TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | au g u s t 2 0 1 7 29 Vaccination against cynicism The most significant change to the curriculum is earlier patient interaction. Students are assigned to a McGovern Medical School clinical faculty member in the physician's clinic starting their first year, instead of waiting until their third year for clinical rotations. To prepare for the clinic, students learn the basic skills of medical practice—such as taking patient histo- ries and conducting physical exams— during their first semester. They are then paired with a physician to shadow and assist during their second and third semesters. Students even interact with "standardized patients," actors who portray different medical conditions. By allowing students to work directly with patients their first year, the curriculum synchronizes the class- room lessons and the clinical experi- ence. For example, while students learn about cardiology and the physiology of the heart and vascular system, their clinical skills session will focus on con- ducting cardiovascular examinations on patients and listening for heart murmurs. "My belief is that it's important to have students learn these skills very early on," said Eugene Toy, M.D., professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences and assis- tant dean for educational programs at McGovern Medical School. "That way … they have a direct application of those basic science principles to the patient." Offering a clinical experience at the beginning of medical school also reinforces the humanity of medicine, something students may lose amid the pressure to succeed in such a competi- tive environment. "What we have to do as educators is to approach the teaching of medicine differently so that … the human aspect, the compassion aspect, remains a prior- ity," Toy said. "I kind of see my courses largely as a vaccination—so to speak— against some of the cynicism." For Toy, this means bringing patients into the lecture area, showing videos of real people who are affected by different diseases and "constantly reminding the students that the reason they are here and the reason why this will be fulfilling for them as a career is helping people." The new curriculum also focuses on quality assurance and patient safety. McGovern Medical School is one of 10 medical schools selected to partic- ipate in an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) pilot project that assesses 13 activities all medical students are expected to perform upon entering their first day of residency, such as gathering patient history, performing physical exams, interpret- ing common diagnostic and screening tests, and obtaining informed consent for tests and procedures. "In the past, we probably just hoped that everybody did these well because we assumed we taught them well," Orlander said. (continued) 2017-18 EVENTS • REGISTER NOW Contact dicet@houstonmethodist.org for further information. For further Houston 6550 OCT. 6-7, 2017 • events.houstonmethodist.org/advancedici Course Directors: Alan B. Lumsden, MD, and C. Huie Lin, MD, PhD INAUGURAL Advanced Interventional Cardiovascular Imaging NOV. 18, 2017 • events.houstonmethodist.org/achsymposium Course Director: C. Huie Lin, MD, PhD THIRD ANNUAL Adult Congenital Heart Symposium: An Overview for Health Professionals NOV. 18, 2017 • events.houstonmethodist.org/ach-guest Course Director: C. Huie Lin, MD, PhD THIRD ANNUAL Adult Congenital Heart Symposium: Patient and Family Celebration MARCH 3, 2018 • events.houstonmethodist.org/hfmanagement2018 Course Director: Arvind Bhimaraj, MD SECOND ANNUAL Houston Heart Failure Management Conference Houston Methodist is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. These live activities have been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.™ Events hosted by the DeBakey Institute for Cardiovascular Education & Training THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE FOR PATIENTS AND FAMILIES: SEPT. 29-30, 2017 • events.houstonmethodist.org/endobootcamp INAUGURAL Endovascular Boot Camp Course Directors: Alan B. Lumsden, MD, Nicole Twine, MSN, RN, ACNP-BC and Miriam "Pepper" Santa Ana, MSN, RN, ANP-C OCT. 26-27, 2017 • events.houstonmethodist.org/2017openaortic Course Director: Alan B. Lumsden, MD *This course is not accredited. THIRD ANNUAL Open Aortic Training Course* FEB. 9, 2018 • events.houstonmethodist.org/houstonheartfailure Course Director: Jerry D. Estep, MD THIRD ANNUAL Houston Heart Failure Summit FEB. 23-25, 2018 • events.houstonmethodist.org/cvimaging Course Director: William A. Zoghbi, MD EIGHTH ANNUAL Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging for the Clinician APRIL 5-6, 2018 • events.houstonmethodist.org/reevolution Course Director: Mahesh Ramchandani, MD NINTH ANNUAL Re-Evolution Summit Jammie Barnes, M.D., assistant professor of internal medicine, leads a discussion with McGovern Medical School students.

• Cover