Dr. Andy Smith is a clinical care pediatrician, faculty member, and course director at the U. He is also a great, authentic human who you won’t forget after meeting. In this episode, we talk about how he built his career but I think curated is a better word. He did this through a variety of experiences as an EMT in Chicago before medical school as well as helping Aids patients in Malawi and amazing clinical experiences in rural locations to pursue his why: to take care of the sickest patients. But for Andy, his ultimate goal is to practice the kind of medicine where can be fully present. This desire carries over into his family life and all the work he does. We also talk about recently launching SCoPE (a 6 week introductory course for medical students) and being willing to make big changes that help students build a closer knit community right from the start. Bottom line: I love working with Andy and yes it was hard to stay on topic (stay on for the bloopers at the end!). Thanks in advance to Ali and the time she spent editing this episode.   

This episode of the RealMD podcast took place at the AAMC national Learn Serve Lead conference in Seattle this past November. I get to talk to one of my greatest collaborators, colleagues, and friends, Shira Kaplan who is the Director of Leadership Programs at the AAMC. We discuss why leadership development is so important during medical school and how institutions can get started. This episode is also about creating meaningful partnerships. When two passionate people connect on a shared area they care about, change can happen.

Joseph Grenny is a mentor and friend. His work as a researcher, author, and business owner has helped countless professionals level up their abilities to lead teams, navigate conflict, and influence change. In this episode, we talk about his career path, two of his books (Crucial Conversations and Influencer), and thinking at scale which means having a belief or calling that as individuals we can do large scale work that impacts the world. He has an incredible ability to translate his experiences into medicine and tell stories to illustrate. Most of all his lifelong commitment to training for the work he is doing now to help change the lives of criminals, drug addicts and unsheltered populations is inspiring. 

Elorm Avakame is a wonderful pediatrics fellow, colleague, and friend. I am lucky to work with him each year at the RISE conference. I will let him introduce the specifics about himself. This episode is about mindset and also keeping who you are, the natural abilities that you see early in life alive in the current work you are doing. In Elorm’s case his experiences in athletics transfer into the current work he does with patients and learners. His dream to engage a wide audience in medicine as a speaker and presenter is coming to fruition. He is driven and already inspiring future generations of physicians, he is also inspiring me. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Drs. Adam and Emily Spivak are the definition of making life and career work. I will not use the word balance because that is not how medical careers work, but, making space for each other and their passions as well as their family is their way of making it all work. I loved talking about their career paths and life in general. Most of all my takeaway was the value of tuning into past experiences as an important exercise to remember the people and lessons that have happened along the way. Looking back helps us move forward and the Spivak’s experiences confirm this many times over.

Medical school moves very fast and it is great when we can take a moment and process the experience. In this episode, I sit down with second year medical students, Blake Findley and Alizah Folau, they also both serve as RealMD leaders. We talk about what it’s like for them right now in med school, how their reasons for pursuing medicine have evolved, keeping their “why” alive, and a national conference called RISE that they both attended last summer. What struck me most was the idea of bringing humanity into medicine and what that looks like now and in their future. So great to sit down and catch up. 

This episode is a rebroadcast of an interview from the AAMC's Learn Serve Lead Conference in Nashville last November, 2022. It features a conversation between Dr. Adina Kalet, the Director of the Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Institute for Transformation of Medical Education at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Dr. Tom Hurtado from the University of Utah.

Dr. Adam Stevenson serves as the Associate Dean of Student Affairs at the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah and as a Pediatrician at Primary Children’s Hospital. Adam talks about his journey into medicine, how he has been at U since medical school, how he navigated the unexpected, and became an educator as well as an amazing mentor/coach. Having navigated his own struggles during medical school and residency, his message is simple, “everyone will struggle.” First, understand that this is normal and second, if you build a support team around you, you will find your way.

Storytelling is a basic need and central to community building. Medical education can be pretty selfish in that people have to focus on building themselves, but being a medical care provider is fairly selfless in that you're caring for whomever might come before you. RealMD brought storytelling to the University of Utah to create a space to practice some of the listening that medicine requires and as an opportunity to take interest in the lives of the people around us. The theme on this storytelling night was “In Transit.” People were encouraged to share stories about arriving in unexpected places, life taking unexpected turns, and meeting someone on the go. We hope you enjoy four of the stories we heard that night.

Dr. Sara Stern wears a lot of hats and enjoys having a wide of variety of roles. In addition to being a Pediatric Rheumatologist, she is a faculty member, researcher, and RealMD coach. She also recently took on a new role as faculty co-director professional identity formation. In this episode, I love how she talks about taking risks to grow and Navigating dark spots to create the life she wants. In her journey, she found people who believed in her before she believed in herself and when she was at a crossroads they helped her take control and move forward.