Blog #2 – March 9, 2017

This selective provides medical students with the unique opportunity to observe and dissect various teaching strategies used by clinicians at different stages of training. During one of my half-days this week, I had the privilege of working with Dr. LM and two senior residents. Their passion for teaching and ability to create a positive learning environment were evident the moment I stepped into the room and I remember feeling immediately welcomed as a learner.

After seeing a patient and presenting the case, Dr. LM pushed me to talk through my thought process when I was writing up my plan. She taught around the plan I developed by describing evidence in the literature and her own decision-making process. After our discussion, she gave me the opportunity to carry out my plan by writing a prescription and presenting the plan to the patient. What stood out to me was when Dr. LM arranged for me to see the patient again next week such that I could experience continuity of care. It was refreshing to see how cognizant and dedicated Dr. LM was to a medical student’s learning. She was cognizant that medical students have a limited number of opportunities to follow up with the patients we meet and therefore made an active effort to provide me with that experience.

Following this patient encounter, one of the residents reviewed a case of bony lytic lesions with Dr. LM, who made a point of including myself and the other resident for this teaching session. Much like my own experience, Dr. LM pushed her senior resident to walk through his approach with the case. I found this to be beneficial for my own learning as it gave me insight into how senior residents and staff make decisions on which investigations to prioritize over others. I saw how naturally Dr. LM transitioned from asking questions with different levels of difficulty depending on the learner she was asking. I remember how encouraging the team was when I was uncertain about one of my answers, and how they enhanced my knowledge by explaining the underlying pathophysiology associated with the case.

Though we saw few patients during this clinic, my medical knowledge improved significantly between these two encounters. I think this is a testament to the quality of teaching I received from Dr. LM and the residents on the team. They were excellent teachers as they kept me engaged in my learning, gave me opportunities to actively carry out my plan, and tailored the questions they asked to an appropriate level. In this learning environment, I felt comfortable enough to ask questions and was also eager to learn more about the topics we discussed. I hope that as resident (and one day as a staff) I can instill a similar emotion among my own learners and utilize similar teaching strategies. It is always refreshing to see excellent clinician teachers who also share a similar passion for medical education and teaching as these are individuals who I ultimately see as role models for my future career.

- CY