Kern Institute Faculty Pillar

Led by Mary Ann Gilligan, MD, MPH, Adina Kalet, MD, Katherine Kassulke, and Angela DeMent, MD

Dr. Gilligan and her team recently received a generous grant from the Advancing Healthier Wisconsin endowment to bring the Academy on Communication in Healthcare (ACH) Train-the-Trainer Relationship-Centered Communication program to MCW. Our goal is to put into place a program that will enhance the communication skills of practicing clinicians (physicians, advanced practice providers) at MCW for years to come. Participants in the program will be trained in a model of relationship-centered communication that incorporates evidence-based communication skills that have been demonstrated to improve outcomes important to patients, clinicians, as well as healthcare organizations.

Led by the faculty pillar team

This initiative has amplified the impact in recognizing and exhibiting strong character in every professional setting, from the traditional classroom setting, to clinical learning experiences, through virtual environments. These development opportunities engage all faculty through hands-on workshops, yearly new-faculty orientation, and institution-wide professional development seminars.

Led by: Kristina Kaljo, PhD, Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, Alicia Pilarski, MD, Devarati Syam, PhD, and Vivian Dondlinger

Working with the Graduate Medical Education Pillar, providing foundational teaching principals applicable to residents and fellows. We have begun with sessions during intern orientation week in the summer and are continuing with follow-up sessions.

Led by Michael Bruan, PhD, Amy Farkas, MD, and Kristina Kaljo, PhD

Research experts in the Kern Institute support medical education scholarship across MCW through office hours, a monthly medical education journal club, and our own research team’s scholarship. Since launching in the summer of 2021, our KICS journal club has hosted national experts in medical education, office hours have brought together numerous collaborators and research dissemination, and our research team has already published one manuscript and has another under review.

Led by the faculty pillar team

This program an internal, self-directed online certificate program for faculty interested in service within the Kern Institute. This includes modules on coaching, culturally responsive teaching, small group facilitation, diversity training, psychological safety, evaluation methods and of course, the principles that ground the Kern Institute in character, caring, and competence. The program is set to implement through a four-phase approach, which stems from the Kern Institute faculty to every faculty educator that joins the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Led by Kristina Kaljo, PhD and Vivian Dondlinger, MPH

The Kern INstitute’s Educational Transformation In teaching Competence, Caring, and Character (KinetiC3) is a teaching academy that was established in 2018 in an effort to transform medical education through an emphasis on the growth mindset and a much-needed revisioning of academic medicine practices. KinetiC3, the program continues to grow, empowering educators as agents of change in the delivery and application of medical knowledge and practice grounded in the three C’s of character, caring, and competence.

Led by Kristina Kaljo, PhD and Vivian Dondlinger

With the initial goal of magnifying character education and development throughout the Medical College of Wisconsin, interest is growing in the surrounding community. Cultivating sustained, reciprocal collaborative efforts between faculty and community partners encourages a concerted effort to dismantle the medical mistrust that is pervasive today. Community organizations will have the opportunity to partner with faculty to investigate and address identified healthcare challenges and subsequent teaching opportunities through the auspices of the three C’s. We are currently working with MCW Departments and a new initiative through the Office of Global Health and Belize.

Led By: Jeff Fritz, PhD

These are capacity building programs with the specific intent to further develop faculty, who are focused on transforming medical education resulting in virtuous caring physicians.

Led By: Chelsea Weaver, PhD, Kerrie Quirk, and Kristina Kaljo, PhD

In collaboration with the Office of Educational Improvement, Academic Affairs, and the MCWfusion team to provide the following activities. Activity calendar can be found here: Educator Skills Development Calendar

Activities include:

Patient-based Discussion Facilitator Workshops: MCWfusion Faculty Development Program

The Kern-OEI Active Learning Clinic, led by Chelsea Weaver, PhD, Kristina Kaljo, PhD, Kerrie Quirk, MEd, Denise Cook-Snyder, PhD, and Amy Beierle, MEd

1.) Urgent Care Clinics: Drop-in office hours to get immediate feedback on your active learning exercises, including patient-based discussions, team-based learning activities, and interactive lectures. No registration required but you are more than welcome to send materials for review in advance for the most thorough feedback.

2.) Facilitator Follow-ups: Drop-in office hours to prepare for or debrief facilitating sessions. Stop by to share a recent experience, receive quick tips and advice, or ask questions about an upcoming facilitator session. No registration required. This is a great way to build community with other PBD facilitators!

3.) Teaching Skills Labs: Active workshops designed to take participants through generation of their own active learning exercise. These sessions operate as a flipped classroom, where there is a small amount of pre-work, some information delivery at the start, and the remaining time is spent actively implementing a specific technique with the support of experienced colleagues. Advance registration required.

4.) 1:1 Consults: MCW faculty and staff provide consults and longitudinal coaching in several active learning strategies. This program supports implementation of numerous active learning techniques, including patient-based discussions, team-based learning, interactive lectures, and asynchronous learning, as well as educational research support.