Kern Institute

January 8, 2020

In this Special Focus on Student Leadership:

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: All-Hands-On-Deck in 2021: A Year to Build Student Leadership Capacity!

Leadership Perspectives/Opinions
Mario Castellanos: Looking for a Leader? You've Got the Wrong Person
Sarah Meeuwsen and Michael Sobin, MD: Leadership Skills: From the Classroom to the Bedside
Stacy Moroz and Kelli Cole:The Importance of Early Standardized Clinical Curriculum in Professional Identity Development among Medical Students
Maya Saravanan: I Am Not Your Model Minority
Cassie Ferguson, MD: Smiling at Fear
Jeff Fritz, PhD: Leadership, Stewardship and Me
Apply to the LEAD-UP Program: Leadership Skill-Building Opportunity for URiM Trainees

Take 3
Gopika SenthilKumar and Kelli Cole

Winning Character Essay
Monica Gobrial: What Character Means to Me

Poetry Corner
Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching

December 30, 2020 Special End-of-the-Year Issue

Editor's Corner
Bruce H. Campbell, MD, FACS: Narrative Medicine, Reflection, and Patient Care

Perspectives/Opinions
Ana Istrate, MD, MS: On Joy and Sorrow in Our Long Winter
Jacob Taxis, MDiv, BCC: Deep Thoughts: Reflection and Dialogue with the Palliative Care Team
Charlie Ann Rykwalder, MBA: Now All I See Is Color
Mary Beth Graham, MD, and Nate Gundacker, MD: DOM Grand Rounds Presentation: Pandemics of the Past Century

Poetry Corner
Cleo Wade: It is okay (a poem of validation for the year 2020)

December 18, 2020 Special Diversity & Inclusion Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: A Great Miracle is Happening Here. Rededication is Needed.

Perspectives/Opinions
Andy Petroll, MD: Can You Recommend a Good Primary Care Physician?
Victor Redmon, MD: The Patient Told Me, “You cannot take care of me. You’re Black and I don’t like Black people.” How Do You Respond?
Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD: The Tuskegee Study: Overcoming Racial Disparities in Vaccinations and Rebuilding the Trust of Black Americans
Katinka Hooyer, PhD, MS, and Zeno Franco, PhD: Responding to COVID-19 Through Art and Activism

Take 3
Katie Kassulke, MCW Administrative Director of Faculty Relations and Title IX Coordinator

Poetry Corner
Tamera Amadei-Bourne: Winter Equinox

December 11, 2020 Special Caring in Medicine Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: We Have Both a Duty to Care and a Responsibility to Care: What Does that Look Like?

Perspectives/Opinions
Wendy Peltier, MD: What Better Time to Focus on Caring?
Alicia Pilarski, DO, and Cassie Ferguson, MD: Loving Each Other Through the Darkness
Himanshu Agrawal, MD: My Tryst with Shame and Stigma
David Cipriano, PhD: MCW Suicide Prevention Council: Addressing Culture Through Risk Protective Factors
Kristin Kroll, PhD: The BRaVe Clinic: Evidence-Based and Virtual Mental Health Care

Poetry Corner
Connor Pedersen: Origin

December 4, 2020 Special Global Health Issue:

Guest Director's Corner
Joseph Kerschner, MD: Learners and Justice: Our Present and Future

Editor's Note
Bruce Campbell, MD: Waiting in Lines

Perspectives/Opinions
Stephen Hargarten, MD, MPH and Tifany Frazer, MPH: Global Engagement Elicits the 3Cs
Bipin Thapa, MD: Dasain and Tihar

Poetry Corner
Julie Arthur: Words for these Times, a Pandemic

November 27, 2020 Issue

In this Thanksgiving Issue:
Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Thanksgiving, Kern Cookies, and Gratitude

November 20, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Thanksgiving is a Time for Gratitude and a Commitment to Making a Difference

