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Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, December 16, 2022
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The Transformational Times Editorial Team is thankful for and acknowledges the partnership and contributions of the Program on Medicine and Religion at the University of Chicago in developing this issue.
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Director's Corner
Perspective/Opinion
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Poetry Corner
- Richard L. Holloway: Election Day
Your Turn
Upcoming Events/Announcements
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Director's Corner
“Is There a Doctor Onboard?” Doctoring and Prayers at 35,000 Feet
By Adina Kalet, MD, MPH
Given the theme of Spirituality in Medicine in this week’s Transformational Times, Dr. Kalet shares the most recent of many experiences she has had answering the overhead call on airplanes. In this case, the faith traditions of both the doctor and the patient led to a series of surprises and unique styles of gratitude for caring and kindness expressed in prayer …
“We have a sick passenger. If there is a physician on board, please make yourself known to the flight attendant.”
Given that I was listening to a movie through my headphones while my hands were busy knitting, the announcement just barely registered. We were three hours away from our destination, and a long, uncomfortable eight hours into our flight. After a few seconds delay, I untangled myself and headed toward the uniformed purser standing in the aisle.
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Perspective/Opinion
Who Are We? A Reflection on Human Uniqueness and Life Beyond Earth at the Intersection of Bioscience and Religion
By Annie Friedrich, PhD and Ryan Spellecy, PhD
Earlier this month, the Medical College of Wisconsin, along with Marquette University and Viterbo University, hosted its first seminar on ‘Big Questions’ at the intersection of bioscience and religion. A perhaps unlikely pairing of a theologian and an astronomer explored what it means for humans to be unique in the vastness of the universe…
A theologian and an astronomer walk into a room…while this may sound like the beginning of a joke, this was the scene on Monday, December 5 for the inaugural session of a new seminar series called ‘Big Questions,’ which explores the intersection between bioscience and religion. Moderated by MCW’s Aasim Padela, MD, this series aims to foster interdisciplinary humble and fruitful dialogue, build bridges of understanding, and spark curiosity at the juncture of religion and science. The series seeks to replace the question of science or religion with “where do science and religion find common ground?”
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Perspective/Opinion
Judaism, Medicine, and a Life Well-Lived
By Sarah Root
Student Doctor Sarah Root shares her thoughts on family, faith, flourishing and the practice of medicine...
Unlike in many religions, Judaism does not generally concern itself with what happens spiritually after death. As a seventeen-year-old reeling from the loss of her grandmother to cancer, this was a surprising comfort to me. From my dad’s eulogy where he reminisced about some of her best traits (the dedication of her life in support of the arts) and her most eye-rolling (her unwavering belief that Melba toast and cream cheese represented a complete breakfast), to the shiva services in which family, friends, and extended community gathered to share anecdotes, quirks, and fond memories (and of course, food), the focus was not on grief. That’s not to say that there weren’t tears, but they were intermixed with laughter as we sat there together, eating bagels and lox in celebration of a life well-lived.
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Perspective/Opinion
Morality as a Religious Imperative: A Perspective on Flourishing by a Muslim Medical Student
By Zaid Parekh
Student Doctor Zaid Parekh shares his perspective on the intersections of faith, character and medical practice.
The sound of my footsteps echoing across the stone walls of the gothic chapel, I slowly made my way to center stage where my faculty advisor was waiting to greet me. A few words of congratulations were exchanged as she helped me slip my arms into a new white coat and pause for a picture. Gazing into the crowd of family and friends all gathered to celebrate my medical school class as we embarked on our new journey, the reality of being a student doctor finally began to set in. I was suddenly overcome with feelings of excitement mixed with apprehension. Excitement about the new opportunities this position would bring, yet apprehension about my ability to uphold the responsibilities that came with them. While the donning of the white coat marked the beginning of a new chapter for me, it also symbolized a great authority that I had been entrusted with. As I walked off the stage, questions of where I fit into this noble profession lingered in my mind—continuing to challenge me even now as I conclude my first semester of medical school. What does it mean to be a good physician? And how can I ensure that I am fulfilling these duties to the best of my ability while also staying true to the reasons I took them up in the first place?
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Perspective/Opinion
The Call of Christ in the Care of the Ill:
Medical Care as a Communication of Grace
By Nicholas Sparks and William Phillips
One of the authors (William Phillips) has had the opportunity to help provide medical care to those experiencing homelessness on the south side of Chicago. This often involves clinical encounters beneath bridges and on the street. These encounters bring the deep connections between physician health, mental well-being, socioeconomic disadvantage, and spiritual turmoil to the surface. One occasion, in particular, manifests how a Christian conception of human flourishing informs clinical encounters…
One evening our physician was examining the painful and soiled feet of two patients for over an hour. The examination and treatment were performed on a median between two roads, running beneath a bridge. While the physician was delivering care to alleviate suffering and improve the patients’ walking, this is not all that took place. The symbolic repetition of foot washing, reflecting the example of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, was not lost on William. And even if unaware of the fact, the physician was promoting the dignity of the patients by being a sacrament – a visible occasion of grace, love, and healing – to them.
