When we think of influence, we tend to think about how we can affect someone’s character, development or behavior. Yet, we underestimate how we influence others indirectly or without knowing it. As leaders or educators in health professions education, how do we employ influence we have positively in trainee/educator relationships?

Quoting the philosophy attributed to Socrates, “I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.” When medical school curricular leaders push for change, we must ponder the question: How do we best revise medical school curricula to spark our students to think? Most curriculum revisions can be broadly categorized into one of two categories: instructional methods (pedagogical) reform or content reform.

Eighty million Americans listen to audio podcasts weekly—almost the same amount of people who watch the Super Bowl every year. If you have a phone, tablet, or computer, you can access over sixty-three million free podcast episodes anytime, anywhere. 

There has been a dramatic increase in telemedicine and online remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift normalized clinical care and education in spaces outside the confines of the hospital, office, or classroom. Parents who pump breastmilk at work have long known that clinical and educational tasks can and often must be done in unconventional spaces while expressing breastmilk at the same time.

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.