Perspectives/Opinions
Karen Marcdante, MD: A Thanksgiving Reflection
Jennifer Mackinnon, MD, MM, Jennifer Hollis, CM-Th, MDiv, Julia Reimann: Harps of Comfort at Froedtert Hospital: A Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melech Lensky, JCC, JD: A Gratitude Perspective
Michelle Minikel, MD: No Words Can Describe This Experience

Podcast
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA: Real Time Feedback

Poetry Corner
Billy Collins: As If to Demonstrate an Eclipse

November 13, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: What a Week for Democracy! A Great Time for Kern to Build Community Through a New Funding Opportunity

Perspectives/Opinions
Dan Hunt, MD, MBA: Kern Grand Rounds Preview: Creating Physicians Where a Medical School Should Not Exist
Erica Engstrand: This Year's MCW Common Read and How You Can Participate
Chase LaRue: A Turn of the Clock: A Student Perspective on Remaining “Present” in Medical School
Kayt Havens, MD: Meaningful Careers in the VA

Take 3
Greg Wesley, JD: Senior Vice President for Strategic Alliances and Business Development

Poetry Corner
Sarah Steffen: Her Hospital is Now my School

November 6, 2020 Issue

Editor's Corner
Bruce Campbell, MD, FACS: My Dad was a Veteran

Guest Director's Corner
Louis Pangaro, MD, MACP: Learning to Care for Those in Harm’s Way – Educational Innovations from The Uniformed Services University School of Medicine

Perspectives/Opinions
Eric Holmboe, MD: The Impact of Military Service on a Clinician-Educator’s Career: A Personal Story
Kenneth Lee, MD: Veteran’s Day Reflection
Tej Ishaan Mehta MD: On a Pale Horse – Veterans, Values, and Viruses
Nicholas Krueger: My Journey to Becoming an Army Doctor
Corey McKenzie: Veteran’s Day Reflections as a Service Member and Medical Student

Take 3
Jeffrey Jackson, MD, MPH: In the Service of Fellow Veterans

Poetry Corner
John McCrae, MD: In Flanders Fields

October 30, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Physicians Have Many Civic Duties and Voting is One of Them

Perspectives/Opinions
Christopher Davis, MD, MPH: Advocating for Safe Voting in Milwaukee – It’s Tough Sledding Out There
Libby Ellinas, MD: Defining Recognition
Morgan Lockhart: Shedding Light on Indigenous People of the Bemidji Area: A Cherokee Nation M2 Perspective

Poetry Corner
Mary Oliver: When Death Comes

October 23, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: What to do When it's Your Turn - and it's Always your Turn

Perspectives/Opinions
Eileen Peterson: Women in Academic Surgery
Kristi Castello: Exploring Diversity and Inclusion with the Council for Women’s Advocacy
Kate Stark: MCW’s American Medical Women’s Association Chapter Focuses on the Intersectionality Between Race and Gender
Adrienne German: Kaleidoscope is Partnering with the Milwaukee Bucks to Offer a Virtual Session

Take 3
Julie Freischlag, MD: Incoming President-Elect, American College of Surgeons
Amy Farkas, MD, MS, and Cecilia Scholcoff, MD, MPH: Department of Medicine, Women Resident's Book Club

Poetry Corner
Mary Sellars: Embrace. It is time.

October 16, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Olivia Davies and Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: The Failure Effect: Why We Should Share our "Failure Stories" in Medical Education

Perspectives/Opinions
Paul Bergl, MD: Kern Grand Rounds Preview: The Emotional Toll of Being a Health Care Provider During a Global Pandemic
Jeff Fritz, PhD: 2019 MCW Professionalism Enrichment Award Winner, Reflections on Professionalism
Cassie Ferguson, MD: 2018 MCW Professionalism Enrichment Award Winner, Reflections on Professionalism
Megan Quamme: Registering New Voters in the Emergency Department: A Virtual Session with Dr. Alister Martin from VotER

Take 3
Verna Monson, PhD: MCW IHER Conference Plenary Presenter

Poetry Corner
Ben Ferguson: Poem for Mom

October 9, 2020 Issue

Guest Director's Corner
Mark D. Schwartz, MD: A "Sermon" for Medical Students about Civic Character

