Education

While mobile applications and virtual technologies are not replacements for didactic teaching methods, they can provide a learner-centered space for investigation and reflect changing learning preferences. In collaboration with the Visible Heart Laboratories, Department of Anesthesiology faculty launched mobile apps to help learners visualize and understand transesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography. “We want to meet the needs of the learner rather than make the learner meet our needs. If you do that, the learning space is wide open to innovate," says Associate Professor Dr.

Language barriers in healthcare can lead to decreased quality of care and negatively impact the physician-patient relationship. When medical students Sydney Geiger, Sinibaldo Romero Arocha and Nicolas Villarraga witnessed these barriers at the Phillips Neighborhood Clinic, they saw an opportunity for the Medical School to better prepare future physicians to serve Spanish-speaking patients. This fall, they launched a pilot Medical Spanish program at the Medical School, and they look forward to growing the program in the future.

Around 6% of Minnesota’s population are veterans. The new Medics to Medical School Program was designed to value the experience gained by operational military combat medics and provide them with the opportunity to matriculate into Medical School. The goal is to increase the diversity of Minnesota's physician workforce with a focus on veterans. Military medics often have unique life experiences that do not allow for the traditional path to Medical School. Yet, these individuals have patient care and leadership skills that translate well to clinical practice.

The Medical School is leading the way in recruiting first-generation medical students through our Gateways to Medicine and Research Master of Science program. The aim is to recruit more first-generation medical students and students from underserved communities and provide them with fully paid tuition. "It provides an opportunity for younger individuals to see someone that is like them and say 'I can do that too,'" said Dr. Kevin Diebel, Regional Campus Dean, Duluth campus.

"The students have always been an inspiration. I learn so much from them," says Dr. Cuong Pham. He trains residents and medical students at the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC). CUHCC provides medical, dental and mental health care, legal services, and more for a culturally and ethnically diverse patient population of nearly 10,000. After his dad died, 3rd-year medical student Koushik Paul almost didn't continue his education. It was his mentor Dr. Pham who encouraged him to keep going: "When someone plays that role in your life...it's big," says Mr. Paul.