Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, April 2, 2021
In this Special Issue Focused on the MCW Curriculum Redesign:

Director's Corner
  • Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Building a New Curriculum for MCW

Perspectives/Opinions
  • William J. Hueston, MD: MCW's Journey to a New Medical School Curriculum
  • Jeffrey Amundson, PhD; Travis Webb, MD, MHPE; Amy J. Prunuske, PhD; Adina Kalat, MD, MPH: Shared Change is a Rigorous Process
  • Chris Decker, MD; Julia Schmitt; and Karen Marcdante, MD: Creating Partnership in Reimagining the Curriculum using Human-Centered Design
  • Chase LaRue: Sitting in the Room Where it Happens: A Student Involved in Curriculum Change at MCW

Poetry Corner
  • Jess Sachs: Find the Holes

Your Turn
  • See how reader's responded to last week's prompt: What is your favorite "first sign" of Spring?
  • Respond to this week's prompt: What was your favorite Spring Break vacation?
  • Respond to this week's character question: What are you hopeful for today?


Announcements & Resources
  • Watch Character and Medicine Panel Discussion
  • Register for Upcoming Virtual Events
  • Kern National Network News & Events
Director's Corner
Building a New Curriculum for MCW

by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH

Dr. Kalet focuses on how we must change our educational strategies to achieve the most important work we have as educators: to prepare medical students to become caring, character-driven physicians that can manage a rapidly expanding knowledge base in rapidly evolving health care systems...

As you will read in this week’s Transformational Times, MCW Academic Affairs has been engaged in a process of reimagining the medical school curriculum. 

This has been an almost two year-long, deliberative, and creative process. As part of the comprehensive Liaison Committee of Medical Education (LCME) self-study we do every eight years for reaccreditation, MCW launched small group curriculum conversations. Robust discussions in key stakeholder working groups were bracketed by two full-day retreats. We defined key curricular principles and outlined a new three-phase structure and its predominant instructional designs (case-based sessions, spiral weeks, etc.). This is important work and no small task. 
Perspective/Opinion
MCW's Journey to a New Medical School Curriculum

by William J. Hueston, MD

Curriculum change is hard. Dr. Hueston reviews the goals of the MCW curriculum redesign, looks to the future, and invites all faculty to participate in the process…
 

It has been written that “redoing a medical school curriculum is like trying to move a graveyard.” The ground is considered sacred and the issues are buried very deeply. However, times change along with the access and application of information. So, not changing a curriculum so that it evolves with the times is not an option. 
Perspective/Opinion
Shared Change is a Rigorous Process
by Jeffrey Amundson, PhD; Travis Webb, MD, MHPE; Amy J. Prunuske, PhD; and Adina Kalet, MD, MPH
 
The team describes the development of the curriculum transformation working groups, reports on their recent activities, and looks forward to the Human-Centered Design approach that will clarify and accelerate the curriculum redesign …


Change is hard. However, when change is a shared experience, many of the stakeholder concerns and expectations can be attenuated by communicating and demonstrating conscientious and prudent planning. The process of curriculum change is a large-scale change that requires thoughtful organization of various stakeholders into manageable and effective teams. 
Perspective/Opinion
Creating Partnership in Reimagining the Curriculum using Human-Centered Design

by Chris Decker, MD; Julia Schmitt; and Karen Marcdante, MD, on behalf of all members of the MCW Kern Institute Human-Centered Design Lab

Dr. Decker, Ms. Schmitt, and Dr. Marcdante share how a human-centered design approach to partnering with the MCW community will help inform the current draft of the new curriculum, and invite all faculty, students and staff to participate in design sprints on April 8 or April 19...

Reimagining a medical school curriculum hinges on many critical factors if it is to be successful. While most agree that it’s time for a change, what that means varies from person to person. By understanding the perspectives of all the different groups of people affected by the change - what they value and why -  a curriculum that everyone will embrace is possible.  
Perspective/Opinion
Sitting in the Room Where it Happens: A Student Involved in Curriculum Change at MCW

by Chase LaRue

Mr. LaRue, a former high school teacher and current medical student leader of MCW's curriculum evaluation process, sees parallels in the way physicians and high school students understand their educations…

When I was a classroom teacher, some of the most common questions I got from my 14-year-old students were, “Why do we have to learn this?” or “Why do I need to be able to write an appropriate thesis statement?” Believe it or not, the more they knew, the more willing they were to invest in my classroom and, therefore, the progression of their education.
This week's poem was written by Jess Sachs, current third-year medical student. She wrote this poem while working on Trauma Surgery rotation. In a trauma, when people come into the trauma bay after suffering from penetrating wounds (i.e., Gun shot or stabbing), the immediate resuscitation technique is “finding the holes” and figuring out if they are “entry or exit wounds.” And then making sure the count is right. If the number of gunshot wounds of entrance and exit found in the body is even, the presumption is that no bullet is lodged in the body. If the number of wounds of entrance and exit is odd, the presumption is that one or more bullets are still in the body. 