Perspectives/Opinions
Jon Lehrmann, MD: One Physician's Recipe for Resilience
Balaraman Kalyanaraman, PhD: Every Virus Needs a Host and the Answer Lies Within Each of Us
Sherrea Jones, PhD: The Congruence in My Quest

Take 3
Ann K. Rosenthal, MD: 2020 MCW Distinguished Service Award Recipient

Poetry Corner
Bisola-Sarah Omoba: Healer

October 2, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: The Truth About Trust

Perspectives/Opinions
Libby Ellinas, MD: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Losing a Brilliant Voice for Equity
Wendy Peltier, MD: Quick Takes from IHER 2020
Eileen Peterson and Anna Visser: First- and Second-Year Medical Students’ Responses to Remote Learning
Ilya Avdeev, PhD: An Invitation to Reimagine Medical Education: Before Thinking Outside the Box, Think About the Box

Poetry Corner
Mary Oliver: Heavy

September 25, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: RGB and Dad

Perspectives
Camille B. Garrison, MD: The Lonely Only: Physician Reflections on Race, Bias, and Residency Program Leadership - Winner of the 2020 MCW President's Prize for Medical Creative Writing
ThriveOn, a Community-Centered Collaboration, has Broad-Reaching Focus Areas
Jean Mallett, MBA, and MCW M2 medical students Enrique Avila, British Fields, Jamal Jarrett, Adriana Perez, and Morgan Lockhart: Virtual Health Science Program Hosts a Week of Health and Science Exploration

Poetry Corner
Scott Lamm: The Silent Becoming 

September 18, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: The future of our profession must find their voices

Perspectives
David Lambert: Front Line Adjacent: A Reflection on being Removed from Clinical Rotations
Olivia Davies: May I have Coffee?
Reed Colling & Olivia Davies: Questions from Milwaukee: Q&A with Reed Colling, MCW-Green Bay M4
Kelli Cole & Gopika SenthilKumar: The Life Bus Project: How two MCW Medical Students engaged in Social Innovation
Jess Sachs: The Unsolvable Tension Behind Good Intentions: Confronting Sincerity and its Shadow

Poetry Corner
Hayden Swartz: I held a heart today

September 11, 2020 Issue

Editor's Corner
Bruce H Campbell, MD FACS: Trying to Remember 9/11

Perspectives
Leroy J. Seymour, MD MS: On inclusion, diversity, and why Black Lives Matter too
Kristen Pallok and Shaina Sekhri: Racism is a Public Health Crisis: When Will We Decide It Matters?
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD MA, Lily Littrell and Luke Littrell: Authenticity, Selflessness, Courage, and Team

Poetry Corner
Langston Hughes: Harlem 

September 4, 2020 Issue

Guest Director's Corner
Cassie Ferguson, MD: The Moral Imperative to Promote Well-Being in our Learners

Kern Connection Café Preview
David Cipriano, PhD: Student and Resident Behavioral Health at MCW: A Personal Perspective

Perspective
Himanshu Agrawal, MD: Being Human in Medicine: Fabulous Failures

Poetry Corner
Hayden Swartz: A Medical Student's Remorse | My Anatomy Group

August 28, 2020 Issue

Guest Director's Corner
Alexandra Harrington, MD: It Starts with Faculty

Perspectives
Ryan Spellecy, PhD: Lessons Learned in Character Education: Don't be Intimidated
Art Derse, MD, JD: How Medical Humanities Can Help Save Lives - Including Ours
Cassie Ferguson, MD: The Messy

Poetry Corner
Rafael Campo, MD: What the Body Told

August 21, 2020 Issue

Editor's Corner
Bruce Campbell, MD: 13,000 Days on the Hamster Wheel: Finding Meaning on the Way to Retirement

Opinion
Robert N. Golden, MD and Joseph E. Kerschner, MD: There is a Safe, Healthy Path Forward from the Ravages of the Coronavirus

Perspective
Jeff Fritz, PhD: The When and Why of my Good Trouble in Medical Education

Poetry Corner
Olivia Davies: Sutures and Stones

August 14, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Why Build a Kern Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Medical Education Transformation for "Basic" Scientists?

