WIMEZINE

Those who do not have power over the story that dominates their lives, the power to retell it, rethink it, deconstruct it, joke about it, and change it as times change, truly are powerless, because they cannot think new thoughts.—Salman Rushdie

This publication focuses on five literacies (writing, reading, thinking, listening, and speaking) that premedical students develop as they progress through Writing in Medical Education (WiME) in the Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program. These literacies empower scholars and enable them to tell counter-narratives about their intellect, goals, and aspirations. Thus, this publication demonstrates how premedical students are empowered when they reinscribe the stories that impact their identities, forcing them and others to “think new thoughts” (Rushdie, 1991) about who should become healthcare practitioners.

Writing in Medical Education is a six-week intensive writing course that is designed as a fertile ground for nurturing literacies that rising sophomores and juniors bring to WiME, acquire in WiME, and develop in WiME then place in their toolkits and transfer to other contexts. It also introduces scholars to relevant and engaging projects about communication in the healthcare profession. Scholars compose an argumentative synthesis essay and a personal statement, genres that call on them to identify a primary audience.

Three TAs and I teach eighty racially, culturally, and intellectually diverse students about communication in the health profession. Equally important, we urge scholars to become change agents who help decrease health and education disparities in all communities.

Inside This Issue

Message from the Editor 1

Valeria Martinez 2

Gabriela Moro 3

Images of Doctors (Reviewer) and Patients (Reviewee) 4-6

The WiME Synthesis Essay 7

LaShyra Nolen 8-9

Austin Hannah 10

Sara Rubio Correa 11-12

WiME: Why Not Me? 13

I could not include every scholar’s narrative in this publication. However, I am confident that the voices contained within these pages demonstrate the complexity of scholars’ literacies and how their literacies merge and diverge in nuanced and complex ways inside and outside WiME. Finally, this publication also illustrates, on a small scale, the dynamism of Writing in Medical Education. I welcome your feedback at sfspring@duke.edu.

Sincerely,

Shirley E. Faulkner-Springfield, Ph.D. Editor, WiME Newsletter Writing Program Coordinator Writing in Medical Education Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program Trent Semans Health Education Center Duke University Medical Center Durham, North Carolina 27710

Newsletter Date

Volume 1, I ssue 1

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

Writing in Medical Education is a writing program of the Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program

Volume 1, Issue 1 October 2015

Dear Shirley, Thank you for being an excellent teacher in the WiME class. Your passion in each class taught me how much you love your job. That is the kind of love I also want to have for my job as a physician.

The Monday class-style (writing workshop) was totally different from what I am used to, but it prepared me for other classes. In the future, I will verbally participate in class, revise my drafts, and read text closely. The analyses of the articles we discussed in class were excellent. We had to review every single sentence and that taught me to pay more attention to the words authors use and how they write. Because I closely read the articles and closely listened to the speakers in the videos, I clearly understood the consequences of poor communication in the health profession and learned how I should interact with all my future patients regardless of their race, ethnicity, or education level.

This class also helped me know myself better. Because English is my second language, it was a little hard for me to adapt to the writing assignments and to the pace of the course. Although I know my synthesis essay and personal statement weren't my best writing, I can assure you that I learned in every process of writing them. Without a doubt, my writing and speaking in English improved a lot during the six weeks, and I will keep improving. I will never forget your phrases: "Who are you?" "Why do you want to be a doctor?" and "Revise, revise, revise." Thank you for believing in us.

Sincerely,

Valeria Martinez Natural Sciences-General Program, Class of 2017 University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus

“Who are you?” “Why do you want to be a doctor?” “Do you accept writing as process?” These three questions encapsulate my guiding principles as a writing specialist. Thus, I ask these questions of scholars who enter the Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program. My eight-year tenure as a writing instructor in WiME has taught me that in order for premedical majors to grasp their roles as scholars, they must accept and practice several premises. Three of them are: their identities comprise more than their names, their purpose for becoming a doctor should be rooted in critical social, cultural, civic, and ethical principles, and their writing skills will likely improve if they practice writing as process.

