For those who do excellent work, but quietly, and sometimes under the radar, the simple phrase, confidently stated—“You are in good hands”—can make all the difference. You got this. Shailaja J. Hayden reflects on the importance of inspiring con

Our Achilles’ Heel: Vulnerability and Medical Uncertainty

Mar 18th, 2024 4m 53s

Rather than sheltering me from the rigors of doctoring, the museum has deepened my relationship to medicine by restoring its inherent mystery. It reminds me that the reality of our patients will always exceed our understanding of them. Kain Kim

Pain, Palliative Care, and Practicing Empathy

Mar 4th, 2024 4m 2s

Through all the time I had known him, and through all the rounds and presentations, many voices were heard: my own, my senior resident, my attending, the ICU team, the consult teams, the family. But the softest voice, often overcome by dysphoni

Language Equity in Medical Education

Feb 20th, 2024 47m 1s

Pilar Ortega, MD, MGM, Débora Silva, MD, MEd, and Bright Zhou, MD, MS, join host Toni Gallo to discuss strategies to address language-related health disparities and enhance language-appropriate training and assessment in medical education. They

A Familiar Question

Feb 5th, 2024 4m 41s

I started this letter with a question, but I pray not for an answer. I cannot accept one. Instead, please give me the strength to replace the wet mask soaked in my tears. Give me the power to continue the Sisyphean task of treating your ill and

Seeing Death for the First Time

Jan 22nd, 2024 3m 21s

As medical students, we know of death. We study anatomy through cadaver lab, we memorize mortality rates of diseases, and we hear stories from our professors about their late patients. But most of us do not know death yet. Carlin E. Zaprowski r

The Closeted Curriculum

Jan 15th, 2024 5m 48s

I wonder what would change if students were taught that personal leadership was not about hiding their brokenness, but recognizing their wholeness. If we were not asked to sacrifice ourselves to serve our patients. What would be possible then?

Biopsy

Jan 8th, 2024 5m 5s

What if I had not been at an academic institution, with a learner and a supervising teacher? Whose steadying hand would have been on my leg? I needed that hand. Katherine C. Chretien reflects on undergoing a procedure that taught her that toget

The Window

Jan 1st, 2024 7m 51s

When we really love it, we lend a little bit of ourselves, a little bit of our souls to the work that we do—to the art of nursing. If it is not us today, then it may be us tomorrow, and I hope that someone will be there to tell me what my view

I See You

Dec 18th, 2023 7m 27s

Psychiatry was going to require all of me... To see the human body as more than machine. Yes, the heart is a pump, and our neurons entangle one another in electrical circuits. Medicine, however, transcends the physiological being. Third-year me

Do What You Do Better: Using AI Tools to Ease the Workload Burden on Faculty

Dec 13th, 2023 46m 8s

Christy Boscardin, PhD, Brian Gin, MD, PhD, Marc Triola, MD, and Academic Medicine assistant editor Gustavo Patino, MD, PhD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss the ways that artificial intelligence (AI) tools can help ease the workload burden on f

The Nail Salon

Dec 4th, 2023 6m 36s

As Mr. D. stood up and attempted a few steps, tears of joy went down his cheeks. He was now free from the claws that were making his life miserable. This was much more important to him than talking about labs, medications, or dietary changes. M

The Unspoken Language of Compassion

Nov 20th, 2023 6m 17s

In our suffering, sadness, and silence, we shared a language of humanity and we exchanged compassion ... It is this vulnerability, this deep and genuine connection that allows us to communicate across cultures and to feel the exchange of humani

Put Some Gloves On

Nov 13th, 2023 4m 14s

As I traverse the many years of medical training ahead of me, I will undoubtedly remember my week in anesthesiology, and commit to passing on my knowledge to future students with the same patience and trust that was afforded to me by Dr. S. Sum

That Was Terrible: Public Humiliation in Preclinical Education

Nov 6th, 2023 7m 10s

I tell my students that we are constellations of our peers, mentors, and patients. What we learn from each other in preclinical education—spanning not just facts and answers, but also how we treat each other—will shape the future of medicine. B

Faculty Perspectives on Responding to Microaggressions Targeting Clerkship Students

Oct 31st, 2023 41m 49s

Meghan O’Brien, MD, MBE, and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee members Tasha Wyatt, PhD, and Javeed Sukhera, MD, PhD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss new research into faculty perspectives on responding to microaggressions targetin

Faculty and Student Perceptions of Unauthorized Collaborations

Oct 24th, 2023 41m 35s

Carrie Chen, MD, PhD, Terry Kind, MD, MPH, and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee members Cha-Chi Fung, PhD, and Daniele Ölveczky, MD, MS, join host Toni Gallo to discuss new research into faculty and student perceptions of unauthor

Learner Perspectives on the Learner Handover Process

Oct 16th, 2023 27m 6s

Tammy Shaw, MD, MMed, and Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee member Arianne Teherani, PhD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss new research into learner perspectives on the learner handover process. They discuss the role of trust in thi

The Momentum of Human Kindness

Oct 9th, 2023 5m 51s

I am not sure whether she attended my graduation, but her words were with me then and have remained with me throughout my decade-long career. Each time I have wanted to quit nursing, I hear her voice and recall her words of encouragement. Per

The Gift of Grief

Oct 2nd, 2023 5m 16s

We come into medicine wanting to heal our patients, believing that we are here solely to help them. But I could not heal my patient. Instead, my patient healed me. Fourth-year medical student Emily Otiso reflects on a patient who reminded her

Ensuring Fairness in Medical Education Assessment

Sep 18th, 2023 47m 42s

This episode is a companion to the August 2023 Ensuring Fairness in Medical Education Assessment supplement, which was sponsored by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation. The supplement focuses on creating an optimal, equitable system of learner asses

When the Student Gave Me Feedback

Sep 4th, 2023 5m

On a Thursday afternoon in clinic, in a situation made for learning, not grading, my learner taught me the essence of effective formative feedback. And for that lesson, I am forever grateful. Belinda Fu reflects on a student who taught her that

Pink Toenails on a Tuesday

Aug 21st, 2023 4m 35s

The next day, I knocked on the door of Room 412 armed with a bottle of baby blue nail polish. Not an elixir, but an oath—to face the unknown together, to sit with the uncomfortable silence, and to meet her in the middle, wherever that may be. M

A Note to My Daughters

Aug 7th, 2023 7m 35s

There will be a day when you are overlooked. You are not chosen. You will have worked hard, put in the time, been the next in line, and been ready, eager, and energetic to give it a whirl and still you are told no. Molly Uhlenhake gives her dau

Thinking on Your Feet Well: Building Adaptive Expertise in Learners Using Simulation

Jul 24th, 2023 43m 11s

Sam Clarke, MD, MAS, and Jon Ilgen, MD, PhD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss the importance of teaching adaptive expertise to prepare learners for the types of complex cases they will encounter in clinical practice. This conversation also cover