Letter to the Editor
Javier Mora, MD Candidate 2021: A Call for Waiving the MCAT at our Medical School in the 2021 Application Cycle

Educational Perspectives
Janet Rader, MD, Kristina Kaljo, PhD, Emma Grellinger, Nadia Tabit, Liliana Kasta, and Akanksha Dasari: SPARCC Students Reflect on their Experiences
M. Paula Phillips: How Do We Decide? Seeking Wisdom as we Reopen Schools

August 7, 2020 Issue

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Milwaukee is Special; Let’s Make Some “Good Trouble, Necessary Trouble”

Educational Perspectives
Chris Decker, MD and Julia Schmitt: TI2 vs. COVID: How We're Winning the Battle of Experiential Learning in a Virtual World
Sondra Zabar, MD and Kinga Eliasz, PhD, MS: "First Night-onCall" 2020: Preparing for Internship in the Face of a Pandemic

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspectives
David Cipriano, PhD: Initiating MCW's "Community Conversations" about Race and Racism
Victor Redmon, MD: Why We Need More Black Male Physicians
Anna Visser, MD-Candidate 2023: "How to Be an Antiracist" Chosen as this year's MCW Common Read

July 31, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Bad Doctors, Rare but Devastating, Reveal our Vulnerabilities and Opportunities to Create Robust Character and Professionalism in Medical Education

Grand Rounds Preview
Adam Hill, MD: A Physician's Story of Recovery

Educational Perspectives
Wendy Peltier, MD: A Letter to our Interns
Kim Tyler, MD, MS: A View from Internship

July 24, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Mentoring Toward Purpose and Meaning: Helping our students retain their passion for medicine by asking Why? 

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspective
Eileen Peterson MD Candidate 2023: Racial Discrimination in Academic Surgery

Educational Perspective
Cassie Ferguson, MD, Kurt Pfiefer, MD, Marty Muntz, MD, Cassidy Berns, Kaicey von Stockhausen, and Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Learning Communities at MCW: Past, Present and Future

Pandemic Perspectives
Jake Taxis, MDiv, BCC: Anonymity and the Shape of a Soul
Teresa Patitucci, PhD: MCW Art Club

July 17, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Never Waste a Crisis! Now is the Time to Build Learning Communities

Editor's Note
Bruce Campbell, MD: Becoming Uncomfortable

Pandemic Perspective
Wendy Peltier, MD, and Julie Owen, MD: But Where's the Finish Line?

July 10, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Kern Institute Renovations Underway!

Editor's Note
Bruce Campbell, MD: A COVID-19 Conversation

Perspective on LGBTQ Issues
Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH, FAMIA, FASA: The Issues of Bostock and the Supreme Court Ruling on LGBTQ Health

Student Perspective
Spenser Marting, MD Candidate 2023: Telehealth at the Saturday Clinic

June 26, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD: Mentee-ing Matters

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspective
Ashley M. Hines: Dear White Colleagues

Fourteen Medical Student Voices
Bruce Campbell, MD: M1 Students React to COVID-19: Feeling Helpless, Seeking Knowledge, and Becoming Empowered

June 19, 2020

Director's Corner
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: The Kern Institute is Not a "Black Box"!

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspectives
Sherry-Ann Brown, MD, PhD: Pandemics Juxtaposed
Scott Lamm: Can We Agree This is a Problem?
Cassie Ferguson, MD & Adina Kalet, MD: Rethinking Remediation
Chris Decker, MD, and Julia Schmitt: Pushing Institutional Climate Change for Underrepresented Minority Students
Lara Voigt, MD: Parenting in the Time of Black Lives Matter

Educational Perspectives
Alexandra Harrington, MD: What Part of Your Character Are You Working on Today?
Tavinder K. Ark, PhD: Why is the Kern Institute's Medical Education Data Scientist Smiling?