I find it necessary to get inside scholars’ heads and hearts and help them dig deeply inside themselves for roots that expose their true identities. Jacqueline Wigfall challenges scholars to “dig your layers, people. Don’t dive from point a to point b.” Matthew Spencer urges scholars to “stretch your intellect.” Additionally, if they want to be taken seriously by health professionals, scholars must clearly articulate, in written and verbal communication, why they have chosen the health profession and how they might effect change in the U.S. healthcare system and in the wider community.

My colleagues and I acknowledge, accept, and value scholars’ literacies, dialects, and languages. Yet we teach the standardized version of American English and ask scholars not to eradicate their native dialects or languages because medicine is a profession that is populated with linguistically diverse people. In essence, we urge scholars to become bi-and multi-dialectical or bi- and multilingual so they can attain their professional goal of becoming physicians and leaders in the United States.

Shirley E. Faulkner-Springfield, Ph.D.

“Who are you? and Why do you want to be a doctor?”: Shaping Identifies in WiME 2

When I walked into the lecture hall for my first WiME class, I was nothing short of intimidated. I took a seat in the large room with the other seventy-seven aspiring doctors I barely knew. I had no idea what to expect. My only sense of relief was that I loved writing. I thought to myself, “It cannot be that bad. Writing is a breeze for me. All I have to do is sit here quietly and complete the assignments.” I would quickly discover that WiME was not all about writing and that I would not get off that easily.

The first statement Dr. Faulkner-Springfield made was: “Who are you?” This was not a hypothetical question. She expected us to answer that question, not with our name or with our status as a student. I did not understand why she was asking us this rather vague and seemingly impossible-to-answer question. After six short weeks in WiME, I know exactly why she posed such a question.

Two weeks later, Dr. Faulkner-Springfield had us conduct a simulated clinical interview. Each scholar was paired with another scholar—one played the role of doctor and the other one played the role of patient. I was assigned to be a doctor first. As my patient walked into my clinic, I adjusted my white coat and walked towards her to introduce myself.

Then I conceptualized how I would interact with my patient if I were a real doctor. I did not want to say anything that would offend her, yet I knew I needed to be direct about her health (synthesis essay). I had to find a way to effectively get my point across without being too harsh or too vague. The key to interacting with her was teamwork.

The medical staff is often referred to as the team; it makes all the decisions. However, the team is the doctor and the patient working together to find the most feasible solution that will make patients and doctors feel the most comfortable. To do this, doctors must step back and allow patients to express

their concerns first.

Even though I read my patient’s health record (synthesis essay) prior to her arrival, I did not want to bombard her with my thoughts. I needed to hear and understand what she was thinking before I made any comments. After listening to my patient, the rest of the conversation came naturally because we understood each other’s concerns. We made a plan of action together to improve her health (synthesis paper). I think that is what made my simulated clinical interview successful.

Prior to the interview/peer review, we read articles and watched videos about communication in the medical field that were interesting and eye-opening. However, until I actually engaged in a simulated doctor-patient interview, I did not know how crucial it was to genuinely listen to and talk with patients. It will be my job as a future doctor to facilitate an environment that is welcoming and effective. The interview allowed me to come to these conclusions. Activities like the simulated clinical interview and the normal class discussions where Dr. Faulkner-Springfield required all scholars to contribute helped me learn more about myself, about what I could and wanted to contribute to the medical field.

WiME also gave me the opportunity to self-reflect. It pushed me to look beyond the basics of medicine and dig deeper into what makes being a doctor so special and why I think I would be a unique medical student candidate. This brings me back to the much-dreaded first question “Who are you?” Even though I might still be inclined to respond with “My name is Gabriela Moro, and I am an SMDEP scholar,” I know Dr. Faulkner-Springfield wanted me to realize that I had some reflecting to do, reflecting that shows each and every scholar why he or she was chosen to be a part of this program and why each of us has what it takes to move mountains in medicine. This course also taught me how to apply the skills of writing, listening, and speaking to every experience I have whether it is in clinical rotations or with my professors at Notre Dame. WiME was not always easy, but the greater understanding I have of communication in the health profession, of fellow scholars, and of myself make every single moment in the course well worth it.

