Medical Education & Teaching

Teaching Philosophy

I discovered the significance of being an educator during college and medical school - inspired by my professors, faculty mentors, clerkship directors, and attendings in clinics and on the wards. I was first influenced by my undergraduate organic chemistry teacher, who is one of the most remarkable teachers that I have had the privilege to learn from. Dr. Nolta had the ability to break down complex information in a way that was clear and concise for the masses, with several hundreds of students taking introductory organic chemistry at the University of Michigan. Yet, she was also approachable, fun, and friendly. Office hours were a delight, and she made herself available to students whenever needed. I often think of her and wonder how I can pull from her many assets as an exemplary teacher and apply them to teaching medicine. I want to recreate the feeling I had as her student for my students. With both Dr. Nolta and the many outstanding attendings I have worked with as my guide, I aspire to be both nurturing and challenging, both friend and role model, with the overall objective of teaching trainees how to learn medicine.

I want learners to feel supported and cared about so that the learning environment is collegial and allows them to freely develop. I set the tone of our interactions by being friendly and getting to know the learner. This allows me to individualize the learning process as much as possible. I also set clear expectations from the start, so that they know what to expect and are not left guessing as to what success looks like.

My favorite thing about teaching students and residents is guiding them to a new level of understanding. To accomplish this, I like to first assess if the learner has identified a learning objective or goal. In addition, when a clinical questions arises, I can probe them to gauge their level of understanding. In both scenarios, I am able to identify an area of knowledge gap and I can teach more specifically to what my learner needs.

One of my overarching objectives is to guide the learner through the decision making process. I accomplish this through both direct probing and modeling. If I do not have the knowledge to answer a question, I like to model the actions for students to take. I work together with the trainee to find the answer or solve the problem. I also like to ask students to do independent learning to search for an answer on their own, and then come back to the group with what they have learned. I try to limit the amount of directly transmitted information, but recognize it’s utility for quick teaching points in the clinic setting. I think it is important to teach both specific situational knowledge as well as generalizations that can be applied to multiple patients or situations.

I hope that over time I am able to give my trainees the same feeling that I had about Dr. Nolta as a young impressionable undergraduate. My goal for the future is to take on more of a coaching role, offering more challenges to my learners, while remaining supportive. I plan to work on this over time as I myself hone both my medical knowledge and teaching skills.