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Perspective/Opinion
An Embryologist Looks at Human Life
By David L. Bolender, PhD
Dr. Bolender, who has taught embryology and human anatomy to thousands of MCW students over the decades, shares his beliefs regarding both the study and the sanctity of life …
In 1965, Life Magazine published a photo-essay “Drama of Life Before Birth” by the Swedish photographer Lennart Nilsson. I was fascinated by those photos. As a biology major in college, my favorite class was Dr. Wiemer’s embryology course where he often used modeling clay to explain how the embryo formed. In graduate school I was exposed to the Dodd’s collection of human embryos and infant donors. It was my first real introduction to birth defects and the impact they had on development. My fascination with those photos of prenatal human development was a spark that led to a career focused on the study and teaching of embryology.
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ELECTION DAY
By Richard L. Holloway, Professor Emeritus
On Election Day, she went to school.
Her waist-length hair was shining straw; her eyes were shining bright.
She loves life. Life loves her back.
On Election Day, her eyes were brighter, her smile was wider, her hopes were higher
Than any day before.
She is pure love, and all who know her will tell you so.
Some days she’s confused, but her friends will support her.
She is so loved, and she is just seven years old.
She is autistic, and life is so blissful to see.
On Election Day, she didn’t know why,
She just knew there was thrill in the air.
On Election Day, she took the bus, like all the days before.
While she was gone, a change was occuring.
On Election Day, the people would speak.
On Election Day, her Mommy wore Red White and Blue.
She put on a scarf, a symbol of hope that change would be near.
To honor her country, this day of change, a scarf like a flag,
Draped from her Mommy’s shoulders.
Her Mommy waited at the bus stop that day, like all the days before.
But it was Election Day, and Mommy wore a flag.
She saw her Mommy standing alone, waiting as the bus arrived.
Her eyes grew bright; her hair flew in the breeze, her smile was blazing anew.
She ran to her Mommy, arms open wide, and saw the flag, hung over her shoulders.
She stopped.
She dropped her pack.
She clasped her hand to her tiny chest.
She shouted with glee at the top of her voice,
"Ipledgeallegiancetotheflag/oftheUnitedStatesofAmerica
AndtotheRepublic/forwhichitstands
OnenationunderGod
Indivisible/Withlibertyandjusticeforall.”
Her Mommy gasped, as change had come.
On Election Day, She astounded us all.
Note from author: I served on the faculty of MCW for twenty seven years, from 1992-2019. My proudest moments have been as a father. This piece is a tribute to my daughter, Kendall.
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Readers share their responses:
What's a common activity you've never done?
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I've never been on a plane!
– Megan Staff
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Played Monopoly
– Meghan Peterson, Medical student
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For this week's reflection prompt, please answer the following question:
What scene in a movie always gives you goosebumps every time you watch it?
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Congratulations to Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) Seed Grant Winners
The Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW) will fund 31 projects selected through a competitive application process focused on promising biomedical research and community-based initiatives to improve Wisconsin residents' health and well-being.
During its Aug. 1 – Sept. 12, 2022 application period, AHW received 40 proposals seeking Seed Grant funding, with 31 submissions receiving approval by the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Consortium on Public and Community Health, the AHW Research and Education Advisory Committee, and MCW Board of Trustees – AHW's three oversight bodies.
Congratulations to several members of the Kern Institute that have been selected to receive Seed Grant Funding from AHW. To learn more about these projects, visit the funded projects page on the AHW website.
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Lawrence University's 'Doing Nothing' course; many things are learned
Drs. Cassie Ferguson and Himanshu Agrawal were interviewed for a story on a "Doing Nothing" course at Lawrence University in Appleton.
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Join a campus-wide educators’ community read of Thanks for the Feedback, by Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen
As a key component of the new MCWfusion Curriculum set to launch in July 2023, we will discuss strategies for preparing for, seeking, understanding, and applying feedback – and consider how we might help our students develop these skills as part of their personal and professional development. This book is full of practical tips that we can also adapt in our own practices of giving and receiving feedback.
As we understand how busy everyone is, we plan to offer several different ways to interact as a community in book discussions – including asynchronous/online discussions, virtual sessions, and shared reflective writing. Everyone who signs up for this will receive invitations to participate using all methods. While these are not mandatory, we hope that the output of these community discussions will enhance our shared understanding of the topic and lead to enhancement of our MCW learning environments.
