May 2026: Fasika Woreta

Virtual Interviews

Costly interview travel expenses have historically served as a barrier for students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. An AAMC analysis found that, from 2007 through 2017, more than three-quarters of U.S. medical students came from families in the top two household-income quintiles, while only 5% came from the lowest quintile (Youngclaus J, Roskovensky L, 2018). The decision to use virtual or in-person recruitment for residencies is one of the most important decisions educators face today as they seek to reduce structural inequities in medical education and training.

Virtual interviews have become a lasting innovation in medical education, initially adopted out of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2025-2026 AAMC Residency Program Survey, 69% of 4,974 responding programs planned primarily virtual interviews (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2026). Fourteen specialties were categorized as having a primarily virtual interview format (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2026), with only ophthalmology and OB-GYN being 100% virtual. We surveyed applicants to our ophthalmology residency program during the past cycle and found that only 25% could have attended all interviews without significant financial strain or additional debt. Based on the locations where our Hopkins students applying in ophthalmology interviewed virtually, the estimated cost of 10 to 15 in-person interviews would have been between $4,400 and $9,000 (unpublished data).

Programs that have returned fully to in-person interviews are undoubtedly disadvantaging students who are first-generation college graduates, and the in-person format will continue to serve as a barrier to increasing socioeconomic diversity in medicine. Although there is considerable angst regarding virtual interviews among program directors, there is no evidence to date of negative consequences, such as increased attrition of residents from programs. Assessing residents during a 15-minute interview can be flawed whether the interview is virtual or in person, and this remains a challenge for program directors. The argument that virtual interviews have increased the number of away rotations students complete is also flawed, with no evidence demonstrating this association. The competitiveness of certain specialties has increased over time because of a fixed number of positions and a growing number of applicants, and the trend toward students completing more away rotations began before virtual interviews.

Ophthalmology is the only specialty to have separated the due dates for applicant and program rank lists by two weeks, allowing for optional, non-evaluative in-person open houses (Mudalegundi S, 2023). In 2027, the National Resident Matching Program voluntary rank order list lock pilot will allow three specialties (internal medicine, pediatrics, and vascular surgery) to lock rankings before post-interview visits. Other innovative solutions are needed to increase the utility of virtual interviews.

Interview Caps and Preference Signaling

Ophthalmology is the only specialty with an interview cap, which limits the number of virtual interviews an applicant can accept and attend. Interview caps were implemented during the transition to virtual interviews because applicants had the potential to attend many more interviews without the limitations of travel costs and time constraints. Initially set at 20 in 2020, the cap was reduced to 18 in 2021 and now remains at 15. Our analysis of 2,266 applicants across three San Francisco Match cycles found that lowering the mandatory interview cap from 20 to 18 to 15 promoted more equitable interview distribution without significantly affecting top candidates’ ability to match (Khan MJ et al., 2025). Other specialties have advocated for the implementation of interview caps, although ophthalmology remains the only specialty to have implemented one (Catalanotti JS et al., 2024). Interview caps do not pose the same problems as application caps, which raise concerns about limiting student choice and disadvantaging applicants with reasons to apply more broadly.

Preference signaling may further reduce the burden of application inflation by allowing applicants to communicate genuine interest in a limited number of programs. Nearly all specialties have implemented signaling, and over time, specialties have tended to increase the number of signals available to applicants. For example, in ophthalmology, applicants were initially allowed to send 7 signals in the first year of PS implementation during the 2024/2025 application cycle, and in the 2026/2027 cycle, they will have 15 signals. OB/GYN offers applicants a tiered signaling system, with 3 gold signals and 15 silver signals. Each specialty should continually evaluate its data to identify the optimal number of signals for both applicants and programs.

AI to Augment the Residency Selection Process

Holistic review of residency applications is critical for selecting residents who would thrive in a residency program. However, application inflation has made holistic review challenging for educators. AI-based tools have the potential to assist selection committees in reviewing applications. The use of AI tools for screening medical school applicants has been described in the literature. New York University School of Medicine piloted the use of AI tools, using both structured and unstructured data to screen residency applicants for its internal medicine program. The structured data model was 96% accurate, relative to human reviewers, in selecting applicants to interview, and the residency program used this tool during the 2021 application cycle to select an additional 20 applicants for interviews who had initially been screened out during human review (Burk-Rafel J et al., 2021). As programs increasingly use AI in the screening process, it must be done in a way that is ethical and minimizes bias.

In 2024, I was fortunate to receive the IEE Berkheimer Faculty Education Scholar Program Grant to examine how AI could augment holistic residency application review within our program. The IEE Faculty Education Scholars Program is a wonderful way for educators to receive grant funding to innovate and define best practices in medical education.

The process of residency selection is an ever-evolving, imperfectly perfect process. Learning across specialties offers a meaningful way to improve how we select the future of our respective fields through continuous innovations that are evidence-based and equitable.

Please contact me with any questions or comments: [email protected]

References

Burk-Rafel J, Reinstein I, Feng J, Kim MB, Miller LH, Cocks PM, Marin M, Aphinyanaphongs Y. Development and validation of a machine learning-based decision support tool for residency applicant screening and review. Acad Med. 2021;96(11S):S54-S61. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000004317.

Catalanotti JS, Abraham R, Choe JH, Corning KA, Fick L, Finn KM, Higgins S, Mechaber HF, Mohr T, Raj J, Swails J. Rethinking the internal medicine residency application process to prioritize the public good: a consensus statement of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. Am J Med. 2024;137(3):284-289. doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2023.11.021.

Khan MJ, Ali M, Ahmed S, Khan MMH, Green LK, Lorch A, Winokur J, Pettey JH, Siatkowski RM, Woreta F. Effect of interview cap on ophthalmology residency match: a San Francisco Match analysis. J Surg Educ. 2025;82(11):103695. doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103695.

Mudalegundi S, Hammoud MM, Woreta F. Envisioning a new era of hybrid interviews in residency selection: a step toward equity. Acad Med. 2023;98(11):1236-1237. doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000005432.

National Resident Matching Program. NRMP launches 2026 voluntary program rank order list lock pilot. Published December 2, 2024. Accessed May 24, 2026. NRMP Voluntary Program Rank Order List Lock Pilot

April 2026: Rachel Levine

Bring more joy to your teaching while optimizing trainee growth and development- use a coach approach!

Coaching is gaining popularity in medical education fast and is demonstrating positive impacts including improved clinical performance, greater confidence, enhanced well-being, and better ability to navigate challenges among trainees. Coaching is a collaborative, learner-centered relationship focused on guiding trainees along their own path to achieve specific goals. A coach facilitates trainees to help them identify their strengths and areas for improvement, set meaningful goals, develop actionable strategies, and monitor progress over time. Coaching relationships are characterized by structured interactions that create a safe space for self-assessment, feedback, and growth.

While coaching, mentoring, and advising all support learner development, they differ in important ways. Mentoring typically involves a senior, highly experienced person providing wisdom, sponsorship, and career guidance based on their own experiences, often in a long-term relationship. Advising is typically more directive and content-specific, with advisors providing expert recommendations on particular decisions such as career path, course selection or program compliance. In contrast, coaching is more facilitative and focused on helping trainees discover their own solutions through guided reflection and questioning. A coach’s superpowers include asking truly curious questions that prompt reflection, listening actively and refraining from giving advice- yes, you read that correctly - refraining from giving advice. A coaching mindset requires the coach to see the coachee as the expert of their own experience.

Medical education encompasses several distinct types of coaching, each addressing different aspects of professional development. Clinical coaching focuses on improving patient care skills, clinical reasoning, and bedside manner through observation and feedback. Clinical coaching can support trainees building metacognitive skills and self-directed learning strategies. Performance coaching targets specific competencies or milestones, helping trainees address gaps identified through assessments or evaluations. Academic coaching supports learners struggling with study skills, time management, test-taking strategies, or work-life balance. Technical coaching involves skill development in procedures or use of specific technologies and equipment. Career coaching helps trainees navigate professional decisions, explore career options, prepare for transitions, and develop leadership skills. Many coaching relationships incorporate elements from multiple types depending on trainee needs.

The benefits of coaching extend to both trainees and coaches. For trainees, coaching provides personalized support that enhances self-awareness, promotes reflective practice, and may accelerate professional development. Coaching can reduce burnout, increase resilience, and help trainees develop the mindset necessary for lifelong learning.

For coaches, the relationship offers opportunities for a new way to use their skills. My journey to coaching mirrors my own professional development as an educator. I realized I was having my most effective and meaningful interactions with trainees when I showed up as a partner, trusting that they could direct their own learning and when I was acting more as a guide by inviting them to reflect on what was working well and how they might bring those strengths to areas where they were struggling. For me this journey has led to professional credentialling through the International Coaching Federation but not everyone needs this type of intensive training to maximize their teaching.

