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Focus on Faculty

Hear from experienced faculty who share their inspiration and advice for serving as an educator.

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Joanne Bernstein, MD, MSE | Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dr. Joanne Bernstein shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
5

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I choose to be an educator mostly because of my love of learning. My favorite educational experiences as a student involved small groups – while studying for exams or learning material during course time, such as in math or physics. Solving problems together was rewarding and often forged lifelong friendships. I embrace this collaborative mindset in teaching – which brings me joy and I feel resonates with students.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When I’m able to create a comfortable and safe space to meaningfully connect with students and invest in their growth.

What is your educational philosophy?
Teach, and learn, by example.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
As an engineer working for General Electric, I had a manager, Larry Hersh, who cherished curiosity and prioritized education as a part of our work. He modeled life-long learning and gave me the time to cultivate this in myself.

What have your students taught you?
Students have helped shape me as an educator, physician, and researcher – giving me inspiration to pursue new endeavors through their interests and determination. They have also taught me the importance of community.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Teach topics that resonate with you – passion is contagious and engaging. Think aloud. Be willing to admit your own gaps in knowledge and learn together.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
When students encounter personal challenges that affect their well-being and educational growth. At the start of my role as a course director in 2017, I noticed these challenges often would not surface until academic consequences, such as an unsatisfactory grade, forced them into light. Thankfully, in the last few years, it seems students are more proactive, and perhaps more comfortable, in bringing these issues forward, allowing us rally in support and help them succeed.

Matthew Vickery, MD | Assistant Professor, Radiology; MCWfusion Phase 3 Director

Dr. Matthew Vickery shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
14

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Education was/is the family business. Three of my four grandparents were educators (a college professor, one high-school guidance counselor/coach, and an elementary school teacher) and my cousins, aunts, and uncles increase the count from there. It was not uncommon to discuss Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development or interventions for atypical elementary school learners over Thanksgiving Dinner.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
The moment when you find, and then ameliorate a gap in somebody’s knowledge. Where, in discussions or on asking a question, you find a spot in an eager learner’s mind where you can make an impact, fill a defect, change a way of thinking – where you’re going to tell them something new that they’re hearing for the very first time. I think it’s a magic moment, and it’s great when you realize that it’s happening.

What is your educational philosophy?
Education, as with most things, is improved by the relentless and diligent application of empathy.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Too many to name. One educator that comes to mind is Sal Khan, of Khan academy fame. I love the idea of building a platform that makes learning available to everyone who wants it. It’s an amazing way to help make the word a better place.

What have your students taught you?
Patience, Humility, Perseverance, and the proper timing of an oat-milk latte in the afternoon.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Remember what it’s like not to know something. And when you forget, surround yourself with people who remember, and listen to them. It’s part of our duty to stay fresh and not get too calcified in our ways. It’s one of the saddest things in the world when I hear someone complaining about ‘students today’ or any one of the numerous variations thereof. Are learners different now than 10 years ago? Sure, but not in a lot of ways that really matter. And the world has changed too. We’re not going to be able to go back, so it’s important that we’re able to move forward.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Like approximately 100% of my colleagues, finding the proper balance of education and clinical responsibilities. I am in perpetual need of a time-turner if anyone has one to spare.

Bethany Auble, MD, MEd | Associate Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Bethany Auble shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
10

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I love educating at all levels of medical education from the pre-clinical years through residency and fellowship, and each group has such unique vantage points and perspectives on medicine. I love what I do clinically as a pediatric endocrinologist, so I want to share that with learners as well. I sought the foundational knowledge in my Master of Medical Education coursework to allow me to embrace this role fully.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
Seeing confidence build over the medical school years, throughout residency, and ultimately through fellowship is truly the most rewarding experience as an educator. Graduation days are still the most poignant days for me to watch our learners move onto the next step.

What is your educational philosophy?
Medical education is a combination of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be developed and shaped over time and longitudinal relationships. Each individual learner has different needs and perspective that makes her or his education unique, challenging, and really fulfilling. Trying to meet a learner where they are, to build on their prior experiences and knowledge can transform that concept or patent care encounter.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
The struggling student or resident has inspired me to continue in education, as that person needs a cheerleader, mentor, and trusted advisor. Seeing the resilience and perseverance in that accomplishment is just outstanding!

What have your students taught you?
Finding quiet moments to meet up for coffee and a chat can change someone’s entire life. Knowing that you truly care can mean the world to someone who needs you in their world at that moment.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Listen more than you speak to your learners. They have knowledge and experience to share, and it builds confidence and growth. Mess up in front of trainees and be gracious about learning from your mistakes or missteps. Share your own personal growth with your learners and be humble.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Lapses in professionalism are particularly challenging for me to help navigate, but the vast majority of these lapses are remediable once you get to the root of the issue.

Beth Krippendorf, PhD | Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy

Dr. Beth Krippendorf shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
27

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I originally was a high school science teacher. I enjoyed working with all levels of students, coaching and club advising. I pursued a PhD to be able to teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I discovered I have a knack for relating complex anatomical concepts in a way that beginning students can understand.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
Of course, it is exciting to receive recognition with teaching awards, but the most meaningful rewards are the personal thanks from individual students who appreciate my teaching efforts. My satisfaction in teaching comes in knowing I have facilitated a student’s learning: while I’m explained a concept, a student expressed understanding and enthusiasm for their new knowledge – he/she could answer questions about how the information is applied and could formulate additional probing questions, a graduate sent me a thank you card describing the influence I had on her education at MCW, a senior student sent an excited email describing a case that related to something I taught him three years ago.

This question makes me think of a quote from A Man For All Seasons. This quote emphasizes that personal teaching satisfaction comes from knowing one’s students have acquired the knowledge, skills and attitudes to succeed.

Sir Thomas More: Why not be a teacher? You’d be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one.
Richard Rich: If I was, who would know it?
Sir Thomas More: You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that.

What is your educational philosophy?
Teaching, like medicine, is a service profession. My role as a medical educator is to humbly facilitate learning so that students reach their goal: not simply passing an examination, but ultimately applying their knowledge to provide high-quality patient care. As a teacher and course director, I try to facilitate learning by focusing on WHAT and HOW. Listing specific learning objectives guides WHAT students should know after a teaching session. Developing learning objectives is essential for not only planning a session, but also formulating examination questions. I use this “backward design” whether developing an entire course or an individual teaching session. After developing learning objectives, I decide HOW to guide students to achieve those objectives. Having been trained as a K12 educator, I still map out a lesson plan for professional education sessions. Students respond positively to enthusiasm and a well-organized presentation which uses different teaching modalities to cater to various student learning styles. In a lecture setting, I keep students engaged by asking them questions or having them perform simple demonstrations. I enhance laboratory sessions using active learning, well-written and interactive laboratory manuals, technology, and games. I am known for my frequent use of analogies to help relate an unknown concept to something that students are already familiar with – a technique used by the great anatomy teacher, Andreas Vesalius. Finally, clear communication and genuine caring characterize an exceptional teacher. I repeatedly communicate objectives (WHAT) and plans (HOW) to students in order to get them “on board” with an individual classroom session and the course as a whole. However, I do not want students to be merely “on board”; ultimately, I want them to “take command of the ship.” My teaching efforts are directed at planning how best to creatively facilitate the transfer of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will help students “navigate” the future.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
In education, new challenges regularly arise which prompt a re-examination of teaching strategies. This keeps my job interesting and inspires me to improve my teaching! I ask myself, how can I . . .