We have many print copies of the book available to use throughout the Spring 2023 semester – though we will ask all of you who receive a book from us to gift it back to an incoming MCWfusion student with a message welcoming them to our community in July 2023, so they can begin their work to develop this skill. Please complete this Qualtrics survey if you are interested in participating and would like a book supplied to you.
The read is also available on Audible if you’d like to purchase the audio version on your own. Here is a sneak peek as found on Amazon.
Please contact Marty Muntz with any questions.
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Letters of Intent for Kern Medical Education Transformation Collaboratories now being Accepted
We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting Letters of Intent for the second cohort of Medical Education Transformation Collaboratories, a research funding opportunity for audacious ideas to transform medical education. Funded by the Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin, this grant opportunity provides funding and a community of practice for transforming medical education through the values of caring, character, and competence. Please see the attached Request for Proposals for full details and submission instructions.
Letters of Intent are due Friday, January 13, 2023. All letters will be reviewed, and all will receive feedback.
Full proposals are due Friday, March 31, 2023. Funding decisions will be announced by Friday, May 19, 2023.
Funding begins July 1, 2023.
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Please Join Us!
Kern Institute Connection Café: Piloting Patient-Based Discussions in Discovery Curriculum: Lessons Learned to Inform MCWfusion, Perspectives of Students and Faculty
Patient-based discussion (PBD) is a key component of MCWfusion Phase 1 Integrated Science Blocks. The goal of PBD is to use inquiry-focused learning to support student curiosity as they apply foundational science knowledge to patient assessment and management.
Current Discovery curriculum has piloted a number of PBDs with M1 and M2 courses. Connection Café will explore what exactly PBD is and what pilot data revealed. Current students and faculty will be part of panel to answer questions and speak to lessons learned.
January 5, 2023
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Hybrid Event: Join via Zoom or in Person
MEB – M1540 - Kerrigan Auditorium
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Please Join Us!
KICS Journal Club with Eloho Ufomata, MD, MS and Sarah Merriam, MD, MS
Register to join us at our monthly Kern Institute Collaboration for Scholarship Medical Education Journal Club! Each month, we discuss recent medical education scholarship with its author for a lively, intimate conversation about the transformation of medical education.
In January, Drs. Ufomata and Merriam will be discussing working with your national society policy papers.
Eloho Ufomata is an assistant professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and serves as an advisory dean in the Office of Student affairs. Sarah Merriam is a physician at the VA Pittsburgh and serves as a senior consultant to the VA Office of Women's Health.
January 11, 2023
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Live via Zoom
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Please Join Us!
Kern Institute Grand Rounds: The Four Pillars of Well-being: A Scientific Framework for the Cultivation of Human Flourishing
Can mental training actively influence our level of well-being? Research suggests that even small amounts of meditation can lead to important outcomes for our mental and physical health, as well as our success at work and in relationships. In this live talk, Cortland Dahl will share a groundbreaking scientific model that highlights four pillars of well-being — awareness, connection, insight, and purpose — as well as practical strategies for applying them in daily life.
February 9, 2023
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Hybrid Event: Join via Zoom or in Person
MEB – M1540 - Kerrigan Auditorium
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Developing Medical Educators of the 21st Century
Join us for the 5th Developing Medical Educators of the 21st Century course in San Francisco! We are back with an in-person course, focused on supporting medical educators to engage in transformational change during challenging times. How do we create equitable, inclusive and welcoming learning environments for all? How do we foster a growth mindset among our learners so they become effective life-long learners? How do we ensure the wellbeing of our learners while also maintaining our own? These and other topics will be addressed in a variety of formats, including plenary sessions by renowned educators, skill-building workshops, consultations with experts, and engaging lunch-time discussions. Participants will have opportunities to network with others and create actionable plans to take home to their own institutions. A group discount will be available for teams from one institution.
This 3-day intensive course, organized in collaboration with the Kern National Network for Caring and Character in Medicine, targets medical educators from undergraduate and graduate medical education seeking to develop or improve skills in teaching and educational program design. Flexible programming allows participants to select sessions aligned with their interest and experience level.
February 13-15, 2023
Golden Gateway Holiday Inn, San Francisco
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The Transformational Times publishes weekly, delivering stories of hope, character and resilience to our virtual community. | |
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Jeff Fritz, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Editorial Board: Bruce Campbell, MD, Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, Adina Kalet, MD, Wendy Peltier, MD, Erin Weileder, Nabil Attlassy, Julia Bosco, Ana Istrate, Wolf Pulsiano, Eileen Peterson, Anna Visser, James Wu & Emelyn Zaworski
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