By Russ Brown, NRP This is the conclusion of our four-part series detailing the components of emotional intelligence (EQ). In this post we will be discussing the relationship component of EQ and give you some tools to assess your own EQ. Relationships are a vital part of what we do as medical providers. Being able to communicate effectively and efficiently with our co-workers and our patients is paramount to ensuring our patients are receiving optimal care. Much of this communication consists of not just verbal communication but also nonverbal communication. How many times have you experienced ..read more

Part 2: “Bad Questions” By: Geoff Stetson, MD Let’s get “pimping” out of the way. The term is outdated, carries terrible connotations in a non-medical sense, and infers using questions as a form of humiliation or establishing a hierarchy.4-6 Hopefully, you recognized from my first post in this series that I am harping on creating a safe learning environment. Questions, when used correctly, are an effective tool to teach, as well as to build relationships, camaraderie, and psychological safety. This will be how we think about inquiry from here on out. We will also assume that readers of this po ..read more

Part 1: General Rules By Geoff Stetson, MD I often ask others how they approach teaching in the clinical setting. Many respond saying they use the “Socratic Method.” I then probe deeper, “what do you mean by ‘the Socratic Method’?” A common refrain is, “I like to use questions to teach.” To which I will say, “Great! How do you use questions?” This is typically where the answers become vague and confusing. That is because the idea of the Socratic Method, through the ~2,500 years since it was first employed (so they say), has come to become a non-specific concept of teaching through questions.1 ..read more

MedUtopia is thrilled to introduce our readers to Dr. Stetson and welcome him to our writing team! Dr. Geoffrey V. Stetson, better known as Geoff, originally hails from Columbus, Ohio. He did his undergrad work at Brown University, followed by medical school at the University of Chicago, and then residency training in Internal Medicine (IM) at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). During residency, Geoff focused his efforts in Health Professions Education through an internal UCSF training program, gaining foundational understanding of adult learning theory and pedagogical approaches ..read more

How Fink’s Taxonomy Can Improve Your Curriculum Part Seven: Learning to Learn Danielle T. Miller MD In the previous post So You Have Been Inspired to Make a Curriculum, But Is Your Curriculum Inspiring? I provided an introduction to Fink’s Taxonomy of Learning.  L. Dee Fink proposed that learning only occurs when there is change, or what he refers to as “significant learning.”  Significant learning occurs at the center of six domains of learning: Foundational Knowledge Application Integration Human Dimension Caring Learning to Learn This post will discuss the final domain, Learnin ..read more

How Fink’s Taxonomy Can Improve Your Curriculum Part Six: Caring Danielle T. Miller MD In the previous post So You Have Been Inspired to Make a Curriculum, But Is Your Curriculum Inspiring? I provided an introduction to Fink’s Taxonomy of Learning.  L. Dee Fink proposed that learning only occurs when there is change, or what he refers to as “significant learning.”  Significant learning occurs at the center of six domains of learning: Foundational Knowledge Application Integration Human Dimension Caring Learning to Learn This post will discuss Caring and how to incorporate this dom ..read more

How Fink’s Taxonomy Can Improve Your Curriculum Part Five: Human Dimension Danielle T. Miller MD In the previous post So You Have Been Inspired to Make a Curriculum, But Is Your Curriculum Inspiring? I provided an introduction to Fink’s Taxonomy of Learning.  L. Dee Fink proposed that learning only occurs when there is change, or what he refers to as “significant learning.”  Significant learning occurs at the center of six domains of learning: Foundational Knowledge Application Integration Human Dimension Caring Learning to Learn This post will discuss Human Dimension and how to i ..read more

Anxiety and Fear in the Pandemic We are in the middle of COVID-19 pandemic. For many of us this is the first time we have dealt with something of this magnitude. Our frontline healthcare workers are scared. They’re anxious. They worry about their patients, their own families, and themselves. Many of them go to work fearful that they can’t comfort the patients dying of the virus and of contracting the deadly illness themselves. Walk into any emergency department or ICU and the anxiety and fear is palpable. And in many places it’s growing. I wanted to start a series of podcasts that tackle what ..read more

How Fink’s Taxonomy Can Improve Your Curriculum Part Four: Integration By: Danielle T. Miller MD In the previous post So You Have Been Inspired to Make a Curriculum, But Is Your Curriculum Inspiring? I provided an introduction to Fink’s Taxonomy of Learning.  L. Dee Fink proposed that learning only occurs when there is change, or what he refers to as “significant learning.”  Significant learning occurs at the center of six domains of learning: Foundational Knowledge Application Integration Human Dimension Caring Learning to Learn This post will discuss Integration and how to incorpora ..read more

Part 3 of our ongoing series https://pixabay.com/photos/doctor-patient-hospital-child-899037/By: Russ Brown What inspired you to get into medicine? Was it a desire to be of service to others? That feeling of knowing that you are part of something bigger than yourself? Was it an innate desire to be intellectually challenged? For most of us I would hypothesize it is a combination of all of these. At the core of this is most likely a desire to help others in what is often a patient’s worst day. Unfortunately, over time, that desire to help that once burned red-hot can resemble a barely burn ..read more