Academic Medicine Podcast

The medical record from the day before includes a note from the chaplain who wrote that you smiled. I resolve to end more notes this way. The patient smiled. Medical student Molly Fessler reflects on the profound experience of caring for a patient during their final days. This essay placed second in the 2022 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Luca Petrey and Laura Weingartner, PhD, MS, join hosts Toni Gallo and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee members Arianne Teherani, PhD, and Daniele Olveczky, MD, to discuss a new scoping review of the literature on the inclusion of standardized patient characters and actors with diverse gender identities in simulation cases. A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org. Read the articles discussed in this episode:  Petrey LN, Noonan EJ, Weingartner LA. Gender diverse representation in patient simulation: A scoping review [published online ahead of print August 09, 2022]. Acad Med. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004926. Weingartner L, Noonan EJ, Bohnert C, Potter J, Shaw MA, Holthouser A. Gender-affirming care with transgender and genderqueer patients: A standardized patient case. MedEdPORTAL. 2022;18:11249.  Read the complete collection of articles included in the 2022 RIME supplement at academicmedicine.org. 

It is more likely emotional overload rather than apathy or insensitivity that prompts these contradictory expressions of emotion. An involuntary attempt to achieve a type of emotional homeostasis. Sadaf Qureshi, a hematologist/oncologist at Summit Health in Florham Park, New Jersey, reflects on “appropriate” responses to misfortune. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

So often, we get caught up in studying and updating the medical chart. When we get to know our patients as human beings, however, we realize that providing care goes beyond triple-checking medication dosages. A human being is the product of every person, every success, and every misfortune he or she has encountered. Theodora Lananh Swenson, a fourth-year resident physician in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, reflects on the importance of understanding the social context in which each patient lives. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

I was glad that I was too tired to speak at the close of the day, because by listening, I learned a lesson in humility. Madam A’s family was more knowledgeable about her than we were, treating her as a person who had hopes just like the rest of us, despite being bedbound. Norshima Nashi, a consultant in the Division of Advanced Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the National University Health System in Singapore, reflects on the importance of preserving hope for patients, no matter how serious the situation is. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Addie McClintock, MD, and Joshua Jauregui, MD, join hosts Toni Gallo and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee members Andrea Leep, MD, and Paolo Martin, PhD, MS CHPR, MEd, to discuss clinical teachers’ behaviors and how they support or harm students’ sense of psychological safety in the clinical learning environment. This is the first episode in a 3-part series of discussions with RIME authors about their medical education research and its implications for the field. Read the article discussed in this episode:  McClintock AH, Fainstad TL, Jauregui J. Clinician teacher as leader: Creating psychological safety in the clinical learning environment for medical students [published online ahead of print August 9, 2022]. Acad Med. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004913. Read the complete collection of articles included in the 2022 RIME supplement at academicmedicine.org. A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org.

As I progress through my training, I see more clearly how I benefited from my intern year; my comfort with ventilator settings and ability to navigate goals-of-care discussions are a direct result of my pandemic cases. However, when I am asked how my residency has been, I am haunted by the memories of those who can no longer answer. Michelle I. Suh, a second-year resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, reflects on how her intern year was shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Remembering my own medical experiences is an insistent reminder that disease is not mundane, no matter how desensitized we may grow to it. Tom Fouché, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, reflects on his dual identities of provider and patient and how not keeping them separated makes him a better physician. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the August 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Katherine Hoops, MD, MPH, Andra Blomkalns, MD, MBA, and Allison Augustus-Wallace, PhD, MS, MNS, join host Toni Gallo to talk about firearm safety and injury prevention education. They discuss the role of physicians in engaging patients and communities in firearm injury risk reduction, the current state of firearm injury prevention education, and where the academic medicine community needs to go from here.  Read the articles discussed in this episode:  Hoops K, Fahimi J, Khoeur L, et al. Consensus-driven priorities for firearm injury education among medical professionals. Acad Med. 2022;97:93-104. Mueller KL, Blomkalns AL, Ranney ML. Taking aim at the injury prevention curriculum: Educating residents on talking to patients about firearm injury [published online ahead of print April 19, 2022]. Acad Med. Read the complete collection of articles on firearm injury prevention published in Academic Medicine.  A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org. 

When faculty members open themselves up to the idea that the work we do in seemingly different realms can actually enhance our practice, we arguably do our greatest service to the development of others’ gardens. Sarah-Ann Keyes, assistant professor in the School of Health Professions at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, reflects on how difficult it can be for faculty members in academic medicine to balance clinical, educational, and scholarly work. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the August 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

After this patient encounter, I came to realize that my greatest strength, my finest therapeutic tool, was me—all of me. Omar Sahak, a first-year fellow in the Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California reflects on how sometimes the best way to help a patient is to be vulnerable with them. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Next time a patient thanks me, I will not let self-conscious worries diminish their words. True thankfulness reflects deep humanistic connection and is unburdened by the hierarchies of medicine. Paulina M. Devlin, a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City, Utah, reflects on the expression of gratitude between patients and providers. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Chirag Bhat, MD, and Warren Cheung, MD, MMEd, join hosts Toni Gallo and associate editor Teresa Chan, MD, MHPE, to discuss their research into nurses’ perspectives about giving feedback on residents’ clinical performance. They share their findings regarding the unique perspective nurses can offer, the barriers nurses face in providing feedback, and some possible ways to overcome these barriers. Read the article discussed in this episode: Bhat C, LaDonna K, Dewhirst S, et al. Unobserved observers: Nurses’ perspectives about sharing feedback on the performance of resident physicians. Acad Med. 2022;97:271-277. A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org. 

Despite the emotional challenges that my anatomy course presented, I feel reaffirmed in my desire to pursue medicine and now understand the beautiful complexity of the human body in a way I never could have before. Keldon K. Lin, a second-year medical student at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine in Scottsdale, Arizona, reflects on the common humanity that all patients, both living and dead, share with one another. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the June 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

As tears seeped from the corners of her eyes and stained her cheeks, I felt powerless. I reached for her hand, wishing I could offer my bare human hand instead of an impersonal blue latex glove. Holding her hand was the only thing I could do in the moment; I hoped it made her feel less alone. Natalie C. Spach, a fourth-year medical student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, reflects on the importance of physicians demonstrating compassion and empathy towards patients when they are at their most vulnerable.   The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the May 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

The resident came into my room with one question and he got it answered. The rest was not his problem. But it was my problem. Arthur Garson Jr, clinical professor of health systems and population health sciences in the College of Medicine at the University of Houston in Houston, Texas, reflects on the importance of two-way communication between patients and physicians. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the May 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Our patients should not be our blind spots. Even with the most thorough routines, I may not catch important clues—be it some subtle discomfort or altered affect—without keen observation, clues that may drastically change a patient’s story and care. Alan Z. Yang, a second-year medical student at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, discusses the importance of observing and truly seeing a patient during a visit rather than focusing solely on standard interview questions and physical exam. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the May 2022 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Guests Lala Forrest and Joe Geraghty join host Toni Gallo to discuss the journal’s Trainee Letters to the Editor feature. They highlight selected letters submitted in response to last year’s call for submissions about the role of trainees as agents of change and discuss how institutions can empower trainees to be leaders and how trainees can get started leading change efforts. Lala and Joe also introduce this year’s call about transformative moments in a trainee’s professional journey and describe what the editors are looking for in successful submissions. Available at academicmedicineblog.org are a transcript of this episode and links to the 2021 and 2022 calls for trainee letters to the editor and to the articles discussed in this episode. 

Our words and actions may strike others, or strike back at us, in unexpected ways. We must therefore always be ready to show our most human sides: to absorb surprising responses, lean into awkward moments, and apologize when we have erred. Aldis H. Petriceks, a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, discusses the importance of setting aside the structure of the patient interview and embracing the patient as an authentic, living personality. 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.

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.