  • improve teaching materials (clarify, streamline) to better facilitate student learning?
  • better engage learners with interactive teaching materials and presentations?
  • incorporate new technology into teaching?
  • quickly transition to remote learning during a global pandemic?
  • share MCW experiences and successes with other professional educators?

What have your students taught you?
Teaching high school was my first opportunity to work with a diverse group of people - I was happy to realize I could find commonalities with students whose interests and life experiences were different from mine. I really enjoy getting to know medical students during one-on-one encounters in the anatomy laboratory, while reading their personal reflections and during other student/faculty encounters. These interactions make me appreciate how dedicated, creative and intelligent these future physicians are.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Teachers have a talent for being able to impart new knowledge to learners. Continually work to refine that talent. Find ways to better engage students in active learning, improve learning efficiency, and reliably and accurately assess learning outcomes.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Changes in medical education are a challenge – it is difficult for faculty (new or old) to adapt to a new way for teaching. It is also an opportunity for growth!

New research in education makes it challenging to keep abreast of the latest recommendations for teaching. As one attempt to learn more, I organized a monthly educational journal club within my department which has expanded to include faculty from other departments. We share and discuss papers with a focus on medical education or the latest buzzwords we hear from educational experts at MCW.

Melanie Gartz, PhD, MS, MHS | Postdoctoral Fellow, Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy

Dr. Melanie Gartz shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
5

Why did you choose to be an educator?
As a graduate student, I had an opportunity to give a lecture where I talked with medical students about performing basic science research as part of their educational training. Preparing the materials for the lecture was surprisingly fun and after the session was over, I noticed I was eager to do it again! The experience was a major highlight for me, so I started to evaluate what that meant for my career path. Upon reflection, I realized that I had been interested in teaching for years because I often looked forward to opportunities to teach lab members techniques and help guide their projects. In support, I got great feedback from my learners. Therefore, the combination of doing something I truly enjoyed and doing something that resonated with learners motivated me to be an educator!

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When students feel comfortable enough to offer an educated answer (right or wrong!) and we have a dialogue about it, it is a very rewarding feeling. Creating a learning environment where students feel safe to express themselves so important for both the learner and educator. Offering up answers to questions displays a willingness that I really appreciate.

What is your educational philosophy?
My educational philosophy involves taking a moment to understand what level the student is at currently and using that information to customize the process. Further, I believe it’s important to examine the trajectory of the learner and what type of knowledge they will need to serve them in their career. I will teach the same subject differently, depending upon whether the student is going to be a physician, scientist, pharmacist, etc. because each path requires a different level of depth and detail.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I’m very fortunate to work as part of a teaching team here at MCW in the Clinical Human Anatomy course where my fellow colleagues inspire me. Each member of the team has their unique attributes that they bring to the team to make our group well-rounded. Inspiring skills my colleagues have include decades of knowledge in medical education, clinical expertise from being a practicing physician, being savvy with educational improvement and techniques, compassion for students in the early years of training and having an approachable disposition that the students relate to! These unique traits of my colleagues inspire me to be the best that I can for our learners.

What have your students taught you?
My students have taught me to double check and triple check everything before it is presented. Our students are high achievers that want to ensure that they understand clearly, so it is important to make sure all materials are presented as clearly as possible to facilitate that understanding. They have also taught me that learning is a 2-way street. If the way I’m presenting something is not resonating with the students, it presents an opportunity for me to revisit the topic and teach it in a different way that is hopefully easier to grasp.

What advice would you give to other educators?
My advice would be to take the time in advance to understand where the learner is and where they are going. As the expert, the educator may have a very advanced understanding of the topic – I encourage them to take a moment to reflect on what it was like learning that material for the first time and what tips/tricks helped them get a grip on the content. What questions did you have? What topic was unclear and what helped you to understand it better? This period of reflection may help the educator devise creative ways to help educate the learner better.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Currently, the biggest challenge that myself and others face is the hybrid in person-online learning environment. The classroom format has changed dramatically in the past 2 years. I want to ensure that the classroom remains an engaging place and typically one way to do that was through ARS type questioning. That does work well with synchronous viewing, both in person and virtually. However, it may not be particularly engaging for those who watch the lecture asynchronously, so that is something I would like to work on in the future.

James McCarthy, MD | Assistant Professor, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics

Dr. James McCarthy shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
6

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Working with residents and students makes being a doctor more enjoyable. It helps you remember where you started and why you chose this career, and teaching also keeps your own skills and knowledge up to date.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I love seeing the lights go on when someone starts making connections between what they learned in the classroom and what they’re doing in the hospital, then keeps putting things together to make a plan for the patient. Watching learners have those “I’m thinking like a doctor” moments never gets old.

What is your educational philosophy?
Let the learner make decisions. Most of my educational time is in the hospital where I try to make sure students and residents know that I’m there as a safety net to talk things through and make sure nothing bad happens to them or their patients, but they should be the ones making the plans. If they get something wrong, it just lets us know where to start teaching from.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Those moments I mentioned earlier, where learners start gaining confidence and realizing they’re in the right place, keep you going even on long days.

What have your students taught you?
To be adaptable. When you’re taking care of patients, there’s often more than one right answer. Earlier in my career I think I tried to nudge learners more toward doing things my way, but over time I’ve gotten more flexible provided the patients stay on the right track.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Make it OK for learners to be wrong. In any setting, tell them up front that getting better is more important than being right from the start. It can be a little trickier when you’re working with patients and have to balance safety and autonomy, but once you figure out a system that works both you and your learners will be better off for it.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
The times when, for whatever reason, the engagement isn’t quite there. Sometimes it’s on my end, sometimes it’s the learners having something else on their minds, but on those days you do what you can to bring everyone back onboard and make the best of it. It doesn’t always work out, and it doesn’t have to as long as you can try again the next day.

Jayshil “Jay” Patel, MD | Associate Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine

Dr. Jayshil Patel shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
11

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Being part of the knowledge transfer process is a wonderful way to ‘pay it forward.’ Early in my medical career, I was fortunate to have worked alongside educators who sought to learn for the sake of erudition and did it in such a way that taught me the value of the hidden curriculum. I see no better way to ‘pay it forward’ than by (hopefully) imparting the explicit and hidden curriculums to learners. My hope is that learners are empowered to do the same.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I feel rewarded when a learner’s “mental light bulb” turns on and then they want to take a deeper dive by asking “why” (commence curiosity).

What is your educational philosophy?
I believe learning and educating are symbiotic. Both require leading by example and sometimes an inconvenient truth (saying “I don’t know” as the starting point).

Philosophy in action: diagnose the learner and educator by encouraging them to think aloud, promote metacognition, and allow both to fail in a safe space by suggesting educators and learners “make themselves uncomfortable.”

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I am inspired by educators and learners, especially those who possess traits/characteristics I cannot explicitly teach, like kindness, work ethic, unwavering curiosity, humility.

What have your students taught you?
How to step outside myself and see the world from their vantage point.

What advice would you give to other educators?
In my opinion, process matters more than declarative medical knowledge. Thus, strive to provide more than just a pinch of the ingredients needed for arriving at “the answer.” In other words, encourage students to explicate their thinking by teaching the language, steps, and biases of critical thinking; provide a toolkit for metacognition, and emulate emotional and social intelligence.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Finding metrics for processes I know have intrinsic value. For example, it is difficult to measure clinical reasoning (i.e., how to arrive at a diagnosis). Yet, I know it has intrinsic value because arriving at an accurate and timely diagnosis forms the foundation of medicine.

