Ensuring support for all students!

By Loren Deutsch

In early October, all LAS employees came together to participate in our annual training and planning retreat. We are currently comprised of 14 individuals but when we come together as a group, we are a small community of diverse educators “committed to ensuring that all students learn, achieve, and succeed, one person at a time.”

Medical coaches and scholastic managers designed and implemented 12-minute “Ted-Talks,” 30-minute Activity-based Workshops, one 90-minute unconferenced meeting for strategic planning, and included lots of participation from our instructors and our business office staff. We came from down the street and across the country, including Chicago, neighboring suburbs, Los Angeles, Madison, and Albuquerque, and met on Friday, October 6 and Saturday, October 7 from 8:30AM to 4:00PM. We even squeezed in time for a quick bite at Meier’s Tavern and bowling at Pinstripes. It was busy and fun! Below is a recap and a look to the future.

• Thank you for participating! A special thank you to our instructors who presented cogent and timely information. These individuals went above and beyond in their efforts. Thank you to Rachel Lewin, Laura Doto, Becky Thompson, Selina Mangassarian, and Annalese Duprey.

• The LAS instructor-led trainings focused on LGBTQIA inclusion and diversity, empathy, item-response theory, visualization and relaxation, intake coordination, board exams during the third year of medical school, the new 10-session coaching model for students and residents in difficulty, standardized test prep in high school, and the LAS integrated academic support and wellness services within the wellness center at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine.

• The retreat included two guest speakers, Sandra Sanguino, MD, MPH, Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Education at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, and David M. Rothenberg, MD, Vice Chair, Academic Affairs, Department of Anesthesiology, Rush Medical College and Associate Dean, Academic Affiliations, Rush Medical College.

• Both deans shared information about their respective departments and schools, feedback regarding the LAS integrated medical coaching and wellness support model, information about their respective specialties in undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME), student and resident wellness, prevalence of burnout among UME and GME students, preparation for high stakes exams, and views about what’s next in medical education.

• What does this mean at LAS? In the coming weeks you will see updates to the LAS email headers and footers that convey our philosophy about inclusion. Other updates will include a new LAS bird that appears in rainbow colors on our website, stationary, and social media. Most importantly, we are updating our training schedule to continue providing learning modules for all-staff during Team Meetings and annual trainings that continue addressing inclusion, diversity, and our code of ethics.