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.
‘Lately, I have been feeling inadequate – both as a clinician and as a teacher… I think I need to give one up for my own sanity…’ Does this sound familiar? It can feel as though there is so much opportunity to teach, yet not enough time to do so as we take care of our patients.
