Academic Medicine Podcast
Education Podcasts
Meet medical students and residents, clinicians and educators, health care thought leaders and researchers in this podcast from the journal Academic Medicine. Episodes chronicle the stories of these individuals as they experience the science and the...
Location:
United States
Description:
Meet medical students and residents, clinicians and educators, health care thought leaders and researchers in this podcast from the journal Academic Medicine. Episodes chronicle the stories of these individuals as they experience the science and the art of medicine. Guests delve deeper into the issues shaping medical schools and teaching hospitals today. Subscribe to this podcast and listen as the conversation continues. The journal Academic Medicine serves as an international forum to advance knowledge about the principles, policy, and practice of research, education, and patient care in academic settings. Please note that the opinions expressed in this podcast are the guests' alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the AAMC or its members.
Language:
English
Episodes
First Impressions
5/4/2026
The candles ignited my pants that evening. But the real culprit was my anxiety over making a good first impression: in an effort to avoid the approaching dean, I unwittingly backpedaled into an open flame.
Matthew R. Klein reflects on an embarrassing incident in medical school and the importance of sharing vulnerability with learners and patients.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the January 2026 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at https://academic.oup.com/academicmedicine.
Duration:00:05:02
Scholarship at Night: Building a Successful Career as an Academic Nocturnist
4/20/2026
Discussing the unique role of the nocturnist, or the night shift clinician, in academic medicine, are Jessica Chambers, MD, MPH, Alex Rittenberg, MD, and John George, MD. They offer opportunities for pursuing scholarship related to night medicine and challenges to doing so as a nocturnist. And they emphasize the importance of collaborative, inclusive, and flexible professional development for building a successful academic career.
Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.
Duration:00:34:51
The Severance of a Thread
4/6/2026
We do not always rage against the dying of the light. Sometimes, we allow the light to fade gently, with grace, in the presence of love.
Nezienwa Ezenwa reflects on a patient who demonstrated that medicine is not just about defying death. It is about honoring life.
This essay placed first in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:07:25
The Heart of Hope
4/3/2026
Something shifted after that conversation. It wasn't a dramatic overnight change, but it was there—the slightest flicker of fight in him again. He started pushing himself a little more, engaging in physical therapy instead of just going through the motions. He cracked a joke with the nurses.
Roz Agheli reflects on a patient who was kept alive by medicine but kept fighting because of hope.
This essay placed first in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:52
The Responsible Use of AI for Peer Review
3/10/2026
Discussing Academic Medicine's and MedEdPORTAL's new policy guiding the use of AI tools in the peer review process are editors-in-chief Laura Roberts, MD, MA, and Lauren Maggio, PhD, MS(LIS), Academic Medicine associate editor Krisztina Fischer, MD, PhD, MMSc, and AAMC director of journals Mary Beth DeVilbiss. They provide an overview of the journals' new policy and use a series of common peer review scenarios to explore what's appropriate, what's not, and what you should think about before using AI as a reviewer.
Check out the resources discussed, including the journals' AI policies for reviewers and authors, and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.
Duration:00:29:08
More Than a Stethoscope
2/23/2026
Mrs. Jones didn't need a cure. She needed a witness to her grief—someone to sit with her in the silence, to validate the love she had for her husband and the life they built. She needed to be heard.
Christine Dianne Nepomuceno reflects on a patient who taught her that healing is not always about medicine. Sometimes it is about holding space for someone in their most vulnerable moments.
This essay placed second in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:06:18
No Estás Sola
2/9/2026
Dora taught me that care is not just found in grand gestures or lifesaving procedures. It is in the quiet moments when someone chooses to listen, to sit beside another in their suffering, and to act when no one else will.
Maria Jose Gomez reflects on a patient who taught her that compassion does not require a title, a degree, or authority.
This essay placed second in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:05:20
Listening Beyond the Monitors: A Lesson from Joe
1/26/2026
In the fast-paced world of health care, it's easy to focus on numbers, treatments, and protocols. But humanism requires us to pause, to listen, to acknowledge the fears, hopes, and humanity of our patients.
Vonnie Cesar reflects on learning that listening is not just a skill—it is a form of healing.