By Gabriela Moro Pre-medical Major Class of 2018 Norte Dame University

The Simulated Doctor-Patient Interview: Putting theory to Practice 3

Patients read magazines while doctors read patients’ health records

Patients write questions and concerns they will share with doctors

“Several academic studies have focused on poor health literacy and its consequences for health-care costs and outcomes. The federal government's new health literacy action plan cites a 2007 study led by a University of Connecticut economist estimating that the costs to the health-care system of low health literacy, such as patients not taking their medications or seeking appropriate treatment, amount to as much as $238 billion a year” (Landro, 2010, para. 7).

Simulated Clinical Interview/Peer Review: Scholars read their peers’ synthesis essays and offer feedback. Scholars become doctors (reviewers) and patients (reviewees).

What Does a Simulated Clinical Interview Look Like in WiME? 4

Doctors discussing patients’ health records (synthesis essay): Doctor: Aliviana Najjar Patient: DeShanta Milam Doctor: LaShyra Nolen Patient: Simon Mogendi Doctor: Ansley Black Patient: Amari Carter

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Doctor greets patient Doctor: Jeremy Boudah Patient: Cameran Burt

Patient refers to notes

“In a study of more than a thousand letters from dissatisfied patients at a large Michigan health maintenance organization, Dr. Frankel found that more than 90 percent of complaints arose from the way members of the medical staff communicated with patients” (Frankel in Goleman, 1991, para. 9).

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Some patients are late and pay a late fee

Some patients are cheerful, no questions, no notes, no worries!

What is the WiME Synthesis Essay?

The WiME synthesis essay challenges pre-medical students to critically examine how healthcare practitioners interact with patients and to develop a new standpoint on doctor-patient relationships. After reading and viewing sources, scholars formulate a debatable thesis about poor communication in the U.S. healthcare profession.

Scholars pull support from a limited pool of sources on the syllabus such as journal articles, book chapters, and videos. Some sources include:

“All Too Often, The Doctor isn’t Listening, Studies Show” by Daniel Goleman.

“Taking the Medical Jargon out of Doctor Visits” by Laura Landro.

Sally Okun: Does Anyone in Healthcare Want to be Understood? at TEDMED by Sally Okun.

Narrative Humility: Syantani DasGupta at TEDxSLC by Sayantani DasGupta.

Excerpt from Caring for Patients from Different Cultures by Geri-Ann Galanti.

Scholars also pull from their clinical rotation experiences. In this sense, they are cast in the role of ethnographic researchers who deeply immerse themselves in the culture of Duke University Hospital during their clinical rotations where they observe doctor-patient and inter-professional interactions.

The following is an excerpt from the synthesis essay writing prompt:

What is a synthesis essay? A synthesis essay is a short argumentative research paper that integrates other voices into a conversation about a specific subject. These voices help writers support or challenge a claim.

Your assignment does not require you to conduct scholarly research as it is traditionally conducted in the academy. For example, you will not “demonstrate [your] mastery of library and Internet research skills” (Glenn & Goldthwaite, 2014, p. 101). However, you will demonstrate your mastery of “careful, thorough documentation” of primary and secondary sources

“Narrative Humility—The sense of humanity toward that which we do not know—the face of the Other, the face we cannot know but to which we are responsible.” Craig Irvine on Emmanuel Levinas in DasGupta, 2013

(Glenn & Goldthwaite, 2014, p. 101). This assignment is intended to help you analyze, synthesize, interpret, and reflect on the problem of poor communication in the healthcare profession. This paper serves as a platform for you to demonstrate your knowledge on a subject; thus, other voices, expert or otherwise, should not dominate your voice.

Assignment: You will choose a narrow topic for this paper; a general topic has been chosen for you. Construct a clearly defined opinion around your specific topic, and select three or four sources on your syllabus that will help you substantiate the claim you make in the introduction of your essay. You should also introduce your sources’ arguments in your introduction. Please compose from the third-person perspective.

Additionally, you should integrate a clinical experience into your essay. Blend “the outsider’s point of view with an insider’s perspective,” which should signal to your reader that you immersed yourself in the culture of your clinical rotation experience as an ethnographer researcher (Sunstein & Chiseri-Strater, 2007, p. 16). Remember to answer: Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How? You should also integrate a counterargument in your discussion that is grounded in your clinical experience or quasi-ethnographic research (see the synthesis essay worksheet).

