“Understand the clinical relevance of scientific inquiry and demonstrate the ability to evaluate emerging knowledge and research as it applies to diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of disease”
When it comes to the medical school curriculum, medical knowledge is the most obvious competency required, and it’s probably the most widely recognized requirement of a good physician. Before entering medical school, I assumed the first two years taught you everything you needed to know, and the next two years were opportunities to practice patient-doctor skills before graduation; however, there was so much to learn in terms of patient management and how to actually apply knowledge to patient care. I also underestimated how much teaching I would perform through medical education. Not only is medicine a career of lifelong learning, but also of lifelong counseling, educating, and leadership of colleagues, patients, and future doctors. Our curriculum has prepared us with multiple opportunities to demonstrate these teaching skills outside of the basic science curriculum.
My first teaching example is a presentation that was recorded in my first year during the cardiovascular block. In multiple blocks, I was given the opportunity to present cases to our Longitudinal Group, and in this picture I am discussing the psychosocial factors to consider in a patient with heart failure. It’s a topic you could consider at a glance to have an understanding of, but it’s a whole different task to present studies related to the topic and answer questions regarding modern therapies at play. I’ve attached a screenshot as the video was too large to upload.
A second example of teaching in medicine was during my AMHBC Mini-I in the neuro ICU. I was tasked with selecting a topic to present to the team that was relevant to the rotation and at the level of an intern. I chose status epilepticus as the topic. Again, it’s another tier of difficulty and understanding coming from familiarity of a topic to presenting the topic to other learners. Not only do I feel that I was able to help third-year medical students with their board exam, but that I was able to dedicate time to strengthen my own understand and study our clinical practice guidelines in detail.
One last example includes an opportunity to evaluate system processes through my internal medicine rotation. We acquire the knowledge in the basic science years that patients with atrial fibrillation need anti-coagulation, but it’s a different task to actually safely, cheaply, and efficiently provide that service to your patient. We were tasked to create a flowchart which described presenting clinical features for diagnosis, the stepwise treatment, as well as some potential areas for delay/waste in the management of this patient population.
In reflecting on this work, I’m proud to have demonstrable material, beyond a letter grade, that shows I was able to create something of value that was impactful to those around me. It also reinforces to me that there was so much more that I learned in my third and fourth year that will carry me through my future, and that medical knowledge isn’t all about accumulation of basic science facts. Patients require compassion, understand of psychosocial factors, and management beyond just knowing an antidote to a problem.
I look forward to my future in residency where I plan on having many opportunities to teach. My role as an educator will no longer be just as student-teacher, but as patient-physician. I understand and appreciate that I cannot simply give patients the answers and send them on their way, but I have to prepare them to ask questions of themselves and provide the tools to answer those questions. Additionally, I’m looking forward to the educational opportunities that will come through residency in teaching fellow residents on my team, physicians who consult me for assistance, and budding medical students to come. As a fourth year student, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to guide new third year students smoothly through roadblocks of integrating into the health care system and preparing them with questions to anticipate. I hope through the next step of my training that I will put myself in situations to nurture my skills as an educator and strengthen the knowledge of those around me.