You can get started right away using a “coach approach” by asking curious questions, inviting reflection and supporting trainees in identifying their own strategies to change their performance.

Here is a brief example of a coaching conversation- notice how the coach refrains from telling the trainee what to do or fixing the problem.

Coach: Thanks for meeting with me today. You mentioned wanting to work on efficiency. What's prompting this for you right now?
Resident: I'm staying 2 late most days just to finish notes. I feel like I'm drowning. I also want to spend more time with patients and less time in EPIC.
Coach: When you think about your typical day, where does the time seem to disappear?
Resident: Honestly, I think it's the notes. I keep putting them off until the end of the day, then I can barely remember the plan.
Coach: That’s a good observation. What do you notice about the times when you do get notes done efficiently?
Resident: I guess when I start them early usually right after seeing the patient when I am pre-rounding, they're much faster. I can fill in the plan after rounds.
Coach: So it sounds like you already know something that works. What are some other benefits of getting your notes done early?
Resident: It’s helpful for consultants to know what the plan is.
Coach: What gets in the way of getting your notes done earlier more consistently?
Resident: Sometimes I get distracted by other tasks - even low priority ones. When I do not have my notes done towards the end of the day, I feel overwhelmed and struggle to get any tasks done. Sometimes I wait to complete the note because I am waiting on a result. 
Coach: What do you want to try to do differently?
Resident: I want to have a note started each morning for each patient that I can add the plan after rounds. I think I will be much more focused in the afternoon and can addend any new results or changes in the plan if needed. I think committing to a plan in the note will also help my contingency planning.
Coach: These are great ideas. Pick one change that feels most doable to you and we check back in a few days? How are you feeling about this challenge now?

Ultimately, coaching represents a powerful educational strategy that aligns with competency-based medical education and supports the development of adaptive, self-directed physicians.

If you are interested in learning more and building your coaching superpowers here are some resources:

American Medical Association ChangeMedEd Initiative https://www.ama-assn.org/topics/umegme-coaching

 IEE and Office of Faculty - Foundations of Coaching in Medical Education, ½ day workshop.

March 2026: Erika Matunis

What the IEE Offers Scientists — A quick guide to Teaching, Scholarship, and Career Support

As scientists at JHUSOM, we often focus on experiments, grants, and publications — and rightly so. Yet most of us also teach and mentor trainees, and many also design courses. Some may have wondered how to translate those educational efforts into scholarship and career recognition. I was recently surprised to learn of colleagues who are unfamiliar with The Institute for Excellence in Education (IEE). If you are reading this and know others with an interest in education, kindly spread the news: the IEE offers a remarkable range of resources of interest to basic science faculty and trainees at every career stage. Here’s a friendly guide to what’s available — and how to get started.

Why the IEE matters to basic scientists

• Teaching and mentoring are central to our roles, whether in the classroom or the lab, and our students and postdocs are our most highly valued resources. However, the apprentice-style training model common in science does not emphasize teaching skills or educational design. The IEE offers training, funding, and community to help everyone excel in those roles and to have that work recognized.
• If you’re interested in education research or program evaluation, IEE training and seed funding can take an idea to a publishable project.
• The IEE is supporting efforts to expand recognition for educators at the School of Medicine, including a new promotion track — engaging now helps your work be seen.

Key offerings that should interest you

2. Foundations of Medical Education workshops. Short, practical sessions on teaching, assessment, curriculum design, mentoring, and educational scholarship. Many are virtual and immediately applicable.
3. Foundations of Educational Scholarship and mentorship pathways. The IEE offers training that teaches you how to design an education research question, choose methods, and prepare a proposal. Pair that with local mentors (see below) and you can move from an idea to a small grant and a manuscript.
4. Small Grant and Shark Tank support. If you have a new idea — for example, a lab-based curriculum, a simulation for bench safety training, or another educational project — the IEE offers seed funding (Small Grants, Shark Tank competitions) to help develop, evaluate, and disseminate your work. These awards are familiar to many of our clinical folks, but everyone is encouraged to take advantage of these resources.
5. Mentorship via the Academy and IEE networks. Many trainees and junior faculty already know of Homewood’s Teaching Academy. On our campus, the Academy at Johns Hopkins offers mentoring and coaching resources to connect faculty with experienced mentors for career advice, feedback on scholarship, and help navigating academic promotion.

Who should consider engaging?

• Principal investigators or trainees who want to enhance their mentoring skills.

• Basic science faculty who teach graduate students and want improved tools for assessment and feedback.
• Postdocs, graduate students, or faculty interested in pedagogy, curriculum design, or educational research.
• Program and course directors seeking seed funding and technical support for educational innovations.

Concrete next steps

• Register for an upcoming Foundations workshop — the series runs throughout the academic year and many sessions are virtual. These are quick, practical, and immediately useful.
• Check out IEE’s daylong Summer (In person) and Winter (virtual) teaching camps to boost your teaching skills.
• Consider applying for an IEE Small Grant or Shark Tank pitch if you have a pilot project in mind. Small awards can provide the proof-of-concept you need.
• For mentorship on educational scholarship or career planning, explore the Academy’s mentoring resources.

I’m writing this as someone who strongly supports the IEE’s mission to make educational work more visible, rewarded, and rigorous at the School of Medicine. Establishing well-defined promotion pathways for educators will benefit everyone who dedicates time to teaching and mentorship. Engaging with the IEE makes your educational contributions stronger and more likely to be recognized.

Links:

• IEE website (program listings and workshops) — https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute-excellence-education

(check the IEE events page for upcoming Foundations sessions)

• IEE Small Grants and Shark Tank info — https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute-excellence-education/scholarship-research/small-grants
• Teaching Academy — https://teachingacademy.jhu.edu/
• The Academy at Johns Hopkins — ://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/the-academy
• The Academy at Johns Hopkins’ EE LinkED mentor directory — https://iee-linked.jhmi.edu

January 2026: David Berman

Curriculum Design 101: Where Do I Start? 

When designing a new educational program or curriculum, it can be a daunting task to consider the design, development, and implementation of an entirely new entity. The myriad of tasks ahead – from logistical to pedagogical to interpersonal – can leave the educator with a serious case of “analysis paralysis” and unsure where to stand. If you’ve ever felt this way, you are far from alone: like all educators have felt some degree of this daunting dread when starting a new project.

Thankfully, Hopkins master educator and retired Bayview internal medicine physician Dr. David Kern and team published an outstanding literature resource to help the struggling educator design a curricular innovation (Thomas PA, Kern DE, Hughes MT, Chen BY. Curriculum Development for Medical Education: A Six-Step Approach. JHU Press; 2016.). It focuses on six tasks, which all interconnect with each other: after doing things differently for various projects, I can confidently say that doing these six steps covers all the bases and gives the educator a fantastic scaffold for developing a program. These steps work well for designing an individual lecture or learning experience, but also work well for designing something much broader. Our anesthesiology department recently transitioned from an advanced-only program (no intern year) to a residency program which includes a 16-strong intern class. Using these six steps proved transformative in designing an intern year which is both educationally rigorous and focuses on building psychological safety.

Step 1: Problem Identification and General Needs Assessment

When starting, ask yourself – what problem am I trying to solve with this new curriculum? What’s the current approach to the problem, what’s the ideal approach, and how far off are they? Being introspective about the issue you’re trying to address – as well as ways others have addressed the issue – will help you tailor your intervention to help solve your central problem.

Step 2: Targeted Needs Assessment

It’s crucial to know more about your population of interest. Who are your learners? What level of training do they have, and what previous experience do they have in the topic you’re planning to teach? Do they all have the same level of experience, or are you educating a mixed group?

Additionally, the learning environment matters. What is available to you? What resources (space, technology, money, time, faculty) are at your disposal, and what constraints come with those resources?

It is crucial to know your audience and their previous experience prior to implementing your curriculum.

Step 3: Goals and Objectives

When designing a curriculum, set broad overarching aspirational goals? What do you hope your learners will get out of the curriculum more broadly?

Once the broad goals are set, ask yourself more specific questions: what are you learning objectives, and how are you going to assess their success? The best learning goals are SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound – and can answer a simple question. You should be able to say “A group of X will be able to accomplish Y task within a Z time frame.” Having short, well-developed goals will help focus you and your team on the steps ahead.

Step 4: Educational Strategies

This is where people normally start: they design educational content to fit their aims. The beauty of following the above steps is that by the time you’ve started to design educational content, the thoughtful educator has already considered the problem they’re trying to solve, the needs of their learners, and their overarching goals and objectives. This will allow us to better design our content.