You will begin the initial writing process (invention) for this assignment when you annotate the readings for this course, including the syllabus. During your annotation/invention process, keep your synthesis paper in mind, speaking back to authors by asking questions, answering questions, connecting, agreeing and disagreeing with their claims, and creating other tensions.

Rhetorical Value: You should demonstrate your knowledge of the topic by arguing its importance. . . However, you should quote sparingly. . . . Whether you use direct or indirect references, other people’s voices should not dominate your voice in a paper where you are attempting to demonstrate your knowledge of a topic. . . . and one that helps you espouse the habits of mind and literacies that WiME and SMDEP promote.

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“I must say that I am extremely proud of this essay. After

four lunch and dinner meetings with you [Professor Faulkner-Springfield] and constantly writing and re-writing, I feel like I'm finally getting a hang of APA. Thank you for challenging me, mentoring me and guiding me to become the best version of myself." Email communication, July 2015

Physicians at the hospital are not listening to their patients in an inviting and attentive manner. In fact, most physicians are inclined to cut off their patients before they are able to explain all of their symptoms (Goleman, 1991). In the Adult ER, patients rarely explained all of their symptoms because their physicians cut them off. One patient in the Adult ER was unable to fully explain her loss of eyesight because her physician was too focused on her first symptom of persistent headaches. Goleman proclaims, “The problem is that physicians too readily assume the patient’s first complaint is the most important” (para. 5). Goleman further reveals that the patient’s third symptom is usually the most important. Ironically, the ER patient’s third symptom revealed her loss of eyesight, supporting Goleman’s claim of the importance of a patients’ third symptom. Frankel (as cited in Goleman, 1991) shows “that 51 . . . patients were interrupted by their physicians within the first 18 seconds of beginning to explain what was wrong with them” (para. 10). Additionally, DasGupta maintains that doctors interrupt patients because [doctors] are indoctrinated in medical school to believe that they are superior to patients (2013). If physicians continue to not provide patients the opportunity to tell their entire story, patients’ key symptoms will never be revealed. Therefore, it is imperative that physicians listen until their patients feel like they have revealed all their symptoms (Goleman 1991). It is evident that focused

By LaShyra Nolen Natural Sciences Major Class of 2017 Loyola Marymount University

Of the approximately one hundred fifty hospitals in North Carolina, U.S. News (2014) ranked Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) number one in patient care. This honor identifies Duke University Health System as the model of personalized patient care that hospitals should imitate in order to provide the best experience for patients.

However, a premedical student who had clinical rotations in the hospital has a different perspective on how healthcare is delivered there. Some students observe in the Adult Emergency Department that doctors spend eight-minutes with each patient; thus, patients are not physicians’ primary concern. Physicians in the Adult ER need to make patients their priority so they can merge the clinical and the humanistic aspects of medicine. Goleman (1991) reasons: “[g]ood clinical work requires focusing on the patient, not on the doctor’s agenda” (para. 3). DasGupta (2013) argues that “[l]istening to stories daily help us do our job better in medicine.” Similarly, Landro (2010) concludes that the high cost of poor communication “should be a wake-up call to providers to be sensitive to patients’ needs for communication.” Goleman’s, DasGupta’s, and Landro’s concerns about systemic barriers to effective communication in the U.S. healthcare system are evident at DUMC. While Duke’s healthcare practitioners excel in the clinical aspect of medicine, they fail to humanize medicine through effective listening and relationship building with patients.

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Humanizing Healthcare at Duke University Medical Center

interactions will ensure the delivery of improved healthcare.

