Transformational Times
Words of Hope, Character & Resilience from our Virtual Community
Friday, March 10, 2023
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Guest Director's Corner
Pre-Match Days
Human-Centered Design
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Poetry Corner
- Rubber Band, by Austin Tubbs
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Guest Director's Corner
100 Perfect Matches
By Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA
Dr. Fletcher reminds us that regardless of where you do your residency, you will ultimately have a meaningful career with very close friends that you will meet in your program.
I’m terrible at cocktail parties. In fact, I went to a black-tie gala two weeks ago and proved this point (again). I was standing in a small group with my friend Jayne and a couple of her acquaintances from the banking world. One of Jayne’s acquaintances had recently taken a new job, so I asked her how she was enjoying it. She smiled and said, “When you love your work, everything is easy, right?” And before I could stop myself, I said, “Is it really, though?” Jayne started laughing. She knows me. I really am terrible at small talk.
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Perspective/Opinion
Have You Really Been Faking It?
By Acacia Dishman, PhD
I hope reading this makes you feel a little less alone. I hope it makes you feel a little bolder, a little stronger, a little more worthy of all you’ve achieved...
As the match approaches, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about impostor syndrome. This is likely because I have been feeling like an impostor. Have I somehow faked my way through medical school, graduate school, and the residency interview process? When Match Day comes, will everyone finally reveal that they’ve known I’m incompetent all along? Has everyone simply been humoring me ever since I applied to MD-PhD programs in 2014?
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Perspective/Opinion
Listen to the Voices Outside Your Head
By Sophia Kiernan
A 4th year medical student, anticipating what comes next, realizes that she doesn’t need to know if she wants to do it, simply that she can do it. The door is open...
Before this year, I didn’t think I wanted an academic medical career. Scratch that -- I didn’t think I could have an academic medical career. Medical school has always been very important to me, but so was having a life outside of the hospital and outside of the library. So I planned my ‘extracurriculars’ to be efficient while still building a sufficient resume. I did some research, led a couple student groups, and studied for my shelf and board exams with steady dedication during work hours; however, I was committed to my work/life boundaries on nights and weekends. I ate dinner with my husband almost every night, worked out, read books, went to breweries, baked cookies… so I didn’t think academia was within reach for me. And I was okay with that! I had prioritized things other than publishing as much as possible and studying every spare moment.
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Perspective/Opinion
Advice to My Pre-Match Self: Remember the 3 P’s
By Morgan Lamberg, DO
As the residency Match draws near, the TT editors asked Dr. Lamberg to share what she would tell her pre-Match self if she had the chance...
When asked what I’d tell pre-match Morgan, it was hard to believe I’m far enough from Match Day 2019 to have any bit of wisdom for that nervous, jittery 4th year student. However, it turns out that 4 years of residency training in a new city and through a pandemic will give you plenty to reflect on. Beyond telling myself that I am incredibly proud, my most impactful advice for the next stage of training can be summarized by 3 P’s: People, perseverance, and perspective.
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Perspective/Opinion
A Letter to My Pre-Match Self
By Shaina Sekhri, MD
Dr. Sekhri writes a wise letter to her pre-Match self, reminding herself that she will either succeed or she will learn...
Dear Shaina,
You have taken the tests. You have written the essays. You have done the interviews. Whatever happens on this upcoming Match Day is out of your hands. Rather than focusing on where you are going for this next step in your journey, decide who you are going to be. Here are some ways to be intentional as you start this new phase...
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Perspective/Opinion
Designing a Mobile Clinic through a Collaborative, Human-Centered Approach
By Ilya Avdeev, PhD
Challenging assumptions about academic collaboration, the adaptability of medical curriculum, and the creative confidence of stakeholders inspires learning and discovery...
Imagine bringing together more than 100 stakeholders of a future mobile health clinic to participate in designing it from the start. Who would rise to the challenge? How could community leaders, patients, clinical and operational staff from Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, providers, and students make meaningful contributions to the creative design process? We recently put some of these questions to the test.
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Given the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, please consider the following opportunities to serve our global community.
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Rubber Band
By Austin Tubbs, M1
Oh look at that rubber band
Limply lying, happy
But it must be used
Because it can, so it will
Look how much it can stretch!
Pulled and pulled and pulled
Taught fibers visible like capillaries
Used and worn and satisfied
“More,” it is told
“No,” it pleads
But it can, so it will
Stretched and tugged and yanked
Till it snaps like a bone
But that was its job
“Satisfied,” thinks the user
Broken, is the band
I realized that my perfectionism was driving me to think that I could keep handling more work "because I could, so I would." The feeling of being overwhelmed came out in this poem.
