Transformational Times, February 26, 2021

Transformational Times

Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community

Friday, February 26, 2021

In this Special Focus Issue on Human Flourishing:

Director's Corner

Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Let’s Renegotiate the “Social Contract” in a Way that Promotes Human Flourishing

Perspectives/Opinions

Cheryl Maurana, PhD: Reflections on Promoting Human Flourishing Through the Kern National Network for Caring & Character in Medicine
Christopher Stawski, PhD, and Jeff Fritz, PhD: How Can Medical Schools Educate for Flourishing?
Andrea Leep Hunderfund, MD: Character: Moving Beyond Competence to Identity
John Luk, MD: Human Flourishing: The Dynamic Journey
Bonnie Miller, MD: Caring: Achieving Completeness of Care in Practice

Thank a Resident Responses

Poetry Corner

Motaz Selim, MD: Auscult Featured Photo

Your Turn

See how readers answered last week's prompt: What is your favorite way to get exercise during the winter?
Respond to this week's prompt: What was your favorite article from the Transformational Times this past year?
Respond to this week's character question: How do you maintain your equanimity?

Announcements & Resources

Apply to the Kern Institute's KINETIC3 Teaching Academy
Register for Kern's Upcoming Virtual Events
Kern National Network News & Events

Suggest an Article Idea

Send a Letter to the Editor

T.Times Blog

Past Issues

Director's Corner

Let’s Renegotiate the “Social Contract” in a Way that Promotes Human Flourishing

by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH

This week Dr. Kalet wonders how we might reimagine the relationships among society, the profession, and health care systems to ensure the ability to pursue human flourishing for us all...

Toward the end of his life, my father-in-law needed a generalist physician to provide real primary care, but he had neither an engaged, attentive physician, nor a system that was prepared to enable this type of attentive oversight.

A couple of years before his death, a hurricane hit the region where he lived on the east coast of Florida. Unable to contact him and knowing that the area had lost electricity, my husband flew down from New York the next day. Mark found his father sitting in a dark, warm, damp apartment struggling for breath. Mark’s dad had experienced a significant myocardial infarction and was in florid heart failure.

Perspective/Opinion

Reflections on Promoting Human Flourishing Through the Kern National Network for Caring & Character in Medicine (KNN)

by Cheryl A. Maurana, PhD, KNN Founding Director and Board Member

Dr. Maurana discusses how medical education must include a focus on human flourishing. She reviews the first session of a four-part KNN series exploring caring, character, and flourishing in the context of health care professionals dealing with crises, promoting health equity, and pursuing civic and democratic lives in a society...

Never have the values of medicine been more challenged than in today’s age, a time in which we are facing a global pandemic, changing sociocultural norms, socioeconomic stress, and rapid technological advancements simultaneously. The practice of medicine — and by extension medical education — is challenged to become more nimble, flexible, and responsive while also remaining steadfast to the values and attributes that support wise actions and promote flourishing.

Noted scholar Tyler VanderWeele, PhD, has defined human flourishing as “a state in which all aspects of a person’s life are good … a state [of] complete human well-being.” But what does “human flourishing” really look like or mean, especially in these uniquely challenging times? And how do caring and character contribute to the profession of medicine in practice?

Those were the questions the Kern National Network for Caring & Character in Medicine (KNN) set out to address through a four-part discussion series entitled “The Medical Profession Through the Lens of Human Flourishing.”

Perspective/Opinion

How Can Medical Schools Educate for Flourishing?

by Christopher Stawski, PhD, and Jeff Fritz, PhD

Drs. Stawski and Fritz review some of the “human flourishing” resources available to institutions of higher learning, suggesting how strategies from this framework can be directly applied and studied in medical education...

You can palpate the anticipation among our learners on campus during the initial days of medical school. Many have prepared academically and psychologically for years to take this step in their lives, persevering through the admissions process, driven by their aspiration to become physicians. Some may be anxious about meeting new classmates; others may worry about the difficulty of the upcoming coursework and their upcoming clinical experiences.

Medical students expect years of hard work ahead of them enduring long days of study, and some may even have clarity on the specialty they want to pursue as they arrive on campus. While they consider what it will be like to contribute to the healing of patients, helping them to hopefully flourish in their lives, questions they may not have entertained, or dared to ask, include: How can I flourish as a developing physician and as a human being while I step into the gap to ease human suffering? Does my own flourishing impact the quality of care I give to patients?

Human Flourishing, Caring and Character in the Medical Profession: To What End?

