Month: June 2014
My Quest for a Masters in Medical Education
By: Jean Miner, MD, FACS; Co-Chair of the AWS Clinical Practice Committee“See one, do one, teach one.” Most, if not all surgical trainees heard this throughout their residency years. Was this the best way back in the day? Probably not. Is it the best way now? Certainly not. The dynamics of surgical education have changed drastically over the past decade. A combination of duty hour restrictions, new learning initiatives, technological advancements and stringent requirements have necessitated that educators adapt new methodologies of teaching. When we all think back to our favorite professors and instructors, it seems as if teaching came naturally to them, but as we now know, teaching is hard. And it is even more difficult to do it well.Over the past few years, I realized that my formalized knowledge of curriculum development, assessment methods and teaching practice was inadequate to teach the next generation of surgeons. Coming to...
This is My Story: The Power of Mentorship
by: Katherine Jeffress, MA, MPHEarlier this month Dr. Minerva posted on the “Importance of Mentoring” on the AWS Blog. At the end of her post she asks, “What has your own mentorship experience been like?” This is my story…It begins in a rural village in Ghana West Africa where I was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Originally placed there to teach science at a junior secondary school I quickly found myself starting a large multi-site adult literacy program for women and doing community outreach visits while working at an HIV/AIDs treatment center at a district hospital. While there I met a surgeon who was doing a locum at the hospital from South Africa. It was his mentorship and example that initiated my desire to be a surgeon. He was one of the lost boys of Sudan who after walking many miles to a refugee camp was eventually resettled in...
The Importance of Mentoring
Last month, the Healthcare Leadership Tweet Chat (#HCLDR) invited me to participate as guest moderator to discuss The Changing Face of Medicine. You can read the accompanying blog post here. The weekly Tuesday evening #HCLDR chat engages a diverse community made up of patients, medical students, doctors, surgeons, residents, nurses, healthcare executives, and many others with a shared interest in healthcare leadership. Some international colleagues also joined from Europe, the Philippines, and Australia.For many Tweeters, it was also the first time joining the #HCLDR Tweet chat. We were very proud to have the support of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) and the Association of Women Surgeons (AWS).The #HCLDR platform resulted in an engaging conversation on the importance of diversity in medicine. One question we discussed was how can we encourage women and other minorities to pursue careers in medicine/surgery or any non-traditional field?Among the many excellent responses, a common...
Blogger Q&A: What are you reading?
Amalia Cochran, MD, MA, FACS, FCCM: The Goldfinch by Donna TarttChristina Cellini, MD, FACS, FASCRS: I am currently reading The Secret by Rhonda Byrne Marie Crandall, MD, MPH, FACS: I’m currently reading 3 things; I’m in the middle of A Traitor to His Class: The Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, just finished a fun graphic novel, Juicy Mother: Celebration by Jennifer Camper, and The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. Celeste Hollands, MD, FACS, FAAP: The Athena Doctrine; The Noticer Lauren Nosanov, MD: I’m reading Pauline Chen’s Final Exam Callie Thompson, MD: Sadly, I haven't found much free time for reading outside of textbooks and journal articles but I am currently in the middle of three books. Two of them are about raising a French Bulldog and one is about puppy training. You might've guessed that my children have successfully convinced us to get them a dog and I am trying...