While beyond the scope of this piece, there are many different strategies and methodologies for educating various topics. Some content may be better served in a simulation-based format, whereas other content might be best delivered in a flipped-classroom lecture-based format. While one size certainly does not fit all, many topics are better taught in certain formats.

Step 5: Implementation

The “meat and potatoes” of the exercise, this is where educators begin to implement their program. They obtain support from key stakeholders, secure resources, address any necessary barriers, and begin introducing and administering their new curriculum. Designing goals, objectives, and educational strategies before performing this step will allow educators to better understand everything which will be required to implement their program.

Step 6: Evaluation and Feedback

Learner evaluation is crucial to gauge their learning as well as the success of the program in communicating the content of the curriculum. Assessing how well your learners “learned” your intended content – and how uniform that incremental benefit proved to be – is crucial information when gauging the success of your intervention.

Program feedback of individual learners is also critical to the success of future iterations of a program. It will serve to improve the content, delivery, and logistical implementation of your program in the future when participants can give honest, unbiased feedback about their experiences.

Conclusions

If you’re thinking of starting a new program or educational initiative, being methodical about the process – starting with a needs assessment and broad goals before moving on to content and implementation – can smooth out the process, improve your learners’ satisfaction, and make the educational experience better for all.

Go forth and educate! (And if you want to learn more about this and all things education, a Master’s in Education for the Health Professions is fantastic training.)

December 2025: W. Christopher Golden

Assessment in the Clinical Learning Environment: What is the Best Path Forward?

Each of the physicians in our group has endured the process of being evaluated on clinical rotations in the UME and the GME spaces. Formulating differential diagnoses, presenting on clinical rounds, documenting patient encounters, and demonstrating teamwork and collegiality are keys to obtaining top marks by supervising residents, fellows, and attendings. Such activities compose most of the resultant grades on UME clinical rotations, where an “A”, “A+”, or “Honors” in one or more clerkships often is paramount to achieve a desired residency placement. 

However, the underlying current of subjective assessment has persisted for years in the UME clinical realm. The likelihood of a student receiving a top-tier evaluation and/or stellar comments on a clinical rotation may lie in the biased eye of the evaluator. Did the student share a common non-medical interest with their resident? Did the student attend the same college as the attending? Did the evaluator focus on non-clinical attributes, using descriptors such as “pleasant” or “lovely”, which are included more commonly in evaluations of UIM students? (Rojek AE, et. al.  J Gen Intern Med 34(5):684-691[2019]). While commonalities and familiarity between trainees and supervisors may facilitate better interactions in clinical settings, they may unintentionally influence the grading (and future) of UME learners. 

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our School of Medicine instituted a tiered grading system (Honors, High Pass, Pass, Fail). As a clerkship director during that time, I heard repetitively from students vying to inch their scores from High Pass to Honors or complaining about receiving the dreaded “3 bomb” (an average performance on the School’s clinical assessment tool). During the pandemic, the School of Medicine, after careful consideration, voted to change core clerkship grading to a Pass/Fail system. Among reasons for converting our grading schema in the condensed clinical curriculum was consideration of the well-being of the students and the potential stress on learners.

Despite my personal recognition of the inequities of grading tiers on clerkships, I struggled personally with the idea of leaving a system that rewarded students for stellar performance. Four papers have helped to reshape my thoughts on the issue. Ramakrishnan and colleagues (J Surg Educ 79 (1): 157-164 [2022]) highlighted what most of us already knew; variability exist among tiered grading systems and the number of students receiving clerkship “Honors”. Michael Ryan (a pediatric colleague now at the University of Virginia) and others used the example of the early US economy to posit that clerkship grades, thought to be of value to learners and residency program directors, are highly variable constructs that cannot predict the value of a learner (Acad Med 96 (2): 186-192 [2021]). Data from our own institution (Perez Mejias, et. al, Acad Med 99(9): 1007-1015 [2024]) demonstrated that disparities existed among grading based on race and ethnicity. Finally, Smith and Piemonte have eloquently traced the historical evolution of tiered grading in US medical schools, highlighting, among other things, the emphasis on memorization of facts rather than other factors important in becoming a good physician (Teach Learn Med, e pub April, 24, 2025).

The Johns Hopkins Undergraduate Medical Education Policy and Curriculum Committee has heard favorable feedback from stakeholders regarding continuance of Pass/Fail clerkship grading going forward. As we consider restructuring how we assess clinical learners in a two-tiered paradigm, an emphasis on meeting core clinical competencies, coupled with a component of knowledge base assessment, will best prepare our learners to succeed, not just make a grade that will allow them to match at a favored program.

November 2025: Alex Duran

Turning Data Into Decisions: Power BI in Everyday Use at JHUSOM

October 2025: Pamela Lipsett

Gaming Can Be a Fun Way to Learn!
​
Games can be used for more than amusement by extending learning to outside of the classroom, books, and papers. The breadth of games is wide and includes: task or skill building, knowledge quizzing, Teambuilding, simulation and self-assessment to name a few. Just as in any educational experience the goals and learning objectives must be clearly defined, with rules of play defined, and feedback and outcomes clear so that “players” can clearly identify how they are progressing toward the goals of the game. One common error is to focus on technology rather than the learning outcomes. Platforms for games are highly variable in their complexity and include simple development such as flash cards or board games, mobile based technology or web-based. As is true for all development issues, all stakeholders should be involved in the development of games; content experts, game designers, learners, and teaching faculty. Ideally a game would be paired with specific additional curricula content to enhance longer retention time of the specific content.

Aside from the importance of clear learning outcomes, rules and feedback/assessment systems, there are some important considerations and cautions. First, do not focus on the technology itself! Large investments in specific technology may overvalue complexity and incur significant cost in both development and maintenance. If the game has too many learning outcomes the game can become too difficult to play, or conversely if too simple, learners can be bored and unstimulated.

Do we know how games work to enhance learning? As is true for many educational experiences, self-efficacy is improved by increasing knowledge or skills. Working through a games rules can enhance problem solving and helps to affirm decision-making including in scenarios that are uncommon or can create anxiety. Further, if part of the learning outcomes, teamwork can be enhances along with personal development goals. Depending on the game’s design external rewards (points, badges, achievement levels) all can be built into game acceptance for either individuals or teams.

Step into the fun and consider either modifying an existing game, or maybe you can even develop a game with IEE support!

September 2025: Danelle Cayea

Question of the Day - More Than Just Small Talk

“What’s your comfort food?” A seemingly superficial question has the potential to build connections and foster humanism towards teammates.  For years I have started general medicine inpatient rounds with the residents and students each day by asking a question.  What started as an attempt at breaking the ice for me, has grown in concept to an evidence-based concrete measure to positively craft the learning climate.  In the dark of February, when burnout symptoms are high among learners, even the most reluctant team member grows to appreciate the brief ritual each morning. 

Inpatient teams are often a randomly assigned group of people who may have no prior relationship, a variety of skill levels, and hierarchy.  Despite this, team members are asked to be vulnerable, push themselves, and function at a very high level.  Without attention to team formation, the quality of patient care and learning may suffer.  By focusing us on us, just for a few moments, we center ourselves in our connection to each other and our individual uniqueness, allowing us to be ready to do the hard and important work of caring for patients.

Why does this work?
The learning climate is the perception of the educational environment by learners.  The environment encompasses the social, psychological, and physical context in which learning occurs. (Genn JM. AMEE Medical Education Guide No. 23 (Part 2): Curriculum, environment, climate, quality and change in medical education – a unifying perspective. Med Teach2001; 23(5): 445–454.). The quality of the learning climate, positive or negative, has been linked to several important factors in resident and student training, including work engagement, job satisfaction, quality of life, patient outcomes, and faculty ratings, among others.  The social context of the learning environment is as important for learner success as the other components.  Facilitating relationships among team members with the goal of creating a sense of community and belonging is an important role for the team leader and enhances the social construction of learning.  When everyone participates, it helps lessen the hierarchy.

How does this work?
Early in a rotation, trust and psychological safety will be developing. Questions should focus more on surface level topics.  As mutual respect and curiosity grows, the questions can probe a little deeper.  By mapping the selection of a specific ice breaker question each day to the stages of team formation, you can support this process.  Tuckman described 5 stages of team development. (Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. C. (1977). Stages of small-group development revisited. Group & Organization Management, 2(4), 419-427.)

Team Development Stages and Questions

FORMING

Goal: Find commonality among team members

Example Questions:

• What is your comfort food?
• What is a book, podcast, show, or movie you've really enjoyed recently?
• If money and skill were no barrier, what would your dream job be?