Furthermore, many physicians at Duke Hospital do not foster interpersonal relationships with their patients. When physicians take more time to build rapport with their patients, patients feel more inclined to reveal information about their medical conditions. Calling for patients to examine the intimacy of their relationships with their doctors, Goleman asks: “Would you want that doctor as a friend?” (para. 8). As Goleman implies, a friend listens, supports, and guides in the most difficult situations. These qualities should be apparent in most patient-physician relationships. However, they were not shown during an interaction between an Adult ER physician and a female patient. The patient explained her myriad medical emergencies that included a loss of vision and two heart attacks. The patient’s body language translated into pain and mental exhaustion. A friend would have asked this patient about her mental and personal wellness. Instead, the patient answered repetitive questions that were asked by a physician who never inquired about his patients’ well-being, which demonstrated the doctor’s lack of empathy. Empathy fosters unique relationships between patients and physicians, and empathetic doctors go beyond diagnoses. Therefore, humanizing medicine cannot be accomplished without the art of understanding, which builds strong relationships.

Though most physicians at DUMC struggle to create relationships with patients, some physicians excel in this area. For example, one physician in the Labor and Delivery Unit came into patients’ room and sat by their bedsides. She consoled one of her patients

by touching the patient’s shoulder and telling her how brave and strong she was despite her labor contractions. The doctor also stayed at the patient’s bedside for . . . the sole purpose of making the patient feel supported. DasGupta promotes this type of humanistic care. In fact, Sebastian, one of DasGupta’s medical students stresses: “Don’t stand by the foot of the bed and tower over your patient—she feels small already—take a minute, sit down, listen . . . . Try to understand. Realize that you will never understand. Try anyway” (quoted in DasGupta, 2013). The Labor and Delivery doctor went out of her way to make her patients feel comfortable and understand their diagnoses and prognoses. She embodied the idea of humanizing medicine by creating strong doctor-patient relationships.

Furthermore, this bi-lingual physician articulates her empathy and concern for both English- and Spanish-speaking patients.

She explained: “I wanted to learn Spanish because I saw that Spanish-speaking patients were being deprived of a personal patient-physician interaction with the use of translators.”

In Spanish, she spoke in a tone as if she were speaking to her mother or best friend, a technique that Goleman promotes.

If more healthcare practitioners modeled this physician’s behavior, Duke’s entire health system will improve. Though Duke physicians provide excellent clinical care, they will humanize their medical practices if they actively listen to patients and create intimate relationships with patients. Implementing these practices at DUMC will ensure that Duke is the best model for the U.S. healthcare system.

Nolen page 9

The synthesis essay played a vital role in my WiME experience because it taught me how to annotate. The first essay I wrote in Writing in Medical Education was an argument-synthesis essay in APA style. I critically analyzed poor communication in the U.S. healthcare system, while enhancing my ability to draw on meaningful materials from limited resources and annotate them.

Learning how to annotate text in WiME helped me standout during one of my clinical rotation experiences, when I put the technique into practice.

While shadowing in the Duke Birthing Center, the attending physician gave me and my colleagues a lengthy article on caesarean deliveries. He asked us to read the article, watch the procedure, and discuss what we read and saw. I knew that I would not remember all my thoughts, so I annotated the article so I could keep track of my thoughts and the article’s key points.

Once I fully annotated all the pages, I discussed the article with my colleagues. Annotating the article and discussing its main points with my colleagues gave us a deeper understanding of the text because each one of us was able to expound on different aspects of the material amongst each other. After the operation, the doctors, nurses, and we, SMDEP students, sat and discussed the procedure. Because we annotated our texts, finding the material we needed for the conversation was easy. All of us were able to respond intelligibly and ask relevant questions about the article and the caesarean delivery.

The physician verbally affirmed the effectiveness of my strategy when he asserted that I had done an exceptional job of absorbing the material, and he instructed me to keep taking notes.

After annotating reading assignments in WiME, I learned that I easily comprehend material when I annotate. Had I not annotated the materials, there is a strong probably that the points I addressed in my synthesis essay would have been weaker. I would have relied on information that I remembered reading. In most cases, that would have been details from the beginning and the end of the sources. Annotations played a key role in making the essay easy and quick to write because I returned to supporting details with ease.

Prior to taking WiME, I seldom annotated texts, though I was introduced to the concept in high school. Annotating was something I did if a teacher explicitly asked me to do it.

However, in WiME, my ability to annotate played a strong role in my writing process from the first draft of my synthesis essay to my real-world clinical experience. When I was tasked with reading the article in the hospital, annotating was simply a matter of doing what I knew would allow me to retain the most information. Writing in Medical Education did an excellent job of providing opportunities for me to see what works best for me when it comes to reading comprehension. Students who take WiME acquire techniques that they will use at their home institutions and in other contexts. Further, students who take WiME generally have careers in healthcare as a goal. Because of the evolutionary nature of medicine, healthcare professionals will undoubtedly have to read to stay up-to-date on changes in the health profession. Sometimes this material can be lengthy and in such cases, applying skills they developed in WiME will be beneficial.

By Austin Hannah Biology Major Class of 2017 Oakwood University

The physician verbally affirmed the effectiveness of my strategy when he asserted that I had done an exceptional job of absorbing the material, and he instructed me to keep taking notes.

Writing Across Contexts: Annotating and Transferring Knowledge

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By Sara Yolanda Rubio Correa Biology Major Class of 2018 UNC-Greensboro

Loma Bonita, Queretaro, Mexico. Many people would refer to it as a location or part of an address, but for me it represents much more. To me, this is home. The land I had to

leave at the age of five in order to search for a new life, education, and opportunities. The land that saw how my biological father abandoned my mother and me. The land that witnessed my mother’s marriage to the man who lovingly took the role of father. The land my family and I left in order to become immigrants in search of the American Dream. The land I visit once every year for a chance to see my extended family.

Vividly, I recall the three times my family and I tried to immigrate to the U.S. I was five years old, and we had no idea what to expect. Once in the U.S. the first time, they lacked jobs, and their only recourse was the strawberry fields of North Carolina. We became migrant farm workers. With their highest educational level being the fifth grade, my parents were at the bottom of the chain, prone to remain that way if they made no change.

I recall going down the long lines carrying a bucket that was my responsibility to fill. I remember those instances with clarity, for they were the ones that taught me that putting food on the table entailed hard work, but most important, they were the first moments in which I promised myself that I would put as much effort into my education as I did into my livelihood so my family would not have to work a single day in the fields again.

Finally, both of my parents were able to acquire decent jobs. Nonetheless, we were still undocumented, and as a result, through his job, my step-father submitted an application to gain legal for

each of. We believed the process was progressing. However, I had no idea that our American dream would shortly be crushed: In 2010, my parents received an order for deportation.

It was June, when the news hit our household, and in the midst of being terrified, confounded, and distraught, my parents chose a voluntary departure as the best way to relieve the situation. I was in high school and working as an intern at a law firm, so I completed the internship that had just begun, and on August third, we embarked on our return to Mexico.

After a long three-day drive, we finally arrived in the warm, loving land that had seen me grow as a child. It had been ten years since I saw my family. Everything was joy, and for the first couple of weeks, I was glad to have returned. However, after two months, my parents had still not been able to find a job because they were considered “too old,” even though they were only thirty-eight and thirty-nine years old. My stepfather had to obtain a job as a taxi driver, and my mother began selling clothes on local street markets, and these are the jobs they still hold today.

I came to realize how truly blessed I was and acquired a strong determination to change our situation yet again.

After two years of being in Mexico, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. I was finally able to obtain my legal status and have the opportunity to return to the U.S. It was 2012; I was sixteen-years-old and was faced with the biggest decision of my life. I had to either decide if I wanted to stay in Mexico with my family and keep living the life I had or come back to the U.S. by myself and fight for a better future for all of us. I chose the uncertain path and decided to return to the U.S. by myself at the age of sixteen.

The Personal Statement: Composing a Doctorly Self

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Returning was not easy. I began with finding a roommate and a place to stay. Then I enrolled myself back into high school as a junior and simultaneously had to find a way to pay for bills, rent, and food. Thankfully, I was able to obtain a job at the same law firm where I had interned, and to this day, I still hold a position there as an immigration legal assistant.

The journey has not been easy, but it has shaped who I am, what I feel, and what I strive to be. For me, it is not only the passion for science that drives me to become a physician, but also the experiences I have had in communities and with other people. It was always my duty to translate for my family when we went to the doctor. Due to the lack of translators or physicians who could speak Spanish, a barrier was created that impeded mutual communication. I was struck by this dilemma and knew that I had to change it because language barriers not only affected my family, but many others in our community.

