Academic Medicine Podcast

No Estás Sola

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.

Listening Beyond the Monitors: A Lesson from Joe

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.

Being Intentional: How Space, Place, and Pace Influence Equity in Workplace-Based Assessment

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.

A Big Deal

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.

Presence Beyond Language: A Medical Student's First Day in Clinic

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.