STORMING

Goal:  Carefully explore differences in a supportive way, encourage open communication

 Example Questions:

• Would you rather…? (pick 2 things, e.g. spend a quiet evening reading a book or at a party?)
• Have group members say where they think team members fall in the age order in their family (oldest, middle, youngest, only)

NORMING

Goal: Individual group roles emerge, effort to restore harmony and build trust and teamwork

Example Questions:

• What's a skill you could teach others and one skill you wish you had right now?
• Tell us something about you that might surprise us at this point

PERFORMING

Goal:  Celebrate success, enhance problem-solving

Example Questions:

• Name something the team did this week that you are proud of?
• What's something you learned from someone on the team this week?

ADJOURNING

Goal:  Honor experience, reflect

Example Questions:

• Years from now, which patient will you still remember from this block and why?
• Which patient challenged you the most and why?

Resources
While the team leader should set the tone and be prepared each day, other team members can also bring a question for the day.  There are several online resources, including numerous lists of icebreaker questions and random question generators. There are also sets of cards with different types of questions that can be fun and allows someone new to draw a card each day.

August 2025: Jessica Bienstock

Preparing Physicians for an AI-Augmented Future

As educators of the next generation of physicians and scientists, we stand at the threshold of a transformative era in medical education. Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI has rapidly impacted science, medicine, and education. Its applications span instructional design, personalized learning, diagnostic decision-making, and clinical research. While the power of AI can feel overwhelming—raising existential questions about the roles of teachers and physicians—it also offers an unprecedented opportunity to elevate how we teach, learn, and care for patients.

At Johns Hopkins, we are beginning to harness AI’s capacity to individualize education. One promising example is using generative AI to turn summative assessments into formative learning experiences. First- and second-year medical students now review exam results alongside AI-generated answer explanations, which are vetted by faculty. This process, which would otherwise be prohibitively time-consuming, allows for rapid, high-quality feedback, and students embrace it as a tool for growth.

Generative AI can also enhance clinical training across all levels, including for experienced clinicians engaged in lifelong learning. Like video games that balance safety and challenge, virtual AI-based training tools provide safe, immersive environments to practice clinical decision-making and communication skills. AI-generated text, image, and video content now powers increasingly realistic simulations. Learners can interview virtual patients, generate differential diagnoses, create treatment plans, and receive detailed feedback—then repeat the process to build mastery. These simulations closely mimic real clinical encounters, with the critical difference that no patient is harmed in the learning process.

AI is also making its way to the bedside. In graduate medical education and clinical practice, machine learning models are being developed to anticipate a learner’s educational needs based on their patient panel, and to proactively offer targeted resources. In research training, AI is assisting learners in hypothesis generation, study design, and data analysis—encouraging scientific curiosity and innovation.

As these tools become more integrated into practice, medical education programs must define new competencies: AI literacy, data interpretability, and ethical reasoning. Learners must be taught to identify and mitigate bias in AI tools, particularly when they influence diagnoses or treatment recommendations. Most importantly, we must ensure that AI complements rather than replaces critical clinical judgment.

While AI will continue to revolutionize how we teach and practice, it cannot replicate the human connection central to medicine. It struggles to integrate psychosocial, spiritual, and cultural factors into care, and cannot provide compassion, empathy, or trust. Physicians must remain emotionally intelligent, tech-savvy, and discerning—to use AI wisely while upholding the humanity at the heart of medicine.

More than two millennia ago, Hippocrates wrote, “Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” AI can be a powerful partner in our mission to heal—but it is only a tool. The art of medicine remains a deeply human endeavor.

June 2025: Nancy Hueppchen

A Tribute to Dr. Roy Ziegelstein

 As Roy Ziegelstein  steps down as Vice Dean for Education, we celebrate this  true MVP in the field of medicine! 

Like the greatest athletes who excel in multiple positions, Dr. Ziegelstein has mastered every role he's played since joining the Johns Hopkins team in 1986. From his rookie season as an intern to becoming the Vice Dean for Education, he's been nothing short of a first-ballot Hall of Famer in medicine and medical education.

Just as the greatest coaches develop both skills and character in their players, Dr. Ziegelstein has coached countless residents through the Aliki Initiative, teaching them that the best defense against illness is patient-centered care. His five George J. Stuart Awards for Outstanding Clinical Teaching and the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher award show that when it comes to medical education, he's achieved a championship dynasty that would make even the greatest sports franchises envious!

In the high-stakes game of cardiology, Dr. Ziegelstein doesn't just play on the surface - he goes deep. Like a brilliant strategist analyzing game film, his groundbreaking research on depression and heart disease changed the playbook on how we approach these interconnected conditions. 

From Boston University, where he graduated summa cum laude, to becoming the Sarah Miller Coulson and Frank L. Coulson, Jr. Professor of Medicine, Dr. Ziegelstein has never stopped training, never stopped improving, and never stopped scoring victories against disease. As the Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Education and the Vice Dean for Education he is like a first-round draft pick who delivers championship after championship. His work embodies the spirit of teamwork that defines the greatest moments in sports and medicine alike.

Dr Ziegelstein’ s contribution to the IEE cannot be overstated.  He was instrumental in have the IEE Directorship become an endowed chair, suggested the IEE Ambassador program and has been a IEE Education Shark Tanks “shark” since its inception.  As Chair of the IEE Board of Directors, he has inspired innovation and the growth of our many programs. 

Let  us all sincerely raise our glasses to Dr. Roy Ziegelstein – a true triple crown winner of clinical excellence, groundbreaking research, and inspirational educator. In the stadium of Johns Hopkins Medicine, he’s earned every championship ring, every standing ovation, and every accolade. His career reminds us that in medicine, as in sports, true greatness comes not just from individual achievement, but from elevating everyone around you. 

We all sincerely thank you!

May 2025: Steve Sozio

Educational Scholarship—Why and How to Get Started

Recent “Thoughts From a Board Member” have focused on several key aspects of being an educator, including tips on teaching, mentorship, professional development, and building your team. Here are my thoughts on another aspect—educational scholarship.

If we consider the tripartite mission of discovery, education, and clinical care, educational scholarship can help achieve all three missions. It supports discovery and education by addressing contemporary educational questions in medicine. Educational scholarship also helps advance the knowledge, skills, and professionalism of learners. In doing so, educational scholarship ultimately aims to improve patient care. Appreciating the importance of educational scholarship, the IEE gives opportunities to present educational scholarship and be awarded for one’s work in educational scholarship. Even more broadly, educational scholarship is listed as Domain 6 in the JHUSOM Educator Domains, Competencies and Metrics with specific call-outs in the Hopkins Gold and Silver Books.

Starting educational scholarship can feel daunting (“I have so much on my plate already as a faculty member. How can I possibly add another set of activities and the skill set to go with it?”) I assert that it isn’t as hard to get started as one thinks. Here are some of my thoughts how to accomplish it:

1. Think about what you are doing already as an educator, and try to understand more about it. If you are reading these thoughts, you likely are teaching already. Why not try to study what it is about your activities or learners make your teaching successful? Educational scholarship projects can simply start from questions that arise as you are teaching, or from what you see are gaps in what/how you are teaching.

2. The framework of educational scholarship ideas and methodology really does start from core principles you are learning as an educator. A key part of educational scholarship is the theoretical framework that forms the project. However, these frameworks can come from learning theories that inform your teaching approach, or from principles used to develop your methods such as Kern’s 6-step curriculum development model. Use that knowledge you attained to inform your teaching to now inform the methods of your educational scholarship project.
3. Build your skills (and funding) in education. The IEE has a section on Pillar II - Inspiring and Supporting Research, Scholarship and Innovation in Education. This section outlines the programs that help support you and your work as an educational scholar:
   • Foundations of Educational Scholarship (FES) Course
   • Small Grants Program
   • Shark Tank Grant Program
   • Faculty Education Scholars Program

   These programs take you all the way from learning the steps in educational scholarship to getting funded to perform this work. Hopkins is relatively unique across institutions in that it provides the infrastructure, seed money, and more dedicated funding for you to conduct sound educational projects. These resources have been the springboard for some amazing publications that move our field, as well as national and international grants.

4. Surround yourself with a team of mentors and advocates in educational scholarship. Part of the joy of educational scholarship is building the relationships with team members that are also dedicated to the work. These can be content or methods experts, local, national, or international. I hope you have a chance to read the April 2025 Thoughts from a Board Member, “Enhancing your Mentoring and Coaching Experiences: Opportunities for Mentoring, Advising and Coaching through the Academy at Johns Hopkins” as this describes the benefits and identification of mentors in education.
5. Do not lose sight that teaching should be fun. Yes, you can study what you are doing, but make sure that scholarship around the topic does not detract from the joy of teaching to begin with. Enjoy both the process and the education.

I hope these thoughts plant the seeds in some wonderful educational projects. The IEE is here to help you carry your ideas forward.

