Grand Rounds: Caring and Trusting Relationships in Medicine
  • Med Moth Fall Event
  • Kern Grand Rounds - Value-Added Medical Education: Reimagining Learner Roles
  • Kern National Network News & Events
Director's Corner
Tolerate and Then Cultivate “Slowness” to Support Character Formation in Young Physicians


By Adina Kalet, MD, MPH



In this week’s Director’s Corner, Dr. Kalet notices the early signs of character, moral reasoning capacity and practical wisdom in how novices handle the tradeoff between efficiency and excellence...

I spent many years precepting medical learners at a very busy public Ambulatory Care Center on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It was a bustling place. During a typical half-day, a small number of faculty members supervised eight or so residents and a couple of clerkship students as we cared for the more than sixty scheduled patients and taught the practice of medicine. We worked steadily, juggling and multitasking. Officially, the clinic day ended at 4:30 PM. This was the time the clerical and nursing staff and most of the physicians and trainees would finish up their work and clock out. The building closed soon after. Usually after 5:00 PM, one of our residents would still be in a clinical room with the patient, nowhere near done for the day. As the session draws to a close, the attendings would share a knowing glance and quickly negotiate who would stay overtime to coach our “future chief resident.”
Perspective/Opinion
Pedagogical Practice and the Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework

By Lana M. Minshew, PhD



Pedagogy is “the approach to teaching [and] the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners.” Dr. Minshew describes how understanding education theory and actively tailoring preclinical and bedside instruction to those theories can benefit students and their future patients …


How would you describe your pedagogical practice? For many, this question is daunting and might lead you to employ educational jargon. Perhaps you simply say, “I don’t know, I just teach.” However, the pedagogy you use is important for the learning you expect to happen.

Perspective/Opinion
What is Learning?

By Jeff Amundson, PhD




In this article, Dr. Amundson presents some basic principles that drive learning…

What is learning? Take the time to ask someone this question and you might find answers gravitate to acquiring knowledge and/or skill as the result of being taught in a learning environment (i.e., education). That is, learning is often equated with pedagogy. And while the two are obviously related, both are distinct. This distinction is important because understanding that learning is not pedagogy creates an opportunity for a deeper understanding of learning, specifically as a primarily implicit process. Consider Pavlov’s dog (Pavlovian Conditioning) or Schedules of Reinforcement (Instrumental/Skinnerian Conditioning) or Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment (Bobo Doll) or, for a more local example, younger physicians observing professional behavior of older physicians during rounds. In other words, the explicit methods and practices of teaching are one thing and what is learned and how learning happens is another. Understanding some basic principles of learning may help to move learning from an implicit process to an explicit one.

Perspective/Opinion
Thinking About Inclusivity as we Welcome a New Class of Learners

By Chelsea C. Weaver, PhD



Dr. Weaver discusses how to intentionally create a welcoming and inclusive learning environment for new students…

As educators, a new school year means preparing lectures, advising learners, writing exams, and cultivating content. Many of our roles are clearly defined from the start: scholarship, teaching, advising. One role, however, that is not so plainly written in our job description is arguably one of the most important roles we will fulfill: modeling an inclusive environment for all. As we welcome a diverse and brilliant new class of learners, it is important that we ask ourselves whether we are intentionally creating a welcoming and inclusive learning environment. While the new school year brings with it untold excitement, for many learners it also brings anxiety and fear for what to expect in their new learning environment. Being mindful about inclusivity as well as equity could help ease their transition and allow all learners to feel supported.

Perspective/Opinion
How Should We Think About Community?

By Quinn McKinnon, MA



In this article, Mr. McKinnon considers community building through the lens of phenomenology utilizing fiction and personal experience… 

The perspective I give in this article is tipped deliberately in favor of phenomenology rather than intellect. I feel no need to put forth a convincing definition of community. Scholars with far better minds than my own have dedicated a non-trivial portion of their career to doing so. Instead, I suggest that each of us “knows,” or at least has the capacity to “know,” the concept of community and its indispensability in our bones, because we know it experientially. Information and intellect are useful only insofar as they are transformative in experience.