This essay placed third in the 2025 Hope Babette Tang Humanism in Healthcare Essay Contest and was published in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:47
Being Intentional: How Space, Place, and Pace Influence Equity in Workplace-Based Assessment
1/12/2026
Discussing new research into how the physical and social context of the clinical learning environment shape power dynamics and influence equity in assessment for residents are author Hannah Kakara Anderson, PhD, MBA, Research in Medical Education Committee member Binbin Zheng, PhD, MEd, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Nicole Findlay, MD, MPH. Empowering clinician educators to actively address the forces of space, place, and pace, they argue, can help promote a more equitable learning and assessment environment.
Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.
Duration:00:42:07
A Big Deal
1/5/2026
Our stories make us human and shape the doctors we become. Yet, we rarely let our pasts show from beneath our white coats.
Sydney Katz reflects on how little trainees and attendings know about one another outside of the hospital.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the December 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:53
Presence Beyond Language: A Medical Student's First Day in Clinic
12/15/2025
Although discussions about language services like interpreters or translators, patient–provider concordance, and linguistic equity merit much greater consideration, I can offer one reflection: the human connection we all share is more important than the languages we do not.
Akila V. Muthukumar reflects on building a connection with patients when using phone interpreter services to communicate.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:05:26
Denatured
12/8/2025
When I am in the hospital, there is at least a semblance of humanity. In a room with a patient, there is the possibility of the unexpected. Alone with my computer, there is only the ruthless pursuit of the correct, and the colorful pie chart of my inadequacy.
Anna Dovre reflects on how studying for medical board exams feels like a process of denaturing.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:22
Picturing Practice as a Medical Student
12/1/2025
As I brought the blade to the patient, I tried to infer the right depth, weight, and speed by matching to my pictured recollection of all the other incisions I had seen—an act, perhaps, akin to Ansel Adams's technique of photographic previsualization.
Benjamin A. Freeman reflects on how studying photography can be beneficial to medical education.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:03:30
Reflections After Testifying at an Asylum Hearing
11/17/2025
My hope is that, by learning to recognize how physicians interface with injustice in systems early in their training, learners will be better prepared to navigate and, when necessary, defy these systems throughout their careers.
Juliana E. Morris reflects on the importance of talking openly with students and involving them in decision-making while volunteering at a medical student-run asylum clinic.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:06:25
Trust the Process
11/3/2025
In the years since this experience ... I have sought to encourage trainees and students to reorient their focus from patient outcomes as a referendum on their competency and to focus instead on the process-based thinking preceding them and to try to make space for the mystery between.
Benjamin W. Frush reflects on the perils of an outcome-focused culture in medicine.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:48
Transitioning Identities: The Dual Identities of Medical Student Parents
10/27/2025
Discussing a new study into how medical student parents navigate their dual identities as physicians-in-training and parents are author Emily Carroll, MD, MEHP, Research in Medical Education Committee member Gary Beck Dallaghan, PhD, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Kiani Gardner, PhD. They also explore how medical schools can foster an inclusive learning environment for these learners.
Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.
Duration:00:43:29
The “Uninsured” Patient
10/6/2025
I never saw Andrew after that night, but I think of him often. I hope that our interaction played a small part in getting him the care he needed.
Sujal Manohar reflects on the importance of digging deeper into a patient’s social history by expanding past the typical questions.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:03:13
The Lure of Lore: How Medical Students Learn to Navigate Interprofessional Interactions
9/24/2025
Discussing a new study that explores medical student learning during interprofessional interactions in clinical clerkships are author Kelsey Miller, MD, EdM, Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee member Bonny Dickinson, PhD, MS-HPEd, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Kelvin Pollard, MD. They explore the “lore” about working with other health professionals that medical students learn from their peers during clerkships and how interprofessional interactions shape students’ professional identity, autonomy and collaboration skills, and sense of their role on the health care team.
Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.
Duration:00:41:41
The Anatomy of Gratitude
9/8/2025
For the first time, we began to understand not just their bodies and illnesses but their lives as joyful parents, enthusiastic musicians, expert race car mechanics, and loving spouses.
David Deshpande reflects on the Service of Gratitude and the lessons learned from anatomy donors and their families.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:42
This Academic Life
8/25/2025
We are taught to think about what needs to be done in order for our patient to go home when we are on the wards, yet there is no care meeting, discharge coordinator, or bed huddle in academic medicine.
Julia Meade reflects on the difficulty of knowing when to retire from academic medicine.
The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the August 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.
Duration:00:04:59