April 2025: Janet Serwint and David Kern

Enhancing your Mentoring and Coaching Experiences: Opportunities for Mentoring, Advising and Coaching through the Academy at Johns Hopkins

 “A mentor is not someone who walks ahead of us and tells us how they did it.  A mentor is someone who walks beside us and guides us as to what we can do.” Simon Sinek

The myriad of benefits of mentoring and coaching relationships abound within academic medical centers such as Hopkins.  These relationships benefit both mentees and mentors.  From the perspective of the mentee (coachee), successful mentoring and coaching can result in strategic career planning, career advancement and promotion, enhanced work satisfaction, personal growth and improvement , improved skills and enhanced motivation to continue in academic medicine.   These benefits also apply to mentors in their desire to “pay it forward”, the ability to make contributions to ensure the livelihood of the future physicians who will make up our work force and enhanced work satisfaction.    (Hill SEM et al., Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings,  2022; 29:557-569).

What is the Academy?

The Academy at Johns Hopkins is a group of retired and Emeritus Hopkins faculty from the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health.  This group of highly invested faculty feel committed to making contributions to Johns Hopkins, our faculty, and our community.

One committee that is relevant to all current faculty who are educators is the Academy Committee on Mentoring, Advising and Coaching.  The Academy faculty are available to work with Hopkins faculty on their professional development in multiple areas (see below).   During academic year 2023 Academy members mentored or coached 69 Hopkins faculty, 60 Hopkins trainees in addition to mentoring many colleagues outside of the Hopkins institution. 

Professional Development Topics where faculty may request mentoring/coaching

• Advocacy activities
• Career development
• Clinical interactions: communication with patients/use of computer
• Clinical program development
• Conflict resolution
• Content expert
• Curriculum development and evaluation
• Educational Scholarship (Multiple subcategories)
• Leadership development/ administrative skills/ organizing a team
• Meetings- Leading or Conducting
• Professionalism behaviors and professional development
• Program Evaluation
• Public Speaking- Interviews
• Research scholarship (Multiple subcategories)
• Teaching skills (multiple subcategories)
• Work-life integration

  Definitions:

  While there may be some overlap between the terms mentoring, advising and coaching, here are the definitions we apply.

• Mentoring- dynamic and reciprocal relationship between a more advanced faculty member (mentor) and more junior faculty member (mentee).   This also includes sponsorship and mentoring. This relationship can also extend to peer mentoring.
• Advising- less intense relationship which focuses on giving advice to help a faculty member reach a goal or answer a question
• Coaching -observation with reflection and feedback to improve the skills of the person being coached (coachee).  This may take on various forms and may involve a one-time interaction or a longitudinal relationships where the coachee clarifies their goals.

Some advantages of working with Academy members are that we have held institutional and national/international leadership positions and are eager to share our experiences, our desire to “pay it forward” and contribute to the future medical work force in assisting colleagues to reach their full potential.   Since we no longer have any direct supervisory or evaluative responsibilities of faculty members, our hope is that these relationships will result in more honest and transparent relationships that are focused on the needs of the faculty member and create a safe environment to share challenges and struggles while working towards solutions.  

Ways to connect with an Academy mentor/advisor or coach

We currently have over 30 Academy members who are interested in serving as mentors and coaches.  Accessing this resource can be either by self-referrals, or referrals from supervisors such as section chiefs or department chairs.

 Identifying potential mentors can be done through:

• Visiting the Academy website at The Academy at Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Campus. Click on the Committee for Mentoring/Advising Coaching and identify potential Academy members who are available to provide this service
• Access resources on the Academy website on mentoring and coaching at: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/the-academy/mentoring-resources.html
• Search on IEE LinkED, https://iee-linked.jhmi.edu/a directory of educators, their interests, and availability to mentor

Academy members are also involved in Committees that focus on Teaching/Precepting, Community Volunteering, Members Enrichment Activities and Social/Cultural Opportunities.   For more information on these committees refer to the Academy website mentioned above. 

We hope you will utilize the Academy as a resource. Our Academy members are thrilled to be able to enter into these special relationships with you.

For any questions, reach out to

Janet Serwint, MD, Committee Co-Chair ([email protected])

Dave Kern, MD  Committee Co-Chair  ([email protected])

February 2025: Tina Kumra

Teaching Early Medical Students

I have been teaching first and second year medical students for 15 years as part of the Longitudinal Ambulatory Clerkship.  This is a year-long required clerkship that helps introduce students to clinical medicine.  Students see and help care for their very first patients during this clerkship, often so nervous that they are sweating through their brand-new white coats. 

One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching early learners in clinical training is how formative they are. A memorable experience for me was when Jen joined my clinic several years ago.  We saw a patient that was having an asthma exacerbation and was clearly in significant respiratory distress, with retractions so deep we could see them through his shirt when we walked in the exam room.  Jen asked if we could use oral steroids, eager to help in any way she could, and I told her that would be dangerous because of the risk of aspiration.  We called the ambulance and he was transported to the hospital and admitted.  The family told me later how touched they were that Jen visited them in the hospital the next day.  Three years later I was at a pediatric residency dinner.  Jen found me and greeted me warmly.  She reminded me of that patient and what that experience meant to her.  She shared with me that was the day that she realized she wanted to be a pediatrician.  

I sometimes am asked about the challenges of teaching such early learners in busy clinical environments, brilliant minds but novices in clinical medicine, asking questions during stressful moments.  I have shared Jen’s story many times.  Before that moment at that residency dinner, I didn’t fully realize how much of an impact we can have on students, especially when they are still in the process of discovering their career identity.  To me, the chance to be part of that discovery is truly special.

December 2024: Toni Ungaretti

Take Your Passion for Education to the Next Level – Join the MEHP!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!! It is magical to bring families and friends together to celebrate and enjoy each other’s company. It is also a time to reflect and plan for the coming year.

Does your future involve advancing your career as a clinician/educator? JHU can help!

What the MEHP can do for you
For the past fourteen years, approximately 20-25% of each fall’s Master of Education in the Health Professions entering fall class are JHU physicians. Over the years the MEHP has guided SOM faculty to frame their education work as scholarship and prepare successful promotion portfolios. Also, many MEHP graduates have been selected for SOM education awards and IEE small grant, shark tank, and Berkheimer awards. Other graduates have become educational leaders at medical schools and professional organizations nationally and across the globe. 

At almost no cost
Recently, JHU introduced a significant enhancement to tuition assistance raising the amount to $10,000 annually for JHU/JHMI employees, which provides faculty the opportunity to complete the MEHP for almost no cost! Applications for the fall 2025 class are being accepted now.

JHU/JHMI affiliated faculty and staff are extended a courtesy tuition rate that is just 66% of the rate paid by non-JHU/JHMI affiliated students.   And, this reduced tuition is  eligible for the Johns Hopkins tuition assistance benefit, which is currently at $10,000 annually for degree-seeking credit courses.  This combination of reduced tuition and Johns Hopkins benefits offers an unusual opportunity to complete the MEHP at virtually no costs.

Review of applications for Fall 2025 admission will begin in early Spring.  Details regarding eligibility requirements can be found on the School of Education Admissions website.  

JHU Interprofessional Collaborative Partnership
In 2011 the JHU Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Education, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Carey Business School formed a collaborative partnership designed to position you to advance and lead medical education and beyond to include health professions education. The JHU Master of Education in the Health Professions (MEHP) is a collaborative partnership designed to prepare interprofessional leaders and change agents to transform health professions education globally through evidence-based teaching, sound educational research, and impactful leadership. Courses were developed and taught by interprofessional teams of faculty from the five partner schools who teach and model collaboration.

Highly interactive, flexible, community-building, and immediately applicable
The highly interactive virtual MEHP program is designed to accommodate the schedules of busy clinician educators with options to finish in two to four years. The person-centric program focuses on helping you identify values, beliefs, and experiences that inform your teaching and then builds theories, models and frameworks to use your strengths to frame approaches that maximize your impact on teaching, research, and leadership. Courses provide opportunities for community building, networking, and cross-disciplinary and projects with learning from each session immediately applicable to daily work challenges.

Program structure
The first 18 credits of the MEHP include courses in adult development and learning theory as the foundation for studying evidence-based teaching, instructional strategies, curriculum development, assessment and feedback, and frame this learning in educational scholarship. Specializations to complete the 34.5 credit degree include a research track focused on multiple research approaches, and a leadership track focused on identification of personal leadership strengths and their application to organizational needs. The program has an overarching portfolio process threaded through the program to support the integration and application of program competencies. A culminating capstone project focused on an evaluation or research project leads to a manuscript aligned to a target journal.