June 12, 2020

Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Let's Talk About Racism and Be Ready to Get It Wrong

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspectives from:
Loren Nunley, MD, MBA: An Open Letter to my Colleagues
Bruce Campbell, MD: Microaggression
Megan L. Schultz, MD, MA: My White Privilege
Kathlyn E. Fletcher, MD, MA: A Personal Call to Action

Educational Perspective from:
Amy J. Prunuske, PhD and Jacob Prunuske, MD, MSPH: Marrying the Basic Sciences to Clinical Medicine

June 5, 2020

Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Everything Around Us has to do with Medical Education

Racial Injustice & Inequities Perspectives from:
Malika Siker, MD: Confessions of a So-Called Diversity "Expert"
Sherréa Jones, PhD: The Disease of Racism
Cassie Ferguson, MD: From Ally to Accomplice
Laura Grogan: I am White and I Have Been Complacent
Christopher Davis, MD: Coronavirus and Inequities: Why the Shock?
Marty Muntz, MD & Kristina Kaljo, PhD: Speak Up in the Face of Microaggression

Pandemic Reflections from: 
Kelsey Lamb & Ashley Creager: Finding Purpose and Garnering Hope in the Era of COVID-19
Meghan Nothem, DO: Reflections on Courage

May 29, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Performance-Based Assessment to Ensure Physicians Have the "Right Stuff"
Perspective from Katie Recka, MD: Make it to the Mat
Perspective from Adrienne Klement, MD: The Power of a Letter

May 22, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: How Will We Return in the Fall? Back to Normal? I Hope Not.
Graduation Perspective from Cassie Ferguson, MD: Joy
Graduation Perspective from Jose Franco, MD: Graduation and Family
Graduation Perspective from Marty Muntz, MD: All the World is a Stage
Perspective from David Nelson, PhD: The Gathering
Perspective from Christopher Davis, MD, MPH: MaskUpMKE - Saving Lives, Building Trust, and Moving Forward

May 15, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Embracing the New Normal and Who Gets to be a Physician
Perspective from Wendy Peltier, MD: Where is my Toolbelt?
Perspective from Kurt Stefan, MBA: Remote Simulation During COVID-19

May 8, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Working Toward a Philosophy of Medical Education Transformation
Perspective from Kathlyn Fletcher, MD: Rare Interdisciplinary and Interprofessional Opportunities for Residents
Perspective from Sandra Pfister, PhD: Walking with Purpose at 64
Perspective from Malika Siker, MD: Lessons from "Life is Beautiful"

May 1, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Making a Difference: MaskUpMKE
Perspective from Libby Ellinas, MD: Women: Minding the Gap
Perspective from Laura Mark, PA-C, MPH: Social Narrowing

April 24, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Education Strategies on a Dime
Perspective from Chris Decker, MD: Staying Safe Yet Compassionate
Perspective from Alexandra Harrington, MD: Gratitude for Lab Staff

April 17, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Preparing Our Students
Perspective from Kathlyn Fletcher, MD: Residency During COVID
Perspective from Nathalie Abenoza, Christian Hernandez, Eli Martinez, Javier Mora and Sebastian Daniel: Community Raised & Engaged

April 10, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD: Practical Wisdom in Action
Perspective from Fabrice Jotterand, PhD: Seizing the Moment
Perspective from Mary Homan, DrPH: It's Not About the Vent

April 3, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: We Can't Wait!
Perspective from Cassie Ferguson, MD: COVID-19 and Grief
Perspective from Chris Davis, MD, MPH: Building Trust with Underserved Communities

March 27, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Bringing Medical Students to the Fight
Perspective from Marty Muntz, MD: PPE & Moral Injury 

March 20, 2020
Director's Corner by Adina Kalet, MD, MPH: Welcome to the Transformational Times