Sara Lauck, MD | Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Pediatric Clerkship, Pediatrics

Dr. Sara Lauck shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
9

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I find teaching to be a great way to reinforce what I learn – information always seems to stick better when I explain it to someone else. So, it is enjoyable to witness learners apply new knowledge and subsequently teach that information to their patients and colleagues. I had considered being a high school science teacher when I was deciding on a career, so I have greatly enjoyed making education a major part of my medical career.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I find it rewarding when I see a student incorporate my feedback into their practice. This is the best evidence that my explanation was not only understandable but also meaningful enough that they were motivated to implement behavior change.

What is your educational philosophy?
I believe we truly all learn from one another. There is a vast amount of information to know in medicine and we can’t all remember everything off the top of our heads every moment. However, everyone on a team has expertise they can share. During busy clinical rounds, I think it can be very helpful for each learner to teach the team one fact they learned from their patient that day. This can be an efficient way to keep everyone on the team engaged. And I think when a learner teaches about something they learned, they will be more likely to retain that knowledge.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
My 6th-8th grade science teacher inspired me to love science and pursue a career in medicine with a focus on education. I’ve had many amazing teachers throughout my training and colleagues who inspire me to strive to be as effective and innovative as they are in their daily practice as educators. I know that there are specific anticipatory guidance points I offer patients, physical exam techniques I utilize, and teaching points I provide students that I gained directly from watching mentors and colleagues in practice. The possibility that students could likewise emulate something I did or said is humbling and motivates me to be as thoughtful as possible in my words and actions.

What have your students taught you?
I am incredibly inspired by the dedication students have to the service of others and to the continued advances in medicine. Students are involved in so many amazing humanitarian efforts and have a dedication to research and quality improvement that is truly remarkable. Their devotion to medicine makes me honored to be even a tiny part of their career paths.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Learn from your students, let them know that they are a valued member of the team, and remember what it was like to be in their shoes learning a vast amount of information while navigating the complex policies and procedures of healthcare.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
It can be difficult to provide productive, in-depth teaching during busy clinical times. Medicine can be dynamic, stressful, and full of uncertainty, which can make it challenging to provide patient care while also offering teaching points and effectively explaining my decision-making process.

Amy Prunuske, PhD | Associate Professor and Director of Curriculum Innovation, MCW Regional Campuses

Dr. Amy Prunuske shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
14

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Teaching is in my DNA, my grandma went to college with my aunt to become teachers and both my parents are educators. When I was young, I was designing curriculum for the neighborhood kids. I still have a spiral notebook for the outdoor art class.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When you see your students accomplish their goals and know you had a small part in helping them accomplish that.

What is your educational philosophy?
When I was a postdoctoral fellow, I participated in a Scientific Teaching training program, established by Jo Handelsman at UW-Madison, that was built around the idea that you can bring to teaching the same rigor you bring to scientific research. The three central findings of scientific teaching that have been the foundation of my educational philosophy are active learning, assessment, and diversity.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I love learning about new things my colleagues are trying. I have appreciated the opportunity this week to learn from colleagues and students about their projects at the MCW Innovations in Healthcare Education and Research Conference. Being a teacher doesn’t need to be solitary activity, I have had amazing co-teachers often partnering with MDs.

What have your students taught you?
Listening to students explain things, brings new perspectives and energy. I’ve heard students use really cool analogies when explaining mechanisms of how things work that have enhanced my own understanding.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Don’t be afraid to try new things particularly that promote engagement and connection.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
My biggest challenge right now is time. I have a large number of projects I’m involved in, still want to be in the classroom, and in my new role as Director of Curriculum Innovation there is value in connecting with a large number of people. This is during an uncertain time where it is also important to prioritize your own health and relationships.

Lisa Cirillo, PhD | Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, Basic Science Curriculum, Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy

Dr. Lisa Cirillo shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education
19

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I originally came to MCW as a researcher, not an educator and my prior teaching experience was limited to mentoring students in the laboratory. As I started to teach my first classes, I found I really enjoyed teaching and sought out more and more teaching opportunities. I like to think teaching chose me.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I feel most rewarded as an educator when I’m able to help students who come to me for advice and support. I’m so happy when a student who has struggled in a course early on is able to turn things around and succeed.

What is your educational philosophy?
I always let my students know I have an open-door policy, that I’m there for them whenever they need my help. Every student I teach is important to me and I’ll do whatever I can to help them succeed.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Knowing that I am training the next generation of physicians is very inspiring and humbling. It makes me work harder to do the best that I can do for my students.

What have your students taught you?
My students have taught me how to be a better educator, to adapt my teaching to different audiences and learning styles.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Use what students tell you in course and faculty evaluations to improve your teaching. I’ve received a lot of great teaching advice over the years from my students that has made me a better educator.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Over the past year, it has been extremely challenging not to be able to teach small groups of students in-person or have students come to my office to meet with me. I really enjoy teaching opportunities that allow me to interact directly with students and the pandemic has made it difficult to do this safely.

Michele Battle, PhD | Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy

Dr. Michele Battle shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
13

Why did you choose to be an educator?
My passion for science and research led me to my career as a basic science researcher. My role as an educator is an essential responsibility born of that career choice. Although perhaps not my initial career goal, I have found being an educator at MCW to be quite rewarding.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I find it most rewarding when I see students grow in skills and confidence. It is particularly rewarding to see those who I have trained move on to fulfilling careers in biomedical sciences and medicine.

What is your educational philosophy?
I strive to guide students to develop as outstanding critical thinkers who possess the technical expertise to succeed as research and medical professionals.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I am inspired by the dedication I have seen in my students as they work tirelessly to achieve their goals.

What have your students taught you?
I have learned that there is no one size fits all approach to education and mentorship. Different personalities and ways of learning require that you be flexible and innovative as an educator.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Trust your instincts and unique strengths that have brought you to your current position.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
It can be challenging to identify what motivates each and every student so that I as an educator can deliver individualized learning strategies that will help learners achieve their goals.

Malika Siker, MD | Associate Dean for Student Inclusion and Diversity and Associate Professor of Radiation Oncology

Dr. Malika Siker shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
10

Why did you choose to be an educator?
For our patients and communities to flourish, we need to prepare the next generation of biomedical professionals to deliver compassionate, culturally-responsive, and cutting-edge care. As an educator, I have the honor to work with our learners to help shape the future of health science innovation and care.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
Meaningful success happens at the intersection of passion, excellence, and hard work. The greatest reward is playing a role in helping students define their unique purpose and thrive.

What is your educational philosophy?
All students deserve an environment where they can thrive and feel valued. Cultivating a safe and inclusive environment that celebrates each and every student requires intentionality, authenticity, and humility. My goal is to inspire an enthusiasm for learning, empathy, and a growth mindset with a focus on equity.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
From our youngest learners to our oldest patients, inspiration is everywhere if you take the time to see it.

What have your students taught you?
As faculty, we must continue to be persistent in advocating for transformational change and be a courageous voice for the vulnerable.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Our learners may forget what we teach them with time, but they will never forget how we made them feel.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
It can be challenging to balance academically rigorous requirements with the vital need for well-being and self-care. As educators, it is important that we model this for students so they understand that they have permission to prioritize their personal health and happiness, especially during stressful times.

Roy Long, PhD | Assistant Dean for Basic Sciences, Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology MCW – Central Wisconsin

Dr. Roy Long shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice, and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
23

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Prior to arriving at MCW, my career plans were focused on research. However, after I joined MCW as a faculty member, I discovered how rewarding it is to work with students in the classroom and laboratory. From that point forward, education has been a vital component of my career path.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When assisting a student one on one with a concept that they do not understand and then you hit upon that “a ha” moment, and you can see the student understanding the concept.