Learn more
Go to the MEHP website Master's Degree in Health Professions Education (MEHP) to hear testimonies from faculty, fellows, and alumni about their experience and the impact of the program on their careers. Contact the program directly at [email protected] or [email protected]

November 2024: Theron Feist

The Office of Information Technology

Introduction

As the Director of the Office of Information Technology (OIT), I am privileged to lead a team dedicated to enhancing the educational experience through innovative technology solutions. Our office functions like an academic computing department for both the School of Medicine (SOM) and the Office of Vice Dean for Education (OVDE), playing a crucial role in supporting the mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine by ensuring that educators and students have access to the tools and resources they need to succeed.

Who We Are

The OIT team consists of three key groups and approximately fifteen staff members:

• Academic Technologies: Supports various academic computing systems along with classroom and multimedia technologies in the Armstrong Medical Education, Pre-Clinical Training, and Wood Basic Sciences buildings.

• Technical Support: Provides technology support for systems such as SIS, Slate, New Innovations, CloudCME, and various other academic technology platforms.

• Data and Software: Focuses on data integration, development, and maintenance of software systems with a focus on precision education.

What We Do

In addition to our ongoing projects, our office has been instrumental in developing and supporting a robust hybrid learning infrastructure. This has been particularly important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing us to continue providing high-quality education remotely. 

One of our notable projects is the Hybrid Education Project, a 3-year effort, which addresses the need for flexibility in teaching and learning. This project involves updating audio-visual and multimedia capabilities in the Armstrong Medical Education Building (AMEB) and classrooms in Pre-Clinical Teaching Building (PCTB) and Wood Basic Sciences Building (WBSB), to support both in-person and remote learning scenarios.

Development of hybrid learning capabilities in all teaching and learning spaces will enable us to reach a wider audience, breaking down geographical barriers and ensuring that our students and faculty can continue their work uninterrupted.

Another significant initiative is the UME Dashboard Project, which provides a set of tools for measuring student performance and advising towards residency. This project uses integrated and aggregated learner data from various systems to offer targeted analytics to support student success.

OIT has also been instrumental in supporting the Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA) Pilot Project for Undergraduate Medical Education (UME). This project involves piloting a clinical assessment system based on EPAs, where students are directly observed and assessed performing various EPAs during their clinical duties. OIT has provided technical support and infrastructure to ensure the successful implementation and ongoing support of this project.

Our team is also involved in various quality improvement projects and professional development activities. We attend conferences, workshops, and other educational activities to further our professional development and contribute to the medical education program.

Future Goals and Projects

Looking ahead, OIT has various goals and projects aimed at further enhancing our technological capabilities and support for the School of Medicine. Examples of future initiatives include:

• Annual Academic Technology Survey: Starting an annual survey to assess user satisfaction with our audio-visual and academic technology services. This will help us gather actionable data to improve our services.

• Development of a 5-Year Educational Technology Plan: Collaborating with key stakeholders to develop a comprehensive 5-year plan that aligns with the strategic priorities of the School of Medicine and the Office of Vice Dean for Education. This plan will include a detailed operating and capital budget.

• Increase collaboration with all groups at JHU SOM working to improve medical education at the UME, GBE, GME, and CME levels.

Conclusion

Our commitment to innovation extends beyond these projects. We are constantly exploring new technologies and methodologies to improve the educational experience. Whether it's through the integration of artificial intelligence to personalize learning or the creation of hybrid learning environments, our goal is to stay at the forefront of educational technology.

In conclusion, the Office of Information Technology strives to play a vital role in the success of our educational programs. By leveraging technology, we can provide a more engaging, efficient, and accessible learning experience for all. I am proud of the strides we have made and look forward to continuing our efforts to support the mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Contact Us

For any technology support, please reach out to the OIT service desk at https://servicedesk.med.jhu.edu. Additionally, we encourage you to submit project consultation requests for educational technology projects through our project consultation request form - Project Consultation Request - JHU SOM Office of Information Technology - Jira Service Management. We are here to help you with any educational technology needs and look forward to collaborating with you on future projects. For more information about OIT, please visit our website - School of Medicine Office of Information Technology - Home (sharepoint.com)

October 2024: Sara Rummell

Education is a Team Sport!

It is officially fall and fall is my favorite season.  It brings cooler weather, changing leaves, learners are back on the campus and both the Ravens and Orioles are playing!  Like football and baseball, education is a team sport and our education administrators are a vital member of the team. 

From helping to schedule and proctor exams, to booking space for noon education conference or helping track complication of final grade entry, education administrators are like a utility player who can jump in wherever needed.  They keep the program running and make sure that both the educators and students have the resources needed to learn.  Education administrators not only know the accreditation guidelines for their programs and ensure all the “I’s are dotted and T’s crossed” to meet those guidelines, but they also help organize the food for the weekly noon conference or monthly literature review club.  We have some of the most amazing learners and faculty educators in the country.  And the expertise and dedication of our education administrators help maintain the excellence of our programs. 

Several months ago, the program administrator for the Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM) graduate program, Leslie Lichter-Mason, passed away.  Leslie worked in CMM for almost twenty years and touched so many people within the School of Medicine community.  The outpouring of gratitude that came from both current and former faculty, staff and students was an amazing testament to her impact. 

The response to her passing inspired the creation of two new IEE education awards – the Outstanding Education Administration Awards.  The Leslie Lichter Award for Outstanding Educational Administration in a nonclinical education program and the Outstanding Educational Administration Award in a clinical education program.  These awards were created to recognize the staff members who partner with our faculty educators and provide administrative leadership to an educational program. Nominate your educational administrator today!  https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute-excellence-education/recognizing-educators/iee-educator-awards 

September 2024: Fasika Woreta

Being an Educator Starts Now

Sixteen years ago, when I was starting an intern, I would not have predicted my career path would lead me to become an academic residency program director and educator. Over the years, I have realized that just as we are learners at every stage of our careers, we also are educators. Whether it be with a high school, undergraduate, or medical student, resident, support staff, the opportunities to make a difference as an educator begin during training. Here are a few pearls and principles of being a successful educator that I have observed and learned over the years.

Demonstrate Empathy
Like me, many of you probably vividly remember your first day of medical school and on the wards. Fear, uncertainty and not knowing the best place to stand without getting in the way are feelings not uncommon in medicine. Simple acknowledgement, small words of encouragement and any opportunity to contribute no matter how small the task made all the difference. I often find myself pausing before starting sentences with the omnipresent phrase, “When I was a resident …” A better way is to imagine walking a mile in our learner’s shoes.

Take the Time
Despite ubiquitous pressures in medicine to go faster and produce more, our best educators take extra time in the clinic and/or operating room and demonstrate patience with learners. It is rare for any learner or surgeon to perform better when under duress or when rushed early in the learning curve. Patience is a virtue that we must preserve despite the time constraints and demands of academic medicine. Mentorship also takes time and effort. Just as many of us have had our lives changed by mentors, being a mentor at any point in your career can change lives.

Seek and Provide Constructive Feedback
Educators are notoriously bad at seeking and giving feedback — even though it is necessary for growth. Learning to provide constructive methods for improvement and actionable feedback is essential. Avoid the temptation to gossip about the performance of other trainees. Focus instead on giving positive tips for growth.

Be an Upstander and Ally
The scary fact is that more than one half of medical students and residents may experience or witness mistreatment — such as humiliation, discrimination or harassment — in some form. Examples include yelling, use of profanity, malicious gossip and power mistreatment. It is important to learn the skills of an upstander and ally early on in our careers.

Learn From Other Educators
There is a lot we can learn from educators outside of our own institutions and outside of our specialties. Take the time to learn about organizations dedicated to education within Johns Hopkins such as the Institute for Excellence in Education and the Graduate Medical Education Committee. Outside of Hopkins, learn about opportunities to get involved in national education efforts within the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). Embrace opportunities for formal education roles such as a medical student educator/clerkship director, residency or fellowship program director or Vice Chair of Education as they will be one of most rewarding aspects of your career. But even without formal roles, don’t forget that the opportunities to educate are all around you and that you can make a difference starting now.

July 2024: Rachel Levine

Calling All Educators

Do you want to build your skills and connect with other educators? The IEE and the Office of Faculty Development are thrilled to announce the Foundations of Medical Education Program! This faculty development series includes 6, half-day workshops offered over the course of each academic year. Each workshop includes interactive content sharing and application of knowledge and skills.  You will discuss challenging cases in the Foundations of Educational Leadership, and practice feedback and small group facilitation in the Foundations of Teaching and Learning. In the Foundations of Coaching, Mentoring and Advising, you’ll channel your inner coach/mentor/advisor, learning core strategies to help trainees grow and enhance their performance. As a participant in the Foundations of Educational Scholarship, you will be guided through the creation of your own medical education research proposal. In the Foundations of Curriculum Development, you will be introduced to Kern’s 6 Step model for designing and implementing rigorous educational curricula building. Solidify your understanding of common assessment frameworks and tools in the Foundations of Assessment and Evaluation. Most courses are offered (synchronously) virtually.

