Academic Medicine Podcast

In the following months, I started noticing a subtle change in the way my patients and the community saw me. I went from being called the doctor to our doctor. Sharon Reece, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest in Fayetteville, Arkansas, reflects on what she learned during her immersion in rural generalism in northern Alberta, Canada. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the April 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

These golden minutes were not only setting a realtime example of intersecting roles and responsibilities but opening a window into a version of mentorship unique to virtual platforms, a kind of role-modeling that revealed granular moments of sacrifice, struggle, and negotiation. Yoshiko Iwai, a second-year medical student at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina reflects on Zoom mentorship and the art of juggling medical practice, research, teaching, and family. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the March 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

In the ensuing weeks, I continued with my work, behaving as if the incident had no impact on me while clamping down the embarrassment of being called a racial slur in front of my team. When others asked how I was doing, I said that I was fine in an attempt to make it go away. Takesha Valentine Cooper, program director of the Psychiatry Residency Training Program and chair of medical school admissions, equity advisor, and vice chair for education in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at the University of California Riverside School of Medicine in Riverside, California discusses the importance of supporting historically marginalized medical students and residents who have faced discrimination. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the March 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Will Bynum, MD, and Joe Jackson, MD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss new research into the nature of shame experiences in medical students and emerging work on the implications of premedical students' shame experiences for their professional development. They offer advice for educators and learners for naming, normalizing, and addressing the effects of shame and provide suggestions for fostering a safe, inclusive learning environment and a holistic admissions process that support learners and minimize opportunities for shame triggering experiences.  Read the article discussed in this episode: Bynum WE IV, Teunissen PW, Varpio L. In the “shadow of shame”: A phenomenological exploration of the nature of shame experiences in medical students. Acad Med. 2021;96:S23-S30.  A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblorg.org. 

This episode was originally released in August 2019. Guests Will Bynum, MD, Lara Varpio, PhD, and Ashley Adams, MD, join Toni Gallo and former Academic Medicine editor-in-chief David Sklar, MD, to discuss shame in medicine and medical education, what it is and isn't, how it can be studied, and their research and other work in this area. Read the articles discussed in this episode:  Bynum WE IV, Adams AV, Edelman CE, Uijtdehaage S, Artino AR Jr, Fox JW. Addressing the elephant in the room: A shame resilience seminar for medical students. Acad Med. 2019;94:1132-1136. Bynum WE IV, Artino AR Jr, Uijtdehaage S, Webb AMB, Varpio L. Sentinel emotional events: The nature, triggers, and effects of shame experiences in medical residents. Acad Med. 2019;94:85-93.  Sklar DP. Recognizing and eliminating shame culture in health professions education. Acad Med. 2019;94:1061-1063. A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org. Disclaimer: The views expressed in this episode are the authors’ own and do

Ultimately, whether it is through language, a shared interest, or another shared commonality, finding ways to connect with our patients is an invaluable skill that can transform medicine from a science into an art. Avani M. Kolla, a fourth-year medical student at New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York, New York, reflects on how language can act as a stepping stone to forming relationships between patients and providers. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the February 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

I realized I never processed what I witnessed, experienced, and lived through. I put it all in a box so I could keep going to work. I sealed the box so that nothing could escape and distract me from the mission at hand: caring for critically ill patients. Amanda S. Xi, a critical care anesthesiologist in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, discusses how institutions can help trainees who experienced trauma while caring for patients during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the January 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

I choose to view this not as a story of bias against me, but instead of my attending’s patience and perseverance. His uncompromising kindness made the patient blind to his own preconceived notions. I try to be a role model for my own residents the way that he was for me. Deepa Danan, assistant professor and medical student clerkship director in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, reflects on remaining compassionate when caring for patients, even when they make misjudgments about their providers. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the December 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

The formative experience I had long sought emerged outside the context of feedback itself. I had spent my rotation in search of people who would change me, but I had not expected to find them dressed in johnnies rather than long white coats. Grace Ferri, a fourth-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, reflects on the patient who helped her remember where she came from, and—most importantly—where she belonged, during a stressful day on the wards. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the December 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

