"The practitioners who surround the student during his or her transition into the clinical world show the student how to live out out his or her oath. During this stage of formation, the trainee is simultaneously a sponge and a clay sculpture, soaking up the minutiae of the clinical environment while honing the skills that will shape his or her character as a physician."

March 1, 2021 | 4 min read

How to be an Excellent Clinical Mentor

By Aidan Crowley, Medical Student, University of Pennsylvania

Mentorship is essential to healthcare teaching, learning, and practice. Excellent mentors lead by example and guide mentees, informed by empathic listening and reflections on their own journeys.

Now is the perfect time to seek collaborators for an idea you’ve had brewing. While your idea might not result in a masterpiece like da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" (~1490), it will reduce feelings of social isolation.

April 9, 2020 | 3 min read

Mentoring While Social Distancing

By Ruth Gotian, EdD, MS, Weill Cornell Medicine, Weill Cornell Mentoring Academy

The pandemic is a critical time for clinically excellent role models to continue mentoring. Separation creates opportunities to connect in new ways.

Mahabharata. Published by Geeta Press in Gorakhpur. Public domain, Library of Congress.

July 13, 2020 | 2 min read

Eklavya and the Power of Online Learning

By Mrinali Shetty, MD, University of Chicago, Yuvraj Chowdhury, MD, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

During the pandemic, there has been an increase in educational offerings that can enhance our clinical skills. This expansion of virtual learning opportunities, (like open-access Zoom lectures and grand rounds, and #MedTwitter #tweetorials on countless topics), can be a boon for all.
May 30, 2019 | 9 min read

Confessions of a Female Doctor who Questions Gender Equity Movements Like TIME’S UP Healthcare

By Kali Cyrus, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine

We have to embrace humility and first accept that we have biases, prejudices, and privileges in certain contexts. We must then do the hard work of recognizing when our biases show up in interactions, examine our past experiences that contributed to the development of our biases, and acknowledge the hurt that may be caused by our biases to ourselves and others. If we truly want to stop harassment and create equity, we have to do this emotional work every day. And we should do it to stop harassment and create equity for not just women, but for everyone.

Photograph by Dr. Margaret Chisolm.

January 30, 2020 | 6 min read

December Art Museum Challenge

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The art museum is an emerging informal educational space for the health professions. Here, transformative learning theory provides educators with a model to understand how, through systematically challenging learners’ preconceived beliefs, assumptions, and values, students can grow in their developing professional role.

A Reversed Retrogress: Scene 1 (The Purple Shall Govern) (2013), Mary Sibande. Courtesy of the artist and Somerset House London. Photograph by Flora Smyth Zahra.

October 28, 2019 | 5 min read

September Art Museum Challenge

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

By providing a creative space in which healthcare professionals can build skills integral to clinical practice, while also expressing their vulnerabilities and humanity, art museum-based education can humanize healthcare and provide an antidote to burnout.

Window at St. Leopold’s Church, depicting the seven corporal works of mercy. Photograph by Margaret S. Chisolm

September 18, 2019 | 7 min read

August Art Museum Challenge

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Clinical learning and practice are not removed from cultural and political realities. As clinical educators, it is our responsibility to create both humanistic learning environments that inculcate respect for the ultimate purpose of healthcare: the well-working of the human being as a whole.

Édouard Manet: "A Bar at the Folies-Bergère," 1881-1882. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain for the following reason: Public domain This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or less.

August 6, 2019 | 7 min read

July Art Museum Challenge

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The skills required in the clinic are the same as those in the art gallery: to examine, investigate, embrace ambiguity, consider multiple interpretations, reflect, collaborate, and learn.

Ruth and Carl J. Shapiro Gallery (Gallery 232), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, featuring "Daughters of Edward Darley Boit," by John Singer Sargent (American, 1856–1925). Photograph by Flora Smyth Zahra.

June 6, 2019 | 7 min read

May Art Museum Challenge

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The art museum is a space that has lessons to teach about clinical excellence, and fosters both the personal development and professional identity formation of clinicians.

Dr. Margaret Chisolm captures a photograph of the painting, "John, 1st Baron Byron," 2013, Kehinde Wiley (American, born in 1977), at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

April 8, 2019 | 5 min read

On Looking: March Museum Visit

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Visual Thinking Strategies and the Personal Response Tour are two examples of museum-based pedagogical practice that build critical thinking skills, foster empathy, and allow for reflective space away from the clinic.

Dr. Margaret Chisolm enjoying an outdoor art installation at the Glenstone. "FOREST (for a thousand years), 2012." Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller.

February 6, 2019 | 5 min read

On Looking

By Flora Smyth Zahra, MA Clin Ed, DRestDent RCS, FHEA, Kings College London, Margaret Chisolm, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine

The arts and humanities show us how to live as human beings. Our encounters with art help us to be better healthcare professionals, and give us insights that will help our learners and patients lead meaningful and purposeful lives.