Whenever a patient or learner asked a question, instead of answering, I would look at the senior resident and WAIT for them to answer it. Turns out, in the vast majority of cases the resident handled it just fine on their own.

Matthew Soltys reflects on the power of silence to make space for learners to grow independently.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the May 2026 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine.