Even in the age of medical miracles, there is still no intervention more powerful than a genuine human connection. There is no lab, no scan, no test, no drug, no surgery, that can replace it. For the soul heals not by human medicine, but human kindness. Medical student Ross Perry reflects on the most important lesson he learned while caring for a very special patient during his third year of medical school. This essay placed first in the 2021 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2021 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

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Meet medical students and residents, clinicians and educators, health care thought leaders and researchers in this podcast from the journal Academic Medicine. Episodes chronicle the stories of these individuals as they experience the science and the art of medicine. Guests delve deeper into the issues shaping medical schools and teaching hospitals today. Subscribe to this podcast and listen as the conversation continues.

The journal Academic Medicine serves as an international forum to advance knowledge about the principles, policy, and practice of research, education, and patient care in academic settings.

Please note that the opinions expressed in this podcast are the guests’ alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the AAMC or its members.

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Katherine Chretien, MD, Grant Wilson, MD, and Michelle York, MD, join host Toni Gallo to discuss building meaningful relationships with patients, the small but impactful ways they show their patients they care, and the important role that learners play in connecting with patients and contributing to their care.  A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org.

Presence With Patients is a Gift: Building Meaningful Patient Relationships

For those who do excellent work, but quietly, and sometimes under the radar, the simple phrase, confidently stated—“You are in good hands”—can make all the difference. You got this. Shailaja J. Hayden reflects on the importance of inspiring confidence in fellow members of the care team, which then inspires confidence in patients. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the April 2024 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

What Cancer Did Not Teach Me

Rather than sheltering me from the rigors of doctoring, the museum has deepened my relationship to medicine by restoring its inherent mystery. It reminds me that the reality of our patients will always exceed our understanding of them. Kain Kim reflects on how teaching the humanities can help normalize uncertainty in medical training. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the March 2024 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Our Achilles’ Heel: Vulnerability and Medical Uncertainty

Through all the time I had known him, and through all the rounds and presentations, many voices were heard: my own, my senior resident, my attending, the ICU team, the consult teams, the family. But the softest voice, often overcome by dysphonia, came from the bed at the center of the room, and it needed to be amplified the most. Richard T. Tran reflects on a patient’s request for a vanilla Ensure and learning that sometimes the greatest comforts can come from the simplest of interventions. The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the February 2024 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Pain, Palliative Care, and Practicing Empathy

Pilar Ortega, MD, MGM, Débora Silva, MD, MEd, and Bright Zhou, MD, MS, join host Toni Gallo to discuss strategies to address language-related health disparities and enhance language-appropriate training and assessment in medical education. They explore one specific language concordant education framework, Culturally Reflective Medicine, which recognizes and supports the lived experiences and expertise of multi-lingual learners and clinicians from minoritized communities.  A transcript of this episode is available at academicmedicineblog.org.

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