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Join us for a live storytelling event with MCW Students, Residents, Fellows, Faculty, & Staff
Come share your own story or listen to other narratives and celebrate the commonality of the human experience! Register to be a Storyteller below!
Please join us on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. for MedMoth: A Storytelling Reflection on Medicine. The event will be hosted in person in MCW's Alumni Center.
Listen to stories by faculty, staff, residents, fellows, and students as they share their own true experiences in the world of medicine. Inspired by The Moth, this event will entail authentic storytelling and will be an enlightening audience experience that you won't want to miss.
March 23, 2023
6:30 pm
MCW Alumni Center
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Please join us to explore, discuss, and align our efforts
to ADVANCE equity-focused initiatives in the learning
environment!
Thursday, April 20, 2023
9:00am - 1:00pm
MCW Alumni Center
The summit will highlight how MCW uses data to advance equity in the learning
environment with a focus on learners in three different stages:
1. Aspiring Health Science Learners
2. Health Science Students (e.g. medical, pharmacy, graduate)
3. Post Graduate Learners and Trainees
Target Audience
This summit is intended for faculty, staff, trainees, and students who are interested in
learning and discussing how the use of data can advance equity in the learning
environment.
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Understanding Medical Professional Identity and
Character Development
April 28, 2023
8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CDT
Professional identity formation (PIF), as defined by the Carnegie Foundation, is the “ongoing self-reflective process involving habits of thinking, feeling, and acting” as a physician. The holistic development of these capacities of PIF can be interpreted as essential qualities of one's character and integrity.
Education in the professions must design learning environments that center self-reflection within the PIF curriculum and provide growth opportunities that challenge while offering support and guidance for PIF growth, as well as the learner's well-being. In this symposium, we aim to convene medical education researchers, instructors, and others to engage on the state of PIF research, the goals, and interests of attendees, going beyond the confines of reductionist approaches. Our overarching goal is to transcend to holistic and humanistic integration spaces, weaving a central thread that is crucial to the person’s professional self.
Keynote Presentation
Can You Imagine How Far They've Come?:
PIF As Immigration
Presented by
Lara Varpio, PhD
Visit our website for more information about the program, including agenda, topics, and presenters.
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Get ready to Apply to the KINETIC3 Program!
Are you interested in directing a medical school course in the future? Do you want to learn about active learning techniques for the foundational sciences? Do you want to build character education into your current teaching? Are you looking to improve your teaching skills at the bedside?
If you answered YES to any of these questions, you should apply to the KINETIC3 program!
The program is entering its sixth year at the Medical College of Wisconsin and has produced 138 graduates. Our program is open to any MCW faculty, staff, advanced practice provider, student, resident, or fellow interested in advancing their skills in medical education.
We will be holding virtual informational sessions on:
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March 8th from 12-12:30 pm
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March 10th from 11-11:30 am
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March 15th from 12:30-1 pm
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March 23rd from 12-12:30 pm
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March 27th from 12:30-1 pm
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ALL VIRTUAL ON MS TEAMS. Please email KernKinetic3@mcw.edu for a calendar invite.
Applications are OPEN for our Excellence in Teaching Track. We will close applications on March 31, 2023.
If you have any questions about the program, please don't hesitate to contact us at kernKinetic3@mcw.edu. For more information please check out our website here. We look forward to your application!
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Participants sought for leadership development pilot study on flourishing
Researchers at the Kern National Network for Flourishing in Medicine (KNN) are conducting a pilot research study designed to study the impact of leadership development coursework on the perceived flourishing levels of faculty at MCW. This is a professional development opportunity for all MCW faculty.
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Call for Transformational Ideas!
Designing New Innovations in Medical Education
The Kern Institute invites all MCW faculty, students, staff, residents, postdocs, and fellows to submit ideas for funding through the 2023 Transformational Ideas Initiative (TI2) Program.
This program focuses on innovating and transforming medical education. We are looking for ideas that improve the learning environment for students, residents, and/or fellows at MCW.
Who is this for? Anyone who is…
- Interested in experimenting
- Open to exploring new ideas and reimagining existing ideas or programs
- Curious, compassionate, change-makers
- Truly interested in transforming medical education for the future
Project teams will be guided through the development of their idea through summer workshops, one on one coaching, and character mentorship through the Kern Institute’s Human-Centered Design Lab.
Each project will be implemented throughout the 2023-24 academic year. Funding for each project will be individually granted at the conclusion of summer workshops based on the needs of each project. For more information about the program, visit our website.
Applications will be accepted until Monday, April 3, 2023.
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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, Karen Herzog, Justine Espisito, Nabil Attlassy, Julia Bosco, Ana Istrate, Linda Nwumeh, Wolf Pulsiano, Eileen Peterson, Anna Visser, Sophie Voss, James Wu & Emelyn Zaworski
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