Kern Institute Renovations Under Way! Three New Labs, One New Pillar, and a New Post-Doctoral Fellowship!

From the 7/10/2020 newsletter

Director's Corner

Kern Institute Renovations Under Way! Three New Labs, One New Pillar, and a New Post-Doctoral Fellowship! 

 

 

Adina Kalet, MD MPH

 

In this week’s Director’s Corner, Adina Kalet describes changes to the structure of the Kern Institute that will supercharge the transformational work of the Kern Institute... 

 

 

Laboratories

 

It is with great excitement that I announce that the Kern Institute will now have three new  laboratories: 

• Medical Education Data Science Lab led by Tavinder Ark, PhD and profiled in the Transformational Times on June 19^th,
• Human Centered Design Lab led by Chris Decker, MD and Julia Schmitt.
• Philosophies of Medical Education Transformation Lab led by Fabrice Jotterand, PhD. To learn more, see the “Director’s Corners” on Practical Wisdom (April 10^th) and A Philosophy of Medical Education Transformation (May 8^th). 

 

 

Laboratories are places where people work together to understand how the world works. They are also relatively small bands of people who – with a range of specialized expertise and sometimes funky new equipment and technology – work  together with stakeholders to engage in experimentation, teaching, and wide-ranging and deep conversations. Where cross-disciplinary scholarship is conducted and disseminated, graduate students as well as mid- and late-career colleagues are nurtured. 

 

According to Wikipedia, the earliest laboratory belonged to Pythagoras of Samos, the Greek philosopher and scientist, who conducted experiments that discerned the different sound tones produced by the vibration of string. So, we join an ancient tradition of enabling those with deep curiosity to ask important questions and seek answers.  

 

 

Pillars

Our pillars are just that: the mainstays of the Kern Institute. The equivalent of divisions in a clinical department, pillars represent our stakeholders. 

• The Student Pillar, led by Catherine “Cassie” Ferguson, MD and Cassidy Berns, designed, implemented and now leads the REACH curriculum. This pillar houses our work on Holistic Admissions. It focuses on enhancing equity and belonging for all our students in our effort to become an anti-racist organization.
• The Faculty Pillar, led by Alexandra Harrington, MD and Vivian Dondlinger, builds MCW’s capacity to transform medical education through the rigorous KINETIC³ faculty development program, and will be the home for our Kern signature coaching program.
• Under the guidance of Jose Franco, MD and Joan Weiss, the External and Internal Community Pillar (profiled in the “Director’s Corner” on May 1^st) will work to enthusiastically engage all of our communities – especially patients – in the work of educating the next generation of physicians.
• In his leadership of the Outcome Based Medical Education Pillar (formally known as the Curriculum Pillar), Martin Muntz, MD and Kaicey von Stockhausen express deep commitments to ensuring a culture of psychological safety while building systems and structures to support learners aspiring to become masterful physicians ready to serve in this rapidly evolving health care environment. 
• Moving forward we are adding a Graduate Medical Education Pillar that will engage this critical stakeholder group in the work of the Kern Institute and ensure we are working all across the medical education continuum to build strong institutional alliances. This pillar’s leadership will be announced soon.

 

 

 

Postdoctoral Fellowship

 

Finally, I want to ask for your help in identifying candidates for the new Kern Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship in Transformation of Medical Education. Creating this postdoc is a first step in building a nationwide capacity working to transform medical education. By defining enhanced career paths for PhD-prepared foundational scientists, we will create the next generation of leaders that will reimagination curricula and support cutting edge pedagogies to integrate foundational and clinical sciences. We want to attract an enthusiastic scientist and teacher who will roll up his or her sleeves and create effective, inspiring methods ensuring that future health professionals have solid foundations of scientific knowledge.  

 

The announcement for the position is here.

 

 

 

Stay engaged!

 

We invite you to read and to contribute to future issues of the Transformational Times as we collaborate and learn, working through our Pillars and Labs to turn aspirations into realities. 

 

 

 

Adina Kalet, MD MPH is the Director of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for the Transformation of Medical Education and holder of the Stephen and Shelagh Roell Endowed Chair at the Medical College of Wisconsin.