What is your educational philosophy?
My educational philosophy is built on three cornerstones: flexibility, approachability and creativity.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
My 10th grade biology teacher, Mr. Heberlig, was a huge influence on me as an educator. He challenged me early in my life to become a life-long learner. Many of the lessons/characteristics that he taught me I pass on to my students today.

What have your students taught you?
That each student is different, truly capable of great things and will charter a unique course to achieve their goals.

What advice would you give to other educators?
To listen, understand and respond to student suggestions and concerns.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Bridging the ever-widening age gap between me and my students is an educational challenge for me.

Ellen M. Schumann, MD | Director, Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship, Electives, and Acting Internships MCW–Central Wisconsin

Dr. Ellen Schumann shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
4

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I’ve always been interested in teaching, whether it was teaching parents, students, residents, young physicians, or hospital staff.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When a learner tells me I made a difference and when students feel they can reach out to me for advice or help with problem-solving.

What is your educational philosophy?
Every day is a school day. The learning never ends.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I’m inspired to give back, to pay it forward. I want to share what I’ve learned throughout the many phases of my career and help launch our next generation of physicians.

What have your students taught you?
The generation gap is real! I’ve had to move beyond teaching by lectures, PowerPoints, and assigned reading because that isn’t how this generation learns.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Approach teaching as a partnership with your learners. Help them set goals and assist them as they work on achieving them. Learners need constant encouragement and validation along with a gentle push.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
I tend to look at the world as a series of PDSA cycles, but sometimes you need to know when to say this is good enough and it’s time to move on to the next challenge. It’s difficult to manage competing priorities and it’s hard for me to say no when I feel I have something to contribute.

Himanshu Agrawal, MBBS DF-APA | Associate Professor, Psychiatry

Dr. Himanshu Agrawal shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
4.5

Why did you choose to be an educator?
My first job was at a non-profit in rural Wisconsin, and frankly, for 8 years I couldn’t stop missing and thinking about teaching!

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
Those fleeting moments when there is that perfect sync, that indescribable connection between a student and teacher. When I am filled with envy at how much better my students are compared to how I used to be, and then realize I get to teach these gems of humans and learn from them.

What is your educational philosophy?
Teach how you wish you had been taught. The rest will follow.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
My own teachers (the good ones and the bad ones). Above all- my students.

What have your students taught you?
To stay on my toes (they’re and to try my best to stay curious, open-minded and truly humble (that last one is particularly difficult for me).

What advice would you give to other educators?
Be aware of your hubris. Check yourself before you wreck yourself. And when you find yourself being overtly skeptical and critical of the present generation, remember- some of your teachers thought you would be the downfall of medicine!

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
See answer 6. Especially during a time when medical knowledge and culture seems to be changing at a dizzying pace.

John Hayes, DO

Dr. John Hayes shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education:
6

Why did you choose to be an educator?
My area of clinical focus has been providing primary care for “underserved” patients: People living with poverty, people with very low health literacy, people with substance use disorders, HIV, or Hep C, People with serious mental illness etc. These patients need intensive, culturally competent care in order to thrive. Unfortunately, I’ve found that many physicians lack the skillset to care for these psychosocially complex patients. I got into medical education because I want to help underserved patients thrive by helping to train doctors that are properly equipped to care for them.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
It’s really great to see the results of my training in action. I currently train my students and residents to practice a mixture of addiction medicine and primary care. Unfortunately, these patients are often undertreated or “referred out” by their primary clinicians. Its super rewarding when I see an emerging clinician encounter a “challenging” patient and assist them using skills I’ve helped them develop. I’m happiest when I see one of my learners teaching other learners (or patients) the stuff that I taught them.

What is your educational philosophy?
Nobody remembers the one-hour lecture they got on cardiac risk stratification, but they might remember if you make it into a relay race with prizes. You might not remember on EKGs but it’s hard to forget diagnosis and treating your first heart attack. I believe in the power of teaching moments. Educators should make content that is “fun” or “shocking” or “heartbreaking” to help make it memorable.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I’m frequently inspired by the courage of medical students and residents. They regularly go into patient care rooms, caring for patients with complex biopsychosocial conditions for the first time. Its inspiring to see them “figure it out”. It’s particularly inspiring when I see them display empathy and compassion in their patient care for underserved patients who need some extra help.

What have your students taught you?
Teaching makes me a better physician. Students frequently challenge me to come up with better treatment plans. It’s just really helpful to have someone asking why you are doing things the way do them! I’ve also become a much better communicator by observing students interact with patients and each other and “stealing” from these interactions over time.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Keep pushing yourself to learn new things and inspire others with your work. Take time to savor small victories and reflect on the positive change you are making in the world.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
The mixture of academics and clinical medicine can be very difficult. It’s like having two full time jobs. There is always more work you can do for your patients. There is always just one more project or presentation or paper you can sign up for. Setting boundaries and knowing my limits is a constant challenge.

Erin Green, MD | Assistant Dean for Clinical Learning, MCW-Green Bay

Dr. Erin Green shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
5

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I enjoy teaching and believe it is an important part of my job as a physician to teach the next generation of physicians.   

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
It is incredibly rewarding to see my students develop as young physicians throughout their time at MCW-Green Bay.  I enjoy seeing them on day one and again at graduation and reflecting upon all the growth that has taken place.

What is your educational philosophy? 
I believe that learner oriented teaching promotes meaningful learning among students and helps them create life-long learning habits that they will continue to build on throughout their medical career.  

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
When I hear from our graduates thanking us for the educational experiences we provided them and how it helped them to care for one of their patients.

What have your students taught you? 
That the future in medicine is bright, the physicians of tomorrow are going to be well prepared to care for the public and deal with any upcoming challenges. 

What advice would you give to other educators?
 
The significant impact each student will have on their future patients makes the time and challenges of teaching very meaningful.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
 
Time is always a challenge for most educators but teaching the next generation of physicians is incredibly worthwhile and important. 

 
Daniel Stein, MD | Associate Professor of Medicine, Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Dr. Daniel Stein shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
10

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I have always looked up to my professors that I felt are great educators. They have been my role models throughout my career and why I have chosen this career path.  

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
The best reward is seeing a learner who was struggling finally accomplish their final goal.    

What is your educational philosophy? 
I feel that learners at all levels need to have two skill sets when it comes to medical knowledge. First, is not just knowing medical facts that can be tested on exam, but knowing how to access these facts quickly. Second, and more importantly, is the interpretation and application of those facts into medical practice. I try to stress both aspects of this in my teaching as all levels of education because this is the modern practice of medicine. Medical knowledge is expanding at rate way beyond what any one person can memorize.  Understanding how to access and interpret information efficiently has become an essential skill for modern physicians.

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
Dr. James Frock, a nephrologist at my medical school, had the patience and skill to teach acid/base that I have always tried to emulate his teaching style. There are many others, but Dr. Frock was the first.

What have your students taught you? 

Continue to be inquisitive. Working with learners of all levels drives me to continue to ask questions and investigate new topics.  There is nothing better than when a student ask me a question that I don’t know the answer to and I have to research the answer.

What advice would you give to other educators? 
Be patient. Like good barbeque it sometimes takes longer that you think it to get good results.

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
Having patience (see #6).

 
Alexandra Harrington | Professor of Pathology

Dr. Alexandra (Ali) Harrington shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
12

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I come from a family of teachers so adopting a teaching role in my career has always been important to me.  I also had an amazing mentor in medical school, Dr. Urias Almagro, who was a kind-hearted, jack-of-all-trades pathologist.  He loved to teach students and took me under his wing to lure me into pathology by bringing the textbooks to life through his patients.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
That depends on the learner.   