Each workshop builds skills in a key domain of educator work and is informed by core competencies within that domain (LINK TO ECMC PDF https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/-/media/institute-excellence-education/documents/foundational-principles/ecmc-slides.pdf) The workshops can be completed in any order.

Participate in all 6 workshops and you will receive a Foundations of Medical Education Certificate of Completion. All workshops provide CME credit and Johns Hopkins full-time faculty may use their Tuition Remission benefit to cover the registration fees. For more information and to register for courses, please see the IEE website https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/institute-excellence-education.

June 2024: Joseph Cofrancesco Jr.

Philanthropy Matters

Thanks to the generosity of partner donors, the IEE Faculty Education Scholars Program has flourished. It is our flagship program for “Inspiring and Supporting Research, Scholarship and Innovation in Education” while fostering the growth and development of junior faculty as educational leaders. We’ve had Berkheimer, Innovation, and international grants at different times over the past decade.

We have published the IEE’s efforts to support scholarship and innovation in education (Cofrancesco J, Barone MA, Serwint JR, Goldstein M, Westman M, Lipsett PA. Development and Implementation of a School-Wide Institute for Excellence in Education to Enable Educational Scholarship by Medical School Faculty. Teach Learn Med. 2018.)

IEE Faculty Education Scholars have gone on to create high quality programs, curricula, and educational platforms, receive additional grant funding, been invited to join prestigious national organizations, and even start new national organizations.  In large part due to the work done as a scholar, most have gone on to leadership positions in education.

As but one example among many: Brian T. Garibaldi, MD, received a Berkheimer grant in 2016. He notes that the program was the catalyst for his work in clinical skills education and assessment. He shared his work at the Stanford 25 Clinical Skills Symposium in the fall of 2016, which led to his co-founding and being the first co-president of the Society of Bedside Medicine (SBM), a non-profit dedicated to education, innovation and research on the role of the clinical encounter in 21^st century medicine. Brian also piloted an early version of the Assessment of Physical Examination and Communication Skills (APECS) during his Berkheimer award. APECS is one of the only programs in the US where graduate medical trainees examine real patients in front of faculty members and then receive hands-on, personalized feedback to improve their clinical skills. APECS is now the cornerstone of a large AMA-funded Reimagining Residency grant led by Brian which is dedicated to understanding the intersection of the educational environment, clinical skills and professional fulfillment. Brian became a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, the American College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and teaches clinical skills across the world. The initial support of the Berkheimer award made all of these efforts possible.

Investing in education is investing in the future of medicine. Our partners’ and supporters' generous contributions and collaboration allows for continuation of this essential IEE program.

May 2024: Douglas Robinson

Johns Hopkins Initiative for Careers in Science and Medicine

One of the biggest determinants of career success and health outcomes are socioeconomic status. Socioeconomics impact an individual’s opportunities for education achievement, career attainment, household income, and access to quality healthcare.  To help solve these problems, we need to increase the educational attainment and career opportunities for young people from socioeconomically under-resourced backgrounds. In so doing, we will not only have impact on the young people, but also on their families and our communities. 

To help accomplish this, we created the Johns Hopkins Initiative for Careers in Science and Medicine (CSM; https://csm.cellbio.jhmi.edu/). The CSM provides programs for students (scholars) from 5^th grade, high school, undergraduate, and post-baccalaureate levels. CSM scholars must be from socioeconomically under-resourced backgrounds, defined as from a household with incomes <200% of the federal poverty level, and educationally under-resourced, a criterion most often met by being first-generation college and/or by having attended a high school where the majority are also low income.

To date, the CSM has provided opportunities for over 635 scholars (typically 55-75 scholars per year; some participate multiple years and in multiple programs) across five programs: Fun with Science Camp for 5^th Graders (FwSC), the Summer Academic Research Experience (SARE; high school), Biophysics Research for Baltimore Teens (BRBT; high school), the CSM Summer Internship Program (CSM SIP; undergraduates), and the Doctoral Diversity Program (DDP; postbaccalaureates). At the 5^th grade and high school levels, scholars largely come from the greater Baltimore area. At the later stages, CSM SIP and DDP scholars come from all 50 U.S. States, Territories, and Tribes, and we have had scholars from all domains.

Each program provides stage-specific academic and research-intensive experiences. For example, SARE provides academic fortification in math, writing, science, and bioethics. We also provide education on professionalism, navigating the college application process, financial aid, financial savings and investment, as well as longitudinal, wrap-around mentorship. In addition, scholars have an intensive research experience and then communicate their science in the final poster presentation/celebration event that includes attendees from the Hopkins and greater Baltimore communities. 

CSM scholars accomplish big things. Many become authors on scientific publications. For an example of longitudinal outcomes, SARE scholars have a 100% high school graduation rate, 95% college matriculation rate (79% major in STEMM where the second M is medical health professions), and a ≥69% college graduate rate by 6-years post-high school graduation. That compares quite favorably to the national graduation rate of 14% for students from the same socioeconomic background. SARE scholars have matriculated into numerous universities including Hopkins, Yale, Princeton, U. Maryland College Park, Stanford, and many others. 

For an example of the outcomes at the later stage CSM programs, 78% of our DDP scholars have matriculated into MD, MD/PhD, and PhD programs all over the country, including at Hopkins, Stanford, Harvard, U. Chicago, UTSW, Baylor, UC Berkeley, Howard University, and numerous others. We have DDP scholars who have completed their master’s degrees and become scientists or entered other professional domains.  We even have a DDP scholar who became a Teach for America Biology Teacher – that’s is paying it forward!

All these outcomes are transformative for our scholars, their families, and ultimately our society.  I should also point out that CSM scholars are all super-smart, super-motivated, inspired, and inspiring. They are among the most gracious, heart-warming people, and all are driven to make great impact over their careers and lives.

It is truly a pleasure to get to be a part of the CSM team and community.  As our scholars say, “CSM for life!”

April 2024: Postdoc Fellow Perspective
Zinia Mohanta & Shilpa Gopinath

Postdoctoral Fellows are Often Considered the Backbone of Research

Postdoctoral fellowship is an important phase of a researcher's life as it is the first steppingstone of an early stage of an independent research career. We play a pivotal role in advancing academic institutions, infusing fresh perspectives, advanced basic and applied research, and offering unique expertise. As many aspire to be future academicians, postdocs contribute significantly to the intellectual vibrancy of their host institutions with great enthusiasm.

Postdoctoral fellows bridge gaps between disciplines. Our diverse academic backgrounds foster interdisciplinary collaborations, allowing convergence of ideas to address complex challenges. Postdoctoral fellows serve as mentors and educators, being the frontline of interaction with the next generation of scholars. we have close interactions with graduate and undergraduate students. This mentorship is invaluable, shaping the trajectory of emerging scholars and ensuring a continuum of excellence within the educational ecosystem.

The JHU Teaching Academy (Teaching Academy, JHU) provides various teaching opportunities to postdoctoral fellows. However, time constraints can make participation difficult.

In recent years, we have seen a great shift in the educational environment which is promoting more postdoctoral fellows as educators recognizing our contribution towards educational excellence of the institution. This progressive step also facilitates quality future educators and fuels the career of one of the pillars of the institution in education and research.

March 2024: Student Perspective
Mattea Miller & Matthew Guo

Reflections on Advocacy as Medical Student Senate Student Body Presidents

As Student Body Presidents of the Medical Student Senate (MSS), we sit on many curricular committees within the School of Medicine and are members of the IEE Board of Directors. We primarily serve to represent the collective student voice. In this role we are often bridging students’ opinion, administrations goals, and the reality of what can be changed. Navigating these sometimes-conflicting threads can be difficult, but we have learned much from our advocacy efforts and have been honored to partner with faculty and administration to improve the student experience.

As 4^th year medical students and Student Body Presidents for MSS, these are our reflections from our time serving on the Senate.