Find the Holes
by Jess Sachs, third-year medical student
 
It is a numbers game, and odds are you need to keep searching
Because if the number of wounds don’t add up 
something is missing
And one missing....means...
Find the holes
Turn it over, lift the leg up, pull, tug
You need an even number 
You need the odds to be in your favor
I mean his favor
What goes in must come out, every entrance has an exit
It’s the way the world works
It’s a whole damn circle
Or is it a line? 
Doesn’t matter because for now, it is broken, distorted, fragmented 
And you’re tasked with finding the pieces
Not with putting it back together 
Which means
If you start listening to those excruciating screams, it takes away 
And you need things to add up
Which means
If you start feeling his hand clutching yours in agony, it takes away
And you need things to add up
Once you lose sight
Or rather
Once you start to see 
This patient as more than a number of holes
Than the penetrating wound is not merely a gunshot, it is this life, hiswhole life
It is his torn-up Batman shirt and blood-streaked sneakers
It is the terror in his eyes, his tear soaked pillow, his ominous whimpers
It is not completely even nor is it completely odd, but it is complete
But please, you are urged
To not mistake being complete for being whole  
Not right now at least 
For now
Find the holes


Watching my spring perennials start to pop up in my garden! My daffodils, tulips and irises begin to bloom and it's so amazing to see every time.

–Staci Young, PhD, Faculty


Increased sunlight and seeing more families out for late afternoon walks.

-Jennifer Kusch, PhD, Faculty


When I see tulips and daffodils in my garden, through an opening in the old snow, popping their heads as the first of many sprouts breaking through the soil. Every year, this always puts a smile on my face.

-Tammy Hosch, Staff


Daffodils and tulips.

–Mandy Kaster, Staff


Almond blossoms.

-Na Xiong, Student
sunshine_love.jpg


The sun shining with a crisp breeze.

–Daniel Bor, Student

Respond to next week's reflection prompt:


What was your favorite Spring Break vacation?
Character and the Professions Conference
Character and Medicine Lecture

View Adina Kalet, MD, MPH, discussing Character and Medicine as part of a panel at the Character and the Professions Conference, hosted by Wake Forest University and the Oxford Character Project, March 18-20, 2021.
A Night of Wonderful Stories
MedMoth Returns!

We are excited to announce our next MCW MedMoth will take place from the comfort of your home, office, or couch! 

Join us for a night of wonderful stories by MCW Students, Residents, Fellows, Faculty and Staff.

We will be holding a preparatory workshop on Wednesday, March 31st, hosted by the fabulous Ex Fabula.

Everyone has personal stories worth sharing! Ex Fabula and the MCW MedMoth invite you to discover, shape, and share personal stories about your experiences in the world of medicine.
April 8, 2021
Live Virtual Event
7:00 pm CT
Kern Institute Connection Cafe
Can I Tell You Something?


The path to medical school graduation is filled with a vast array of emotions and experiences that can sometimes prove to be challenging, but in the end, rewarding.

Please join us as we welcome M-4 students Mario Castellanos, Rachael Conger, Na'il Scoggins, and Sarah Suh for a joyful and celebratory café conversation as they share their departing thoughts with us.
April 22, 2021
Live Virtual Event
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
KNN Discussion Series
Seeking Strength in Times of Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed personal and professional challenges for everyone, but particularly for those in the medical field. Under such circumstances, what does and can human flourishing look like? To what extent is it possible and equitable in times of crisis—now and otherwise?
 
In this session, three exceptional speakers will share perspectives from pastoral care, critical care and global health work to provide insight on navigating crises and lessons for cultivating resilience. A Q&A moderated by Chris Stawski, PhD, senior fellow for the Kern Family Foundation, will follow the speakers' presentations.
 
Featured Speakers:
  • Krista Gregory, MDiv, BCC, founder of the Center for Resiliency at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas
  • Daniela Lamas, MD, pulmonary and critical care doctor for Brigham and Women’s Hospital
  • John Tarpley, MD, professor emeritus of surgery and anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and professor of surgery and head of department at University of Botswana
April 27, 2021
Live Virtual Event
4:00 - 5:00 pm CT
MCW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine
4th Biennial Suicide Symposium

Addressing the role of clinical intervention and the experience of patient loss to suicide.
Register via Ethos: http://ocpe.mcw.edu/
Specialties - Behavioral Health - Suicide Symposium

For more information, please contact Kiara Bond
(414) 955-7250
April 28, 2021
Live Virtual Event
8:30 am - 12:15 pm CT
Kern Institute Grand Rounds
Advocacy on the Frontlines: Supporting LGBTQ Patients in Combat and Beyond

Please plan to join us for a Grand Rounds presentation with Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, Director of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin (AHW) Endowment and Senior Associate Dean and Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine.

Dr. Ehrenfeld will discuss how advocacy can transform health care, health outcomes, and health equity in combat and beyond for LGBTQ+ patients and all marginalized populations.
April 29, 2021
Live Virtual Event
9:00 - 10:00 am CT
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