Barriers. A powerful word that can be defined through diverse situations and within that diversity, I find myself and all other minorities. Barriers have inflicted us for decades, not only in health care, but also politically and academically. From my direct experiences, I have come to realize that out of all the things that human beings need, good health is the most primitive. Good health not only means that we no longer are sick, but for many migrant and minority families, good health means the ability to work and provide a plate of food for their families. Families like my own have crossed many barriers in order to

realize the American Dream. Yet many of them are not able to acquire health insurance or visit the doctor regularly for checkups. This is what I want to address, this. I want to decrease health disparities and make changes in underserved communities. I want to become the physician who they can trust and go to whenever they are unable to provide a plate of food. I want them to know that someone is not only there to help them get back to work and feel better, but to advocate for them in all possible ways because this is what being a physician encompasses.

I aspire to become a leader and an activist for the underrepresented. I want to provide them with the tools and resources they need, and more important, I want them to see a face in healthcare that looks like them and to whom they can relate to and be understood. Programs like SMDEP at Duke provided me insight into health disparities, and the realization that they need to be solved with action, not words. I am here today, with goals and dreams waiting to be unleashed. I desire a foundation and education like one that Duke will provide, for it will not only provide me with a medical education, but also an education that integrates humanity and race because Duke is working toward the improvement of health care for minorities. Immigrants and minorities deserve better, and I want to work with Duke health practitioners to reach this goal.

Medicine is much more than physiology and anatomy. It is mutual communication and competency that prompts trust and values.

Rubio Correa page 12

Jeremy Boudah (left) and Franklin Blum (right)

While scholars find value in the synthesis essay, some of them question the validity of WiME’s pedagogy. Based on WiME’s course objectives and student learning outcomes, it is unreasonable for scholars to compose the personal statement before they compose the synthesis essay.

At the end of the program, Jeremy Boudah invoked his artistic self and produced a visual representation of WiME’s pedagogical implications, illustrating the correlation among his synthesis essay, personal statement, clinical rotations, and field notes.

Cognitive Domain Psychomotor Domain

(observing/participating)

Cognitive Domain (collecting data)

Reveal Findings Support Claims

Draw Conclusions

WiME: Why Not Me? 13

Some scholars such as Franklin Blum ask: Why Me?

Some scholars such as Jeremy Boudah ask: Why Not Me?

Personal Statement

Synthesis Essay Field Notes Clinical Rotation

Writing in Medical Education Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program

Duke University School of Medicine`

Contact: Shirley E. Faulkner-Springfield, Ph.D.

Editor, WiME newsLetter

Phone: (919) 236-8740 (cell)

E-Mail:

sfspring@duke.edu WiME’s 2015 cohort attended writing workshops every Monday on West Campus and regular classes on T/Th and W/F in the Trent Semans Health Education Center (School of Medicine).

Motto: Who are You?

Writing in Medical Education Faculty

Shirley E. Faulkner-Springfield, Ph.D. Writing Program Coordinator Writing Instructor, 2007-2015

Editor, WiME newsLetter

Matthew Spencer, MAT Teaching Assistant, 2007-2015

Jacqueline Wigfall, Ph.D.

Teaching Assistant, 2005-2015

Whitney Wingate, M.A. Teaching Assistant, 2015

Duke Summer Medical and Dental Education Program Duke University School of Medicine

Sharon Coward, MA

Administrative Assistant Multicultural Resource Center

Maureen Cullins, AM

Director, SMDEP Director, Multicultural Resource Center

Delbert Wigfall, M.D.

Associate Director, SMDEP Associate Dean, Medical Education, DUSOM

Brenda E. Armstrong, M.D.

Principal Investigator, SMDEP Associate Dean, Admissions, DUSOM

Education as the Practice of Freedom

To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn. That learning process comes easiest to those of us who teach who also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation that is sacred; who believe that our work is not merely to share information but to share in the intellectual and spiritual growth of our students. To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin. . . . Learning is a place where paradise can be created. ~bell hooks, 1994