• Change is slow, sometimes painfully slow, and that’s okay.
  • When we first started on MSS we often found ourselves frustrated with the pace of change in curricular policy. We had ideas, support from the student body, and wanted immediate gratification from our work and that of the Senate. However, the longer we have spent in the advocacy space, the more we have come to realize the importance of evaluating changes from multiple angles and perspectives. Often this reveals hidden pitfalls that we can take time and address, thus making a more responsible change to the curriculum.
• Nothing is black and white in advocacy.
  • There are often unintended consequences of curricular changes. In our tenure on the Senate, we advocated strongly for clerkship grading to be pass fail for a multitude of reasons such as the learning environment, self-directed learning, and student wellness. We are grateful for the partnership from faculty leaders in this discussion and the collective decision to extend the pass-fail period for a three-year cycle. While we still feel strongly about our efforts, we wish we had thought more closely about the unintended consequences, such as the increased pressure placed on board exams and research output for already time-poor medical students as these pressures can have strong negative impacts on students’ lives.
• Effective advocacy hinges on bridging opinions and having buy in from all stakeholders.
  • Working in silos is detrimental to advocacy work. While we represent the student voice at all meetings we attend, all of our advocacy efforts would have come to a standstill if we hadn’t taken time to understand the perspectives of all stakeholders. When this perspective has been the most vital is in situations when there have been strong opinions. Though difficult, we have made the most progress when we value the opinions most opposite to our own.

 Part of what makes a Hopkins medical student so special is our fire to advocate for change, our drive to build something better. We are only two voices, but it has been the highest privilege to listen and to represent the diverse sea of hundreds of voices that constitute the Hopkins medical student body. We have learned that to advocate, we must listen, we must be patient, we must anticipate, and we must widen our perspectives. We are humbled and thankful to have had the opportunity to grow with our peers, advocate for their needs, and partner in change.

February 2024: Tina Kumra

How do you find the time to teach in a busy community clinical setting?

More of our care of patients, and our teaching, has moved to community settings which are often unpredictable learning environments.  While many of us derive immeasurable reward and joy from teaching, we must also be honest about the time and effort needed to achieve excellent clinical education. Here are three tips on how to navigate teaching in our fast-paced, volume-based medical practices:

• -Don’t try to do too much.  Often busy clinicians get bogged down with trying to teach all of the knowledge they have on a patient rather than picking one or two main teaching points appropriate for student level.  When I started teaching in my practice, I found myself utterly drained at the end of the day because I was doing too much of the talking.  If we allow the learner to uncover where they are in their knowledge base and fill in one or two knowledge gaps, it’s more effective for them and much more manageable for us.
• Rely on your team members to also teach students, they have a lot to offer.  Interprofessional education has rightfully become an important part of medical education.  Whether it’s a nurse, a medical assistant, or a social worker, each of these roles in the office has incredible interactions with the patient and there is much to learn from our teammates.  I often stand in awe of my own medical assistant’s knowledge and memory of each of the families we care for, including things that families sometimes hesitate to share with me directly.  That type of intimate knowledge makes us better together as a care team.  When I ask a student to go in the exam room with her to see how she gives a shot to a four-year-old, I not only want the student to see how the shot is given but all the things surrounding the rapport and relationship in the room during that dynamic. 
•  Embrace the priority you place on caring for patients, as that in itself is the most important lesson we can teach our learners.  If they see you pull away from other responsibilities in order to take care of an urgent result or phone call from a patient, they will understand the value that you place in patient care and that critical role modeling will impact their future care of patients.

January 2024: Rachel Levine

Why We Should All Care About the Well-being of Faculty Educators and What We Can Do About It

 The link between physician burnout and patient care outcomes is the primary driver of efforts to foster faculty well-being by addressing individual and system level factors. Similarly, the well-being of faculty educators is critical for maintaining a supportive, safe, and inclusive learning environment for our students and trainees. The American Medical Association in its 2022 ebook, Educator Well-being in Academic Medicine (https://livejohnshopkins.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/ECMC/EeWdNs77op9GkSwSzL7VRFQB4wQ2sCMAkXQfFmkuNPhDJw?e=leIiMH) describes the features of well-being specific to faculty whose primary effort is education and offers systems-based recommendations to ensure that as faculty educators we can thrive and in turn so will our learners and ultimately our patients.

 We are fortunate to work in an environment with many supports for educators. The IEE, the Office of Faculty Development, The Johns Hopkins Faculty Development programs and the Masters of Education in the Health Professions (MEHP) provide opportunities for faculty to develop expertise and be in community with other educators to share ideas, scholarship, and be recognized. And yet, the current climate in academic medicine places increasing pressures on faculty with fewer rewards for those who wish to focus their efforts on medical education.

 Here are a few steps we can take to support our faculty who teach and mentor learners, design, implement and evaluate curricula, conduct educational scholarship and lead our educational programs: 1) continue supporting academic promotion of educators based activities done in the domains of education, and at Hopkins using recommendations of the Educator Competencies and Metrics Committee; 2) revise compensation models to recognize and reward the work of educators; 3) ensure that educators are included in decision-making around major SOM priorities and initiatives; and 4) measure educator well-being and satisfaction.

December 2023: Pamela Lipsett

Entrustable Professional Activities: A Primer 

Our systems for assessing performance and providing feedback to learners is changing with a greater emphasis on providing real-time assessments of directly observed behaviors to learners. These direct observations are intended to provide formative feedback to the learner. Over time, variation in patient presentation, disease and complexity, these assessments should form a portfolio that demonstrates evidence of learner progress, possibly the rate of progress, and area in which the learner may need additional development. For these assessments to be helpful to the learner and easy for the supervisor to complete, they must share a mental model about what constitutes a good and effective performance and what components are needed for the trainee to practice independently.

 In Graduate Medical Education (GME) the ACGME (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) has utilized both “Competencies” and “Milestones” to help describe the abilities of our resident and fellow trainees over time to independent practice. For some, these terms are rather obtuse and not easily applied to every day observations and assessments in the workplace.  More recently, Entrustable Professional Activities (EPA’s) have been operationalized as part of assessments in both GME and soon in Undergraduate Medical Education. EPA’s are units of work that a learner performs that can be directly observed. This is in contrast to competencies which are broad domains of ability such as medical knowledge, and milestones, which describe the progress of a learner across a domain from novice to expert. EPA’s are believed to be more applicable to day to day interactions as a supervisor inherently makes a decision with an individual learner how much (or how little) they will need to supervise and/or provide autonomy to an individual learner.

November 2023: Douglas Robinson

We are educators and mentors for our trainees across many domains - in the classroom, lab, and life. We are gifted with a rich community of highly inspired and inspiring trainees. We must constantly value this privilege we have with our trainees.

Here are some thoughts:

• Our trainees bring heart-warming motivation, spirit, and intellect.
• We must challenge our students and trainees while giving them space to think independently and to pursue their vision. Of course, their vision needs to be aligned with their mentors, but mentors need to be flexible and allow for growth. Often, trainees push their mentors to expand their own thinking.
• In the research domain, the goals must always be to truth-seek. Research cannot be structured “to show” anything; there cannot be “preferred answers”. Research teams should not “care what the answer is”, but they should be super-motivated to “figure out what the answer is.” This should be the lab mantra!
• It is important to remember that trainees come from all over the world. They can be far away from their support network. Lab environments often fill this gap and should be ready and willing to support their members when needed.
• Because we sit in an inspiring community, we leverage this community to provide supportive, enriching experiences for those who might not otherwise have such opportunities. We built the Johns Hopkins Initiative for Careers in Science and Medicine (CSM) to provide research experience with academic fortification, complete with wholistic, longitudinal mentorship, for scholars from socioeconomically under-resourced backgrounds. In addition to making impact on our scholars, our graduate and postdoctoral trainees get to feel the impact of mentoring a young person, helping them to grow, achieve, and succeed. This is highly rewarding for all trainees.

You may find additional resources through the Institute of Excellence in Education website and by participating in IEE’s Foundations of Teaching and Learning course or the Summer Teaching camp.

October 2023: Jessica Bienstock

What’s are some of the most important things you can do to enhance your learner’s experience early on in their time on your service?

• One of the easiest things to do is to learn their name! If you’re like me and are juggling many different ideas and tasks simultaneously, once you know your learner’s name, writing their name down somewhere that allows you to quickly reference it even if you forget it initially.
• When your learner first joins you in clinic or in the OR, introduce them to the other members of your team (you already know their name so this is easy). This allows the learner to benefit from your “standing” within the team and more quickly be seen as part of the team.
• Ask the learner about their goals for the day, the week, or even the whole rotation. This can help you be aware of learner self-identified areas for growth upon that you can use to provide them educational resources and feedback.
• With the learner’s goals in mind, identify for your learner how they can help facilitate the work of the team.
• Remember to send them home. Learners are hesitant to leave before the entire team leaves even if there is nothing specific for them to do or learn.

Okay, now that you know how to start, you can build upon this foundation through accessing some of the IEE resources including the Foundations of Teaching and Learning course or the Summer teaching camp.

And (because this IS Johns Hopkins after all) remember that Sir William Osler said “I desire no other epitaph than the statement that I taught medical students in the wards, as I regard this as by far the most useful and important work I have been called upon to do.”