I feel most rewarded with medical student teaching when I watch our students genuinely engage in team-based learning exercises during the Heme/Lymph Unit.  I love to hear the students teaching each other!  It’s so satisfying to hear students applying their knowledge and explaining to one another how to diagnose and manage their patients in case studies.  It’s also impressive to hear students using medical vocabulary that they literally just learned fluidly in those explanations to each other.   
I feel most rewarded teaching my Pathology residents and fellows when I’m asked the tough, practical questions while staffing our patient care service.  It’s invigorating to work with trainees that want to learn hematopathology and ask application and experiential questions to improve their diagnostic skills.   
What is your educational philosophy? 

I believe that it is critical that students learn fundamental sciences through patients, so in my classes, we always learn concepts through patient cases.  When I’m teaching residents, fellows, or pathology colleagues, we are always learning through our patients’ biopsy material or clinical presentation. 
I also believe students should have multiple different learning modalities at their disposal and it’s my job to ensure that happens.  I recognize that our students and trainees learn differently and therefore I try to make different resources available to students.

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
Student and resident inquisitiveness inspire me.  I am also so inspired by my talented colleagues. I learn from these friends every day and grow personally and professionally with their influence.

What have your students taught you? 
My students have taught me to be humble, as have my patients.  My medical students have asked really hard questions over the years in the Heme/Lymph Unit.  It keeps me on my toes!  When I was a younger teacher, I used to think I had to have all the answers, but now with age, I know that I can’t have all the answers.  And I certainly know that I can’t predict all the questions that students will have.  So I’ve learned to be OK saying I don’t know in the moment and then when I leave the classroom or the multiheaded microscope, I research the answer and disseminate it!

What advice would you give to other educators? 
Try new things in your classroom!  Take risks!  I have had so much fun launching new curricular innovations in the Heme/Lymph Unit, such as an IPE session with the medical students and laboratory professional students, wellness activities with Cookie Day and team puzzling, and the team-based learning activities.  And for the most part, they have been well received and successful.  I would not have succeeded though, had I not tried.  I recognize that it is easy to go with the status quo and with what works, and that its intimidating to think a change or variation might fail.  Nonetheless, I think innovation should be a constant in education, with the goal of meeting our students’ learning needs.

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
I find it hard to keep up with the exploding electronic resources available to students and residents!

 
Adina Kalet, MD, MPH | Professor, Health Sciences Education Department

Dr. Adina Kalet shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
Lots!  I taught dance 1976-1982 and then taught regularly throughout my training in Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency in 1984-1987 and Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program/University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1988-1990. From 1990-2019, yes 29 years, I was on faculty at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine where I held a wide range of different educational roles. Most recently I designed and taught a Mentor Development Program for our Clinical Translation Science Institute. I arrived at MCW September 2019.

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I had a small handful of remarkable teachers and mentors who inspired me starting from my 5th grade teacher who believed I was smart, even though I wasn’t yet reading fluently. From that point on, education choose me. I was a dancer as a teenager. I wasn’t a particularly skillful performer, but I was an enthusiastic dance teacher and did a lot of it. I loved thinking about how my students learned complex psychomotor things, like dancing. I was fascinated with how important the relationship between learner and teacher was to the ultimate success of the learner and the satisfaction of the teacher. My residency training program was unique in that the expectation was that the residents did a lot of the teaching. Clinical reasoning fascinated me, clinical epidemiology fascinated me, psychosocial medicine fascinated me, faculty development fascinated me, and so on and so on. I became an assessment expert which led to a great deal of remediation work. I became the institutional “go to” for professionalism remediation. Then we wrote a book on the subject. 

These days I find working with individual students who struggle academically or lapse in their professional behavior very satisfying. 

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
When I was an intern at Bellevue Hospital in NYC during the first, very challenging years of the HIV epidemic I made it an evening ritual to sit down with “my student” and find out what they were learning and how they were feeling. We were inevitably sitting side-by-side and multi-tasking, entering lab values into the patient charts, answering pages and writing notes. I might deliver a few key “pearls” if need be; how to interpret the CBC (“yes the MCV is over 100 and the Hemoglobin is 6!- crazy right? What do we think is the underlying mechanism for this pattern in this case?”), how to read an EKG (“see the J-point elevation- ignore it!”), but mostly I listened to their questions and concerns. Then we went from bedside-to-bedside to talk with “our” patients. I loved it when the patient was well enough to help me teach the student. We would review new information, check physical exam findings, and discuss the plan- all together. More often than not, these conversations were full of “bad news” and very sad. Having both roles, teacher and doctor, made these moments especially meaningful. Many times, I witnessed a student’s “ah-ha” learning moment. I felt like I was helping the student “become a physician”. From time to time I get a thank you from one of those students, many of whom have had full careers caring for patients and changing the world.  Very rewarding. 

What is your educational philosophy? 
Our job is to ensure that all people have access to the excellent physicians they deserve. How we teach medicine matters much less than what our students learn and what meaning they make of that learning. I believe that learners should be in control of and responsible for their own learning in the context of strong relationships with educators, peers and patients, accountability and rich assessment programs. I believe that the responsibilities of educators are to set clear aspirational expectations, create learning and assessment opportunities and attend to the formation and internalization of the student’s identity as a physician. 

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
I am about to celebrate my one-year anniversary at MCW. What a year!  I have been very inspired with the commitment and creativity of all my new colleagues and our students as we all navigated the unexpected unprecedented events of this past year.  


What have your students taught you? 
My students have taught me; that teachers who care and have high expectations matter, that being “nice” is never enough, that we are in this together, that they desire and are perfectly capable of being full partners in their own education, that sometimes they need a “break”, that sometimes they “lapse” and deserve forgiveness and the opportunity to re-establish trust and that they are our future. Awe inspiring.      

What advice would you give to other educators? 
Never forget we are educating physicians. The rest is commentary. 

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
I am most challenged by students, residents and colleagues who demonstrate, what psychologist Carol Dweck has called, a “fixed mindset”. They believe in innate talent. They believe you either “got it or you don’t”. They also tend to be overly concerned with how they perform as an individual, timid about trying new things and are insecure about their own abilities. I know It is a personal flaw. But I can’t accept this point of view. I feel obligated to try to capture their hearts and change their “mind”. I want everyone to have more of a “growth mindset” -holding the belief that anyone who is sufficiently motivated and takes care of themselves, is capable of learning what they need to know with persistent hard work. This issue of mindset has important implications for how we approach admission to medical school.  

By the way, I did eventually learn to read in 5th grade, but I still can’t spell to save my life.

 
Craig Hanke, PhD | Assistant Dean of Basic Science Curriculum, Green Bay Campus

Years in Education:
20 years

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I think it was because of some outstanding teachers who fundamentally influenced my life. They all had unique teaching approaches and communication styles, but I remember truly looking forward to each of their classes and how easy it seemed to learn this material. I wanted to draw on those experiences and try to share that impact with my own students.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I love the challenge of breaking a tough topic down to fundamental concepts and then crafting an explanation that will make sense for the particular level of the student I am teaching. Working with a group of students and seeing the “light go on” is my favorite part of the work.

What is your educational philosophy?
Teaching is a highly individualized activity and we all learn to prioritize certain elements based on our individual skill set. I tend to prioritize organization and explanation. Organization is a critical first step for me, thinking about how each new topic builds on the foundations of an earlier topic and how I can link those ideas together to create a flow. There are elements of performance in teaching and I think that flow and pacing of a class session is an important part of keeping students engaged. I also like to use analogies to enhance an explanation and to make abstract concepts more immediately accessible to the student. Open communication is a priority and I try to build and maintain trust with the students to support class discussion and questions when they are struggling with material.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Creativity... I love to hear about all the creative new classroom approaches teachers develop to reach their students. From the scientific perspective, the application of cognitive neuroscience principles to education fuses two of my favorite topics. I am always interested in the potential applications of neuroscience principles to improve results in the classroom.

What have your students taught you?
Many things. First, how to be comfortable saying “I don’t know”. No matter how many times I teach a topic, there is always a new wrinkle that I haven’t considered. Second, that enthusiasm for a topic is infectious. If I don’t have obvious enthusiasm for the topic, they won’t either.

What advice would you give to other educators?
I learned many of the things I now use on a daily basis over lunch with colleagues. Education is a group activity and sharing ideas between innovative, enthusiastic colleagues always makes a great lunch conversation.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
Time seems to be the ever-present limitation. We often don’t feel there is enough time to cover all the essential core information even in a lecture and it would be ideal to have more opportunities for active learning. On an optimistic note, we are learning new ways to effectively incorporate technology into our teaching. Over the next few years, I think this may allow us to become more flexible with how we spend our time in the classroom.

Bipin Thapa, MD, MS | Professor of Medicine, Assistant Dean of Clinical Curriculum

Dr. Bipin Thapa shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 

10 years

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I was interested in teaching and learning since my medical school days. I started formally teaching while I was a senior medical student and continue to this day.  While teaching, along the way, I became interested in curriculum development and assessment. I started working on curricular development at various levels and at various stages, locally and nationally. So, it was an evolution for me. And, I find it fulfilling.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
Seeing some 200 plus students march in their green regalia each year at commencement is the most rewarding moment for me as an educator. It takes about four years for us, about a decade for them, and a couple of decades for their family and loved ones to get them there. And, that is the day when so many dreams are fulfilled. 

What is your educational philosophy? 
Education is about making learners seek the answer in a systematic approach. It is not about giving the answer. I think we need to teach them how to learn, not just what to learn. Instilling constant curiosity is the purpose of education.

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
In my early years, my teachers and mentors inspired me. I have been fortunate to have had great teachers in my medical school and residency days. Currently, my learners inspire me. Seeing a curious learner is an inspiration.

What have your students taught you? 
Someone said “nothing teaches like teaching” and my students taught me that it is indeed true. Apart from that, they have taught me many life lessons from their own life experiences and various backgrounds. 

What advice would you give to other educators? 
It takes courage to teach. You will be vulnerable at moments, unsure of your own knowledge at times, and some sessions you teach or programs that you develop will not be of the kind you wanted. It happens to every educator, just don’t give up! 

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
Medical education has so many moving parts, so many partnerships and so many regulations with great impact on health, the economy and society as a whole. It is very challenging to navigate through all these aspects. The good thing is that we work as a team while navigating and addressing these challenges. These challenges are also opportunities to practice and work on time-relevance and learner and patient-centric medical education.

Matthew Hodges, PhD | Associate Professor, Physiology

Dr. Matthew Hodges shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
11 years

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I chose to educate students because it is tremendously rewarding to pass on vital information that can serve as the foundation for higher learning. By serving our students in this capacity, we create the basis for life-long learners – life-long students in fact. While our job titles and skillsets may ultimately be very specific, a shared trait in all successful professionals is that we share a passion for learning. As an educator, I hope to inspire my students to be life-long learners.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
I feel most rewarded when my explanation of difficult concepts resonates with large groups of students. We all have specific ways we remember information, but when I can convey that same level of understanding to many students based on how I teach it, it is very rewarding.

What is your educational philosophy? 
My philosophy is to keep it simple. An analogy to how I approach teaching is like building a house. You begin with the most simple and complete explanation for the foundation and structure of the house, and then add increasingly more difficult concepts on to layer the depth of the topic which would be akin to adding the plumbing, electrical and heating in the house. When you are successful in conveying the foundational concepts, it will nearly always enable higher levels of conceptual understanding when considering complexities in higher education.

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
I am always inspired by professors that bring energy and passion into lectures, and further inspired by those that understand material at great depth but can provide simplistic explanations. A particular instructor that I try to emulate is Dr. Hershel Raff, who is an outstanding educator that clearly explains difficult concepts in an engaging and entertaining way. For decades he has captivated large numbers of students in his lectures even if the material he is teaching is less than exciting.

What have your students taught you? 
I always say that the best students bring something new to the table. My students have taught me that there is no one right way to teach. Each of us learns best through different means and modalities, and by providing the best and most concise figures and explanations (along with several different sources) to students gives them multiple opportunities to acquire new knowledge.

What advice would you give to other educators? 
Be as clear and concise as possible. Simplicity reigns supreme. If you require several paragraphs to convey one key concept, then you may be failing your students. Build the foundation brick by brick before you layer on complexities and details, as the foundation will be there longer than the rest of the house.

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
I find it most challenging to be concise and precise at the same time. Every concept has caveats that make it very tough to be concise without being incorrect. It requires a deep understanding of the material to present it in its most simple, digestible and (still) correct form.

 
Melinda Dwinell, PhD | Professor, Physiology

Dr. Mindy Dwinell shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
My whole life?

Why did you choose to be an educator? 

It probably chose me.  Both of my parents were educators - my mom was a German teacher in a bilingual elementary school and my dad was a Professor of Geography.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
When a student as mastered the material well enough to teach it to others.

What is your educational philosophy? 
To provide students with the foundation to have confidence and interest to keep asking the next question.  

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
Through education, you can inspire the next generation of scientists or clinicians.  It is also really fun to engage the public in a topic that seems challenging and help them build a foundation of knowledge in an unfamiliar topic.

What have your students taught you? 
To start and end with the big picture.

What advice would you give to other educators? 
Prepare early, don’t try to pack too much material into a single session at the expense of time to fully understand the fundamental components, and solicit feedback.

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 

Matching teaching styles to the many learning preferences in the current generation of students. 

 
Sandra Pfister, PhD | Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology
In the early 1990s, Dr. Pfister was a basic science researcher in a lab where, out of habit, only male animals were being used. She began to advocate for the use of female animals as well and started ordering female animals and comparing data in her research. This piqued her interest in looking at sex differences in the medical data.

Once she became more involved in teaching, especially in the medical school’s Cardiovascular Unit where there is a definite difference between the sexes, Dr. Pfister felt it was important to expose the students to the differences in disease processes for females as opposed to males. So, she added a lecture and worked with her clinician co-director to co-teach a session on Women and Heart Disease. 

Dr. Pfister began to define and use the terms “sex” and “gender” appropriately. After reading a review article, she worked to incorporate transgender health and hormone therapy into the Cardiovascular Unit as those patients have an increased link to heart disease. 

Dr. Pfister works to think of ways to include sex and gender as part of the medical school curriculum. When she went through the Leadership Academy she began to ask if there was a better way to do so and began to research the issue more thoroughly, including attending the Sex and Gender Medical Education summit in 2018. She gave a presentation to the Curriculum and Evaluation Committee (CEC) on sex and gender in the medical school curriculum and is working to find better ways to capture what is currently being taught. 

Dr. Pfister explains that faculty don’t necessarily understand the differences in sex and gender which may be a reason they don’t know how to teach about it. In a faculty survey she conducted for her Leadership Academy project, only 20% of faculty reported their training was sufficient to be able to teach about sex and gender. In addition, it may be hard to prioritize sex and gender education when there are other important topics that are also not represented in the curriculum. 

However, Dr. Pfister is excited about the Froedtert Inclusion Health Clinic, hoping it can serve as a resource for incorporating more inclusion topics into the curriculum over time. The first task is helping people understand the difference between “sex” and “gender.” We are also just now learning about differences between the sexes, so there is a lot of discovery still to be made in this area. 

Dr. Pfister is happy to serve as a contact for advice and guidance as faculty work to incorporate sex and gender into their classrooms. She encourages faculty to provide comparison cases where the difference is in the sex of the patients to demonstrate the differences in diagnosis and management of disease. 
 
Josh Noe, MD | Associate Professor, Pediatrics, Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
Years in Education: 
11

Why did you choose to be an educator? 

Being able to watch a learner transition to mastery of topic and being able to help provide that learner the resources they need in order to successfully do so is an incredibly rewarding experience.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
When a student comes to you to tell you something that you did either directly or indirectly helped them reach the next stage of their career. 

What is your educational philosophy? 
The curriculum, assessment methods, and all the educational tools we have available are there for the student, not the other way around.  Have the student body help improve those tools for future generations, and the product will improve.

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
I am always in awe of people who can take something mundane and turn it into something that enthralls a learner into the topic.  Most times this is a creative method that they use to draw the student into the material and inspires them to learn.

What have your students taught you? 
To never be satisfied or stationary in what we offer the students.  At the same time, it’s okay to take risks and try something new, but don’t hide behind it.  Be transparent with the students about why you are making these changes; if you do this, you will get the most valuable feedback on your final product.

What advice would you give to other educators? 
If you want to make a career out of education, don’t just “teach”.  Find a way to build upon what you do.  Design a program, build a product, or write up what you are doing.  It’s usually not that much more work, and it will be something you can use to grow your career.

What do you find most challenging as an educator? 

Physicians and other medical professionals have more responsibilities than in the past, between electronic medical records, licensing / board certification, increasing complexity of patient care, and tightening research funding – it makes it challenging to find time for our learners.  Educators have to get creative to make sure we provide teachers the resources they need so they can make time in their busy schedules for our learners.
 
Erica Chou, MD | Assistant Professor, Pediatrics

Dr. Erica Chou shares her thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experienced educator.

Years in Education: 
Seven

Why did you choose to be an educator? 
I have always loved to teach. If I didn’t go into medicine, I would have been an elementary school teacher. As an educator, I see my job as not only imparting knowledge, but also inspiring curiosity and excitement for learning. I’ve enjoyed witnessing the development and growth in students as they progress through medical school and residency. 

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator? 
Seeing the “aha” moment in the learners. That moment of understanding is so exciting, and I am always grateful and humbled that I can play a role in that.  

What is your educational philosophy? 

My approach to education is focused around learner engagement and making the time that learners spend with me valuable. My teaching tends to be very interactive, goal-oriented, fast-paced and filled with humor and fun. 

Who or what inspires you as an educator? 
Every student and resident that I’ve taught, especially when they graduate and go on to become phenomenal physicians far superior to me. That inspires me to keep on teaching. 

What have your students taught you? 

I’ve learned that it’s okay to say, “I don’t know.” I used to get embarrassed and apologize for not knowing the answer to a question. Then one time a student asked me why I was sorry, and I realized that I shouldn’t be. In fact, not knowing is a good thing because it’s another opportunity to learn.  

What advice would you give to other educators? 
When 98% of the student evaluations are positive, don’t focus on the negative 2%. Read them and take away what is constructive to improve, but don’t perseverate and question your ability to teach (definitely easier said than done). 


What do you find most challenging as an educator? 
Not having enough time to teach and the many conflicting priorities for students and faculty. 

 
Jeff Fritz, PhD | Assistant Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Regional Campuses
Years in Education: 
25 with this being my 4th year at MCW.

Why did you choose to be an educator?

As part of my graduate education I was required to instruct in various courses. Initially I was a little frustrated by the time it took to put together a good instructional session; time which I felt could have been better applied to my research efforts. However, as I worked with, and listened to, my learners I noticed that the rewards in assisting others in the learning process were personally more rewarding that getting the next grant or manuscript acceptance. Soon learners and mentors began to reinforce these rewards by noting my positive approach toward instruction and providing feedback, and my ability to contextualize material in a variety of formats that enhanced understanding. Soon I found myself in instructional settings more than I was in the lab and shortly after that I transitioned to educational settings that primarily placed my energies into instructional/educator roles.  

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I feel the most rewarded when I have developed a level of trust with learners such that I can observe a learner develop confidence in themselves and begin to embrace their identity as a peer educator/learner.

What is your educational philosophy?
I’m a big fan of positivity, mastery and goal setting. I think if we create a learning environment that positively encourages learners to set and reach their own goals for mastery, we then reach a place where we become peer-learners/educators on a shared journey in the educational process of personal/professional growth and discovery.  

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I had, and continue to have, many wonderful mentors that share(d) with me the process of being peer learners. They do/did an amazing job of eliminating hierarchy and bias from their instruction as well as challenged me to join them as peer learners on the shared journey of continuous discovery both personal growth and professional development. Their inclusivity, and ability to create a learning environment that was safe to challenge convention, provide robust feedback and allow the freedom for personal growth and curiosity is one I hope to share with those around me.

What have your students taught you?
The first, and likely most important, lesson I learned was to be authentic rather than correct. The second was the need to develop trust and safe learning environments where we could all grow and learn in the process. That level of authenticity can feel very vulnerable and be challenging to achieve but I believe it offers great potential in developing both avenues for content mastery/discovery and personal/professional development for learners and educators.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Be yourself and try to find ways to keep things simple and fun.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
It’s an unintended consequence, but sometimes I think our well-intentioned efforts to best educate have the tendency to dehumanize learning environments and make education feel institutional and hierarchical. I’m not sure I have answers to that puzzle other than to push back and assess my efforts to explore if I have included bias, positional-power or related obstacles to learning in my instructional setting. Also, I still struggle a little with the identity of an educator, I feel like I’m more of learner that’s just a little further along on the continuous discovery journey and as such I’ve made a lot more mistakes from which to recover and learn. 
 
Teresa Patitucci, PhD | Associate Professor, Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Years in Education:
Years as a faculty teacher? 4

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Throughout my training, my favorite roles involved helping people understand something they found confusing. I always knew I wanted to be in a field where I could help people using human biology and it turned out I had a skill for transmitting complex information to another person in a way they could comprehend. I also always had an intense love for anatomy. The structure of our bodies is so beautiful! Once I realized I could roll helping people live healthier lives, training others, and anatomy into a career, it was a no-brainer!

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
I feel most rewarded when I help someone who needed it. Students can and should figure out a lot on their own, but everyone has concepts they need some extra help to understand. It’s rewarding to help guide a learner through those tough spots and watch the light go on when the concept clicks. On a larger scale, I get to help our students accomplish their goals of serving our communities through science and medicine, which I find immensely rewarding.

What is your educational philosophy?

I believe learning sessions should be warm, fun, and highly organized. I don’t expect learners to know everything when they get here. I try to organize content in a way that is intuitive to someone learning the information for the first time and illustrates the relationships between concepts. I include a framework of what may feel like basic information (i.e. “the big picture”) then build the content out from there. I encourage students not to shy away from asking questions. After all, if they already knew everything, they wouldn’t be in school! Finally, I don’t hide my enthusiasm for the subjects I teach, there’s no need to suck the joy out of learning – this stuff is amazing!

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Going into this field I was inspired by educators I had along the way. I had some great teachers and mentors throughout my education and always paid close attention to what they did that allowed them to be so effective. In my current role, the learners inspire me most. Their enthusiasm and curiosity for the field in which they are training is contagious. I am reminded why I went into education any time a student gets excited about something they just experienced.    

What have your students taught you?
So many things! I love when a student asks a question I don’t know the answer to or about something I’ve never considered before. We get to figure it out together and both learn something new! I have also learned about the clinical realm from medical students after they finish their basic science work and are out on the wards. It’s particularly fun when a student tells me about an experience in clinic that relates to something they learned in class! They often describe procedures or treatments I didn’t know about as a non-clinician, which allows me to improve as an educator.

What advice would you give to other educators?
Two things: 1. Know your audience. Think about where that group of learners is in their training and pitch your information at an appropriate level of detail for the level they are at currently. Read the room to see if they are following along, maybe through practice questions during class. 2. Care about your students, empathize with them. Trust they are largely doing their best, but they may be stuck. They’re adults and ultimately responsible for themselves, but the role of an educator is to help them develop into the best version of themselves, which may include pointing them in the right direction when they’re lost.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?

I find it most challenging to strike a balance between offering support and encouraging independence. Everyone learns differently and has unique needs. It’s not always obvious when someone is struggling and even when it is clear someone is struggling, they may not want help from me. Figuring out when to intervene versus give someone space to figure things out on their own is tricky. A major skill that should be developed in students is the ability to monitor, motivate, and assess themselves, then reach out for help when needed.

 
Michael Lund, MD | Associate Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology

Years in Education:
Years as a faculty teacher? 19

Why did you choose to be an educator?
Sounds cliché, but I didn’t choose education – it chose me.  I had no plans to go into academic medicine during medical school or my first year or two of residency.  However, I found myself teaching medical students and junior residents all day every day and I really enjoyed it.  I changed my plans from private practice to academic practice here (I’ve been here my entire career) and have really enjoyed playing the role of doctor-teacher.  A good example of “don’t knock it till you try it”.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
Easy – when a learner struggles with something, they receive feedback willingly and enthusiastically, and then show mastery or even improvement.  Watching someone succeed at caring for patients in the office or the operating room is fantastic (sometimes I’m more excited than they are) and provides my motivation to keep working here – we are making a huge difference in the future of medicine

What is your educational philosophy?
The best teachers are those who remember what it feels like to be the learner – we lose our empathy so quickly sometimes.  All our students and residents and other learners want is to be treated like partners by someone who remembers how scary or overwhelming the medical education journey is.  My goal is to provide highly experiential learning (let students “do stuff”) as quickly as possible to build their confidence and their enthusiasm

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
I am inspired by the ridiculously talented faculty physicians who have worked here in the past and work here now – we have an amazing collection of faculty who are really good at empathetic, experiential teaching.  I am equally inspired by the students who are excited about being physicians because they are anxious to care for their patients with character and dignity.  If I can help them get there, I am satisfied.

What have your students taught you?
Don’t forget where you started.  Don’t act like you’re more important than anyone else.  Don’t act like you know everything (you don’t).  One of the best things about working at MCW is that my students and residents regularly (and usually kindly) remind me of all of the things that I don’t know that I should know.

What advice would you give to other educators?
See the answers to my last questions.  In addition, the best teaching sessions often just cover one or two key concepts.  Use real-life examples.  Flashy doesn’t work nearly as well as understanding your learners.

What do you find most challenging as an educator?
I want to make sure that I am as up to date as I can be so that I don’t pass on outdated knowledge or skills.  That’s really challenging sometimes.  Keeping up with modern medicine, much less staying ahead of the curve, requires a great deal of discipline and enthusiasm.

Michael Frank, MD | Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease

Dr. Michael Frank shares his thoughts, teaching philosophy, inspiration, advice and challenges as an experience educator.

Years in Education:   
All my life, really, isn’t that true?  But if you mean as a faculty member, 25 years (including time elsewhere before coming to MCW).

Why did you choose to be an educator?
I have always been interested in teaching, including volunteering as a tutor in high school, college, and medical school.  I thought about being a teacher before I decided to go to medical school.  While in medical school, even before I chose a specialty, I knew I would stay in academic medicine.  I think, like most things we end up dedicating a lot of time to, I really enjoyed it and found out I was good at it.

When do you feel most rewarded as an educator?
When I see a learner get it—the “aha” moment.  When I see them work through something to get to the right answer.  When they ask me a question that shows insight into the topic.

What is your educational philosophy?
I believe in active learning and involving the learner.  I don’t believe in forcing memorization of things that can be easily looked up.  I believe being able to integrate data into appropriate clinical reasoning is far more important and in an educational environment where we all learn together.

Who or what inspires you as an educator?
Learners—namely those who enjoy learning, who find fascination in new things and satisfaction in wanting to truly understand something, who care more about the process than the grade.  As for teachers, I’ve always been amazed by those who can take something complex and focus it and make it more straightforward for me to understand.

What have your students taught you?
Lots!  And I don’t just mean things that they educated me on or things we learned together having to look up something to answer a question.  The most important thing they remind me of is to appreciate the joy in medicine and that we are lucky to be doing what we do every day.  

What advice would you give to other educators?
Make sure it is fun for both of you - you should be having fun teaching just like they should be having fun learning.  If not, look again at what you’re doing and why.  Make sure you know your audience—what level they are at and where you want to take them, what is important for them to really know and be able to do.
    
What do you find most challenging as an educator?
I’ll admit I find it disheartening to have disinterested learners, those who can’t find pleasure in learning something for the sake of learning, those who are only interested in what will be on the test and what their grade should be, what they “have” to do.  But that’s a bad challenge, and challenge can also be a good thing.  To me, a good challenge is to have to keep things fresh.  If I give the same teaching session every other month to the students, how do I keep it interesting and relevant (as much to me so I continue to enjoy it, as to them so they see the value of it)?  That’s a good challenge.  

 

Voices in Education

We’ve created this video series to share best practices from experienced faculty who contribute their teaching philosophies, engagement strategies, advice and inspiration in short video format. Enjoy!

Beth Krippendorf, PhD

Professor
Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy

Highlights include:
  • Teaching, like medicine, is a service profession
  • Students respond to enthusiasm and organization
  • Teachers should ask themselves what they want the students to know/do and hoe they want to guide the students toward achievement of those goals
  • Student feedback inspires improvement and can motivate teachers to discover better ways to teach

Karen MacKinnon, RPh

Assistant Professor
School of Pharmacy

Highlights include:
  • Audience questions allow teachers to spark additional conversation and aids them in clarifying concepts
  • Hands-on learning is important in translating knowledge from a lecture into applicable skills for patient care
  • Allow students to ask questions - it's okay of the teacher doesn't always have the answers

Hershel Raff, PhD

Professor
Medicine, Surgery and Physiology

Highlights include:
  • The biggest mistakes teachers can make are being unclear and forgetting the big picture
  • Audience response questions can be extremely helpful in gauging student understanding and redirecting teaching efforts
  • There is nothing more beautiful than a great lecture, and nothing deadlier than a bad one

Ryan Spellecy, PhD

Professor
Bioethics, Institute for Health and Equity

Highlights include:
  • Students are future colleagues; teaching prepares them for that role
  • You can better engage students by mixing up your teaching methodologies If you start with a simple question that engages students, that goes a long way toward getting and keeping students involved in the session
  • Audience response questions provide students with an anonymity that helps teachers broach sensitive topics and elicit conversation in the classroom