With the mask muffling my voice and the omnipresent sound of monitor alarms, words too, were strained. I grew irate at the situation. The inability to talk. The inability to connect. The inability to touch. Graduate nursing student Hunter Marshall reflects on isolation and connection during the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. This essay placed first in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Even in the age of medical miracles, there is still no intervention more powerful than a genuine human connection. There is no lab, no scan, no test, no drug, no surgery, that can replace it. For the soul heals not by human medicine, but human kindness. Medical student Ross Perry reflects on the most important lesson he learned while caring for a very special patient during his third year of medical school. This essay placed first in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Dementia does not rob the ears of joy. Recent nursing school graduate Anna Swartzlander remembers a patient with dementia who shared with her his love of music. This essay placed second in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org. 

Why do I find it so much easier to deal with death after the fact than I do watching its slow, looming approach, like the shadow of a cloud creeping over my face? I think of cupping water between my hands, the spaces between fingers that I cannot hold tight. Medical student Davy Ran reflects on how their perspective on death has changed since they began medical school. This essay placed second in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

“My time, energy, and focus are finite; one clear, properly motivated action will come at the cost of another. It is easy to think this means I will miss out on important moments, or that I may disappoint some for the benefit of others. But the antidote is to recognize that each experience is special.” Fourth-year medical student Fletcher Bell reflects on doctors’ overlapping duties to their patients and family. This essay placed third in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the October 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guest Deena Hamza, PhD, joins hosts Toni Gallo and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee member and assistant editor Dan Schumacher, MD, PhD, MEd, to discuss a new framework for evaluating innovations, including why and how this model was developed and the ways it can be used in medical education. This is the third episode in a 3-part series of discussions with RIME authors about their medical education research and its implications for the field. Find the complete 2021 RIME supplement, which is free to read and download, at academicmedicine.org. Read the article discussed in this episode: Eco-Normalization: Evaluating the Longevity of an Innovation in Context. A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org.

It is often minute details such as the lack of internet, transportation, or a signature that can prevent people from completing an application for food stamps or the medication they need. By acknowledging patient experiences and reflecting on what we have heard, we can more effectively tailor the support we give to find patient-centered solutions. Katherine M. Kutzer, a recent graduate of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, reflects on her experience calling patients of a community health center at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and how she came to understand the significance of listening to—and truly hearing—patients when they speak. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Just like technical expertise, expert caring can be taught and deliberately practiced. As educators, we must study it, measure it, and build consensus on an ideal framework. And above all, we must value it, not only in medical students and doctors, but in everyone. Bonnie M. Miller, professor of medical education and administration at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee and senior director of scholarly communications at the Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, reflects on the significance of caring, and how it is just as important to doctoring as procedural knowledge and skills. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the August 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guest Richard Baron, MD, joins hosts Toni Gallo and deputy editor Colin West, MD, PhD, to discuss the importance of trust in patient-physician relationships and ways physicians can build trust and overcome mistrust with patients and communities, including in conversations about COVID-19.   Read the article discussed in this episode: A Trust Initiative in Health Care: Why and Why Now? A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org.

“The importance of fostering trust with families cannot be overstated, and effective communication techniques make up just one part of the complex puzzle. Body language is often considered to be the most important part of communication, but in extraordinary times, we had to rely on other tools such as tone of voice and content of speech.” Edwin Wei Sheng Thong, a senior resident in the Department of Haematology-Oncology at the National University Health System in Singapore, discusses the importance of effective communication and the intricacies required while treating a patient in the intensive care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

“Using my body to tell these cultural stories not only allowed for emotional mutability, but it also cultivated a sense of pride, identity, and autonomy. In dance, I was reminded that the body was not a victim of medical circumstance but an instrument rewriting the story in her own language through dance and music.” Shilpa Darivemula, a fourth-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, reflects on the importance of cultural arts as a medium for self-expression and the processing of bodily trauma for women of color while treating a patient who undergoes an unexpected cesarean delivery. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.