The physician healer track: educating the hearts and the minds of future physicians

ABSTRACT

Calls to reform medical education recommend explicit training in professional identity formation to promote the development of humanistic, compassionate physicians. The authors report their experience offering The Physician Healer Track, a 500-contact-hour curricula integrated over 4 years, focusing on self-awareness, reflection, being-with-suffering, communication and professional identity development. The voluntary scholarly-concentration program comprises 4 years of monthly dinner meetings with faculty mentors, a two-month preceptorship in the first year, a one-month immersion course in MS4 and one elective. Training in mindfulness, cognitive behavioral therapy, nonviolent communication, motivational interviewing, spirituality in healthcare, wellness, equanimity, and ‘being with suffering’ is reinforced across all 4 years. Community building and reflection are integral to the training both in the monthly sessions and the immersion courses. Enrollment has grown from 26 students in the first year (11% of class) to a total of 258 students across our first 6 years (average of 20–26% of each class). Graduates in our first two cohorts of PHT have exceeded the numbers in the eight other scholarly concentrations offered at UTMB. Among students participating in the summer preceptorship, there has been less than 1% attrition. In serial assessments, students report continued growth in personal development, professional development, and the ability to empathize. Offering PHT has resulted in the growth of training for our medical residents, faculty, physical therapy students and the creation of a student healer association. Despite the demands on student’s time, they are voluntarily participating in a challenging program of integrated training with the intention of keeping them connected to their humanity during the rigors of medical school training.

KEYWORDS:

• Professional Identity
• Physician Healer
• Undergraduate Medical Education
• Curriculum
• Humanism

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the many students and faculty who participated in the transformative work during the development phase of this program. They extend special thanks to Dr. Steve Lieberman for his multifaceted support, particularly navigating the institutional processes. The authors also wish to thank Drs. Susan Gerik, Kristene Gugliuzza, Susan McCammon, Catalina Triana, Victor Sierpina as well as Kevin Haslam in the Office of Alumni Relations for assistance in marshalling resources.

Ethical approval

The IRB Committee determined that ethical review was not necessary.

Previous presentations

Parts of this work have been presented at

• 2017 APGO Martin L. Stone, MD Faculty Development Seminar, January 7-10, 2017, Palm Springs, California.

• Association for Medical Education in Europe, Barcelona, Spain, 29 August 2016.

• AAMC Southern Group on Educational Affairs regional annual meeting, April 13-16, 2016. Austin, TX.

• 12th Annual Innovations in Health Science Education Conference, sponsored by The University of Texas Kenneth I Shine, MD, Academy of Health Science Education. Austin, TX. Feb 2016.

• American Society of Bioethics and Humanities Annual Conference, Houston, TX. 25 October 2015

• Symposium at the International Conference to Promote Resilience, Empathy and Well-Being in Health Care Professions, Washington DC. 20 October 2015.

• Regional Academies of Educators Conference, 1 May 2015. Houston, TX.

• Regional Academies of Educators Conference, Galveston, TX. 16 May 2014.

Additional information

Funding

External funding for the Physician Healer Track comes from the Glenda Gilbert Hickman Legacy Fund and the Dr. Dan and Laura Nell Nicholson FundGlenda Gilbert Hickman Legacy Fund and the Dr. Dan and Laura Nell Nicholson Fund [none available].