Last month, three individuals from the Kern National Network for Caring & Character in Medicine (KNN) served as presenters and panelists during the first session of the KNN’s discussion series on human flourishing. Through brief TED Talk–like videos on caring, character and human flourishing, as well as responses to audience questions, the following presenters illuminated the relationships between those three interconnected concepts.

Watch the videos by using the linked buttons below each bio.

For additional event materials, visit the KNN's event page.

Character: Moving Beyond Competence to Identity

Human Flourishing: The Dynamic Journey

Caring: Achieving Completeness of Care in Practice

In Celebration of

"Thank a Resident Day"

Thank you to anesthesiologist Kathryn Wolff, MD! I met her while she was an MCW medical student and watched her evolve into an amazing physician today! -Sue Korek

Thank you to all the internal medicine (and med-peds!) interns, residents and fellows for all you have done to take care of our community during the pandemic. To all non-IM residents, thank you for stepping in and taking over when necessary to make sure that our patients are taken care of. After a week on FH wards, I am specifically thankful for the urology and ENT residents for their quick care of our patients.

-Kathlyn Fletcher, MD

Hooray for the otolaryngology residents! You take great care of your patients, are passionate about your education, practice compassion, and support each other. You inspire and teach me something every day. Getting to work with my son, David Campbell MD (PGY5) has been a bonus. The quality of our trainees and the opportunity to work with each of you is the primary reason I have remained in academics all of these years. Thanks so much! -Bruce Campbell, MD

Would like to thank Medicine Resident, Will Collier, for truly 'showing up' on his Palliative Care Rotation this month! We welcome residents and fellows who work with us to hone their communications skills and better understand compassionate care for dying patients and families. It is not always easy...but hopefully you all leave with new skills and appreciation. Thank you Will, for reminding me of how inspired I am to do this work! -Wendy Peltier, MD

I want to thank the Med-Peds residents, along with the categorical internal medicine and pediatrics residents, for having an unending supply of patience and perseverance despite the challenges of this past year. Showing up to work everyday amidst so much uncertainty and still taking excellent care of our patients both inside and outside of the hospital. Your dedication inspires me everyday. -Steve Malcom, MD

I consider residents the backbone of the hospital system. They provide great care, often times without any thanks or recognition. They tirelessly jump in during surges and emergencies and are eager to continue learning and improving. Residents rock! -Kathy Rafel

Our Internal Medicine residents have been absolutely fantastic during the pandemic. I have seen them continually provide exceptional care and compassion during these challenging times. I want to thank all IM residents for the unwavering dedication to patient care.

-Amalia Lyons, MD

Residents, thank you for your commitment to caring for our patients during this challenging year. As a VA attending, I've had the pleasure of working with so many outstanding interns and residents this year. This has been a very hard year for providers, patients and families. Thank you to our residents for taking the time to call patients and families who were not able to get face to face care or see their loved ones during their admission. Spending hours on the phone in the team room or in clinic does not often feel like the rewarding patient care we dreamed about -- but it is vital this year and THANK YOU for doing it. You guys are amazing and it's a privilege to work with you. -Cecilia Scholcoff, MD

I love that the residents at the VA are enthusiastic supporters of the Veteran population. They are wonderfully aware of the sacrifices all Veterans made when they signed up and it shows in their care.

-Jeff Whittle, MD, MPH

Dr. Erin Guenther: is not only professional but truly a kind and caring physician. Even when she has the option to reschedule a patient, she will still see them, even if it means that she has to stay late. -Cynthia Kay, MD

Drs. Tesfatsion and Woodard: for being part of an important, MCW-wide study. -Cynthia Kay, MD

Drs. Sekhri, Gonzalez, and Heinrich: they were such a great medicine team. I was so impressed by their bedside manner and empathy.

-Cynthia Kay, MD

Thank you for your dedication to caring for patients and looking out for each other during this difficult year. -Zouyan Lu, MD

Thank you for your dedication to your patients and for pushing me to stay up to date. -Amy Farkas, MD

I am constantly impressed by what our residents and fellows do day-to-day to care for our patients. In addition to the steep learning curve of medicine, they also have to learn to navigate a system and learn to work with multiple members of the care team which changes routinely for them! Thank you for taking care of our patients. Thank you for being a part of our team. Thank you for your adaptability. And thank you for your continued inspiration to make things better! -Alicia Pilarski, DO

Thank you for the time and hard work you do in education for our students, care for our patients, and support for each other. It is always a pleasure to watch you advance in your training and mature as providers.

-Payal Sanghani, MD

We appreciate your hard work and dedication to patient care and your education - we are so grateful for all of you! -Heather Toth, MD

I'm incredibly grateful for the care our residents give to our patients, the teaching they do for our students, and the support they provide the teams. You all make this place so much better every day!

-Marty Muntz, MD

Thank you for the dedication, empathy and hard work you share with patients who are diagnosed with cancer. -Karen Carlson, MD, PhD

Thank a Resident Day is sponsored by the Gold Humanism Honor Society

Over the next few weeks, we will be partnering with Auscult to promote, Ausuclt 2020, a literary and arts journal that has been published periodically at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) since the early 1990s. A completely student-edited journal, it showcases the creativity, compassion and artistic talents of our community. The journal includes poetry, fiction, non-fiction and visual arts, all created by MCW students, staff, faculty and hospital affiliate employees. If you would like to submit to Auscult for future journals, please submit using the following link.

This week, we are featuring a photograph taken by Dr. Motaz Selim, Assistant Professor in the Division of Transplant Surgery at MCW and Froedtert Hospital. Dr. Motaz Selim's photograph was taken via drone in Milwaukee, and will be featured in this year's edition of Auscult, MCW's literary and arts journal. Learn more about Dr. Selim's photography and his work as a transplant surgeon in the second episode of The Auscult Podcast, available now on the Auscult website.”

Submit a Poem for a Future Issue

I brave the cold and run outside!

– Abby Kerschner, Medical Student

It's super-stereotypical, but I use the gym since it’s freezing outside!

– Na Xiong, Medical Student

Cross-country skiing - there's nothing better than to get out in the woods to enjoy some solitude and a good work out!

– Kristin Lipanot, MD - Resident, Department of Emergency Medicine

My "boot camp" group has continued to meet outside since the pandemic started. We have set a low temperature limit of 19 degrees. If the pavement is clear and it is 19 or above, we are outside 3 mornings a week at 6AM! We call it sanity saving time.

– Kathlyn Fletcher, MD

Help us celebrate our one-year anniversary by answering this prompt:

What was your favorite article from the Transformational Times this past year?

Submit Your Response Here

Answer the Question Here

Apply to the Kern Institute's 2021-22 KINETIC3 Teaching Academy

Applications are open to all

· MCW Faculty

· Senior Residents & Fellows

· Graduate Students

· Advanced Practice Providers

Click Here to Apply by March 26

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by May 2021.

Orientation begins in July 2021.

This year's KINETIC3 program will offer two distinct tracks: Excellence in Teaching and Medical Educator. Both tracks will present a curriculum featuring evidence-based, learner-centric teaching strategies, and promoting active learning.

Excellence in Teaching Track

The goal of this year-long track is to equip participants with teaching skills for the classroom and/or bedside. Our core “3Cs” curriculum will be complemented by direct teaching observation, in which experienced coaches will identify real-time opportunities to strengthen teaching skills and provide constructive feedback to participants. This track will culminate in creation of a peer-mentored teaching portfolio for each participant. The time commitment for this track is estimated at approximately 5 hours/month.

Medical Educator Track

The goal of this two-year long track is to develop medical educators with skills in educational scholarship and pedagogy. Participants will produce a medical education capstone project guided by a structured educational research and human-centered design curriculum and will be assigned a faculty mentor. This “creating value” curriculum will be delivered in 5, boot-camp-style, 1-2-day sessions and will be complemented by our longitudinal, monthly “3C’s” curriculum, in pedagogy, medical professional identity formation and character education. This intensive track is suggested for faculty and senior residents and/or fellows interested in a career as a medical educator and will require approximately 10-12 hours/month.

Contact Dr. Alexandra Harrington for more information

or visit our website.

Kern Institute Connection Cafe

Medical School Curriculum Innovations: Impact on MCW's Curriculum Plans

Please plan to join us for a Connection Cafe discussion with William Hueston, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Education, Associate Provost for Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

In this session, Dr. Hueston will review innovations in medical school curricula at several other U.S. medical schools and how those changes align with improvement in adult learning. Dr. Hueston will then review how these innovations were studied by the MCW Curriculum Exploration Committee, formulated into core principles for a new curriculum, and then used to build a new curriculum framework for MCW's School of Medicine.

March 25, 2021

Live Virtual Event

4:00 - 5:00 pm CT

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, couch, or car!

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

We will be holding two preparatory workshops on Wednesday, March 17th and Wednesday, March 31st, hosted by the fabulous ExFabula. Sign-up for the workshops here.

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.