A Special T. Times Issue
Remembering 9/11: Share Your Thoughts and Stories



Saturday, September 11 will mark the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. For that week's issue, we are asking for your 100-word reflections (either signed or anonymous) to one of these prompts:
Choose one:
  • What do you remember most about 9/11 and the days that followed?
  • How have the events of that day affected you or those around you?
  • What will people remember about 9/11 in 25, 50, or 100 years?
We will open a submission portal next week and hope to publish many of the responses. Thank you for helping us all remember. 



The Kern Institute Event Advisory Committee invites you to
Submit a Speaker Proposal



The Kern Institute is working to transform medical education to better align with the needs of the public on the basis of character, competence, and caring. 

Please complete the form below if you have a speaker you would like to propose.
 
The Event Advisory Committee will review all proposals based on the following criteria: 

  • The speaker's qualifications
  • Timeliness of the topic
  • Relevance to the mission

If chosen, a committee member will extend the invitation to the speaker and open the line of communication. 

*Please Note: While we greatly appreciate your enthusiasm, please do not initiate correspondence with the speaker directly. This will ensure that expectations are clear and confusion or misunderstandings are averted.

Cultures & Communities Festival


Formerly known as the Minority Health Film Festival, Cultures & Communities Festival (C&C Fest) is a week of screenings and events focused on traditionally marginalized communities, creating transformative experiences for all who attend. 

Taking place September 6-12, 2021, C&C Fest is a hybrid event featuring 20+ films, several workshops, panels, and Q&A’s in-person at the re-opened Oriental Theatre, virtually and at event venues around the city.


Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Journal Club


We are excited to kick off the Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship (KICS) inaugural Journal Club for Medical Education with Dr. Patricia O’Sullivan of the University of California-San Francisco.




Interested individuals can join the meeting via Zoom using the link below, or email Michael Braun to be added to the meeting invite.

The KICS Journal Club for Medical Education meets monthly on the second Wednesday of the month via Zoom, 12:15–1:00 PM Central.   
Meeting ID: 921 1154 0031 
Passcode: KICSJoClub 
September 8, 2021
Zoom Presentation
12:15 - 1:00 pm CT


Please Join Us on September 15
Kern Institute Grand Rounds:
The Myth of the Monolith: Empathic Communication in the Time of COVID
 

Please Join the Kern Institute for a special opportunity to share a discussion with Kimberly Manning, MD.

In a time where many conversations center around vaccine uptake, how we communicate with our patients is a crucial pandemic mitigation strategy. Preconceived narratives and biases can shape talk points and lead to misunderstandings--and missed opportunities. This talk explores strategies for respectfully engaging a diverse population of patients while respecting their individual ideas and lived experiences. 

Dr. Manning is Associate Professor, General Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. You can also learn more about her via her Twitter account.
September 15, 2021
Live via Zoom
9:00 - 10:00 am CT

Save the Date for the Next Med Moth Event


Med Moth is designed to create a space for people to share their stories about their experiences in medicine and reflect on their purpose and meaning in pursuing this profession.
Interested in participating as a storyteller? The first workshop led by Dr. Bruce Campbell will be held
September 7, 2021 at 5:00 PM CT
Save The Date to Attend the Event

October 14, 2021

More Info Coming Soon


2021 Professionalism Week
Kern Institute Grand Rounds
Value-Added Medical Education: Reimagining Learner Roles
 


While traditional clinical teaching activities such as taking a history, performing a physical exam, writing notes, and giving oral case presentations are clearly effective educational tools, they often lead to inefficiency and duplication of work. Meanwhile, gaps persist between current state and optimal state for patient care and learning outcomes.

This session will include a panel discussion of opportunities to creatively reimagine student roles on patient care teams and participant reflection on how key concepts might be implemented in their sphere of influence.

Panelists include:

Marty Muntz, MD (Lead)
Erica Chou, MD
Christopher Davis, MD
Catherine Ferguson, MD
John Hayes, DO
Lana Minshew, PhD
October 20, 2021
Live Virtual Panel Presentation
12:00 - 1:00 pm CT
The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community.
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