Abstract
Background: In July 2005, a learning community was created at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) to foster camaraderie, networking, advising, mentoring, professionalism, clinical skills, and scholarship—The Colleges. The cultural and structural changes that emerged with the creation of this program have resulted in JHUSOM bearing a resemblance to J. K. Rowling's fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Aims: This manuscript will describe the similarities between these two revered schools, and highlight the innovations and improvements made to JHUSOM's learning environment.
Description: The intense, stressful, and lengthy professional training required to achieve competency in the practice of medicine and in the practice of witchcraft (albeit fictional) have meaningful parallels.
Conclusion: The supportive learning environment at these two schools should afford the next generation of graduates to have an even more enriching experience than those who have come before them.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Rosalyn W. Stewart
ROSALYN W. STEWART, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Allison R. Barker
ALLISON R. BARKER is a medical student at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Robert B. Shochet
ROBERT B. SHOCHET, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Scott M. Wright
SCOTT M. WRIGHT, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He receives support as a Miller–Coulson Family Scholar through the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine.