Nearly 30 years ago, our Director Elizabeth Armstrong envisioned the opportunity to partner with organizational change and innovation leaders at Harvard Business School to launch the Harvard Macy Institute Leading Innovations Course. Year after year, this course helps scholars develop strategies for leading change within the complex systems of health care delivery and education. In this episode, we recount the history and conceptual underpinnings of the course, and take a granular look at the activities for the week including how scholars can best prepare.

The Harvard Macy Institute Podcast aims to connect our Harvard Macy Institute community and to develop our interest in health professions education topics and literature. Our podcast is hosted by our Program for Educators in the Health Professions course faculty Victoria Brazil.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on health care delivery and health professions education. Organizations have faced immense challenges addressing unprecedented patient care needs across an everchanging public health landscape. Simultaneously, educational institutions have been forced to revamp classroom-based experiences and clinical opportunities for current learners. Understanding theories of organizational change and models of innovation can help those leading such efforts. 

In this episode, we preview the upcoming Leaders Course, and speak with program co-directors Liz Armstrong, Josh Nagler and Derek van Bever as well as Sarah Dawit, 2021 program alumnus about her reflections on the program and on joining the HMI community. In our discussion, we hear about the early collaborations between the Harvard Macy Institute and the Harvard Business School to create a course designed specifically to support change leaders within health professions education. We are introduced to concepts such as disruptive innovation and design thinking, and learn how such theoretical models will be practically applied to individual and institutional initiatives. Finally, we hear conceptual and practical pearls from our panel regarding how to optimize participation in the highly immersive course.   

For more insights on the Leaders Course and additional perspectives from former scholars and faculty, listen to our prior podcast and or check out our “Introduction to Harvard Macy” or “Conversation with a Former Scholar” videos.

Why do you teach? When are your most enjoyable moments as a medical educator?

The final stretch of the medical academic year often involves faculty performance evaluations and student remediations. Most faculty performance reviews tend to be positive and arguably future-focused with collaborative goal-setting processes. However, what happens if a faculty member receives a poor outcome?

The COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare to rethink and re-envision how remote learning should be administered. The disruption of traditional in-class instruction had many instructors struggling to rapidly pivot to deliver content and evaluate knowledge and skills remotely. Few resources were available to prepare educators for this shift, particularly when it came to remote assessment. Summative and formative examinations had been conducted with online software programs even before the pandemic, typically synchronously and in-person in a classroom environment. During the pandemic, faculty were expected to provide a robust remote proctoring process while maintaining academic integrity, which was a significant and novel challenge. 

The Harvard Macy Institute Podcast aims to connect our Harvard Macy Institute community and to develop our interest in health professions education topics and literature. Our podcast is hosted by our Program for Educators in the Health Professions course faculty Victoria Brazil, and will feature interviews with health professions education authors and their research papers.

Most of us would like to ‘write better,’ but few of us make intentional efforts to improve. Lorelei Lingard is internationally known for her efforts to help health researchers and clinical scholars become better writers. In this podcast we talk about her Writers Studio courses and her book “Story, not Study”, 30 Brief Lessons to Inspire Health Researchers as Writers.

Adolescents with celiac disease are always seeking new and innovative ways to learn about the gluten-free diet and manage the social and emotional elements of living with this chronic disease. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Boston Children’s Hospital Gluten-Free Diet Education Class for patients with newly diagnosed celiac disease was held in-person in a clinic conference room with approximately 2 to 5 families attending each class. The classes are 90 minutes and highly interactive with a skilled dietitian. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, all nutrition education classes for celiac disease were quickly transitioned to a virtual zoom format.

The virtual format allowed for higher enrollment, which meant shorter wait times to get into the class. Zoom also removed barriers like long commutes and high parking fees, which previously prevented some families from attending the classes. However, some adolescents who attended remote school for most of the day reported it was challenging to sit for another 90 minutes in front of the screen and wanted new and fun ways to learn. Their specific ask: TikTok.