Alumni return to teach„and learn again

This January brought 69 participants to Boston for the Harvard Macy InstituteÍs Program for Physician Educators. But along with these new faces came 32 alumni scholars who served as program faculty. Returning alumni, whose ranks have been growing over the years, teach aspects of education, share their experiences, and lead small discussion groups. Why do so many course participants come back, sometimes year after year? For many, it is a chance to deepen their knowledge of medical education and reconnect with the same people and ideas that excited them the first time around.

Dr. Phillipe Chastonay

Dr. Phillipe Chastonay, one of the returning alumni, made a trip across the Atlantic from Geneva, Switzerland to join the January session. Chastonay, coordinator of community and public health education programs at the University of Geneva, said that he decided to return for several reasons. First was a feeling that the course benefits from the input of people from other countries. There were several other international participants in the course he took and, he said, “I felt the input from non-American alumni was quite interesting.” He believes that further experiences of the health care system and medical education in Europe can add new insights to the U.S. experience.

“When you come back from a course like this you come back with some more energy,” Chastonay added. He said that several people from Geneva have been through the Harvard Macy course over the last few years. “We stimulate each other and encourage each other,” he said. “You see people who are dedicated to education and it gives you some courage.”

One of his colleagues also returned this year. Dr. Anne Baroffio-Barbier, an assistant professor of medical education at the University of Geneva, said she had “learned by doing” in her role, but had no formal education background before taking the course. She came to the Harvard Macy program to meet others in her field and learn more about educational approaches. She found that she started thinking about aspects of education differently, and reconsidering past assumptions. Coming back to the program, she said, “I felt much more confident. You bring thoughts you would not have had before.”

Harvard Macy participants eat and socialize in a break from their busy schedules

“When I came to the program the first time I was feeling a little sour in my teaching, a little tapped out,” said Dr. Perle Feldman, assistant professor of family medicine at McGill University. “The first Macy program I attended was a wonderful opportunity to refresh and renew my enthusiasm.” Coming back to the program helped her reconnect with that initial feeling. “Because much of the material was not new this time I was able to take a more reflective role and to concentrate more on the process of what was going on,” Feldman said. She added that the opportunity to chat informally with a great group of people from around the world was not to be missed.

For Dr. Ann Poncelet, the first course she took in 2001 was “a transformational experience.” Though she came with little formal training in education, ñthe experience has enabled my evolving career as a medical educator and leader,î said Poncelet, assistant professor of neurology at the University of San Francisco, California. She has returned the past two years to lead project groups and observation groups. ñI had not planned to return this year, but one of my patients gave an unsolicited grant to support my return,î she added. She was able to get input on the projects she is currently working on in peer mentoring and educational research.

Dr. Mary Hoy first came to the Harvard Macy program in 2002, after having just taken a new position as associate dean for medical education and assessment at the University of Health Sciences in Kansas City, Missouri. ñObviously medical education was new to me and I was overwhelmed,î she said. She felt that the course helped her get oriented to her new position and also helped her develop her project, a portfolio for assessment during the third and fourth year of medical school. ñI knew I hadnÍt absorbed all that was available last year,î she said, and this prompted her to return to serve as a faculty member overseeing a small group of participants. ñBeing able to work closely with four new scholars was extremely rewarding personally and professionally,î Hoy said.

Two participants from the January program talk during a reception

Dr. Lindsay Henson, vice dean for education and academic affairs at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, said she was also a newcomer to medical education when she first took a Macy course in 1998, but her new job was so demanding that she was not able to immerse herself in the course as much as she would have liked. ñBy the next year, I had the new job under control enough, and I knew a lot of the learning had gone over my head, so I leapt at the chance to be a returning alumna faculty member and lead the small groups since I could actually devote myself to the course,î she said. Since then, she has returned nearly every year to teach specific topics. ñI see this annual ïpilgrimageÍ as essential for my growth as an educator.î

Harvard Macy Institute Director Dr. Elizabeth Armstrong notes that, as more alumni make the same pilgrimage, the curriculum of the course has been enriched by a greater diversity of experiences and views from different schools and geographical locations. “I am impressed by the mentorship role the alumni scholars take on,” she added. “They eagerly share what they have learned in accomplishing their work at home, and generously guide the new scholars in thinking and planning for educational projects they have brought to the program.”